Kit Built Guitars bass kit

AustrianJohn

Having had some fun playing bass lines on my recent baritone build I thought I'd try a proper bass guitar. In terms of guitar builds, necks are not my strongest point so I decided to use a pre-built neck, and it turned out to be cheaper to buy a bass kit from kitbuiltguitars.co.uk (£115) than to buy a bass neck on its own from most suppliers! The kit arrived this morning, and I must say I'm very impressed. The neck looks great and is well finished, while the 4 piece body is good enough to use as is. I have ordered a thin top for this build, but will probably save that for a later build. Or maybe not - we'll see.




Only downside is that there are no instructions - apart from a wiring diagram. As I've built a few kits and a few more guitars that's not a problem for me, but could be daunting for a newbie - i.e. where does the bridge go?

Funkfingers

The datum point for the scale length is the nut. The saddle for the highest string will be at the nominal scale length. (Presumably, 34 or 35 inches.) 

You will need to mark the centre line of the body. 

Where you drill holes for the bridge fastening screws depends entirely on what sort of bridge you propose to use.

Of necessity, the baseplate of any Fender-derived bridge design will need to be positioned over hole drilled for the grounding wire.

AustrianJohn

I've decided to do a straight kit build. So no top, no wooden cavity covers, no component upgrades. I'll just build it as it is.
Body has been sanded and stained, and headstock slightly reshaped (well, I had to do something to personalize the build).

 

longjaw

Looks great, might well buy one for a project over the winter!

AustrianJohn

After the third coat of Tru oil (this one applied with wire wool) it's looking surprisingly good for a budget kit.



Here's the whole guitar (before the third coat).

WezV

Rub a bit in that fretboard and buff it straight off again.  It's looking rather dry 

AustrianJohn

The hole for the pickup wire was drilled too high. As the wire exits the underside of the pickup this forced the pickup to sit too high, but a quick re-drill sorted the problem.



The only other problem I've had with this kit is the small screws are the weakest I've ever seen. I've had two break when screwing slowly with a hand screwdriver into a pilot hole. :-( But at £115 I'm not complaining.

The fretboard does look better for a quick oil as suggested by @WezV, but I forgot to take a picture. Now waiting for Mr Ebay to deliver a replacement soldering iron.

AustrianJohn

I've put the guitar together, and the action is very high.

With a capo between the 2nd and 3rd frets the gap above the 1st fret is 1.5 mm. After adjusting the truss rod, with a capo on the 1st fret and holding the bass string on the last fret, the height above the middle frets is 2mm. But with the guitar ready to play, the action at the 12th fret 8mm - which I think should be 2.5mm or lower. (I've set the bridge as low as it will go.)

Is the best solution a shim under the neck? I guess the other option is to recess the bridge. Advice, please!

WezV

Yeah, shim the neck.  

wackojacko

Its look good - I've been temped for some time to buy one of their kits, but previous Strat/Tele kits from other suppliers have been pretty dire (ebay!) - played great after a professional setup etc....

Interested to hear how yours sounds using the stock pickups and components

AustrianJohn

WezV said:

Yeah, shim the neck.  

A shim and a truss rod tweak and it is much more playable. I'll give the neck a few days to settle down then set it up and try to play it.

AustrianJohn

wackojacko said:

Its look good - I've been temped for some time to buy one of their kits, but previous Strat/Tele kits from other suppliers have been pretty dire (ebay!) - played great after a professional setup etc....

Interested to hear how yours sounds using the stock pickups and components

I'll let you know about the pickups in a few days. I've built several of the kits that Thomann sells and been very pleased with all of them. My current go to guitar started life as a Thomann Tele kit, although it now has Bare Knuckle pickups and a Korina top that weren't part of the kit ;-) My brother plays a Thomann Strat kit in his covers band that I built for him (with an Iron Gear pickup upgrade).

geetarguy85

Watching this closely as I considered buying this very kit! But I'm certainly a newbie when it comes to builds (built a saga LP kit about 8 years ago but don't remember much about it).

AustrianJohn

While I was restringing after the shim, two strings broke - so there will a short pause while I wait for replacements from Thomann. I'm not sure if the string breakages are due to poor quality strings or ham-fistedness on my part - I suspect the latter.

Rox

I've got a set of strings on an Avon bass that have been on there for over 30 years... I don't think they make them like they used to.  It should be nigh on impossible to break a bass string.

AustrianJohn

As you say @Rox, bass strings seem indestructible (except these ones).

AustrianJohn

The new strings have arrived so the build has now been completed, and the bass tested. Here's a brief review for @geetarguy85 ; and anyone else considering a 5 string bass kit.

 

As I said above, there were no instructions with the kit (except for the wiring diagram which was fine). For most of the build that's not a problem as it's all fairly obvious. It's the first kit I've built that didn't have screw holes for the bridge pre-drilled, so you need to position it yourself. The saddles in the bridge have lots of travel, so you don't need to be exact in the bridge position. From the nut to the 12th fret is 43cm. I have it setup with the top string at 43cm from the 12th fret and the bass string about 1cm behind that. I haven't yet intonated it (but it sounds ok). There is over 2cm of range in the saddle positions (although if you had the saddle for the bass string right at the back you might struggle to get the .125" string through the hole and over the saddle). You need to be aware that the string position on each saddle is offset from the centre, so you need to mount the bridge slight offset from the centre line.

Also as noted above, one of the internal holes had to be re-positioned, and the small screws are very flimsy. But these are small issues.

The action was way too high so I installed a shim that has got it to a reasonable place. After it's had the new strings on for a day or two I'll adjust the truss rod and bridge height to improve the action. If need be I'll adjust the thickness of the shim. If you build guitars as a hobby this should be straightforward. If you're planning your first build it could be a bit daunting.

As I'm not a bass player I can't really comment on the pickups - but it sounds like a bass guitar to me! I was surprised that there is no pickup selector (is this a bass guitar thing?). But you can effectively select a pickup by having its volume up and the volume of the other pickup down. Adding a pickup selector would be an easy mod.

Overall I'm impressed. Because of the string tension, the neck on a bass is really important. This neck is well made, the frets were level and the fret ends tidy. Despite the problems - none of which was a show-stopper - I'm please with this kit, at £115 it's great value.


 

geetarguy85

Thanks for the review! It looks great. I'll probably go in on one then.

Rocker

On a bass, players don't select different pickups in the same manner they would on an electric guitar. Players set the sound they desire, with the volume &a tone pots, and simply play.

Congrats on your build @AustrianJohn, get a few lessons and you are off...

Andyjr1515

That looks absolutely splendid, @AustrianJohn ;   Great job