New Guitar Project

sweepy

Well, as I can’t afford £5k for a Klein, I thought I ought to build one, so enter Pitbull Guitars and their Klein Kit


https://i.imgur.com/48qRdBT.jpg



https://i.imgur.com/VLu4Pg9.jpg



https://i.imgur.com/GHLXLYN.jpg

impmann

Looks cool, chap! :-)

DrBob

I have long fancied a Klein, be interested to see how this pans out ? In particular the quality of the bridge ? 

sweepy

There is a company in the US that has re engineered the R Trem in Stainless and other high tensile steel. The plan is to use the included trem and then upgrade it later, the nut has clamps rather than the double ball ends so that’s one issue out of the way, will refret it with decent fretwire though 

carlos

Yeah, the bridge is a concern. The Chinese Overlord of Music headless bridges are beyond terrible. Unusable. I sold the 20+ year old trem on my Steinberger and replaced it with a fixed bridge from Jcustoms in Korea. That thing is amazing and affordable. No opinion on their R-trem version but if it's of a similar quality it's a good one.

paulnb57

Nice project, following with interest, how much was the kit?
Edit, found the price shipping is a bit of a disaster from Oz......
Be interesting to see how good quality the kit is....

sweepy

The kit was £168 but I got clobbered for £64 Customs duty, it’s surprisingly light and on cursory inspection seems ok

sweepy

https://i.imgur.com/CjqOyu6.jpg

Concentrated Norwegian Blue watercolour awaiting many more coats of Gunstock oil and still a very long way to go

Rabs

Very cool....

Are you using Tru Oil?

Do you know it can be thinned a bit which actually makes it go on a bit better and gives you a bit more shiny finish...  I did a quick vid about it

sweepy

Yes, Tru-Oil, that’s very interesting, thanks for the info, the Tru-Oil from my local Gunsmiths seems to be about as viscous as the thinned Oil, definitely Worth a go .
I have lusted after a Klein for years and the kit makes a great candidate for modding and as a template

impmann

Norwegian blue?

sweepy

Exactly, someone with a sense of humour at Dr PH Martins Paint company

sweepy

Getting there, neck alignment is a little off but easily fixable

https://i.imgur.com/Ozmi63h.jpg

DrBob

Looks cool, how does the trem quality feel ?

sweepy

DrBob said:

Looks cool, how does the trem quality feel ?

I’ll let you know once I’ve modified the locking nut mechanism, it’s frankly terrible, so I’m removing the zero fret and existing clamp and replacing it with a Floyd nut. Overall it’s a fun kit but I’m tempted to use it as a template and see if I can get a body made out of mahogany, pick up an Ibanez neck and lop the headstock off