My first pitbull guitars build, GR1-SF

So, this arrived in the mail a few days ago:

https://i.imgur.com/EIpWiPI.jpg

The body is made out of mahogany, the neck is maple and the fret board is engineered rosewood. The gold hardware was a surprise I did not expect as I ordered the kit with chrome. Pitbull offered to send me a replacement but I figured I might as well use the gold hardware and save us both the trouble.

The plan for this kit is a sparkle finish, I'm currently thinking red but that might change after a test piece. Otherwise it'll pretty much stay stock for the time being, apart from a bone nut that I ordered with the kit.

However first things first, I will be doing a full mock build this Saturday to check the hardware and all measurements and if time allows I might start leveling and crowning the frets.

Looks great and sounds very similar to my build. Welcome!!


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Welcome Ruben. Enjoy the build.

Welcome Ruben. I like this mahogany kit, very nice indeed!

Welcome Ruben, good luck with the first.

Nice dude nice!

Quick update on the build. Yesterday I did the mock build and noticed a few things.
1. The bridge pickup did not fit properly, but that should be a simple fix.
2. Measuring the tailpiece is rather difficult if you don't have a long straight edge. So I decided to go to the shop and get my hands on some tools, namely the parts to build a notched straight edge, sanding beam and a long ruler.
3. I'm still in doubt about the finish, I like the look of the mahogany so I might go with a semi transparant red paint rather than the sparkle I mentioned earlier, this depends on what my tests will look like.

The plan for next week: Measure and drill the tailpiece and start leveling and crowning the fret board.

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Originally Posted by RubenT

Quick update on the build. Yesterday I did the mock build and noticed a few things.
1. The bridge pickup did not fit properly, but that should be a simple fix.
2. Measuring the tailpiece is rather difficult if you don't have a long straight edge. So I decided to go to the shop and get my hands on some tools, namely the parts to build a notched straight edge, sanding beam and a long ruler.
3. I'm still in doubt about the finish, I like the look of the mahogany so I might go with a semi transparant red paint rather than the sparkle I mentioned earlier, this depends on what my tests will look like.

The plan for next week: Measure and drill the tailpiece and start leveling and crowning the fret board.

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Tailpiece measurement is easier with a bit of string or cotton. (I’m
Building the same kit) fit your tuning pegs and wrap the string around one. Then you can pull it from the peg around the back of the headstock and runnit down the length of the fret board. With a piece of masking tape secur it where you think the screw of the bigsby would go and then measure the neck and anywhere else you can to see if it’s centred. I was surprised that mine ended up bang on where the two bits of veneer met.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by BuffaloGhost

Tailpiece measurement is easier with a bit of string or cotton. (I’m
Building the same kit) fit your tuning pegs and wrap the string around one. Then you can pull it from the peg around the back of the headstock and runnit down the length of the fret board. With a piece of masking tape secur it where you think the screw of the bigsby would go and then measure the neck and anywhere else you can to see if it’s centred. I was surprised that mine ended up bang on where the two bits of veneer met.


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Would you do this before or after glueing the neck? And would you do that before or after finishing the guitar?
I recall it being wise to do the drilling before finishing the guitar, however using a cotton string when the neck is not glued in place seems kind of hard since in would have to clamp the neck to stay in place. I mostly see that being done with an F-clamp in the middle of the fretboard.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RubenT

Would you do this before or after glueing the neck? And would you do that before or after finishing the guitar?
I recall it being wise to do the drilling before finishing the guitar, however using a cotton string when the neck is not glued in place seems kind of hard since in would have to clamp the neck to stay in place. I mostly see that being done with an F-clamp in the middle of the fretboard.

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Ooh I had this debate in my head for days! My neck fit was really good so this helped. I was able to push it in quite firm all the way to the base and measure without clamping.. however you are right

I wasn't still happy that it hadn't moved a mm..

So after some debate over access for wiring etc and the painting process I went in a glued the neck straight in. i'm sure others will disagree and give you some other options too. But I thought the extra time taking to mask up for painting. (Im doing stained sides and back and a flake top was worth it to make sure everything was marked correctly prior to paint.

Good luck dude.

Mate i think the red sparkle would be gorgeous it will give it a real Gretsch vibe!

So, today I finally had time to start working on the guitar. First things first, since it's a mahogany body I need to grain fill the wood. I decided to go with a water based grain filler. Thinned it down to a liquid consistency and applied it using shop towel. The picture was taken just after applying the first coat to the top. I'm writing this post really quickly while the rest of the filler dries since I won't have time to write a post tonight, next up sanding and doing it once more.

https://i.imgur.com/tnmstzu.jpg

Just be very careful sanding. It's ply, and the layers are pretty thin. It doesn't take too much sanding to get down to the glue layer and then the ply underneath (which runs cross-grain). So nothing too coarse and don't press too hard.

Yep. Especially the top! That veneer is like tissue!


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Well, I guess I'll file this under live and learn.

https://i.imgur.com/J0zwS9x.jpg

Took out the body today for a second coat of grain filler and it looks like I sanded through the top veneer in one spot. I guess 320 grit was not fine enough, so I'll have to pick up something finer later today.

Next I brushed on a second coat of grain filler, this time a much thinner coat than on my first attempt since I basically had to sand it all off. I will probably head over to the local hardware store after lunch and get myself some really fine sandpaper. After sanding I'll have to bite the bullet and decide on the finish. I'm still very much in doubt about the front, trying to decide between a sparkle or just a tinted clear coat.

I'm not sure. It could be a glue spot.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

I'm not sure. It could be a glue spot.

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Upon further inspection it did indeed seem like I did not go al the way through. The mahogany grain is still visible through this spot. I added a second coat of grain filler and sanded it back again

This afternoon I continued work on the kit. I sanded the second coat of grain filler with 320 grit again, taking care to apply pressure over a decent sized area. I had some trouble with the carved top tough. I used an old sanding sponge as a block, however it was quite stiff and due to that it was hard to sand in the spots where the body carved. As a result I had to sand those spots without the block, which was a pain. The 3M sandpaper I'm using is awesome, however it is really flexible causing it to be quite hard to sand without something like a block behind it.

https://i.imgur.com/p4b0bpe.jpg

Next thing to figure out: Should I do an oil finish or something like a semi-transparant cherry red paint job. I'm afraid sparkle is going to be to difficult for me on this kit. I'll probably try to use glitter when I refinish my first kit or my cheap bass guitar.