GPR-1M Build X2

[Fatboy]

Hello All,
I last visited this place about a year ago with the build of my first kit geetar, an ATL-1SW which I still play and love.
This forum was very helpful with techniques and suggestions so I am back again.
Not with my second build as I have completed three other non Pitbull guitars in the last year.
This will be my fifth and sixth as will be made clear in a mo.
As my last build was coming to an end I thought 'just one more' and was looking for something unusual.
I came across the Pitbull GPR-1M which had an odd body shape, some nice binding and two f holes.
That'll do me I thought and ordered one.

It arrived in about a week to the UK which I thought was good going.
On inspection there were a few issues with the kit.
The binding had broken where it joins the lower neck and had been replaced with filler.
As the binding is quite wide this would have been very obvious.
There were no holes for the bridge or stoptail and the gold hardware ranged from 'fresh' to 'old'.
Hmmmm.....I took some pics and sent them that evening to Pitbull with a (I hope) nice covering email.
The next day I woke to find an email from Ben apologising and saying that another kit had been shipped to me.
The second kit arrived in six days with no duty, VAT or delivery to pay.
On inspection the binding was OK, four holes in the body and hardware that was a similar colour. Hooray !
I can't thank the boys at Pitbull enough, no quibbles etc, just sent another kit all the way to the UK.
Excellent customer service from them so well done chaps.

Ben said it was too expensive to return the kit when I asked and suggested that I practice on the duff one
and give it away which is exactly what I will do.
I know someone locally who would be thrilled to receive a guitar even if it has been assembled by me !

[Fatboy]

I shall call the builds No 1 and No 2, the duff one will come first but I shall be doing things to No 2 at the same
time as sometimes it is easier to get all the gear out and do two operations as it were.
I started to sand down the first body and the first thing I found was that due to the asymmetric shape it
is a slippery little bugger.
I managed to let it fall on the floor and ding the binding in two places.
Oh dear, something else to do.
I did a mild sand down of the body and neck just to have a look at the imperfections.
The neck fits the pocket well, but it does have some backbow which will make fret dressing awkward.

Anyone any ideas ?

My thoughts are to leave the fret dressing etc until after the neck is attached to the body.
The neck on No. 2 is a lot straighter.
Had a quick look at the electrics.....oo er.....
There are five holes drilled in the body for switchgear - two pots (volume and tone) a three way switch
for the pups and two smaller ones for (I guess) the switches that select humbucker or single coil.
Trouble is, on the loom supplied there are four pots, a three way switch and two small switches.
That makes 7 holes !
My last build had a similar set up but the switches were pull on/push off.
No idea what anyone was thinking there but I have dug up a circuit diagram that will utilise all of the holes as
someone dreamed they might be used haha.
That is, A volume pot, a tone pot, three way pup selector and two mini switches for humbucker or single coil
on each pup. Makes sense ? I hope so........

[DarkMark]

That good service!
Have you adjusted the truss rod to straighten the necks?
Personally I like to dress the frets before attaching the neck, but I know some people like to do it attached so up to you.

[dozymuppet]

Watching with curiosity. I was very tempted by this kit when I bought my latest one.

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

[Fatboy]

Mark, I normally do the fretwork before attaching the neck as there is one less thing to bugger up (the body).
I did adjust the truss rod and will leave it a couple of days to settle, I may be lucky as the bow is mainly up near the body join.
Had a P Bass kit that had a similar problem and a fortnight with the bass strings over tightened told that who was boss haha.
Fortunately that had a bolt on neck.

DM, (can't call you Dozy or Muppet haha), the kit style just seemed a little bit different which swung it for me.
Never thought that I would be building two though !

Cheers and thanks for your interest, FB.

[Fatboy]

Well I went out into the garage to do some more sanding but it is too cold out there.
'I know what I'll do......measure the holes that have to be drilled for the bridge and stop tail from the other body'.
Easy peasy or so I thought.......it seems that one of the holes for the bridge on No2 is not in the right place.
The right hand hole should be a few mm back and it shows.
What next ?
Not sure that I want to fill and re-drill as I wanted a stained top.
Leave it as it is, I might get away with it as the body is asymmetrical.

Any thoughts, chaps ?

Put it all away for now....grrr.

[teradoncollins]

I have the same issue with the bridge and tail piece holes not being drilled out. Kinda nervous since the neck is a tad loose as I don't want to drill and then accidentally set the neck wrong. Pics on the site showed them drilled vs other kits out there that weren't

Also, the listing said 24.75" scale length, but I measure 25". Have you checked yours? Not sure if that was wrong as well. I'm confident in my measurement, just scared to drill those holes.

[neverwas]

Hi FB
The bridge post hole on the low E side for a tuneomatic bridge is usually 1-2mm rearward than the high e side, this is necessary for proper intonation. If you have a guitar with this type bridge, or access to one, it's easy to see. Or just google tune-o-matic bridge, you'll see plenty of LP style that will show this.
Not the best pic, but both of these kit guitars have the same bridge and you can see the low E side post is set further back than the high e side


I have one of these kits, GPR-1M, I should get to. On the list of things to do. And mine does not have either bridge nor tailpiece holes drilled, it's how they were first offered.

Grant

[McCreed]

I have the same issue with the bridge and tail piece holes not being drilled out. Kinda nervous since the neck is a tad loose as I don't want to drill and then accidentally set the neck wrong. Pics on the site showed them drilled vs other kits out there that weren't

Also, the listing said 24.75" scale length, but I measure 25". Have you checked yours? Not sure if that was wrong as well. I'm confident in my measurement, just scared to drill those holes.

If your kit doesn't have bridge and tail piece holes, how are you determining the scale length?

As a quick check of the scale length of the neck itself, you can measure from the inside of the nut (heel/body side) to the centre of the 12th fret. This will give you half the full scale distance. For a 24-3/4" scale this should be approximately 314mm.
However only use this method to check the neck. When locating the bridge, you want to use the full measurement of 628.65mm (629).

Apologies if I'm telling you stuff you already know .

[McCreed]

Easy peasy or so I thought.......it seems that one of the holes for the bridge on No2 is not in the right place.
The right hand hole should be a few mm back and it shows.
What next ?

That looks correct to me based on the distance from the pickup cavity routing.

The treble end of the bridge that should be closer to the neck than the bass end. They should not be equal.
The treble end of the bridge needs to be closer to the nut to attain proper intonation of the E1 string.

Have a look at almost any guitar with a TOM bridge and you will see approximately a 3° angle slanting toward the neck/nut.
The stoptail piece should equidistant from the nut/neck.

Edit:
Oops, neverwas already addressed this before I posted. Hopefully it still helps...