It's always a good day when a PBG package arrives. I won't have a chance to start on these kits for a while, so I thought I'd post some pics for those interested.
First up, the ES-3 aka 175 kit.
It's fat, it's hollow, it's got some nice grain and it looks to be put together really well considering the price. Very pleased. In fact, I may have to relent and bump this one up the queue a bit.
Scale: 627mm
Body thickness (max): 115mm (approx.)
Side thickness: 85mm
Weight: 1.9Kg (bare body + neck)
Scott.
ES-3 cont.
The neck mounts into a cut out block, there is a small block at the tail and a small bridge block that is glued to the top and then braced with another block glued to the back.
(Bridge holes are in the correct position and ground wire hole is present)
Scott.
ES-3 cont.
Other than the bridge block and its brace there is no additional support across the inside of the top or back.
And, here's a close-up of the inside of the cut-away (looking down through the neck pup cut-out.
Finally, it has some unusual inlay on the fretboard… I didn't think I'd like it, but it's growing on me. The centre triangles seem to be semi-translucent with the green MOP-style colouring underneath.
Scott.
GR-1SF
Again, it's fat, it's hollow, it's got some nice grain and curves, a really great neck with a nice pre-shaped headstock. Overall, it looks and feels really good but it's a little rougher than the ES-3 and mine has a HUGE issue which I'll discuss in the next post.
Scale: 626mm
Body thickness (max): 115mm (approx.)
Side thickness: 85mm
Weight: 2Kg (bare body + neck)
It's supplied with Filtertron'ish looking pickups, but they have all slug coils rather than screws. It'll be interesting to hear how they sound.
Scott.
GR-1SF cont.
Construction is the same as the ES-3, with a small block at the tail and a braced bridge block glued between the top and back.
The HUGE issue
Unfortunately, the quality control on my kit seems to have been lacking as the bridge block has been glued in too far back, leaving the bridge post holes completely unsupported. I checked the scale length and the holes are in the correct position, it's just that the bridge block and brace are about 2+cm too far back. This makes it unusable in its current form.
I was planning on using a floating bridge on this, so the post holes don't really matter. But I will have to either try to unglue/separate the current bridge block and brace and reposition it, or (more likely) add another block and brace in the correct position. I don't want to be alarmist but I'd recommend that anyone with a GR-1SF should check the position of their bridge block.
(Don't worry Adam, I'm not too stressed about it… I hope it's just a one-off, but maybe mention it to the factory for the next batch)
Scott.
GR-1SF cont.
Inside view of the cut-away from the neck pup cut-out.
And, finally the very comfortable neck.
Scott.
ST-1Jr
It's a baby strat!
Total length: 890mm
Total width: 285mm
Scale: 575mm
Weight: 1.9Kg (bare body + neck)
Scott.
You are a cruel man, Weirdy. I'm not in the market for a build at this stage but the ES-3 had me drooling when I saw it in FB the other day. Now you've gone and pruiked it's glory and it's making me want to lash out. I can only hope Ads has sold them all. I'll be watching your build on this VERY closely. And how did you get your head in there with a camera?
Hey Weirdy, thanks for the feedback. I must admit, I was worried that these kits looked so good, there must be some major flaws that would render them unsaleable. The price they are selling these for is just ridiculous.
I'll check out the other GR-1SF kits to see if they all have this centre block issue, but hopefully it was just a a bad QC on your kit.
It should be an easy fix, to move that support block, if you need to. And don't forget, if you ever feel like the kit you've received has an unrepairable fault, you can return it for a full refund.
Cheers,
Adam
adamboyle(at)pitbullguitars.com
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