NPGKD (new Precision Guitar Kit Day)

[T ROCKER]

I finally saved enough scratch to buy the 'V' kit I've been lusting after for years, only to find out PGK won't sell them anymore because of what I think is a potential lawsuit issue. I always had a love/hate thing with Strats. I love the feel, scale, and the mojo - but I hate the pickups, radius, and the fact that they just won't stay in tune when the bridge floats.
I opted to build a Strat better suited to my particular tastes. I'm very happy with the Les Paul kit I built a few years ago from PGK, and I know their wood is top-notch. I like the reviews/vids I've seen of the Duncan P-rails, and decided to pay the extra money for a prewired pickguard from 920D on eBay. I'm not afraid of a soldering iron, but I have next to no spare time looking after a 4 year-old (....which is why you haven't seen much of me here lately ...). The tone knobs are push-pull, so there are lots of options. I think the Gotoh Wilkinson VSVG trem is the best mix of old and new and stays in tune very well, plus the bar is drop-in, like a PRS, with zero play (also always hated screw-in whammy bars on Strats).
I used Keda dye, pretty much straight red mixed nice and strong, then 2 really thick layers of Tru-oil with several thinner coats - just enough to make it shine a little bit. The tuners are staggered Hipshot locking ones and work great.

I'm very happy with the finished product. I decided to make the headstock design another Space Invaders character, like it's PGK LP sibling. I can't recommend PGK enough. Here's a link to the kit I bought.....

https://precisionguitarkits.com/product/swamp-ash-strat-coming-close-to-the-perfect-guitar

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[kramersteen]

Re: NPGKD (new Precision Guitar Kit Day)

This gives me joy.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: NPGKD (new Precision Guitar Kit Day)

Very nice!!! Bummer about the Vs... would like one myself

 

[AlexR]

Re: NPGKD (new Precision Guitar Kit Day)

Gibson has been going after their shapes a lot more of late. The SG is no longer on sale anymore either.

Thankfully templates are still sold for those who want a bit of woodwork to occupy them.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: NPGKD (new Precision Guitar Kit Day)

Gibson has been going after their shapes a lot more of late. The SG is no longer on sale anymore either.

Thankfully templates are still sold for those who want a bit of woodwork to occupy them.

mmmmmm templates. Nothing beats them.

 

[T ROCKER]

Re: NPGKD (new Precision Guitar Kit Day)

Gibson should worry more about producing the actual quality to match their ridiculous prices, instead of going after companies using similar body shapes. I've played $5000 PRS's that justify that price with looks/tone/playability/attention to detail, but I actually feel bad for someone who spends that kind of money on any new Gibson. Even paying PGK top dollar to assemble & finish a kit you will still wind up with a guitar at least twice as nice as any new Gibson at half the price.

Do I sound bitter ? I really wanted a PGK 'V' kit, dammit.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: NPGKD (new Precision Guitar Kit Day)

Eliminate all competition... Then you can rap# people for whatever you want...

 

[Mincer]

Re: NPGKD (new Precision Guitar Kit Day)

I love the color on that Strat. Can we hear it?

 

[T ROCKER]

Re: NPGKD (new Precision Guitar Kit Day)

I'll try to throw a vid together sometime real soon. I've got lots of guitar geek friends who've been hounding me to demo the P-Rails because they are curious about them. I'm very happy with the selection of sounds I'm getting, and a tiny bit of compression dialed in from my Xotic smooths everything out perfectly. When the PU's are in humbucking mode there is a significant difference in output between series and parallel, but the compression fixes that right up.

I'll dig some more pics out to show the finishing process; I was going for a less extreme version of the Fender sand-blasted ash look.


Practiced by painting a piece of ash with black acrylic then sanding it back. I used a small wire brush to open the pores.







After the dye and a couple of coats of Tru-oil it started to shine just a little, which is just what I was after.

 

[bloomfieldriffs]

Re: NPGKD (new Precision Guitar Kit Day)

She's a real beauty! Makes me want to try building a guitar but I'll go about it the other way round. Start with a set of Saturday Night Specials and work on figuring out what platform they would work best for me installed in...most likely a LP of some sort.