My wife left me unsupervised one weekend this fall and this followed me home: a Saga Strat kit that had been returned minus all the hardware. These kits get pretty good reviews so for $30 I thought it would be fun to mess around with and maybe learn a few things.
First I ordered the missing hardware, and this took a few tries to get things correct and complete.
Saga Strat - (partial) kit build
-
Morecowbell
- Posts: 284
- Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2019 10:51 am
- Location: Fishers, IN
Saga Strat - (partial) kit build
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
"Facts seldom sway an opinion." - John Hall
"The difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference." - Van de Snepscheut
"The difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference." - Van de Snepscheut
-
Morecowbell
- Posts: 284
- Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2019 10:51 am
- Location: Fishers, IN
Re: Saga Strat - (partial) kit build
The body was next – it was pretty good but had a few nice lumps in it.
The color choice was tricky but for some reason I have a strange affinity for golden yellow, so after a bit of circling decided on the lovely Rustoleum Sunset Yellow. Most things that I finish only reveal themselves fully after the first few coats so I was prepared for this.
I was however, unprepared for the wrinkling I got from the Rustoleum upon re-coating according to their instructions! Some quick research revealed this to be a common problem with their new formulation so I made a quick switch to Krylon, which solved the problem. After the fact I realized the wrinkling might have been used to advantage for a relic’d look, lol! But my head was elsewhere at the time.
A few coats gave me a 10 foot finish, perfect for my purposes.
The color choice was tricky but for some reason I have a strange affinity for golden yellow, so after a bit of circling decided on the lovely Rustoleum Sunset Yellow. Most things that I finish only reveal themselves fully after the first few coats so I was prepared for this.
I was however, unprepared for the wrinkling I got from the Rustoleum upon re-coating according to their instructions! Some quick research revealed this to be a common problem with their new formulation so I made a quick switch to Krylon, which solved the problem. After the fact I realized the wrinkling might have been used to advantage for a relic’d look, lol! But my head was elsewhere at the time.
A few coats gave me a 10 foot finish, perfect for my purposes.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
"Facts seldom sway an opinion." - John Hall
"The difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference." - Van de Snepscheut
"The difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference." - Van de Snepscheut
-
Morecowbell
- Posts: 284
- Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2019 10:51 am
- Location: Fishers, IN
Re: Saga Strat - (partial) kit build
I decided to go with the early Stratocaster headstock profile, since I like the design better than the newer version.
The neck was straight but the frets were pretty wonky, they needed a pretty good leveling, crowning and polishing. After cutting and sanding the headstock profile I French polished the neck with orange shellac, hoping it would give me that great vintage color on the maple....
The neck was straight but the frets were pretty wonky, they needed a pretty good leveling, crowning and polishing. After cutting and sanding the headstock profile I French polished the neck with orange shellac, hoping it would give me that great vintage color on the maple....
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
"Facts seldom sway an opinion." - John Hall
"The difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference." - Van de Snepscheut
"The difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference." - Van de Snepscheut
-
Morecowbell
- Posts: 284
- Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2019 10:51 am
- Location: Fishers, IN
Re: Saga Strat - (partial) kit build
I started referring to it as my “Claycaster” and that led to decal research which led to making my own water slide decals for the headstock.
I had some fun with the decals, copying the original spaghetti logo and then extrapolating to create my own “brand”
I had some fun with the decals, copying the original spaghetti logo and then extrapolating to create my own “brand”
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
"Facts seldom sway an opinion." - John Hall
"The difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference." - Van de Snepscheut
"The difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference." - Van de Snepscheut
-
Morecowbell
- Posts: 284
- Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2019 10:51 am
- Location: Fishers, IN
Re: Saga Strat - (partial) kit build
Assembly was pretty straightforward. The tuners needed some filing to fit, the neck needed a 1/64” shim and the nut needed to be cut down.
The action is still a bit high and it needs to be intonated, but TTBH it sounds good - much better than I expected from the low end ceramic pickups. The fit and finish on the kit was pretty medium but overall a fun project with a surprisingly positive end result - I'm having a blast with it!
The action is still a bit high and it needs to be intonated, but TTBH it sounds good - much better than I expected from the low end ceramic pickups. The fit and finish on the kit was pretty medium but overall a fun project with a surprisingly positive end result - I'm having a blast with it!
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
"Facts seldom sway an opinion." - John Hall
"The difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference." - Van de Snepscheut
"The difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference." - Van de Snepscheut
-
TEETERFAN
- Posts: 363
- Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2018 12:43 pm
- Location: Kansas City, MO
Re: Saga Strat - (partial) kit build
Thanks for posting your project. Looks like you achieved your goals and came up with a fun guitar!
Kevin Doty
Kansas City
Kansas City