September Guitar of the Month (for Guitars and Basses finished in August)
Enter your finished guitar or bass here to be judged for the Pit Bull Guitars September Guitar of the Month.
Please remember:
For Guitars or Basses finished on (or before) the end of August.
One guitar/bass per member per month.
It must be a Pit Bull Guitars kit (mods and upgrades acceptable).
Guitar or Bass must be finished and playable.
We need at least 4 photos:
· full guitar shot from the front;
· close up of the body finish;
· shot of the back of the guitar; and
· close up of the headstock (please, no brand name logos)
Please post your photos in this thread. If you are having issues posting photos on the forum, please email them to brendan (at) pitbullguitars (dot) com
Please note: This competition is open to amateur guitar builders only. If you are making and selling guitars for profit, you are ineligible. Also while there are some stunning guitars around - you never know what the judges are looking for, so we encourage anyone who's built a Pitbull during the month to enter!
Competition for September closes at the end of August (Perth Western Australian time).
The sorts of things we judge on include:
· How well have the body and neck been prepared
· Is the choice of finish for the style of guitar appropriate
· How well has the finish been applied
· How well has all the hardware, pickups, etc, been installed
· Does it have the 'Wow Factor'· Which guitar would you make a beeline for in a guitar shop. That is, which one would you most like to take home.
BTW - remember that the winner is invited to be a guest judge the following month!
First entry - from Richard:
So this is the covid 19 strat.
Ash body maple neck with rosewood fretboard. I was going to paint it but the woodgrain was so nice that I decided to stain with a Jarrah tint. Around 40 coats of tru oil. Babicz full contact bridge and tremelo and Grover locking machine heads. Very happy with the tone from the Tonerider vintage p/ups.
All together a very nice looking and beautiful playing and sounding guitar.
Here's my No 2 build. Roger Rossmeisl was poached from Rickenbacker by Fender to create hollow and semi-hollow guitars like Coronado, Thinline and Starcaster. This kit was a second due a a binding imperfection. I was struck by the tigerstripe maple but the basswood back and sides had nice grain, too.
I was inspired by Framus and Hofner guitars of the 50s and 60s with their sometimes OTT tortoiseshell appliques. The headstock looked plain so now it looks like a stylised spear head!
The pearl button tuners I had sitting around. The acoustic 3m pickguard material too - it's stuck on the standard 3 layer guard.
First dye job, using water based brown underneath to pop the grain and orange for the Fantaburst. Brown black orange on the sides and back for the aged driftwood look. Finish is Feast Watson wipe on poly. First time I used it. Very impressive and easy to use. When I dissemble the pickups I'll buff it.
The amber knobs cost me $2.50(!) and the Widerange Humbucker knockoffs with cream surrounds a whole $20. Wired in the 50s style with very good control interaction.
At 7.5kohm the neck is pretty smooth and jazzy, 10kohm the bridge has got quite some bite. I have some FeCrCo (iron chrome cobalt) pickup screw slugs coming, these replicate the original CuNiFe (copper nickel cobalt) magnets Fender used which are unobtanium. Will have to drill and tap the humbucker bobbins. I am hoping it will approximate genuine WRHBs.
I have some vinyl stick on black block fret markers coming, similar to what Fender used on maple neck P-basses, I think that will suit the bound maple nicely.
Only other change is a roller saddle bridge, that fixed the tuning instability on my Gretsch Bigsby, this one's not too bad anyway.
The faux Bigsby interferes with the controls but otherwise ergonomics of this are pretty good, nice upper fret reach. Very comfy to hold.
This is my first Pit Bull kit build, the ES-1GT.
I would have finished it a month earlier except for a bout of Covid 19!
The finish was inspired by a build on the internet and when I saw it I just thought "I gotta have one of those!"
Finish is done with Crimson Guitars Stunning stains (water based). Then many many coats of Omi Cron 2k acrylic lacquer.
The artwork on the back of the guitar is one of my other hobbies. The method is to complete the picture in reverse by building the base coats, locking back with lacquer, adding more base colours and then scratching through the various colours to reveal the finished effect.
The name chosen was "Eclipse".
Headstock was veneered and then a homemade waterslide transfer applied.
Trussrod cover was made by bonding 7 veneers together, cutting to shape and then sanding to reveal the various colours of the veneers.
The final finish was achieved by hand sanding through the various grades to 2500 and then G3 compound followed by hours and hours (days) of T-Cut. All done by hand so that I could control it.
Modifications include new pu's (Warman Tennessee), bone nut, volume switches replaced with the push/pull switches to give me the choice of series/parallel effect, roller bridge, Bigsby style vibrato and Gold/Abalone knobs.
The guitar plays beautifully (the guitar - not me). Intonation was a non event and it stays in tune beyond expectation. The range of tones is more than enough for me and balance is great so a compliment to Pit Bull for getting it right.
1. Richard's AST-1:
Simple, elegant and beautiful - an Ash ST at it's best. The Jarrah tint separates it from the lighter/natural Ash builds we see. Nice hardware upgrades. Would have loved to see a logo on the headstock and the scratchplate looks like it may be a touch tight on around the bridge. Great build.
Very clean build with good attention to detail. Good choice on the stain as that grain is amazing. Excellent choice of upgrades. The only negative for me is the lack of headstock decal, which is personal choice, but I do enjoy seeing how people name and personalise their builds.
I love how the grain is the hero of this build. It would be criminal to cover up such a nice grain and you've done a great job of showcasing it. The build and finish both look great, with the clear coat looking relatively even with a nice shine. For me, the very plain headstock detracts from the overall appearance of the guitar and makes it still seem a bit unfinished.
Wow! Brilliant choice and execution of finish to really bring out that stunning grain. Gorgeous looking guitar, great work!
2. Dacious' FS-1:
The *caster has always been an odd shape to me, but it does stand out. Love the driftwood look of the back and sides, although very different compared to the top. Definitely tortoiseshell++ with the headstock, but works well with the top. Nice build.
I know they a bit divisive, but I like these kits. Interesting approach to the headstock, points for doing something different, not sure it works for me personally. Bit hard to see the finishing, but the flame looks nice. Well considered upgrades. Zooming in reveals a little messiness on the pickguard, is the plastic still on or are there bubbles around the screw holes? Also appears to be some loose wiring in the F holes. Probably splitting hairs, but often it’s the little things that really elevate a build from good to great.
Overall a very nice build. The finish around the binding looks nice and clean. The Headstock is very unique and sets this guitar apart. Matching the inlay with the pickguard is a nice touch. The colouring on the front of the body works well with that veneer. I feel however that the overall presentation of the guitar is let down by the quality of the photos. I'm sure it pops more in real life, but the colour, particularity of the neck and back of the body, seem muted and a bit dull in what we're seeing.
From what we can see in the photos, this looks like an amazing build, with some original mods to really set it apart. Unfortunately, I think the over-exposed photos have let you down.
3. Ricky's ES-1GT:
Beautiful purple top with gold hardware that looks absolutely stunning. The artwork on the back is incredible, love it, but for me the red around it somewhat disconnects it from the top which is a shame (but could just be the photos). Fantastic headstock with an awesome TRC, love the layers. Great upgrades and definitely something you'd want to pick up and play.
Very unique take on this model, definitely not to my tastes so wouldn’t pick it up in a music store, however looking objectively there has been a lot of work put into this guitar with a focus on making it personal, so extra points from me there. Attention to detail is good and overall looks to be put together well with some well thought out upgrades. Stickers left on the back of the tuners is a point off.
This is a stunning piece of workmanship to be proud of. The staining, the design on the back, the headstock, and the clearcoat finish are better than any 'professional' build that I have seen for a ong while. The truss rod cover is a cleaver piece of design (which I'm going to pinch for my next build). There look to be a couple of minor finish faults near the lower horn, but otherwise this guitar is flawless. Congratulations on a fantastic build.
Who doesn’t love a Howling Wolf motif! What an inspired build; classic, elegant front, with a party at the back.
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