First Build -- PB kit

[PB4ME]

This is my first build. I play bass and guitar but decided to start with a PB kit, for now!
I spent a lot of time looking at every PB kit I could find and decided that I would try a pitt bull kit.
I ordered the kit on Jan 14th. I wondered how long it would take my kit to arrive with all the world in covid chaos so thought I would post the tracking so everyone could see the shipping times. Nothing else to see yet...

17 Jan 11:20 Dispatched Shipment picked up (PU)
17 Jan 17:11 In Transit Arrived at Sort Facility PERTH-AUS (AF)
17 Jan 21:20 In Transit Processed at PERTH-AUS (PL)
17 Jan 22:14 In Transit Departed Facility in PERTH-AUS (DF)
18 Jan 22:59 In Transit Arrived at Sort Facility SINGAPORE-SGP (AF)
19 Jan 08:15 In Transit Processed at SINGAPORE-SGP (PL)
19 Jan 08:42 In Transit Departed Facility in SINGAPORE-SGP (DF)
19 Jan 12:05 In Transit Customs status updated (RR)
19 Jan 12:21 In Transit Customs status updated (RR)
19 Jan 16:01 In Transit Arrived at Sort Facility HONG KONG-HKG (AF)
19 Jan 17:48 In Transit Clearance processing complete at HONG KONG-HKG (CR)
19 Jan 21:55 In Transit Processed at HONG KONG-HKG (PL)
19 Jan 22:15 In Transit Departed Facility in HONG KONG-HKG (DF)
20 Jan 03:43 In Transit Arrived at Sort Facility CINCINNATI HUB,OH-USA (AF)
20 Jan 04:06 Exception Shipment on hold (OH)
25 Jan 02:41 In Transit Clearance processing complete at CINCINNATI HUB,OH-USA (CR)
25 Jan 05:24 In Transit Processed at CINCINNATI HUB,OH-USA (PL)
25 Jan 07:29 In Transit Departed Facility in CINCINNATI HUB,OH-USA (DF)
25 Jan 10:54 In Transit Arrived at Delivery Facility in MORRISVILLE,NC-USA (AR)
25 Jan 14:18 Out for Delivery With delivery courier (WC)
25 Jan 15:50 Delivered Delivered - Signed for by (OK)

[McCreed]

I think you'll be surprised how quickly it get to the US. Not sure how US Customs and USPS are travelling these days though.

[Gunut75]

Anytime I order one it gets here (Wisconsin, USA) in about one week. Last one had a stop in Germany. I had one kit take 4 days to my front door. They use DHL for deliveries here.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[PB4ME]

I am absolutely amazed that it arrived this quickly! WAY TO GO DHL and there were NO tears in the box and only slight dings!
It left Ohio this morning at 0241 and arrived at my house at 1550. TAKE NOTICE UPS!!! Time to open her up and have a first look at it.

[PB4ME]

So, I have unboxed the PB bass and have taken a few pictures to document what things I have noticed. First I would like to say that the box had three small dents that did not penetrate the cardboard. Considering it has been from Australia to Singapore to Hong Kong to Ohio, to NC and then to my address, I think this is a modern day miracle. I also have noticed this body is composed of 4 glued-up pieces of basswood. I was expecting 2 pieces, but not 4. I guess that is the sign of the times as old growth forest are no more. Being this is my first kit, I really don't know what is considered a "good" kit versus a "bad" kit and how to judge this particular one against the normal quality of the wood that ships in these kits. I will describe what I notice and let you more experienced builders render your opinions. The body has a small knot that is in the bottom elbow of the body but is mostly clear other than that. There is a spot in the neck cavity where there appears to be a one inch split. Upon closer inspection, it is where the two center sections were glued together and the joint is not quite tight in that area (jointer runoff?). This means there is a joint under the neck so two screws in one piece and two in the other piece. Could this cause a problem of neck stability later on? There also appears to have a similar thing going on in the area around the pick guard behind the pickups. There are another couple of blemishes that are small and can be sanded out. There is one small dent on the bottom of the neck very close to the glue joint of the fretboard. It appears it was dropped or something dropped on it. The dent is small but deep enough it can't be sanded out (IMHO). I am thinking it might can be taken out with a hot iron/steam technique. Any thoughts on how that would work on maple very near the fretboard glue joint? The nut is not set straight but is no big deal as I ordered the bone nut upgrade. I had been waiting to get the raw wood before spending too much time thinking of how I would finish this. I think the wood has determined it needs to be painted and not stained. I will give it some sanding before I make that decision final to see if the blemishes disappear or not. I will attempt to post the pictures for all to see and give their advice/opinions.

[PB4ME]

[PB4ME]

[PB4ME]

[McCreed]

Wow!
If it was just that ding on the front, I'd just say steam it out, but that lower horn... that's disgraceful.
It could likely be filled, smoothed and painted over so it was not noticeable, but that's pretty poor quality IMO. Whilst basswood isn't known for its great figuring, the decision to stain or paint should be up to you, not determined by how crappy the wood is.

For positive input:
I think the ding in the neck could also be steamed out, but if not totally, and if you're not planning the stain the neck (just apply clear coat) it could be drop-filled with CA during the finish process. I think you could very nearly make it invisible.

The gap in the pieces in the neck pocket are pretty minor from what I've seen. If it's a concern for you, I would wick some water thin CA into the crack until it's filled then sand away any residual.
Whilst it is disappointing that it is a 4-piece body, I would not be concerned about having a seam in the neck pocket. Even a high quality 2-piece body is going to have a join there as it would be the exact centreline of the body. No away around that. Two screws on either side of the join is normal.

Overall (apart from that horrible knot) the little dings and such are fairly normal for this price range of kit, and as I've comment above, workable.

However, I would certainly contact PBG via email and include all those photos. They are well-known for making things right when things are wrong, but it's frustrating that the onus repeatedly falls on the customer, rather than better pre-ship QA (QC in your part of the world).

[PB4ME]

McCreed,
Thank you for your input. I will forward the pics to PB just so they can see the quality coming out of the factory. I should have remembered the CA glue tip from my model building days. Thanks for reminding me! I also agree 100% that I should not have to decide how it is finished based on how crappy the wood is. I am not totally bummed out about it as it is not a total POS. I have to be honest with myself and I understood before I purchased this kit that it would not wind up being anything near what a $1700 Fender P-bass is, nor could it rival anything built from a raw block of wood hand selected for it's character and grain. I have been watching a LARGE number of videos of various finishing products, techiques, ect form various youtube channels. ( I still want to make some T-shirts that say "I received my education from YouTube"). I hade three "ideas" (clear, stain, or paint. What else is there really?) in mind for a finish, all depending and what I think I could accomplish and be satisfied with as a first build with the skills that I have and the knowledge I could tap into on Youtube and THIS FORUM. The help from the forum is the unknown ( since I know some musicians can be a finicky lot! LOL) GEM that I am about to discover. Thank you for your advice and opinion!