Pitbull IB4 fretless Build/Review

[Random Guitarist]

Hi All, I recently bought a Pitbull kit and thought I'd share the experience, hope it's of interest.

 

Delivery:

The kit was ordered Thursday night and arrived mid-day Monday. I’d describe the packaging as ‘light but sufficient’. I didn’t get hit for VAT or import fees on arrival to the UK, which was a pleasant surprise. I think the price is just under the UK threshold.

 

The overall finish and wood shaping is good. There is a small dent/gouge in the lower horn of the body. The horns will need further shaping and I will be able to fix this dent then. The fingerboard is nicely finished with a 12 inch radius accurately sanded. The side markers do not align to finger positions, which is not my preference, although I may come to prefer it. The neck pocket is an excellent fit and is straight in relation to the body and pickup routs.

 

Tuners (snag):

It is a little disappointing that the tuners do not fit the head stock. Three of the four nuts cannot be done up tightly enough to hold the tuner firmly against the wood of the head stock. There is a gap of between 1 and 2mm on 3 of the four tuners. I have used a socket to ensure I am driving the tuners as far as they will go. Experimenting with matching different tuners and nuts the problem seems to be associated with specific nuts. This makes me think that maybe the black finish on the threads is too thick.

This may not be too much of a problem as I was thinking about veneering the head stock anyway. A nice rosewood veneer would match the fingerboard while adding thickness to the head stock, making the tuners fit. At the same time I don’t really like the supplied tuners. The tuners are not terrible, but they are a little bit ‘gritty’. To be fair they look like they will work and are good for the overall price of the kit. However, given the effort about to go into this I do feel that maybe an early upgrade is the way to go. I’m really not wild about the bridge either. Gotoh have been a ‘goto’ brand for me in the past and a replacement bridge and tuners will cost me an extra £110. This is a lot of money as a proportion of the kit price, but not so much if I am building an instrument to keep.

 

Back cover (upgrade):

This is a bit crude. It’s a lump of plastic which sits proud of the body. As the body is nicely shaped with good curves it needs a flush mounted, good looking cover to finish it.

 

Screws (upgrade):

The black finish hardware is OK, but it’s built to a price. Previous experience has shown similar screws to be soft and easily snapped. With pilot holes drilled the screws will be useable, but I doubt they will survive longer term use. As I am working with hard woods I expect to substitute in better fixing hardware for this build to give trouble free maintenance in the future. The screws for the strap buttons are particularly

 

Waiting for Gotoh:

I decided to upgrade the tuners and bridge from the beginning of the build. This has almost added £110 to the price of the build. I’m not sure if I needed to upgrade the bridge but we’ll see when it gets here. I went with GB707 tuners and a 201B-4 bridge.

 

The arrival of Gotoh:

Unlike Beckett’s legendary protagonists I waited only 2 days. Now I have the parts in my hand, is it worth the extra cash? Well, yes, and maybe.

 

The tuners are clearly a cut above the kit parts, as they should be given the additional cost. The nut threads are free of finish and they fit straight away. The feel of turning the tuners is smooth and feels good. To be fair I have no evidence that the supplied tuners wouldn’t be OK in use, but I do like these Gotohs.

 

The bridge comparison is less clear cut. The bridge in the kit is decent enough. I didn’t really care for the recesses in the casting but it looks OK, the black finish on it is good. The Gotoh bridge is a little big heftier, not enough to make any sonic differences. The fixing screws are a similar size. The saddle tracks (if that’s what they are called) are deeper with a rounded profile on the Gotoh, they may hold the saddle location a little more firmly, but I doubt it will make a real difference. Overall the Gotoh bridge feels a little better in the hand, but I’m not sure it will make a huge difference on the bass.

 

So far so good, next steps will be to assemble and play.

[SpondonBassed]

Good one.

 

If I mentioned it already forgive me.  I built the IB5 kit a couple of years ago.

 

Pitbull IB5

[Random Guitarist]

1 hour ago, SpondonBassed said:

Good one.

 

If I mentioned it already forgive me.  I built the IB5 kit a couple of years ago.

 

Pitbull IB5

Nice build, did you stick with the original pickups in the long term?

 

I'm thinking I might put some SD soap bars in instead. The routs are a little too big for them, but I have a plan for that if I do go down that route.

 

Thx,

 

Grant.

[PaulThePlug]

Veneer... The Wood Veneer Hub...

https://www.thewoodveneerhub.co.uk/products/indian-rosewood-wood-veneer?_pos=1&_sid=8e4bd6437&_ss=r

I've an Indian Rosewood £1 'sample' 100mm x 120mm x 0.6mm coming to make a truss rod cover, they can supply bigger bits.

[SpondonBassed]

4 hours ago, Random Guitarist said:

Nice build, did you stick with the original pickups in the long term?

 

Thank you.

 

Yes.  I played it for a while and then decided I liked it enough to get the bass it was derived from, the Ibby SR605.

 

I need to revisit it at some point and recess the bridge.  As it is now, mounted on the surface, there isn't enough adjustment to get the action as low as I like.  It is playable but only with the saddles sat right down on the bridge plate.  I have no thoughts about the pickups at this time.  If I go down that rabbit hole I will probably  end up with a chain of upgrades as each individual mod shows up the next weak link in the chain.

 

Like yourself, I felt the screws needed replacing.  They're stainless steel rather than black to match the hardware but I like that.  In addition to drilling pilot holes, a little candle wax on the threads helps a lot to reduce friction as they're tightened up

 

It plays well enough for a kit so I'm happy with it.

[Random Guitarist]

4 hours ago, PaulThePlug said:

Veneer... The Wood Veneer Hub...

https://www.thewoodveneerhub.co.uk/products/indian-rosewood-wood-veneer?_pos=1&_sid=8e4bd6437&_ss=r

I've an Indian Rosewood £1 'sample' 100mm x 120mm x 0.6mm coming to make a truss rod cover, they can supply bigger bits.

Are you planning to laminate it? 0.6mm feels a bit thin/fragile for a cover to me, although I may well be wrong.

[Random Guitarist]

1 hour ago, SpondonBassed said:

 

I need to revisit it at some point and recess the bridge.  As it is now, mounted on the surface, there isn't enough adjustment to get the action as low as I like.  It is playable but only with the saddles sat right down on the bridge plate.  I have no thoughts about the pickups at this time.  If I go down that rabbit hole I will probably  end up with a chain of upgrades as each individual mod shows up the next weak link in the chain.

 

 

I was thinking similarly about recessing the bridge, but I ended up with a couple of small veneer shims which worked a treat.

[Random Guitarist]

Back Cover

I made small progress today, I recessed the back around the control cavity and made a nice (by my standards) plate of Ziricote to fill the whole. The area around the cavity was flat enough that I could use the superglue/masking tape thing. I'm using a small trim router so I don't have a lot of weight on the template. The Ziricote is 2mm thick but I think it might be a bit brittle so I laminated a bit of ash veneer cross grain on the back to strengthen it.

 

Couple of comments on the templates. I made a dumb error in that the curved section of the template should have a wider flat so provide more support for the router base. The discolouration you see on the MDF is superglue. I flood the edges that the bearing will run on with the glue to toughen it up a bit compared to raw MDF. Definitely do this flooding operation outside, the fumes are intense. I'll use a bit more of the Ziricote for a truss rod cover.

 

I also glued a piece of ash veneer  to the headstock I used a bit of foam from a flooring tile to spread the pressue. The finish is going to be a red stain with wipe on laquer and I decided the headstock should match the body to some degree. It's somewhere under the clamps in the third picture.

[benh]

5 hours ago, PaulThePlug said:

Veneer... The Wood Veneer Hub...

https://www.thewoodveneerhub.co.uk/products/indian-rosewood-wood-veneer?_pos=1&_sid=8e4bd6437&_ss=r

I've an Indian Rosewood £1 'sample' 100mm x 120mm x 0.6mm coming to make a truss rod cover, they can supply bigger bits.

+1. I've had excellent service from the Wood Veneer Hub every time I've used them

[PaulThePlug]

54 minutes ago, Random Guitarist said:

Are you planning to laminate it? 0.6mm feels a bit thin/fragile for a cover to me, although I may well be wrong.

Prolly a bit thin yep... was after a bit 45mm x 150ish x 2 or 3mm ... but that was the best i could come up with.

 

I had put a shout out for a Lightish Rosewood off cut in the Build Diaries, but no reply 😞

[Random Guitarist]

58 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said:

Prolly a bit thin yep... was after a bit 45mm x 150ish x 2 or 3mm ... but that was the best i could come up with.

 

I had put a shout out for a Lightish Rosewood off cut in the Build Diaries, but no reply 😞

 

I probably have a 2mm piece in the scraps box, I'm pretty new here so didn't see that request. Can dig out a light piece if you want

[PaulThePlug]

^ That would be GREAT... and that's Basschat 🙂

Dropped you a message.

Thanks

Edited May 23, 2022 by PaulThePlug

[Jimothey]

5 hours ago, PaulThePlug said:

I had put a shout out for a Lightish Rosewood off cut in the Build Diaries, but no reply 😞

I replied to you offering you an old fretboard which is yours if you still want it? 👍🏻

[PaulThePlug]

@Jimothey Thanks, i did get your message and replied. I just thought it a shame to wreck a fretboard just for a bit of wood for cosmetics, Hopefully the fretboard may serve its purpose better with someone maybe making a new or spare neck or for a fretless conversion or some such. Thanks again for your kind offer.

Edited May 24, 2022 by PaulThePlug

[Jimothey]

1 hour ago, PaulThePlug said:

@Jimothey Thanks, i did get your message and replied. I just thought it a shame to wreck a fretboard just for a bit of wood for cosmetics, Hopefully the fretboard may serve its purpose better with someone maybe making a new or spare neck or for a fretless conversion or some such. Thanks again for your kind offer.

No worries I wasn’t sure if you saw it 👍🏻

[Random Guitarist]

Back to the bass

I assembled the whole thing but somehow didn't take any photos (doh!)

 

Everything went together well. I checked neck centre line alignment, drilled pilot holes for everything, and fitted neck/bridge/tuners. I also put the strap buttons on. The screws for the strap buttons look pretty inadequate but I can deal with that later. The neck pocket wouldn't quite tighten down on one side. The neck pocket was just a shade too tight. The action was too high, and I couldn't adjust it out with saddle height so I shimmed it. The neck had a distinct back bow when

delivered, string tension just about pulled it flat and some truss rod adjustment got it in place.

 

The most important question

How does it feel to play and how do I feel about it?

It’s actually quite good already. Despite a stupidly high action at the nut  I spent an hour noodling away on it. The acoustic sound is good, bright and clear with decent depth. The neck is very comfortable, and the ergonomics of the whole instrument feel good. The fretboard feels a little ‘gritty’, it will improve with some sanding/polishing. Surprisingly, I have not found the side dot position hard to adjust to. In fact, I’m already pitching better on this than I do on the Franken-bass.

 

Playing the bass acoustically I am really quite smitten, the neck feels good and the strings feel lively up and down the neck.

 

I fitted the pickups and the hardware bit me. A pickup screw sheared off. Yes, I drilled a pilot hole, yes, I waxed the screw, yes, I was tightening gently, and it still snapped. A home made screw extractor fixed it though.

 

I will say that the Gotoh tuners feel lovely and are a good upgrade. I do like the Gotoh bridge now it’s on, although the larger saddles have maybe added 1mm to the high action. The original bridge may even have been fine without a shim.

 

And now it's all apart again for putting finish on. I really just want to play it at this stage, but it's good enough that it deserves a decent finish.

 

Very exciting though, the neck and body parts are good, the ultimate instrument quality is limited by my skills not the timber supplied.

 

[Random Guitarist]

Some small progress this week.

 

I laminated an ash veneer to the headstock, I decided that I wanted a similar grain and finish to the body. I stained the veneer before gluing and scraped the edge to get a fairly clean separation of the red and the maple. I'm pretty pleased with that. The picture doesn't really do the colour justice, it's a bit more vivid in the flesh. I stained black, sanded it back then stained with two slightly different shades of red and a metallic grain filler. On a test piece I found that neither red stain on it's own looked as good as the combination. Wipe on lacquer completes the neck. (Apart from fingerboard final sanding, nut and TRC)

 

The last thing that has been bugging me about the body is the way the jack socket sits proud of the body curve, it just looks wrong. I spent 5 minutes putting together a stupidly complicated jig and routed a flat around the drilled hole. It's a small thing but it makes me happy.

 

The body got sanded and stained with black. I must admit I stopped once the stain was on and seriously thought about just lacquering it in the black. The moment passed and I will be sanding most of the black off tomorrow. If I have a productive day I may get it hanging up and curing tomorrow.

 

On a less positive note I managed to snap my ziricote cover in two. I didn't take a picture of that. I may just repair that one and give it a noble battle scar, I may cut another, all part of the learnings I guess.

 

I am now thinking about an ash p-bass stained black . . .

[Random Guitarist]

One more photo, the jack socket now recessed, Maybe a bit OCD but I think it was worth it.

[Random Guitarist]

 

 

 

 

 

Colour Complete

 

Finally got it done, sanded back the black, two red stains, a metallic grain filler, some wipe on lacquer and we'll call it good. 

I am very happy with the deepness of the red and the way it shines in a strong light.

Just got to let it all cure now  . . . .

 

Colour Complete

[Random Guitarist]

It's built!

Lots of bits done today, levelled smoothed and oiled the fretboard, put the neck and body together, screen and wired the cavity etc.

It plays really well, but it should really. With 4 strings and a slightly curved plank, how hard can it be to get it right.

I am really happy with the colour. To be honest I could have spent more time on the finish but I want to play.

 

I include a pic of my soapbar installation tip. Probably obvious and most people know it, but someone may not. In the initial assembly, after putting the pickups in the routs and marking/drilling pilot holes, I struggled to get pickups, springs and screws lined up on all four corners. While staining the disassembled body I hit on the idea of using cocktail sticks in the pilot holes. They keep the springs aligned and the pickups slide over the sticks. Every thing is perfectly aligned until you are ready to put the screw in each corner. So much easier.

 

 

[PaulThePlug]

Nice...

[SpondonBassed]

Great job!  I like the colours you chose. 

[Random Guitarist]

Thanks both! I have been playing a lot today and am pretty happy with the outcome.

 

@SpondonBassed I took a better look at your build thread, and was amused to see you having the same extra tasks chosen, recessing the cover plate and the jack socket. I like your approach of temporarily plugging the jack socket hole with a dowel.

[Jabba_the_gut]

On 23/05/2022 at 12:42, PaulThePlug said:

Veneer... The Wood Veneer Hub...

https://www.thewoodveneerhub.co.uk/products/indian-rosewood-wood-veneer?_pos=1&_sid=8e4bd6437&_ss=r

I've an Indian Rosewood £1 'sample' 100mm x 120mm x 0.6mm coming to make a truss rod cover, they can supply bigger bits.

I’ve bought a few things from them and always been good.

[PaulThePlug]

^ Unfortunatly paper thin 0.6mm...

@Random Guitarist 'sorted me right out matey' with a bit of 2mm... enough for a couple of tries... Try #1 wasnt quite wide enough for the 'd' at the end of the logo...

Reprofiled try #2 tommorow...