Matts PBH-4 build

[Matty]

Well guys, my PBH-4 kit arrived today. How exciting!

Just to get it out of the way now, I'll be trying to include as many pictures as I can, but my camera's not the best, so please excuse the lousy quality. There will also likely be a few stupid questions in here. If anyone can help this noob out it would be most appreciated.

Upon receiving the kit, first thing I did was check out the neck. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. Beautiful crafted, and just about dead on straight right out of the box. Can't ask more than that for a kit bass. The body was very nicely shaped, but does appear to have a couple of spots with filler. I'll have to look into digging that out.

Didn't have time to do a great deal with the kit today, but got to try my luck with a quick test build, and took a stab at marking where the bridge will be installed.

First, I slid the neck into the pocket to check the fit. From what I could see it was sitting flat in the pocket, but there's a gap between the neck and the pocket edge on the E string side, which causes the neck to move ever so slightly in the pocket. Does anyone have any tips here? From looking at the heel of the neck once in the body, looks close to right. I can't help but shake the feeling it's sitting a little high on the G side of the neck (I've included pictures). Is this a problem, or should it be right as it is?

I thought applying the pick guard might help the neck sit in place, but it turns out it doesn't fit. It appears to be cut too narrow around the neck pocket, and slightly off centre too. Would it be worth sanding it down or trying to cut off the excess to get it to fit?

[Matty]

Anyways, after this point I put the bridge pickup in and got onto checking the neck was square. To do this I followed the instructions Dmac laid out in his "Setting Up a Neck" thread. Using the very bottom of the lowest poles on the bridge pickup as my reference spot, I measured from the nut to the outermost pole on both sides of the guitar both straight and horizontally. All my measurements checked out, so I got started making the measurements for the bridge.

Knowing the neck was square to the body, I measured the centre of both pickup cavities and the truss access point, then lined them up and ruled a line through the body at these points to get the centre line. Then I put the ruler to each side of the neck and, following the neck's natural line, ruled lines at both sides of the neck. The points didn't line up right at first, but after realising I had messed up a measurement and retaking it, I got the lines to measure up just right, giving me my centre line.

After I had the centre line marked, I measured the scale. These numbers came out exactly as anticipated. To have the saddles sitting at the 34" mark, I set the very top of the bridge at 33 1/2". From there, using the middle screw hole on the base of the bridge as a guide, I moved it around the neck till the centre line met the centre of the middle screw hole, giving me the bridges final resting place (I've marked where the holes are to be drilled, but haven't drilled any yet, so if it comes to light I've done this the wrong way it can be salvaged). It was at this point I had to call it a day

As I was putting everything away, I took a look at the guitar body, and realised the neck pocket hadn't been cut straight, with a slight diagonal running along the top of the pocket, and running down the side to the point it meets the body at another slight outward diagonal. Ever since I spotted that, taking a look at the assembled guitar and the pictures I took, I can't shake the feeling that the neck, and the screw holes in the pocket to attach the neck, are slightly crooked. Hopefully one of you guys can take a look at it and tell me I'm crazy haha!

Anyway, that's it for a couple of days. Next thing to do will be drilling bridge and neck holes and checking the inclination.

[keloooe]

Adam might get in contact with you to see if you can send it back for another one that has a straight neck pocket!
The neck joint has a bit of play in it so the neck fits into the body all the time, use the alignment strings to check the alignment one more time, this time with a clamp lightly holding the joint in place

[GlennGP]

Quote from Matty on March 18, 2013, 19:25
...
.
As I was putting everything away, I took a look at the guitar body, and realised the neck pocket hadn't been cut straight, with a slight diagonal running along the top of the pocket, and running down the side to the point it meets the body at another slight outward diagonal. Ever since I spotted that, taking a look at the assembled guitar and the pictures I took, I can't shake the feeling that the neck, and the screw holes in the pocket to attach the neck, are slightly crooked. Hopefully one of you guys can take a look at it and tell me I'm crazy haha!

The picture certainly seems to illustrate the lines you're concerned about. However, the left (or top) edge of the pocket looks straight, and as long as you line up the neck using the techniques you've just demonstrated, it won't matter that the screw holes don't make a perfect square. You could have a set of screws in a pentagram pattern and, as long as the neck is actually straight, it wouldn't matter a damn (unless you started playing Judas Priest - then you're in trouble).

Naturally, I'll defer to any older hands here, but my bog standard sense says your problems are aesthetic, not practical.

[dingobass]

Hi Matt,

Glenn has recently been down this same path.... And his advice is spot on.

Check Glenn's my build diary and most of your questions will be answered.

If you get really stuck or confused you can ask the forum or email your friendly local luthier dingobass at dingobass@pitbullguitars.com

[pablopepper]

I just received my PBH-4 today. Pickguard is exactly the same, too narrow cutout for the neck and the slot for the truss rod access is off. It must be some dodgy patterns at the factory. As I am planning on replacing the guard, it is not something I have to worry about.

On the other hand, my neck seems to be a perfect fit and straight. Actually, the overall quality of the kit is noticeably better than my last.

Can't wait to get stuck in.

[dingobass]

The pickguards are also a part of the whole build experience.

they have been made in such a way that the builder needs to do some tweaking to get them perfect.

I have built about 5 kits now with pickguards and every one of them needed some tidying up and adjustment to get them to fit.

[Gavin1393]

Wot DB said....!

[keloooe]

Quote from dingobass on March 19, 2013, 11:03
The pickguards are also a part of the whole build experience.

they have been made in such a way that the builder needs to do some tweaking to get them perfect.

I have built about 5 kits now with pickguards and every one of them needed some tidying up and adjustment to get them to fit.

My LP's pickguard seems to fit!

[Matty]

Thanks for all your input guys. Really appreciate you all lending a hand.

Glad to know my queries with the neck appear to be an overreaction rather than a serious build issue. So, from going through Glenn's TL-1 build log (the tele looks awesome by the way Glenn, hope I can get a result like that when I'm finished), would I be right in assuming the little bit of wriggle room in the pocket isn't anything to worry about mostly there for adjustment's sake?

The movement in the pocket was very minimal and my measurements all lined up perfectly, but being my first kit build I thought I'd err on the side of caution and check in here rather than rush the job and mess the whole kit up. When I get the time to play around with the kit a bit more I'll recheck the measurements, but I don't think I'll have any problems.

I expected I might need to do some work to get a good fit with the pick guard, so I'm not worried about tinkering with it. If it comes out great, that's awesome, if I bugger it up, it's easy enough to replace. What tools should I be using to cut and shape the pickguard?