"tin foil" explorer

Hi everyone!

My first Pitbull guitar, ordered an EX1A with ebony fretboard, no inlays and reverse head.
It took 6 months to come and when it did, there were a few issues with the kit.
Neck joint was incredibly loose, the neck could flap around like a windsock at an airfield.
The heel was like a wedge and curved on the back.
With the neck inserted fully, the scale length is right (24.75") but no room for pickup rings (not a big loss).
Tuner holes, 5 in a straight line, 1 off line.
The body had a few dings, a couple of deep ones and 2 weird 'ripples' where the body thickness changed.
Sounds like I'm complaining, but not really, just there's a few challenges ahead.
Will send more pictures as it happens.

Cheers everyonehttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f4dc105cfa.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1d99e75c63.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...99991a25e5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...bf8e623035.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9119441727.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...93f92f34c0.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8dec1c906a.jpg

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Yikes, that neck heel and pocket are really bad. That’s possibly one of the worst I’ve seen.
how do you plan on getting around that?

Hi,

On a test fit, I've got it looking ok but only if I shim the neck to secure the break angle and shim from the side to help with the wobble. May have to use stainable wood filler to help hide the gap.
All in all, it'll be a little challenging

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Oh, forgot to add this.
Every fret is dented, I assume where they've been hammered in. Plus, there's a back bow on the neck even with zero tension on the truss rod.
Apologies for the bad picture but couldn't get it to focus right. The dents can be seen running down the right of the fretboard.
Yay, set-up will be lots and lots of fun!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...593c3ad193.jpg

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Rather than go down the usual route of changing the pickups, I decided to try changing the magnets instead. I've put an Alnico 2 in the neck and an Alnico 4 in the bridge. Time will tell to see how it sounds, worse case scenario, I change the pickups at a later date. The covers are really just for asthetics.
The bridge is a standard one but have changed the saddles for rollers for tuning stability, this combined with the new tusq nut should really benefit.
I've changed the switch as the stock one could be moved both up and down as much as it could be moved left to right (no exaggeration!), garbage.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...59c62e216a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...407b00f54e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...15b01fbd77.jpg

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I would suggest sending an email to Adam as that neck looks like it will need lots of mods and work arounds to overcome those challenges.

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Hi Wazkelly,
Sent a load of emails, with the pictures that you've seen, got a partial refund of £20. Just hope that the feedback is given to the guys making the kits. Feedback is a gift!
Sending back wasn't an option, I'm in the UK, plus I'd waited 6 months for it. Without it's faults, it's a cracking guitar.
I'm reasonably confident I can make a good guitar, crapping myself slightly about gluing the neck, but you have me good advice before which has given me a boost confidence.
Cheers

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Best of luck with it mate, it’s not a simple fix, but it’s doable in little steps. Look forward to the recovery!

Yeah, as Frankie says best to take your time and don't be afraid to holler for any helpful advice.

Cheers, Waz

I feel your pain. My EX-1 neck fitted like a tight glove and stayed in place by friction alone. So they can get it right.

The neck on my ESB-4 bass was far looser than your neck, and I had to fit a strip of maple veneer on both sides of the pocket (1.2mm+ total thickness) to remove the sloppiness. The neck angle was also far too great. So they can also get it very wrong.

A bit of maple veneer glued down one side of the pocket should cure the sloppiness. Or maybe one each side then sand equally until you get a tight fit. I'd also use some veneer strips on the bottom of the heel to get it flat. Build it up a bit higher than necessary and sand it down.

Tuning holes? A common problem. Worth trying out the tuners in the holes as they are rarely a tight fit, so you can often still get them in a straight enough line. The hole variations aren't as extreme as some I've seen. But filling and re-drilling is a fairly common occurrence on the kit builds here, and is fairly straight-forward, if time consuming.

Frets? Hmmmm. Removing and replacing is one option, a severe levelling and reprofiling is another.

Neck bow? bad. You can't use the truss rod to get the neck straight to do the fret levelling. Sometimes string tension will pull the neck straight enough to be able to play it, but that's no good with the state of the frets.

In my opinion, you need a new neck, otherwise any finishing effort will be completely wasted, as the neck in it's current state is unplayable. Adam needs to send you a new neck (that has been checked for frets, tuner holes, concave bow with loose truss rod, truss rod operation and neck heel flatness). If you can measure the width of the neck pocket, then he can also check on the heel width as well, though it might be that as what I assume is a special, the body neck cavity width may just have been cut a bit wider than it should. The factories use routing templates, not CNC machines, which unfortunately leads to a wide variation of sizes and shapes as they wear or are used badly.

If not a new neck, then full compensation and throw the kit away.

Hi Simon,

Apologies for the late reply.
I've got some ash veneer shims ready to go on the back of the heel and neck pocket side. On a test fit with the shims, I can get a good result so I'm positive it'll be alright in the end.
Work so far, stained the body, it's aqua marine but looks green in the pictures, silver leaf band around the body that I've distressed then tru oil.
The neck I had stained white but by the time the tru oil had gone on, it went a cream colour but looks good, silver leaf the headstock too.
Next is to glue the neck.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2d25a418c8.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1742570308.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b91291d6a6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a552c2f887.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...fb2122890c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9c6463b561.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b9088eb3a9.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...16a3df7e10.jpg

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Geez that does look nice.
As you discovered on the neck Tru Oil does change the underlying base colour and wonder how green the body might become and whether that will be what you expect or intended?
If not and you want to keep that body colour you may need to use something else as a top coat. Clear acrylic or wipe on poly might work better than Tru Oil as it seems to add an aged amber tint about 1-2 years after last coat was applied.
My turquoise Tele is now more green than blue which still looms ok, just not the colour I initially wanted.

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Hi Wazkelly,
I'm happy with the colour that the body has gone, like I say, on camera it looks more green than in person. The neck is a nice colour but would have preferred it to stay white, but a lesson learned about tru oil.
Do you know if tung oil alters the finished colour like tru oil?
Cheers

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Never used tung oil so cannot comment or offer advice.

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They are pretty similar in content, both being a linseed oil derived finish, just with slightly different solvents, so whilst having no direct experience of Tung Oil, I'd imagine it will yellow in a similar way.

I’ve used Tung oil on some pale coloured wood. Gave it four coats. It certainly went honey coloured, and darker with time. I think it would have the same effect as Tru Oil.