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I'm a complete newbie to kit building (very first one!), although I'm an experienced guitarist/bassist/etc. Just about to begin on a build of a Pit Bull JMA-6 Baritone Guitar — accordingly, any JMA6-specific advice/tips/suggestions would be most welcome and appreciated.
Welcome Z80AL. I can’t give specific advice on that kit, but there is general advice. First be patient, take your time. You can’t rush the process. Second is any problem you come across someone else has already had and solved, so ask questions. Finally, be prepared to change your plans, the guitar will end being what it wants to be.
Thanks for that advice, Fretworn — yes, am taking it very slowly (just applied the first coat of finish, so I have a long way to go!) May need forum help when it comes to wiring, as there's a distinct lack of info on the Pit Bull site re the baritone.
Help needed re JMA-6 baritone wiring ..... When I look at the wiring diagram I received after emailing Pit Bull, I'm just confused! (I'm an experienced muso, but a total 100% novice when it comes to guitar builds, and I'm afraid even stuff the rest of you guys can do in your sleep has me stumped.) The diagram Pit Bull sent me looks like this .....
Attachment 29851
My dumb interpretation of that is that multiple wires need soldering to the five-way switch. However, when I look at the five-way switch itself and the wires coming from the pots (see photo) .....
Attachment 29852
there seems to be no place to solder multiple wires, so what do I do with the four coloured wires coming off the pots (aside from the ground wire, of course, which I do understand). Now, I realise that this discrepancy between the Pit Bull diagram and the actual set-up is undoubtedly because there's pre-wiring already done on this kit, but that doesn't help me when it comes to knowing how to complete the task. What do I do with those four coloured wires as shown in the photo? Where does each get soldered? ..... Again, my apologies for the very basic nature of this question, but, never having build a kit before, I don't want to experiment — I want to get it right. Thanks for any help that anyone can offer!
Hi
Wierdbits is the wiring guru. He will be able to help you but you might need to provide some more photos of the wiring to show where wires start from.
Thanks for that advice, colin2121. Have uploaded two more pix of the wiring as suggested .....
Attachment 29853
Attachment 29854
The multi core wire is just for convenience. You separate them like string cheese.
The PB diagram usually only shows the wires and solder points you need to worry about and omits anything pre soldered/wired.
So current is generated in the pickups by the guitar string vibrating through the magnetic field. This induces a current in the coil which is sent out via the 'hot' wires. Everything after that is managing the flow to the jack. So current goes in one side of the switch and comes out the other and onto the pots, then the output jack. There is more than one way to manage the current flow and it can give different results, but the diagram should cover the most common routing.
More pics would be helpful so we can see what's already done and as Col mentioned Wierdbits is far and away the most helpful person to talk to regarding this stuff.
I’ll mark up the connections for you when I get some time a bit later today.
Thank you so much. All I'm looking for is something that says "Solder the green wire to Contact X" etc. Pit Bull initially told me there was a video covering it, but it turns out that, because the JMA-6 Baritone is a new kit, there's not. I'm a muso, not a techo, so I really do appreciate your help!
Different batches of kits and models can have different wire colours, so it's difficult to always have an exact match with the diagrams. But you'll soon get the hang of working out what should connect where.
First off, something didn't look quite right... labels corrected.
Attachment 29855
General layout:
Attachment 29856
Switch connection options
Standard strat style: Neck = Tone 1, Middle = Tone 2
(no tone control on bridge)
Attachment 29857
Bridge Tone style: Neck = Tone 1, Bridge = Tone 2
(no tone control on middle)
Attachment 29858
Bridge & Neck-Middle Tone style: Neck & Middle = Tone 1, Bridge = Tone 2
(tone 1 will also affect bridge in position 2)
Attachment 29859
Pick the option that suits you best.
Make sense?
Thank you, Scott - you're a lifesaver! (The sign of a true guru is when they can explain things so a newbie can understand.) ..... And yeah, sorry about the mislabelling — that's what happens when you look at something upside down! :-)
I will be interested to see the finished guitar.
Make sure you post some pics.
Will do, Colin. Will be a week or two away — still doing finishing work on the body. (It's all that waiting 24 hours or so between coats!)
Another newbie question from me — I know it's very basic, but, being a Fender/Ovation owner, I'm not used to these kinds of bridges. I need to install the bridge posts on this baritone (I'm talking about the inserts as circled in this photo) .....
Attachment 29874
There are holes pre-drilled in the body to accommodate these, but they're a very snug fit (without any force, the posts would go in about half-way). See next photo .....
Attachment 29875
So, do I push (rubber mallet, maybe?) these in so the top is flush with the body, or am I completely missing the point? Thanks for any help you gurus can give me!
Yep, just till that lip touches the body usually. Good idea to put them in the freezer for 10 minutes, it makes them easier to tap in then they expand and grab the wood. Not 100% sure on this kit, but often the earth wire needs to be fed into bridge post hole first.
Thanks for the prompt reply, and for the advice re the freezer — I wouldn't have thought of that! And yes, you're right about the earth wire, so I'll remember to do that. ..... Incidentally, I notice that you're a fellow-Toowoombaite!
Yeah I just saw that as well. Whereabouts are you?
Happy to came have a look at the wiring if you are still struggling. I'm pretty interested to see how a baritone comes together...
I'm in Harristown - how about you? ..... I think I have the wiring nutted out now (although I'm yet to start it), but thank you, I might take you up on the offer of help if I get stuck. It's been an interesting exercise thus far, and it's great to have forum assistance, because the kit kinda assumes you know it all, and I have this morbid fear of stuffing up irrevocably! Like you, I'm very interested in how the baritone comes together — I already have a fairly nice Danelectro 56 Baritone that I play in real life, so this one is to be more of a "practice" unit that I can leave out to grab at any time. (I prefer to leave my "good" instruments in their cases, but I do find I practice more if I have gear that I can lay hands on at a moment's notice - my wife is soooo impressed that my study is stuffed full of "practice guitars/basses/etc. :-)
Ha hah. Well I moved to this from building cars and my wife is a lot happier having a bunch of guitars lying around than half finished cars :)
I'm over near Centenary Heights High school - technically South Toowoomba.
You are right, the first build is a bit nerve wracking I was paranoid building my first one that I was going to stuff it up. I've since learned there is almost nothing you can't fix/recover from and there is more than one way to skin the proverbial cat.
Happy to help out if you need it. I work from home so I'm normally around (both IRL and on the forum)
Thanks, mate - talk to you when I've made more progress!
To Sonic Mountain ..... Mate, the more I look at the soldering I need to do (as little it may be), the more nervous I get that I will stuff up the PCB or whatever, and that's something I don't want to do! (Having done a number of "practice" soldering runs, I'm convinced that the end result will not be pretty.) .......... If I wandered over to your place (at a some day/time to suit you), would you be able to help me do that job? I would be more than happy to pay you for your time.
Sure thing. Hows does some time this weekend work for you? Saturday arvo or Sunday till about 2:30 is good for me.
No payment required either mate, it won't take long and I'm happy to help out.
PM me and I'll shoot you my address
Have PM'ed you - hopefully you'll get that!
Yep all good, just shot you back an Email.
For anyone interested, a few pix of the completed JMA-6 Baritone ......
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...chmentid=29954
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...chmentid=29955
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...chmentid=29956
Attachment 29954
Attachment 29955
Attachment 29956
Overall, I was happy with the result (for a first build, that is). Yes, I needed some help (see below), so it was great to be able to call on the forum! Of course, the neck needed adjustment, but the intonation was surprisingly good straight out of the box, with some strings absolutely spot on, and the others needing only slight tweaking. Perhaps my only slight disappointment is the quality of the tone controls, but, hey, if you’re not spending a lot, you can’t expect a lot!
Biggest challenge for a complete newbie like myself was the wiring, probably because this is a relatively new kit, and there seemed to be little info available. Brendan at Pit Bull did kindly send me a diagram that would probably have been fine for the average guru on this forum, but was still somewhat hazy for Yours Truly. Particular thanks to forum members “Weirdbits”/Scott (who went to the trouble of providing a detailed range of switching options) and “Sonic Mountain”/Phil (who gave me invaluable hands-on assistance and advice after we discovered that we live less than 4 kms apart!).
Difficulties encountered:-
(1) I found getting the bridge posts into the body a real pain — boy, they were TIGHT! Thanks to Sonic Mountain / Phil for his handy hint of placing them in the freezer before insertion, but it was still a battle.
(2) The nut on this kit simply can’t accommodate the baritone strings supplied (Ernie Ball 13-72’s) — well, at the low end, anyway. The lower B, in particular, is too wide to fit in the slot. I installed a lighter gauge set (D’Addario 13-62’s) but, even so, the lower B still doesn’t sit right. (Perhaps this is how all baritone kits ship, ’cos it almost seems to me that it’s a standard guitar nut, which would explain why a 72 string is a tight squeeze!) Yes, I guess I could have hacked into the nut to widen the slot, but I’ve heard horror stories of ruined nuts, and I suspect there’s no easy way back from that kind of stuff-up. Being a novice at kit building, I wasn’t prepared to risk it. I’ll see how it goes, anyway, before visiting an expert — I’m not into string bending, so perhaps it won’t be a problem.
Lessons learned:-
Shaping the headstock by hand (fretsaw and sandpaper) is a mug’s game. Yes, I finally got there, but next time I’ll have power tools!
Well done mate! Unfortunately there is a bug with the forum at the moment an pics aren't displaying. I'm pretty sure Darren and his team of hamster wranglers are on to it, so hopefully they will pop up later.
There isn't anything to be particularly scared of in adjusting the nut slots, the big issue is finding appropriate files (without spending on a proper set) given it's the larger strings it should be fairly easy to rectify. Happy to help out again there if you decide to fix it. Worst case there are a variety of nuts available at Bandland and online that could be modified. I also have quite a collection of the plastic kit ones I'd be happy to give you.
Thanks, mate — I may take you up on the offer of a "consultation" re the nut; I'll just see how it goes when playing. ..... I noticed that the photo thing was a bit odd on the forum, although I was able to double-click on the ATTACHMENT link and see the pix, so you may want to try that in the interim.
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...chmentid=29954
Hmmm - ignore this one - just tried to hotlink one of you pics back into the thread.... can anyone else see it?
No.(5678910 characters long)Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain
I've tuned it B to B — works for me!
Hey man, sorry to bother and get in the way here so weirdly. Im trying to find the spot where to hook the damn earth wire to the bridge (what bridge, the pick up or the bridge itself). Can you help me out? Also, what type of pick up to 5wayswitch connection did you choose? did it work right?
Thanks mate
Mate, the earth wire just connects to one of the bridge posts (not the pickup). (See attachment "Pit Bull JMA-6 Baritone Guitar Kit Wiring Diagram".) When I say "connect", I just mean that it's kinda wedged/jammed into the bridge-post hole so it's making good contact with the bridge metal. As far as the 5-way switch goes, I opted for a typical Strat style (Tone 1 for the neck pick-up, Tone 2 for the middle pick-up i.e. no tone control on the bridge pick-up. (See second attached PDF named "Wiring Options".) .......... The end result? I wasn't deliriously happy in that the supplied pick-ups are fairly rubbish — in fact, the tone controls make little difference without major movements. I've thought about retro-fitting better pick-ups, but I also own a fairly expensive baritone guitar (Danelectro) that I use for performance, so, as the Pit Bull is just a home practice unit, I've not done any more to it at this stage. Were I to build it again, I think I'd outlay for decent pickups from the get-go. .......... Happy to help with any further questions, although I warn you that I'm definitely not an electronic guru — I'm a muso who just got this kit to teach myself a little more about the finer points of build and set-up. Baritone isn't my main instrument — I mainly play acoustic / solid-body / bass / mando, so baritone is just an occasional novelty for me.