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NBD! My first DIY kit! 5 string semi hollow

#41
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Nice looking bass!
I bought the ESB-4 from Pitbull and i'm so pleased with the result that i'm considering buying the same as you.
I opted to use printed vinyl to make the bass look like my beloved Vantage basses in the background.
 

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#47
SAlcott said:
Looks great! You might want to look into extra long strings, though.
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I was waiting for that!!!!! yes it may be a 34" scale but not for strings haha i found out the hard way. Pit Bull is actually sending proper replacements. Great team over there down under. I believe I am one of the first to complete this kit so I think it was a surprise to them too idk
 
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#48
Very interesting, what can be done with kits. Is that a Chinese kit? I have seen the ebony option from some vendors for Chinese kits.

Every kit I see for resale in the States are alibaba kits marked up for retail. I'm not knocking that, just curious if there are other kit manufacturers besides China, Warmouth, and Martin.

I like the color choices, and stereo outputs is a nice touch.
 
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#52
bearfoot said:
Very interesting, what can be done with kits. Is that a Chinese kit? I have seen the ebony option from some vendors for Chinese kits.

Every kit I see for resale in the States are alibaba kits marked up for retail. I'm not knocking that, just curious if there are other kit manufacturers besides China, Warmouth, and Martin.

I like the color choices, and stereo outputs is a nice touch.
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Yes, I believe these are Chinese and Indonesian and maybe also some Korean kits purchased by an Australian company and sold throughout the world they are popular in the UK as well.

I searched on Alibaba and the made-in-china app and I found the factory and all that but to tell you the truth to go through the trouble with them didn't seem worth it the difference in price was about 60 to $80 and the Australian company was a dream to deal with
 
#53
BrianNYC said:
I searched on Alibaba and the made-in-china app and I found the factory and all that but to tell you the truth to go through the trouble with them didn't seem worth it the difference in price was about 60 to $80 and the Australian company was a dream to deal with
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Yeah me either, not for one-offs. I would only want to deal with the factory if I were getting into reselling them, or for some other reason needed 50 P-basses. (wall of sound!!!)
 
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#56
Great job-really cool extra ideas like the wiring diagram too! Great looking bass. Not sure if those Chook (chicken for those not downunder) references don't get you into the What's Punk forums too-certainly does it for me.

My guitarist did a Pitbull Strat & it's a really cool, well thought out, project & (obviously noting pickups at price-point) a quality guitar.

Other thing too, love that photo of the Vantage collection!
 
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#57
BrianNYC said:
Was gassing for a 5 string on a waaaay too low budget and wanted something radically different from the herd of fenders i already have....mission accomplished!

It's from pit bull guitars in Australia. Great quality kit and very good customer service. The cheapy soapbars will need upgrading eventually but are hot and grindy, they just lack a little definition and punch.

It's wired permanently for 2 channel operation on a stereo jack and is very versatile this way sound wise!

I wasn't expecting a boutique quality instrument, just a serviceable 5-string and a fun project to work on. I wound up with a bass I really like with custom touches for less than $300!!

34" scale (feels and plays like 40" lol)
Ebony fretboard, maple neck and basswood body with birch ply top. Stained with ebony varathane and finished with wipe on poly.

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(For the TB police... yes, the strings in the pic are too short and are getting replaced today haha)
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Nice job! Just think, if there was a "W" on the headstock (Warwick) the bass would suddenly cost $7995.
 
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#59
I played a $2400 (that's with a headstock repair) short scale Gibson Les Paul bass in Sam ash a few weeks ago before this was done. I didn't love it at all. I was like oh let me play that hopefully my bass can be something like this... 15 minutes later I was praying my bass was nothing like that one. No hate on Gibson or anything sometimes particular instruments have a certain Vibe or whatever I was just not feeling that one at all. And it costs 10× as much
 
#60
Put it this way, the kit cost me 250 and I spent at least 60 to 80 hours working on it. So that's two weeks pay. Let's say I could do 5 guitars at once if I had them pre-ordered from friends or whatever. From the made-in-china app I could get them for about 60 to $80 a piece but then I would be making crap guitars but let's just use those as an example because it's easy. That's $400 to get the product plus stain poly tools etc.. let's say I wanna make 1000 a week salary. So I need $2400 for 5 guitars. Have to charge about $500. That's a stretch unless some big upgrades happen with hardware.

But I wonder sometimes...ever read a Lakland label? Made in Indonesia and assembled and finished in Chicago usa
 

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