Gavs ESB-4 Hollowbody Bass

[gavinturner]

hi guys,

Finally my ES335 Hollowbody Bass kit has arrived and it's a beauty. When I first queried Adam about the possibility to produce this as a kit, I didn't hold out much hope of it coming together. Nowhere else on the internet, either here in Oz or overseas can such a kit be found. But Adam came through thanks to the support of the bass building enthusiasts here in the Pitbull community. I owe a debt of thanks to everyone who helped make this a reality by supporting the kit with a pre-order. It's always a bit of a gamble with new kits - it usually takes a couple of rounds to iron out the small teething problems - so I'm really, really thankful that the guys in this remarkable community stepped up and enthusiastically supported it.

Anyway, enough gushing - on to the kit! The body is really beautiful, with a pronounced flame maple figure that will look great with the planned cherry dye with black highlights.





I have similar issues with the tuners on the headstock not fitting that Bassguy and Tim have previously reported, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it at this stage. My current thinking is that I'll have to fill the holes with dowel and re-drill for smaller tuners. Hmm, depends how brave I am feeling.



I'm really itching to get started on this one. Checking the neck fit will be the next job while I mull over the required fixes to the headstock.

cheers,
Gav.

[Tim]

Its a shame the head gear doesnt fit ,
I am looking at doweling the holes and redrilling with smaller tuners to.
Looking forward to seeing how yours comes together.

[Gavin1393]

Is it not possible to obtain a bushing to fit inside the larger hole?

[Andyport]

Your right again Gav. I had to use conversion bushings on my LP, so I could fit the older style klusson tuners.
If my memory serves me correctly, the klusson had a 6mm peg and these kits have a 10mm hole.
They worked a treat.

[gavinturner]

Thanks Gavmeister! - you are a life saver. I didnt even know these existed. Awesome!

cheers,
Gav.

[Bass Guy]

I doubt the bushing idea will solve my problem. The holes are so close that my tuners are touching each other. If I dowel to spread them apart I would have to trim the housing of the tuners. Not ideal.

Small tuners for me is the answer, but no loss- I have another bass in need of new 2+2 tuners....

[gavinturner]

Yeah mine are the same Bassguy. If i dowel and re-drill it will be for smaller tuners.

cheers,
Gavin.

[gavinturner]

Ok guys I need some serious help here.

Closer inspection of the neck heel fit shows some serious issues with the woodworking in the neck pocket. The interior bottom surface of the pocket is very uneven and to my amateur eye does not seem to be finished deeply enough. Here's what i mean.

There are several "steps" in the pocket base surface, where the surface has not been completely levelled. It may not be completely visible in the photo:



These steps lead to a big gap where the neck meets the edge of the body as the neck heel is not seated squarely on the base of the pocket:



It also shows a gap in the neck profile where the end of the fretboard meets the front of the bass. Looks to me like the pocket isn't quite deep enough. Maybe the factory didn't get around to finishing the pocket??



The real question is how can I rectify this? I'm a bit out of my depth here, so any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

thanks guys!

cheers,
Gav.

[WeirdBits]

Looks like a question for DB or Gav. My suggestion would be to first check what your neck angle is like with the neck 'seated' as best as you can and the bridge sitting in place, with regard to action etc. That should give you an idea of what options you have and help to guide you on how to proceed.

[quiet1_au]

Envious! That's the kit I would have loved to build, but knew my limited skills I should start with something simpler... Seeing your issues makes me think I definitely made the right the right choice, but I certainly hope you can sort out them out and make it into something brilliant. I'll be watching your progress with great interest! :-)