Pitbull ES kit Build

[vivek_rc]

Hi All,

I received my ES today and was dry fitting it. Unlike my other builds I plan to glue the neck first before any staining finishing etc. I’ve got a question, I’ve fitted the neck into the pocket and if I press the tenon flush with the base of the neck pocket, there is a gap on the hell and sides where the neck heel meets the body. Likewise if I push the neck so that it is flush with the heel and sides, then there is a gap between the base of the tenon and the base of the neck pocket. It’s rockin . Attached are some pictures. First two are with the tenon pressed flush to the base of the neck pocket & gap at heel, next two pics are the neck heel flush with the body and then showing the gap between tenon and base of pocket. Any advise on best way forward? Thanks in advance…

[Simon Barden]

The neck angle on those ES-1 kits can be very shallow, so you don't want anything to make it shallower. You definitely want the neck to sit like this, but you need to check that you don't need to try and increase the angle more:



Those neck tenons often seem to be curved for some reason. Maybe they finish them off on a spindle sander, which is a stupid thing to do. You certainly want it flat, so you can clamp it securely without risking the neck angle changing.

I'd stick one or two pieces of a hard veneer (like maple) on the bottom of the curved tenon area, then sand away the excess so the whole bottom of the neck heel is flat.

Before doing that, with the neck clamped in place as per the photo above, first level the neck using the truss rod, then check with a straight edge as to where the edge will hit the bridge when set to it's lowest value (wrap tape around the bridge posts so they will fit in the post holes, and allow a bit more height for the raised edges of the post inserts). If you are lucky, the straight edge will end up pretty much sitting on top of the saddles or up to a couple of mm higher. If unlucky, the straight edge will sit below the top of the saddles. The more below, the worse it is.

Test it out, and take a picture if unsure.

With strings on, the bridge will need to come up by a couple of mm from the 'straight edge just touching the top of the saddles' position. Too much neck angle and the bridge will sit very high and not be that stable. Too little, and even with the bridge sitting on the body, you can end up with a high string action you can't do anything about. It needs to be that Goldilocks 'just right' angle. Better to find out now than after you've glued the neck in place.

[vivek_rc]

The neck angle on those ES-1 kits can be very shallow, so you don't want anything to make it shallower. You definitely want the neck to sit like this, but you need to check that you don't need to try and increase the angle more:



Those neck tenons often seem to be curved for some reason. Maybe they finish them off on a spindle sander, which is a stupid thing to do. You certainly want it flat, so you can clamp it securely without risking the neck angle changing.

I'd stick one or two pieces of a hard veneer (like maple) on the bottom of the curved tenon area, then sand away the excess so the whole bottom of the neck heel is flat.

Before doing that, with the neck clamped in place as per the photo above, first level the neck using the truss rod, then check with a straight edge as to where the edge will hit the bridge when set to it's lowest value (wrap tape around the bridge posts so they will fit in the post holes, and allow a bit more height for the raised edges of the post inserts). If you are lucky, the straight edge will end up pretty much sitting on top of the saddles or up to a couple of mm higher. If unlucky, the straight edge will sit below the top of the saddles. The more below, the worse it is.

Test it out, and take a picture if unsure.

With strings on, the bridge will need to come up by a couple of mm from the 'straight edge just touching the top of the saddles' position. Too much neck angle and the bridge will sit very high and not be that stable. Too little, and even with the bridge sitting on the body, you can end up with a high string action you can't do anything about. It needs to be that Goldilocks 'just right' angle. Better to find out now than after you've glued the neck in place.

Thanks Simon,

I’ve performed the check as you’ve advised and the action looks like it would be high.


I’m not keen to try to shim the neck or implement some other workaround. I might return the kit…I’ll do more checks to confirm, but looks like I might send this back.

Thanks Simon

[Simon Barden]

Yes. 1-2 mm below the top of the saddle would be OK, but as you need to add on 1mm for the post insert rim you are going to end up with an action that is less than ideal.

The only ‘easy’ solution I know of would to be to fit a Göldo Lowrider bridge, which is about 4mm lower overall and what I ended up fitting on my ES-1. But they only seem to be available in Europe at a small number of outlets (it’s quite a niche item, so whilstva lot of places carry their other hardware, this item is often missing), and they use 4mm posts, so you need to fit thread adapters as well. Which makes it quite an expensive upgrade to fix a kit problem. Not prohibitive, from around €38, but you need to add on shipping and you need to find a supplier that will ship to Australia rather than just within Europe. I found they are often out of stock. But it is a quality bridge. Göldo are the hardware arm of Duesenberg Guitars, so they also make all those lovely Duesenberg trem systems.

[vivek_rc]

Yes. 1-2 mm below the top of the saddle would be OK, but as you need to add on 1mm for the post insert rim you are going to end up with an action that is less than ideal.

The only ‘easy’ solution I know of would to be to fit a Göldo Lowrider bridge, which is about 4mm lower overall and what I ended up fitting on my ES-1. But they only seem to be available in Europe at a small number of outlets (it’s quite a niche item, so whilstva lot of places carry their other hardware, this item is often missing), and they use 4mm posts, so you need to fit thread adapters as well. Which makes it quite an expensive upgrade to fix a kit problem. Not prohibitive, from around €38, but you need to add on shipping and you need to find a supplier that will ship to Australia rather than just within Europe. I found they are often out of stock. But it is a quality bridge. Göldo are the hardware arm of Duesenberg Guitars, so they also make all those lovely Duesenberg trem systems.

I’ve sent a request to pitbulll to return the kit, I’m Not keen on Performing modifications and to spend more money on the kit to make it work.

Thanks again for the advice and guidance Simon, much appreciated