Carver electric banjo kit

I was wanting somewhat of a unicorn among stringed instruments, and that is a solid body electric banjo.
I had PM'd beerbelly about the possibility of modifying an electric guitar and he suggested this kit from CB Gitty.
So earlier this week this box arrived;

This is what it will look like assembled;

And a little sanding and some stain;

And the neck is actually walnut (the body is plywood), a little stain on the headstock to match the middle of the body;

I'll put some polyurethane on all of it next weekend and hopefully start to assemble it.
It's a bit rustic and crude but I'm excited to hear what kind of voice it will have. Should get me through the winter doldrums anyway.

 

Cool! Keep the progress photos coming; I'd like to see how it turns out.

 

Not much progress other than I mocked up a cardboard template to make a pick-guard of sorts;

Here's some aluminum flashing that I'm using, just got to figure out how to cut the slot for the pickup cleanly;

 

Nice; the aluminum should look cool. I'd say a hole saw and files should work for cutting the slot.

 

Slow progress, but may be assembling it this weekend;

This is what it will look like, the neck isn't bolted on yet, it needs another application of linseed oil. I figured that would be easier than polyurethane as the frets are already in;

 

Finished it! Strung it up and couldn't get my plug in tuner to work.
Plugged it in my little practice amp and dimed it and nothing.
There's a hiss as I rotate the volume and tone knobs but absolutely zero sound from the pickup
Phug it... I'm playing it acoustically for awhile before I completely disassemble it.
Anything I should look for beerbelly when I take it apart again?
Here's a pic anyway;

 

It sure looks nice! Did you get any wiring instructions with the kit? If so, take a photo and post it (bigger than this one if you can).

 

Thanks! The instructions were very basic.
The pickup was prewired to the volume and tone pots, and the output jack as well.
Basically just plug and play so to speak.
The only thing I can think of is one of the soldered connections broke or separated when I was tucking the wires into the routed cavity in the top plate.
Here's a pic of the instructions sheet dealing with the electronics;

 

If the kit came pre-wired, yes, check all the soldered connections for breaks or poor solder joints. If any joints look gray or corroded, they should be re-soldered (or just re-heated) so they're shiny.
Another thought occurs to me- you may have grounded out the volume control by attaching it to the aluminum flashing. If that's the case, you could try using a thin plastic washer under the nut to isolate it from the flashing.
Let me know how it goes.

 

Man, you are sharp as a tack, for a beer drinker....

 

You nailed it, loosened the nut on the volume pot and plugged it in and it's amplified!
I should probably drill the hole out in the aluminum a little more and then use a plastic washer as you suggested. So happy I don't have to completely disassemble it, thanks beerbelly.

 

Great! You could also just drill out the hole in the flashing larger than the volume control washer & nut.