Brendan or Adam will know better than I, but from what I can see (in addition to your observations) is the STA-1 kit is only available with the rosewood fretboard. The other two offer a choice of fretboard material.
The other distinction, is the STA-1 body is listed as "Ash" and the the DST-1 and GST-1 are specifically listed as "American Ash".
The plain "Ash" may be Asian grown variety and I believe tends to run heavier in density, where as the "American Ash" presuming it's grown in North America, generally run a little lighter. Hopefully someone from PBG will affirm or correct me here.
Neither of these are as light as "Swamp Ash" which is highly desired in American-made guitars because of it's a good balance between density (weight) and resonance.
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
McCreed, when you say it runs heavier, do you mean a closer grain or just weight?
Weight.
Timber density is calculated by Kg/M3 (cubic metre)
edit to add: for all intents & purposes, higher density timbers (heavier) increase in hardness too.
Ever snapped a drill bit drilling Iron Bark???
Just one reason you probably don't see a lot of Iron Bark guitars being built.
Last edited by McCreed; 07-01-2020 at 01:37 PM.
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
Also, the DST-1 has S-S-S pickup routing (so more authentic for a standard Strat build) whilst the other two have the more generic H-S-H pickup routs.
Looks like they come from different suppliers. Some relevant threads where the kits were announced:
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ead.php?t=8171
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ead.php?t=9431Originally Posted by GST
Originally Posted by DST
1. GS-2Q
2. EXM-1 custom
3. GMS-7F
Great researching skills there Chaosblade!
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
Definately come from a different factory. Ads has been quite active in looking for alternative options that offer different or better options for his customers. End result is that there is an increased range, but some apparent overlap between suppliers.
Personal experience - the G ash bodies (have a P bass to build) are heavier (sustain woot!) and a more widely spaced grain pattern than the STA's. Not massively, but does look wider spaced... Also tend to be a 2 piece body rather than a 4-5 piece in some of the other ash bodies. Haven't seen enough to say whether there is a bit closer colour matching in the pieces of the body - had an issue with a JBA-4 that didn't take a colourless stain well (one of the segments went light the rest dark and it looked weird - no biggie - just removed it and went with a dark brown stain and you can't tell the difference). May be an issue for some planned colour outcomes.
Please note that regardless of factory - warranty is the same - better deal than pretty much anyone else in the game...
Current builds:
GPB-4B: https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...548#post184548
Thanks everyone, it has cleared up a lot of things.
I reckon I’m going with a DST-1 kit with black hardware, karijini red on the body and a glossy clearcoat on the neck (or maybe tru-oil).