Central PA brother. Love it. It was beautiful out yesterday. Keep up the good work.
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Project Iced Bongo #5
- Thread starter earlysecond
- Start date
Dwaynie-I live in Altoona yes what a day.
I cut and buffed the guitar. I made a bit of a mess of the fretboard, decided on some Tru Oil to make it nicer. That took a couple of hours. The kit is missing some screws and has a Fender style metal plate for the neck screws - ---that wont work! It should have screw ferrul, think that is what they are called, screwed it together for now. I mounted the tuners, 2 Screws short there.
Id like to get this to my friend tomorrow so he can get it together this week, if he cant domit this week, i will!
I cut and buffed the guitar. I made a bit of a mess of the fretboard, decided on some Tru Oil to make it nicer. That took a couple of hours. The kit is missing some screws and has a Fender style metal plate for the neck screws - ---that wont work! It should have screw ferrul, think that is what they are called, screwed it together for now. I mounted the tuners, 2 Screws short there.
Id like to get this to my friend tomorrow so he can get it together this week, if he cant domit this week, i will!
In the typical fashion of what I have been up to since late last fall. Project Iced Bongo #5 has a finish. From here 1 of 2 things will happen. 1. My friend and business partner will finish the electronics and set up for me which is ideal because he knows how I like my action, does great work and charges me very little. 2. if for some reason he is busy and cannot get to it before I do, I will finish the guitar. I am disappointed that this kit shipped with the wrong neck hardware (Fender style plate which will NOT work, No screws for the pickgaurd or the control cover. In the grand scope of things, these are not the biggest issue BUT something you would hope they could get right. I will have to let the seller know. I ordered what I needed from guitar fetish (I wanted to try an order from them anyway) but the but the completion of the build is on hold unless my friend has some spare chrome neck screw bushings!
Here is how Iced Bongo #5 came out. Although I am pretty fussy and highly self critical, this is just about the look I was headed for. I was challenged by a friend to create 3 elements. Restyle/reshape a kit body to make it different, use auto paint to make a theme, and have the grain show through all of the effects. Pretty much accomplished. This gives me confidence that I could pull this off on a paying job. Somebody would have to give me some basic ideas, accept my creative modifications and turn me loose.
What a great weekend to paint outside! It is funny that I have sprayed outside with temperatures as low as 12degrees with wind and really not had an issue. I bring the piece into the warm between coats obviously. I am excited to work out a water based poly system and build a small, open front spray booth in my unfinished basement. I have enough space and cabinets in place to build a nice little worrkshop which would be climate controlled all year.I have been saving funds and making plans in my head for awhile. I think before my next kit build for my "business" I will try to set up shop.
Hope you enjoyed my weekend festivities. I sure know that I did.
Brent
Here is how Iced Bongo #5 came out. Although I am pretty fussy and highly self critical, this is just about the look I was headed for. I was challenged by a friend to create 3 elements. Restyle/reshape a kit body to make it different, use auto paint to make a theme, and have the grain show through all of the effects. Pretty much accomplished. This gives me confidence that I could pull this off on a paying job. Somebody would have to give me some basic ideas, accept my creative modifications and turn me loose.
What a great weekend to paint outside! It is funny that I have sprayed outside with temperatures as low as 12degrees with wind and really not had an issue. I bring the piece into the warm between coats obviously. I am excited to work out a water based poly system and build a small, open front spray booth in my unfinished basement. I have enough space and cabinets in place to build a nice little worrkshop which would be climate controlled all year.I have been saving funds and making plans in my head for awhile. I think before my next kit build for my "business" I will try to set up shop.
Hope you enjoyed my weekend festivities. I sure know that I did.
Brent
I really like what you've done with it. I am bummed that they didn't send a proper kit, as I have been considering getting that kit myself. I hope you'll follow up with some sound clips...
INTP- my buddy scrounged up some bushings and he has plenty of nickel plated pick guard screws. I can get them locally from a surplus store once i get the right size. It will all work out. Yeah, sadly the kit was incomplete/inaccurate. I will let the seller know. It still cannot be beat IF it sounds OK. Sound clips will be crappy as they will have to be from my cell phone. Stay tuned.
Brent
Brent
Iced Bongo is at my friend/business partner's shop getting assembled and finished. I am anxious to play it. I'm not sure what to expect from the passive pups and the kit strings. I did have him order me a new set of boomers. I love his set ups as he knows exactly how I like my actions and he always nails intonation. . .probably spends too much time on it. I should have it back Thursday for a test drive at band practice! I'll get some final pics and give an update. I have been asked to provide sound clips. . . I will have to go become a proficient bass player first!! haha
Forgot to take pics . . . it was on the counter at the music store when I went in getting set up. Bongo will make it to practice at 6:30. Fingers crossed. This thing, even with a basswood body ends up VERY heavy. I might have to weigh it. Big heavy, hope the sound is worth it!! I'll let you know.
UPDATE- Iced Bongo made a debut at band practice tonight. My friend/business partner ran out of time for the complete set up. The strings were only on for a couple of hours and so I played it for half a set and traded it out when it went out of tune. Interestingly enough, my friend wanted it back because the pick guard did not clear the bridge and needs to be notched. Since I had heavily radiused the body with a belt sander I wondered if he had merely run out of room to place it properly toward the bottom of the body. He insisted that was not the problem and that the scale was dead nuts on! Not sure what that is about but Doug will fix it and I can have it for the weekend. The other issues which contributed to me trading it for another bass was that the strings were not yet radiused on the fretbaord as the set up was not complete and he did not set intonation either. So a lot of mechanical issues were present, which is to be expected!
BTW I did email the seller of the kit to make them aware of some of the minor problems and missing pieces I encountered and will give a final review of the kit after they have had some time to respond. To me, that is only fair.
Sound wise I was VERY thrilled with what I thought were dodgy, inexpensive looking pick ups. I had shielded the body before I handed it over Doug finished wiring and had his tech solder the pots which were already, largely pre-wired which was nice. The sound was impressive for the short time I played! I was pretty dang blown away with the sound. Since this is a 5 string kit and the kit strings are notoriously not so hot AND the my Peavy practice bass has trouble handling the 31hz needs of extended range playing, the fattest string sound was less than impressive. Once I get it all sorted out I may provide a sound clip but while I am brave with styling and coloration of guitars, I am not the best player!
Thanks to those of you who have followed this kit build. I will provide final photos soon and consider a sound clip.
Brent
BTW I did email the seller of the kit to make them aware of some of the minor problems and missing pieces I encountered and will give a final review of the kit after they have had some time to respond. To me, that is only fair.
Sound wise I was VERY thrilled with what I thought were dodgy, inexpensive looking pick ups. I had shielded the body before I handed it over Doug finished wiring and had his tech solder the pots which were already, largely pre-wired which was nice. The sound was impressive for the short time I played! I was pretty dang blown away with the sound. Since this is a 5 string kit and the kit strings are notoriously not so hot AND the my Peavy practice bass has trouble handling the 31hz needs of extended range playing, the fattest string sound was less than impressive. Once I get it all sorted out I may provide a sound clip but while I am brave with styling and coloration of guitars, I am not the best player!
Thanks to those of you who have followed this kit build. I will provide final photos soon and consider a sound clip.
Brent
That came out looking great! I like your headstock decals, too. Makes the bass look finished.
I recently built my first bass from a kit and, like you, reshaped it, but didn't include any kind of
headstock decal. As a result, the headstock looks a little "empty" to me. I'm waiting to come up
with the right one, and then install it.
Great job!
I recently built my first bass from a kit and, like you, reshaped it, but didn't include any kind of
headstock decal. As a result, the headstock looks a little "empty" to me. I'm waiting to come up
with the right one, and then install it.
Great job!
So I had promised a final analysis of this particular kit.
I really want to be a bit guarded. Sadly, it will be my last kit from this company for reasons I will share.
First, let me say there were positives and I really like what I cam up with in the end. I believe it is a really unique bass with a decent sound and a lot of available various tones. The wood was pretty decent. Ordering it had been a challenge since it was out of stock for awhile. This guitar is HEAVY that is not the fault of the compnay which offers it!
Here are some of the problems I encountered from start to finish
This kit was priced very fairly but i did have to pay shipping, I have not paid shipping on other kits (it came a day early and the packaging was great)
I was shorted the following items in the kit:
These couple of items made the kit hard to assemble and it needed a lot of tweaking, including cutting metal!
I had to order both pickguard screws and a neck bolt kit
When the bridge was mounted at the appropriate scale distance and the pick ups were installed, the pickguard overlapped the "extra" metal on the bridge by nearly 1/2 inch! I removed, cut, and shaped the metal bridge but it will likely rust at some point.
The control plate cover did not easily fit the control cavity (this is a bit picky but it did require sanding 1/4 inch of plastic in some spots)
There was no hole drilled for the bridge ground. In the end, it was not that big a deal, I drilled one before I put the bridge on BUT then when I had to cut the bridge down, I exposed the hole and was pretty upset.
I held off on my final review until I had time to contact, and appropriate time was given for a response from BYOG. I let them know about the missing/wrong parts. I waited a week but, sadly, got no response.
In the end, this is a decent kit but required me to spend additional money AND I had to cut and shape metal. That in addition to a current lack of response when i had issues makes me less likely to purchase another kit from the same vendor.
I've done enough kits at this point that I am ready to set out on my own. . . .it's been fun but it is time for the next step!Hope this information is helpful to somebody!
I really want to be a bit guarded. Sadly, it will be my last kit from this company for reasons I will share.
First, let me say there were positives and I really like what I cam up with in the end. I believe it is a really unique bass with a decent sound and a lot of available various tones. The wood was pretty decent. Ordering it had been a challenge since it was out of stock for awhile. This guitar is HEAVY that is not the fault of the compnay which offers it!
Here are some of the problems I encountered from start to finish
This kit was priced very fairly but i did have to pay shipping, I have not paid shipping on other kits (it came a day early and the packaging was great)
I was shorted the following items in the kit:
- Pick guard screws
- Neck bushings (instead I was sent a fender style neck screws and plate which will NOT work on this neck)
These couple of items made the kit hard to assemble and it needed a lot of tweaking, including cutting metal!
I had to order both pickguard screws and a neck bolt kit
When the bridge was mounted at the appropriate scale distance and the pick ups were installed, the pickguard overlapped the "extra" metal on the bridge by nearly 1/2 inch! I removed, cut, and shaped the metal bridge but it will likely rust at some point.
The control plate cover did not easily fit the control cavity (this is a bit picky but it did require sanding 1/4 inch of plastic in some spots)
There was no hole drilled for the bridge ground. In the end, it was not that big a deal, I drilled one before I put the bridge on BUT then when I had to cut the bridge down, I exposed the hole and was pretty upset.
I held off on my final review until I had time to contact, and appropriate time was given for a response from BYOG. I let them know about the missing/wrong parts. I waited a week but, sadly, got no response.
In the end, this is a decent kit but required me to spend additional money AND I had to cut and shape metal. That in addition to a current lack of response when i had issues makes me less likely to purchase another kit from the same vendor.
I've done enough kits at this point that I am ready to set out on my own. . . .it's been fun but it is time for the next step!Hope this information is helpful to somebody!
Last edited:
- Aug 30, 2003
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Sorry, but to make the review more objective, you shouldn't have included the shipping and bridge ground parts.
Unless the company didn't specify it upfront, it is up to the company to charge the shipping cost or not.
In regards to the bridge ground hole, if you ended up exposing the hole that you drilled yourself, then it is not the company's fault, isn't it?
I'm not going against you here. I just feel that, those factors above are not really relevant in reviewing the quality of the product.
Wouldn't it be easier to cut the pickguard than bridge?
