1st Pit Bull kit, LP1

[captcrank]

Greetings from the USA. Here's my 1st Pit Bull kit in progress.

I've built kits before, as well as scratch builds and "parts guitars". I am always keeping an eye out for quality kits at reasonable prices, and so far I'm not disappointed with this one.

I've gone for a weathered/distressed look here (a frequent theme of mine). The color is Varathane Ebony stain. To get the look I was after I applied the stain, let it set 5 minutes or so, then wiped it down with mineral spirits to remove the excess, revealing some great contrast on the top, and a worn look on the back, sides, and headstock. Dog bone inlay on the headstock is mother of pearl. After gluing the neck the whole guitar was sprayed with 9 coats of rattle can nitro cellulose lacquer, satin finish.

[FrankenWashie]

That's nice Captcrank, really like that see through effect you've pulled in with the stain. Great Job!

[gavinturner]

Looking good man. The flame has popped very nicely indeed!

cheers,
Gav.

[Fretworn]

Welcome CaptCrank

[stan]

Wow, really cool guitar - welcome

[Andy40]

give the dog a bone CaptCrank nice work

[Dedman]

mmmmm dark goodness!

[Simon Barden]

Yes, coming along nicely.

[captcrank]

Thanks everyone. I'll post pics of the finished guitar once completed... Soon... Maybe.

[captcrank]

A little more detail about the build to this point:

When I first test fit the neck there was some significant lateral movement. Hoarder that I am, I found some very thin cutoffs of poplar from my last scratch build. After trimming to fit the treble side of the neck tenon I glued them up and left clamped overnight. Then, little by little I was able to sand these shims back until I got a nice fit.

The most time consuming part was, of course, spraying the lacquer. Per the label recommendation, each coat was sprayed at least 30 minutes apart. I soaked the cans in hot water (120-130° F) before spraying and between coats to keep it from spattering in my cold garage. Before entering the garage to spray I donned an appropriate respirator because I like breathing. Vent fan in the window and the cat flap opened to provide a draft, the odor never entered the house. So it was respirator, go spray, return can to hot water, set timer, play GTA V until timer was up, repeat. That was Saturday in a nutshell.

That said, I've got appx 10 hours in this so far. From experience I estimate 3-5 more hours to wire it and dial in the setup. Probably Saturday...