Greetings from Brisbane

[madmikedynamite]

Hi there,

I've just recently signed up. Thanks to everone who contributes here, there is a lot of great info.

I'm looking at building a Hardtail ST but am having decision paralysis over the neck lol. Back in the ninties I had a seafoam green Profile strat copy with maple fretboard. Unfortunately it was stolen in a breakin in the sharehouse I was in. I'm not a great player by any means but I'm really wanting to have another strat again after playing a couple of Ibanez Roadstars since then.

I've never been a tremolo user and both my current guitars are blocked even the floyd in my RS440. So the hardtail options pitbull have are really tempting over tracking down a squier hardtail, stripping an repainting. I'm in the process of sanding an rebulding a $40 casino strat copy as a painting trail run. The sanding hasn't been the most fun exercise.

My problem with the fretboard decision really comes down to not really knowing how to finish the maple fingerboard, any tips would be greatly appreciated. The back of the neck seems easier as a wipe/sand on poly seems the way to go but finishing the fretboard, is it best to spray a finish there? Or would a wipe on oil finsh be the way to go front and back? If I went the rosewood option I wouldn't need to worry about this but it's not 100% the final guitar I want.

Also for those that have built a Pitbull ST how do they compare with squier's are they on the same level of quality?

Cheers

Mike

[McCreed]

My problem with the fretboard decision really comes down to not really knowing how to finish the maple fingerboard, any tips would be greatly appreciated. The back of the neck seems easier as a wipe/sand on poly seems the way to go but finishing the fretboard, is it best to spray a finish there? Or would a wipe on oil finsh be the way to go front and back?

Hi MMD. Fellow Brisbanite (Brisbanian???) here.

A maple fretboard is standardly finished with the same finish material as the back and headstock. It can applied by either spraying or by hand with a wipe-on product such as polyurethane, other polymerising oil (eg: Tru Oil, Tung Oil etc).
Poly can be purchased in rattle cans if you have a suitable pace to do so. There are also various lacquers available in spray cans as well if that's your preference.

Also for those that have built a Pitbull ST how do they compare with squier's are they on the same level of quality?

I have not done a PBG ST, but IMO comparing the quality of a kit build vs a factory-produced Squier is a bit like apples and oranges, and there are varying levels just within the Squier brand. Are you talking Bullet? Affinity? Classic Vibe? Deluxe?

A kit guitar can indeed be better, but with a heap of caveats, first being the builders ability to finish the raw wood parts, assemble and properly set it up and of course hardware choices. A large part of BYOG is the ability to customise to your exact (or near) specs. With typical a Squier, you get what you get as far as colour choice, hardware etc.

[Simon Barden]

Hi and welcome.

McCreed's said it all really. You'' get finish all over the frets but that will sand off, after which you just go up the grits getting finer and finer until you're ready to polish them and make them like new.

Quality level is down to time experience and how much money you are willing to expend. The kit woods aren't the best quality woods out there - you aren't paying anywhere near enough for that, but they are certainly on a par with Squiers.

Due to ash dieback affecting so many trees, getting good quality ash is getting really hard, so whilst you may get an ash body or even an 'American ash' body, unlike a few years ago, you are unlikely to get a body made from dark ash with the grain lines far apart and all swirly as some of the kit pictures show. It's more likely to be white ash (if American), or another variety if not, with grain lines a lot closer together and a lot straighter.

If you want to duplicate the general look on an RS440, then a solid colour will be most suitable, so the grain pattern doesn't really matter that much.

Finish is all important if you want it to look like a bought guitar. Getting a good finish takes time, and there's a lot of sanding preparation and getting things smooth before applying the finish. It's not something that you're likely to get perfect on your first go, but it can be done.

Upgrading parts can certainly help improve the looks and new pickups will improve the sound, but the cost quickly adds up. You can certainly make a guitar that is as good as, or probably better than, a good Mexican Strat from a Pit Bull kit in look and feel and sound, but you'll probably spend just as much as you would as if you'd bought one. And it's resale value will be far less. On the other hand you've got a unique custom instrument that you've tailored to your requirements.

I made this Strat from a GST-1 kit for a friend who needed the MIDI pickup in it and he's pleased as punch with it. I personally don't like the colour but apart from that I think it looks lovely and it plays and sounds better than most Strats costing twice its final price (and 1/5 of that was down to the MIDI kit and extra bits needed for that).



That was my sixth build, but my earlier builds ended up quite similar in overall quality.

[madmikedynamite]

Hi MMD. Fellow Brisbanite (Brisbanian???) here.

A maple fretboard is standardly finished with the same finish material as the back and headstock. It can applied by either spraying or by hand with a wipe-on product such as polyurethane, other polymerising oil (eg: Tru Oil, Tung Oil etc).
Poly can be purchased in rattle cans if you have a suitable pace to do so. There are also various lacquers available in spray cans as well if that's your preference.

I have not done a PBG ST, but IMO comparing the quality of a kit build vs a factory-produced Squier is a bit like apples and oranges, and there are varying levels just within the Squier brand. Are you talking Bullet? Affinity? Classic Vibe? Deluxe?

A kit guitar can indeed be better, but with a heap of caveats, first being the builders ability to finish the raw wood parts, assemble and properly set it up and of course hardware choices. A large part of BYOG is the ability to customise to your exact (or near) specs. With typical a Squier, you get what you get as far as colour choice, hardware etc.

Hi McCreed,

Thanks for the reply. Ha ha Brisneyland! Well actually I'm in Moreton Shire but only just.

I'm after a satin or oil finish at least for the back of the neck so will do some more research on that.

With regards to Squiers , yeah I would consider Bullet or Affinity level, hardware aside. I wouldn't really expect a $200ish kit as is to compare with anything above these. Also I do understand the finishing is on me. I guess my query was how do the bodies and necks compare to these entry level squiers?

[madmikedynamite]

Hi Simon,

Cheers for this. I love the colour of your build, it looks a quality job.

Yeah I'll be going for a solid colour so the grain patterns aren't an issue. I'm really after that 50's seafoam & maple look, which is hard to comeby in a budget price range.

cheers

[Simon Barden]

It varies from kit to kit as some are basswood (best for solid colours IMO though some stain them) and a lot of Squiers will be basswood. Basswood is very soft so it needs a finish to harden it up. Ash is better for stained finishes and it’s a lot harder, relatively speaking. Body size and shape is normally a close match to a Squier, though forearm contours and belly cuts tend to be slightly smaller, but can be easily enlarged.

Necks are pretty good, in some cases a lot better than the Squiers. Occasionally you’ll get fret ends poking out but they generally feel good in the hand with a modern C profile that’s going to be similar to the Squiers. Plus the rosewood boards are once again real rosewood, which you won’t get on a Squier. The paddle headstock means you can choose to cut a slimmer vintage or wider 70s headstock shape, or something unique if you wish.

Tuner holes are rarely in a perfectly straight line and the wrong spacing for vintage-style tuners (people have plugged and redrilled the holes to fit them, putting maple veneer on the face to hide the marks).

Control routs are often a couple of mm shallower than on a US model (but Squiers are often the same) so fitting CRL or Oak Grigsby switches can require some work to make the rout deeper.

Like Squiers, the kit bridge spacing is slightly narrower than a US model, so keep that in mind if selecting an aftermarket bridge as you don’t want the strings getting too near the edge of the fretboard.

But that’s all I can think of. Any other issues will be down to individual kit problems.

[McCreed]

Simon put some great detail into his answers (he's good like that!). Unlike my vagaries .

And I totally agree with:
"You can certainly make a guitar that is as good as, or probably better than, a good Mexican Strat from a Pit Bull kit in look and feel and sound, but you'll probably spend just as much as you would as if you'd bought one."