I ordered an Albatross Guitars BK004 bass and received it today. I didn't waste much time slinging the box open to see what I got. I was hoping for at least a decent body so I could do a natural finish, but there are 3 pieces of wood, not even close to symmetrical or similar color, making up the body. No big deal really, I'll just paint it. The neck is pretty good at first blush, I did adjust the truss rod to remove some back bow and make sure it worked. The fit in the pocket wasn't real tight with a small gap at the front, the corners on the front of the neck were not rounded off correctly. Half hour with some sandpaper and I got it tight up against the body where it will be seen.
I had to drill the neck to receive the mounting screws, which is OK with me since I had to do some clearance work. Once I had the neck mounted I located where I wanted the bridge, marked the screw holes and drilled them out. Mounted that up too. I also mounted up the strap buttons (not seen in this pic).
Overall impression so far is mostly positive, I don't think it's a raging piece of junk, but like most kits from China the hardware is pretty inexpensive. The pots are small and there are no instructions so I'll have to peruse the interwebs for a wiring diagram. The neck seems solid, now I just need to trim up that head stock to make it presentable.
This kit cost $115 delivered, I had no delusions on this going in. I wanted a project that was more or less ground up and the kit was an easy decision. I could have bought a basket case for the same money, but I have always wanted to do a kit build. So anyway, that's pretty much that for now, I will update as the build progresses if there is any interest.
I had to drill the neck to receive the mounting screws, which is OK with me since I had to do some clearance work. Once I had the neck mounted I located where I wanted the bridge, marked the screw holes and drilled them out. Mounted that up too. I also mounted up the strap buttons (not seen in this pic).
Overall impression so far is mostly positive, I don't think it's a raging piece of junk, but like most kits from China the hardware is pretty inexpensive. The pots are small and there are no instructions so I'll have to peruse the interwebs for a wiring diagram. The neck seems solid, now I just need to trim up that head stock to make it presentable.
This kit cost $115 delivered, I had no delusions on this going in. I wanted a project that was more or less ground up and the kit was an easy decision. I could have bought a basket case for the same money, but I have always wanted to do a kit build. So anyway, that's pretty much that for now, I will update as the build progresses if there is any interest.
