Pit Bull AG1L sorta-build

[D.P.]

New to this forum, but certainly not new to guitars. I built my first from scratch in 2007, and after all of these years I thought that one for myself might be in order, so bought the AG1L.
I updated the tuners to grovers, and had a set of early 80's carvin 11 pole humbuckers for the project.
The box arrived with some trauma, but hey, its here, lets have a look.

[D.P.]

I let Pitbull know of the problem, and Mr. Doyle explained that he had fallen so replied in a tary manner, which I didn't think was an issue. Here is where the issue began.
He explained that ' I could use 'timbre filler' to repair it, or, based on the recommendation of the in-house luthier, he could send me a new body, at which time alarms went off.
Here is why. Are the bodies and necks matched as advertised, identified by the pencil numbers written on the neck and the pocket?
There are of course a few likely answers to this question:
1: the numbers mean nothing.
2. The in house luthier has a crystal ball.
3. The in-house luthier confused a crystal ball with a pipe.
Further inspection/repair of the body was not an improvement. a total of 22 dings needing filling on the back, a mere 7 on the front (Chip not inclusive), a router bite in the side along with a gouge.
After repairing all of these myself, and having come to terms with pitbull service, I fitted the neck to the body, and 'fudged' it 1/8", trying to get the scale length right, alas, no-bueno. It needed another 1/16" of room between the end of the neck and the pick up pocket.
Did I mention the cavity cover? I am going to guess that it will not fit better with paint.
The good news is after all of this it fits back in the box.

[D.P.]

more pics of this

[D.P.]

Previous projects among many:
a 335 bare wood kit
2007 complete custom, African mahogany solid body, set fender radius neck, Carvin M22 p'up

[Dikkybee007]

The dings could have been fixed by using a steam iron and a damp cloth and then filled with wood filler, if needed, as spoken about. You can then seal the body using a sanding sealer and use a stain or a solid coloured paint. I have fixed sizable dings with wood filler and if you pick the right coloured filler it is virtually undetectable. Most people use a slurry of wood filler to fill the grain to make the body smoother before applying a finish.

The large chip on the body could have been lessened by chamfering the edge and using less filler. I am in the process of finishing off 2 AG style kits and while there were problems, one was a factory second that had a chip that I knew about when I bought it but I didn't think much about it as I knew I could fix it, I have found the chamfering around the edge to be less than satisfactory but it all is fixed with elbow grease and a rasp. It is a kit and you can do what ever your capable of doing. I have redone all the chamfering around the edge but I have the tools and skills to accomplish the required task.

As for the body replacement that was an option that was very viable but again not having the skills can cause a problem. The neck will either be too tight or too loose, both can be fixed with sand paper and veneer. Too tight can be fixed with sand paper by sanding the same amount off both mating sides of the neck until it fits. If too loose you can glue some veneer on the neck slot in the body and then sand to the required fit. As for adjusting the position of the neck lengthwise you can use a chisel or a router, depending on your skills, to move the neck towards the bridge to get the length right or remove some wood from the end of the neck. You can slide the neck out to lengthen the position of the neck. I have used thin wood cut-offs to adjust the neck length as I didn't want a gap at the end.

There are kit makers in the U.S. that make far better kits at roughly 5 to 8 times the cost, you won't have any problems, but your pocket will be considerably lighter. You can also buy a Harley Benton SG Wanna-Be for probably about the same price as a kit and all the upgrades and finishing products and all it may need is a fret level and polish, new strings and a setup.

The rear cover can be adjusted with a file and sandpaper or just sandpaper depending on your skill base. If the skills are high enough you could adjust the cut-out with a router and a chisel but adjusting the cover is much easier.

As for making the kit easier to fit in the box, that really showed them. Must be good to throw money away like that.

[LexLuthier]

So if I’m following this correctly, Pit Bull Guitars offered to make the situation right by sending you a new body and you declined because you wanted to make sure it was all manufactured together for some reason. And you skipped the recommendation in the instructions to do a mock build to measure everything before the build to ensure you can exchange it if you find problems that can’t be resolved. You found another problem that couldn’t be addressed with a shim or some sanding and instead of contacting customer service again to resolve this, you smashed or cut up the guitar kit in a rage. If I have that right, it might be a more constructive use of your time and money to attend a few anger management classes.

[fender3x]

This is quite the departure from normal forum posts. Usually the forum is used for advice, feedback, documenting progress, etc. That means posting before turning the project into kindling.

I don't see anything in this project that wasn't fixable. More work than buying all the parts from Warmoth perhaps, but less than building from scratch.

Set necks are roughly matched to bodies, true enough. But roughly match necks often need a bit of work to be fitted to their "matching" body. It's also not uncommon to replace a neck on a set neck guitar...which involves pretty much the same fitting work. I am actually impressed that PB would be willing to ship you a new body. That comes at considerable expense from Australia. I did not like the quality of a kit that I ordered from a US supplier and had to pay the shipping to send it back to them. A replacement would have cost me shipping both ways.

At a similar price-point the quality from US suppliers is similar, quality control maybe a touch worse since PB has pretty regular contact with their suppliers. I certainly have not found US suppliers to be more accommodating. The folks at Fretwire were as good as those at PB, but the quality was no better. Other suppliers including the folks at Warmoth have terrible customer service, but I can't fault the quality of their necks and bodies.

This post will be of little value to DP, I suspect, but to any US resident who read it and is thinking about sending away to Australia for a kit... These are good value kits, and customer service is as good as one could expect given that it is on another continent. PB will even inspect your kit before sending if you ask--and I think you should. (Ask that of a US shipper and they will tell you your kit is boxed in a warehouse in another location, and that you should be prepared to eat the shipping if you need to send it back). Once you have your PB kit, use the forum, like the rest of us do, to help iron out any building or finishing issues you run into. it's best to do this before taking an axe to your axe.

[colin2121]

Well said gentlemen. Could not have put it better.

[Trevor Davies]

Great replies Dickybee007 and fender3x.

I have found that the PB team have always been great in solving any issues associated with kit quality.