While I’m waiting for clear coat on #17 (the Red Tele) to go off I thought I might as well start another build.
I already have a real 1972 Fender J, an active Ibanez SDGR and a fretless PBG MM Bass, but I have always wanted P-Bass, so here we go again.
I bought an Ash body, Maple neck, GPB-4M kit. And I must say that I am very happy with the kit. Build quality is probably the best yet from Adam as the neck fit was so tight that I was able to pick up the complete guitar by the neck even before screwing it together. Very impressive.
My plan is for a natural finish to the body and neck, so I thought that a black pickguard would contrast nicely with the natural Ash finish. This is where I met my first problem.
I had ordered a black pickguard to replace the white one and although the standard kit plate fits perfectly the new black one does not. If I line up the pickups with the neck there is a gap around the controls at the tail of the guard.
I could have ordered another pre-cut guard from eBay but I was not sure which was out of standard alignment, the routing on the guitar or the new pickguard. So I ordered a blank pickguard and cut and finished it myself. This is just the rough cut out. I will trim it up later.
My second hurdle was the cheap black hardware I had ordered from China. This is my 18th guitar and I have never snapped a screw. So now I have my first. I was screwing the bridge in place and I had lubricated the screw in my usual fashion with candle wax, but the screw is of such poor quality that without any excessive pressure it snapped. Luckily it snapped just behind the head and was fairly easy to remove with multigrips. So I think I dodged a bullet with this one. But we are off to a less than auspicious start.
Hopefully when my replacements parts arrive I will have a bit more luck.
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