Trevor Davies and I did a little digging through the misc pile today in the warehouse..
...guess what we found?
pbg-2 electric guitar kit/
beautiful mahogany body and neck!
it's in the specials & seconds cos it's old, but I think it's still good to go. I've never seen this kit before, but looks good to me!
That is seriously cool!
Not sure what it is based on, but they look cool!
PitBull Builds: FVB-4, LP-1SS, FBM-1, AG-2, TB-4, SSCM-1, TLA-1,TL-1TB, STA-1HT, DSCM-1 Truckster, ST-1, STA-1, MBM-1, MBM custom, GHR-1 (Resonator), FH-5V (Acoustic).
Scratch Builds: Pine Explorer, Axe Bass, Mr Scary, Scratchy Tele's.
The little voices in my head keep telling me "build more guitars"
[laughs}Originally Posted by Tim Rattigan
That body looks very similar to what I spent ages trying to come up with from scratch.... could have saved a lot of time!
Yours is also seriously cool. Fortunately it's just enough different to avoid getting a cease and desist letter from Tim ;-)
.... actually I've quite enjoyed all the guesswork, trials and problem solving....... It is amusing though - what I come up with is both "original" but also "done before"!
I'd like to get such a letter..... I'd either frame it or transfer it onto the guitar top!
Yeah, I think that sort of makes a build "organic." How you solve a problem can lead to everything else. On my hybrid bass, the decision I made about what pickup to use ended up determining (or at least informing) all the color choices, how I attached the neck, the bridge placement, etc.
Speaking of organic... you seem to have had a case of convergent evolution. It's hard to improve on a Strat or Tele shape. They are comfortable, simple, cool looking and among the easiest to manufacture and customize. I suspect that PB was looking for a simpler LP/SG alternative...and it just sort of naturally began to push into Tele territory. Yours sort of went the other way, starting to look for an alternative to the Esquire, that started moving toward LP/Epi territory... and voila!I'd like to get such a letter..... I'd either frame it or transfer it onto the guitar top!
A lot of folks who come here want to build the guitar they grew up wanting, which is a great reason. There are a few who make things that are totally unique, which leads to some really cool builds (TD has a bunch of those!). There's also something in between, that I think of as tributes. As a case in point, I wanted a P-bass that would sound like my 70's Precision, but have a neck that was more like my G&L ASAT bass (like a Jazz Bass with a flatter radius), and would be the translucent dark red color with a batwing headstock like first bass (an Epi Newport). I also wanted it to be lighter than any of the three. Not like any of the three, but a tribute to all three. Building is about the only way you can get that.
Yours is an interesting mashup of LP Junior and Esquire with some unique bits. It's like some things, and also unlike everything else.
Last edited by fender3x; 18-07-2025 at 01:05 AM.
Yes - I've had a few looks at the past builds and there's a mixture of faithful builds of specific models and some that are obviously cusomised to particular wants/tastes.... many are spectacular (and give off great ideas).....
That's a pretty good summary of what's been happening.....
I wanted a shorter scale and a single pup with a jack on the front.... the Tele shape seemed to be the best starting point to get all this and I then thought of how I could change it to be "customised" for myself.
After the first body was finished - I was really happy with it - but because of it - I noticed some small "improvements" that would assist in that customisation..... as you say, one thing leads to another, same with the pickup... starting with a tele bridge pickup and a few things I learned along the way, I'm now looking at at Filter'tron,
When the second body was finished I was wildly happy with that.....Now the second body can be assessed better as the neck is on..... that assessment leads to another couple of changes (not much - I think I just trimmed the upper bout a bit too much, the back is not actually "round" as I wanted and the upper bout connects to the neck socket a bit awkwardly to my eye, so just the one practical and a couple of aesthetic bits).
Hmmmmmm..... I wonder if I've developed a "problem".... am I hearing TD's "voices"?
I wonder how long before the wife complains?
It doesn't look like anything else because it's an original design that PB experimented with in their early days. Something about it looked familiar. I remember them from when I became a member... about half way down this thread is a post from Adam about the PBG-1 and PBG-2
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ead.php?t=5445
I went back into the Exhibition Centre forum and found a couple of them:
PBG-2
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ead.php?t=2209
PBG-1
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ad.php?t=11739
From the pics it looks like the kit you guys found may actually be a PBG-1...which would make it *the* original, original Pit Bull design. It looks like the PB2 might have come with a locking trem. I really like the use of the Marshall knobs with the gold hardware.
I love guitars like this. I really like the curvy design (particularly if you add an arm and a belly cut. And it doesn't quite look like anything else. Great alternative to a PRS or G1B50N, complete with the shorter scale. It should have been a best seller.
Maybe this model should be resurrected as a short scale single cut!
PitBull Builds: FVB-4, LP-1SS, FBM-1, AG-2, TB-4, SSCM-1, TLA-1,TL-1TB, STA-1HT, DSCM-1 Truckster, ST-1, STA-1, MBM-1, MBM custom, GHR-1 (Resonator), FH-5V (Acoustic).
Scratch Builds: Pine Explorer, Axe Bass, Mr Scary, Scratchy Tele's.
The little voices in my head keep telling me "build more guitars"
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