Greetings form Finland forum,
Here is my first pitbull kit build.
It started as an EXM-1 with a custom electronics cavity and a blank headstock. My inspiration on this build was Ken Lawrence explorer as a colour reference and ESP snakebyte as a headstock reference but with a more traditional explorer body shape. I also updated all the hardware (gotoh tuners, gotoh stringholder/bridge, black pickup selector, new jack/jackplate, push/pull pots wired to a 50's style gibson wiring with a series/parallel switching for the SD Distortion/59 pickups). I ended up using the pitbull bone nut because I didn't find a good black alternative locally.
The colour was a result of trial and error. I first filled the grain with some wood filler and then mixed some water based stains from three different colours and finally found the right combination. And after this I finished the guitar using Liberon finishing oil and liberon bison wax. It's not that resistant to dings but the finish has a nice satin feel and looks awesome.
Set up went suprisingly well as this was my first set neck build. I levelled/re-shaped the frets and filed the string slots on the nut and got it intonated nicely.
This was a very nice experience for me and I'm really pleased to the pitbull kit and the final result.
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