December GOTM

[Brendan]

December Guitar of the Month (for Guitars and Basses finished in November)

Enter your finished guitar or bass here to be judged for the Pit Bull Guitars December Guitar of the Month.

Please remember:

For Guitars or Basses finished on (or before) the end of November.

One guitar/bass per member per month.
It must be a Pit Bull Guitars kit (mods and upgrades acceptable).
Guitar or Bass must be finished and playable.

We need at least 4 photos:
· full guitar shot from the front;
· close up of the body finish;
· shot of the back of the guitar; and
· close up of the headstock (please, no brand name logos)


Please post your photos in this thread. If you are having issues posting photos on the forum, please email them to brendan (at) pitbullguitars (dot) com

Please note: This competition is open to amateur guitar builders only. If you are making and selling guitars for profit, you are ineligible. Also while there are some stunning guitars around - you never know what the judges are looking for, so we encourage anyone who's built a Pitbull during the month to enter!

Competition for closes at the end of November (Perth Western Australian time).

The sorts of things we judge on include:
· How well have the body and neck been prepared
· Is the choice of finish for the style of guitar appropriate
· How well has the finish been applied
· How well has all the hardware, pickups, etc, been installed
· Does it have the 'Wow Factor'· Which guitar would you make a beeline for in a guitar shop. That is, which one would you most like to take home.

BTW - remember that the winner is invited to be a guest judge the following month!

[ozzbike]

This is a PBG Zebrawood Body precision base with a maple neck and maple fingerboard. A Black pearloid pickguard holds a set of Entwistle Pickups (Ceramic Bar). The volume and tone circuit is a repeat of my norm....split the P-Bass pickup and use a push pull volume pot. The Tone Pot is a Bourns mini pot. Orange Drop Capacitor gives tone and sound is moved out via a switchcraft jack socket. A Black Tusq nut and a complete black out hardware kit round out the fittings....the bridge has been swapped out for a Wilkinson Black Bridge I imported from the U.K.

The body is stained in an attempted burst with Feast Watson alcohol prooftint stain. The body is then sealed with a number of coats of Feast Watson Fine Buffing Oil.

The neck colour is Japan Brown FW stain and the neck is sealed with a couple of Tru Oil coats.

Both the neck and the body have a number of coats of both Gillys Cabinetmakers wax and then Gillys Carnauba Polish to finish.

I like the difference in the Entwistle pickups between ceramic bar (this one) and the Neodymium set I have in a two piece Ash Body P Bass. These ones have a brighter and rockier sound. The other ones are more Blues or Jazz focussed with lots of deep punch.

Learning note for me.....applying the Buffing Oil with steel wool as directed will suck out a lot of the stain. (The body has Golden Teak in the middle, Red Jarrah around that and then Brown Japan on the edges and around the front and back sides.)

The body is really light.....feels nice to hold and the whole thing plays really well.

[ozzbike]

The paddle pop.

[ozzbike]

Did some more. Full setup done now. Plays really well.

[Sachin]

Hi all,

This is the first guitar I’ve ever built and been really glad with the results... special thanks to Sonic Mountain, FrankenWashie, DarkMark and FCD who kept me going and gave me solutions to problems I thought I’d never be able to fix. Really appreciate it.

Has a mahogany body with quilt maple top and maple neck, ebony fretboard, completed with a quilt maple headstock. In terms of staining the top, used keda guitar dyes in a three-layer procedure which really saw the veneer pop and also allowed we to achieve a colour transition effect between day and night. In the day, the guitar appears wine red and has lots of mood about it but at night under lights, which is the environment I usually perform/gig in, it is a translucent purple which almost glows... really happy with the result.

On the back and sides, I used black spray paint, then sprinkled purple and silver metal flake on it, then finished it off with SCA Acrylic Clear and McGuire’s Ultimate Compound/Polish. The metal flake sparkles beautifully under both sunlight and artificial light... don’t think the photos do it justice. Regarding the bolt-on neck, went with a two tone purple/black finish finished in tru-oil which I can understand why people really like the feel of. Has a bone nut and body outlined in triple white binding.

In terms of wiring, one volume, one tone, wired in both parallel and series, manipulated by a 3-way switch and push/pull tone pot, allowing me multiple tonal options. Includes a snake tailpiece, Gotoh tunomatic bridge, TESI LED killswitch (wired to light up as soon as I plug the cable in), Grover Rotomatic Locking Tuners, Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates Pickups and Brass Truss Rod Cover.

Have since added a headstock decal with my signature, but can’t take revised photos as my mum’s said I can’t touch the guitar I’ll Yr 10 exams are done🙄🙄🙄. Ah well thanks to everyone who helped me out and really proud of the effort.

[Sachin]

[wazkelly]

Top effort Sachin.

Best wishes for your Year 10 exams.

When you find the time suggest removing thin plastic film from rear control cover. Rear output socket ended up very close to end strap button and hope it doesn't get in the way? On both of my EX's they were closer to lower edge of that wing.

Cheers, Waz

[Sachin]

Thanks Waz. Plastic is removed now. Also, I ended up with the strap button there after a couple of drills and it sat the best on my shoulders, more balanced. But I looked at your build and it does seem a bit easier to run the cable through the strap on yours if required. Perhaps a point for future reference.

[ozzbike]

Man that is some nice work.

I really like the effects you got with the quilt and paint colours.

Wicked bridge and truss rod cover.

I wish you well with exams.

[Hardcoretroubadour]

Nick work, love a good explorer. How do the 'pearly gates'sound? I was keen to upgrade my humbuckers at some stage with these.