Premium necks?

Technically not a new kit idea but probably still the best place to float this idea. Sorry if it has been brought up before (I couldn't find it).

Any great guitar needs a great neck and I plan to invest as much time as it takes to make my kit's neck play, feel and look as good as I can make it. Unfortunately, I can only go so far.

One thing I will not do is re-fret it. I don't have the tools nor the skills to do it. But I would love some stainless frets. And maybe jumbo frets too. That got me wondering. Could Pitbull offer stainless steel frets as a premium option?

One thing I will do is replace the (I assume plastic) dot inlays with abalone. But why not save willing builders the trouble and have them installed at the factory. I will have to source them separately and work/risk replacing them on the fretboard. As rewarding as that is, I wouldn't mind having the option of paying a bit extra money for a neck that comes with premium inlays installed at the factory.

So there you go. This is my suggestion: necks with premium frets and premium dot inlays.

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Originally Posted by mcamelo

Technically not a new kit idea but probably still the best place to float this idea. Sorry if it has been brought up before (I couldn't find it).

Any great guitar needs a great neck and I plan to invest as much time as it takes to make my kit's neck play, feel and look as good as I can make it. Unfortunately, I can only go so far.

One thing I will not do is re-fret it. I don't have the tools nor the skills to do it. But I would love some stainless frets. And maybe jumbo frets too. That got me wondering. Could Pitbull offer stainless steel frets as a premium option?

One thing I will do is replace the (I assume plastic) dot inlays with abalone. But why not save willing builders the trouble and have them installed at the factory. I will have to source them separately and work/risk replacing them on the fretboard. As rewarding as that is, I wouldn't mind having the option of paying a bit extra money for a neck that comes with premium inlays installed at the factory.

So there you go. This is my suggestion: necks with premium frets and premium dot inlays.

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Re-fretting isn't so bad. It just takes some time and practice. You need a set of fret pulling pliers, some fretboard guards and a fret end file.
I've built a neck or three and reboarded a few as well, there is a lot of material on the web on how to do it, so if it is something you can dedicate some time and effort towards learning i'd have a crack at it.

That said, I realise that not everyone has the space, sufficient gear or sufficient time to perform mad little experiments in the FrankenLab tradition (Wives/Partners get upset if you are routing maple neck blanks to shape on the kitchen table!).

I think premium necks is an idea with some legs, not sure about the premium inlays though, abalone or MOP importation from Asia might cause some issues with customs maybe?

The big issue with stainless frets is the time it takes to level, re-profile and polish them. I've done it once, and will never use them again. It took be around an hour per fret, as opposed to an hour for a complete neck with standard frets. With the general quality of the fret installation on the necks being a bit hit and miss, it's something you'd almost certainly need to do.

If you wanted to get a neck that was already perfectly set up from the factory, you'd be looking at a very expensive neck indeed. If you just had the frets fitted at the factory and did all the rest of the work yourself, then I'm sure that would be possible, though it will involve a lot of work - not much less than doing a full re-fret yourself.

Thanks guys. Those are all good points. I really have zero experience with this so I will take your words at face value :-)


What I take out of this is that I should at some point try my hand at refretting one of my guitars with stainless steel frets. Probably the one I care the least about screwing up.

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Originally Posted by mcamelo

One thing I will do is replace the (I assume plastic) dot inlays with abalone.

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Fret markers on my JM-1 look like abalone but are probably plastic.

Then again...I'd like to replace all the plastic keys on my Casio with ebony and ivory.

Then I awoke...and look around...and realise
I was only dreaming.

cheers, Mark.

The other point is that this isn't really what PBG is about. The factory is not exactly cutting edge and the whole point of this hobby is how affordable it is.

You can also already order and spec out necks through somewhere like Warmouth, which offers a huge range of options including stainless steel frets. Have a look at the prices and you'll see just how premium you can go.....

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Originally Posted by mcamelo

One thing I will do is replace the (I assume plastic) dot inlays with abalone. But why not save willing builders the trouble and have them installed at the factory. I will have to source them separately and work/risk replacing them on the fretboard. As rewarding as that is, I wouldn't mind having the option of paying a bit extra money for a neck that comes with premium inlays installed at the factory.

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Dot inlays are easy - see:http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=2584 Pretty much do it to all my builds with dots on the necks.

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Originally Posted by Brendan

Dot inlays are easy - see:http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=2584 Pretty much do it to all my builds with dots on the necks.

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That's a great tutorial. Thank you, Brendan.

I tried removing the abalone dots on my Korean Fender Tele neck to replace them with black plastic ones (maple board and they were too pale to show up well - plus they were just wrong for a 50s style Tele). They were certainly very well stuck in! I just had to use a full sized drill in the end as after drilling small holes in the centres I couldn't shift them with any metal levers or hooks I tried. Maybe a small fragment occasionally broke off but nothing moved them.

I’ve replaced 5 or 6 sets of dots on Pitbull necks, no major dramas so far. Have had a couple break up, but pretty easy to clean up - haven’t had to drill any out yet.


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I use a 5mm brad point drill in a bench drill, I find the last 1/2mm ring usually comes out on its own or I can lift it out with a dental style pick. I get my abalone dots from Realtone in Brisbane.

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Originally Posted by Dedman

I use a 5mm brad point drill in a bench drill, I find the last 1/2mm ring usually comes out on its own or I can lift it out with a dental style pick. I get my abalone dots from Realtone in Brisbane.

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I have yet to take out the dots, though i have done some other custom inlay work on the PE SV and the IB Freebie. Must try that at some point.