Saga ST-10 Kit

I have no idea when or where this kit was made. Basswood Strat body comprised of at least four pieces. Five way switch. Pickups: S/S/S of indeterminate make. Maple neck/headstock, generic tuners. Tuners are low end but usable. Hardware is acceptable. Pickups are better than I expected. But the holes/hardware all aligned properly and went together easily. I'll replace the tuners eventually but they'll do for now. Intonation was almost spot-on right away. Frets/fingerboard are very nice, a nice flame in it, nicely filed frets. No neck adjustment needed. I need some fine tuning with the action but that's no problem. Wiring was a problem only due to my inexperience in that regard. One drawback: the wiring diagram is a bad joke, but the Fender site helped with their diagrams.

I've been playing a Les Paul for more than 30 years, have always wanted a Strat. This one sounds more like a Tele to my ears, but I'm still adjusting the pickups, and I'm happy with the tone but I'm getting a lot of hum. I'll likely solder the connections once I'm sure everything else is done. I play rock/blues/jazz, mostly at home, haven't played gigs in a few years, so this gives me the tone I want for blues in particular. I record on my computer and this adds a tool to my arsenal.

Factory setup seems to have been well done, parts all fit, holes drilled correctly except for two of the holes for the neck/body. I'll re-drill those deeper or get shorter screws to accomodate it. Pickups were set low, but it IS a do it yourselfer, after all. Intonation was very good right away. Minor adjustments to the saddles were needed. Routing of cavities was good. I've already mentioned the hum, but I may still be able to correct that. Overall, assembly went very well, and according to instructions. The finish is up to me, and while it has flaws due to my inexperience, the next one will be better.

While I don't play live anymore (but I'm open to offers ;))I feel it's tough enough to play onstage. Except for the tuners, the hardware seems tough enough too. Strap buttons are kind of rinkydink, but that's cheap to replace. Gig without a backup? I wouldn't even advise that with my trusty old Les Paul.

When I had trouble with the wiring I emailed SAGA. Still no response after three weeks

I've been playing since about 1973, mainly on one guitar. I like this Strat style and the sound. If stolen or lost I'd simply build another one, the loss would be mostly sentimental because it's my first DIY axe. I'd have to rate this one at least as good as a Squier, better than the low end Epiphone LP knockoff I found at a yard sale a couple of months ago. Nobody is going to confuse this with a $700 Strat, but it's good enough for me.

Body was in good shape and was sealed. I wanted to stain it so I used a power sander to remove the sealer. This is the toughest sealer on the planet. Grain was nice on the 3 piece body and the stain came out great (minwax water based deep ocean blue). Topped it off with wipe on poly, lots of coats. Easy to do and the neck fit fine although I had to drill the holes to mount it. Tuners were low grade so I replaced them with locking style ($25). Had to drill there too. Be careful of splintering if you do this.

So far I have played it with a Line 6 Guitar Port and it sounds great! I can get any sound from metal crunch to smooth jazz to chicken pickin. There is a little hum when using just one pickup but no more than my old Fender Strat used to have. The notch tones are perfect though with no hum.

Action came out great. As with any tremolo unit you have to fiddle with it to get the setup right. No big deal you just have to do it. I did replace the bridge screws with #6 - 1" from the hardware store as the factory screws were way to small to hold. With the bridge set and the upgraded tuners it holds well. Make sure you lube the nut well. I also put a set of roller string trees on it ($3 worth)

I think it will hold up as well as anything.

No need to call them.

I took a 20 year break from guitar and this is my second purchase since I got back to playing. First was an acoustic. This Saga plays as well as I remember my 79 Fender Strat played. It also stays in tune better. I would recommend it to anyone who likes to put their own spin on what they play. No one has a guitar like mine. I like that. You could also upgrade it to the moon if you wanted to.

This guitar kit was purchased in June 2007. The body is three piece (not laminated) basswood. The top is sanded and you can't tell the grain marks enough through the top to tell if it is one piece blank or three. But... look at the back and it is three. I bought mine with no finish on it. It does have sealer though. on this particular guitar, the sealer job was GREAT.

When comparing this guitar to a $600 somethingorother PRS copy and a $400 cort (remember kids that Cort's factory builds all your ibanez crap) one thing really stood out. The fretjob on this guitar was fantastic. You could tell it had been worked on by hand. There are no rough edges like on most inexpensive guitar necks. Simple plastic dots on the front of the fretboard. Maple neck/rosewood fretboard. It's not a terribly awesome looking rosewood, but it's very durable. Some people prefer the soft rosewood, but I think using some abuse this neck is just fine. The nut seems low quality however. So I am giving this kit a decent rating because for the money, the quality of construction on these parts (hardware, body, neck... not including the tuners, pickups) is great for the money. I will be replacing the tuners (I'm picky) and the pickguard+pickups.

Well, I won't give it a rating. After looking at everything... it's not a bad job done on this one. But - I'm not even going to finish putting it together until I get the pickguard, pickups, and electronics I want.

The action is adjustable, remember kids, you're building it.

I think that this thing will see alot of abuse. If you're looking to try your hand at making a guitar, this is a GREAT way to go. If you don't mind the idea that you're paying for a neck/body and replacing everything else, then this is a cheap alternative too. If you want a really nice guitar kit, purchase a Carvin bolt kit. But from my experience, the only pickups from carvin that or worth a shot are the Holdsworth humbuckers.

I doubt there is much customer support.

I've been playing for over 7 years. I have had use of a '78 Gibson LP Deluxe, a Fender American fat strat, a customized asian fat strat, a 12 string seagull acoustic, an essex LP copy, and some others along with bass guitars.

If you're looking to build one for the first time, it's a cheap cost for something that WORKS. But, it doesn't have all of the great options, and for four times the cost you can get something four times the quality somewhere else. My plan is to build this basically keeping the neck and body. The rest will be replaced. I highly suggest if you keep the stock pickups and pickguard that you foil the insides of the cavities to prevent too much hum.

Kit was made in china, but there was no date on it anywhere, not even a stamp on the neck heel. Typical strat copy, 21 frets, solid with three single coils, and really crappy tuners (the heads are plastic). Also, it has a sort of mock rosewood fretboard, i don't think this stuf is real, though it could just be quite low quality stuff. body is bass wood and the neck is maple. came with really bad chord, like a speaker chord, it fuzzed like crazy, but as soon as i busted out a good fender chord, it sounded o.k. nut sucked (plastic). i give it a 7 for not being made of plywood (I HATE PLYWOOD!!!)and the basswoodhad nice grain. the body was real smooth because it was coated sating poly about 10 feet deep!

I play classic rock and rock/blues type fusion, as well as write my own stuff. Actually, i mostly just ad-lib. This pickups in this thing really suck. I replaced them with some real good overwounds from off the internet. They sound awesome (better than my buddy's vintage '64 duo-sonic which has vintage '72 strat pickups wired into it) and they have a ton of output, they do about 15.2k ohms (bridge), and thats great for some aftermarket single coils from off of the internet. The only problem with them is that the they are all exactly the same size. The neck pickup has about a half cm of space between it and the pickguard. I thought that they were all bridge pickups, until i measured the resistance and discovered that they were not. Oh well, the bridge firs, fine sounds great, but was noisy as hell until i shielded that pickguard. now it screams. but the stock p'ups suck, don't use them.

The action wasn't set up because you're supposed to do that yourself.
I used that bridge pickup from this guitar and one that was just lying areound and i made a humbucker for the 100% from scratch mustang I'm building (i've been in love with the mustang look since i first played my friends duo-sonic) The neck fit into the pocket really tight, too tight. i thought that i would break off the edge of the cavity if i tried forcing it, so, i hade to shim the sides a little. It fit really really good, but the screws in the neck were off, so i had to redrill them. easy enough. the neck has really ugly woodgrain, and you can't cut out a good headstock(i think they make it like that on purpose) I tried to make a big cbs head but it turned out crappy and the neck is really ugly, so i just bought and old squier neck off the internet, a real old one from when they still had a slab fingerboard, but it was really thin at the edge. I love veneer fingerboards. I especially like how the side markers are between the board and the maple. cool, just like a fender. the neck was 10 years old, and i am still in the process of refinishing it. the frets are flush with the board in some places, and there are green areas in the neck, so i have to refret and and finish the neck, but with the thin slab board and big headstock, i'm in illegitimate heaven! I painted it (the guitar) with some "space blue metallic" spray paint i got from a KC store. I would have done it natural, but there were pools of sealer all over, so i suspeceted that there were big dents in the body and was not abour to strip it. I got real expensive poly clear coat that cost me about 20$ a can... and it sucked. it was automotive and soft as hell, even after letting it sit for three weeks. i tossed the tuners and am going (hoping) to get some of those vintage "F" tuners like from the 70s reissue. we'll see. I also got new bridge saddles and balck knobs and pickup covers. If looks could kill...

This sucker's my main axe, it can scream, it's got solid strat buttons (i put steel woul in the holes)the harware is heavily chrom plated, I put in another trem spring(it only came with three) and i'm getting a brass nut. This axe is a monster! of course i'm gonna play live with it, i already have. It's very dependable, i just hate the neck and tuners. Finish is kinda weak, but it's thick and the paint is metallic so you can't see the scratches.

haven't dealt with them, but there website sucks

I've been playing guitar about {} years now(the first of which i had started on bass guitar) but playing overall music (violin, piano, harmonica, recorder...) about 8. I play this, a SX 57 precision bass copy, i own a squier that i never play, and i play through a dunlop crybaby classic=boss ds-1=boss phase shifter(my brother in law's, I only use it for the detroit rock city solo)=pastrami dj-1 overdrive into a homemade stack using my old pyle bass combo amp as the head.i get almost perfect sound from my stack and i make full use of all my gear (except the phase shifter) I am working on The GREEN MONSTER, a mustang copy that will actually be painted red but due to a mishap with some industrial filler bearing the same nickname, i'll call it the green monster. I actually built this guitar around spring break of '06, but keep on upgrading. It was fun and i think it's the ideal beginner instrument, considering that with and extra 50$ put into it you gan have a guitar that far exceeds a squier, and it will still cost less. That's what i did and i'm only fourteen. My dad helped with some of it, and it's just tons of fun. plus my guitar rules and it cost less than one of those 200$ squiers. it's sweet. just make sure you jnk the tuners.

Typical Strat stuff. This was my first experience at a do it yourself guitar. I did not use the stock machine heads and I did not use the stock pickups and I can't write about how it is stock because I never used them. I put texas special pickups in it and locking schaller tuners. I paid $89 for this kit and it was a good experience and I have a great sounding strat.

I play classic rock, mostly late 60's through mid 70's and some blues. This sounds really good for that kind of music. I'm not into metal so I can't judge it for that. Gets some good country tones also. I'm running this through a Hartke G60 Piggyback Rig, a Marshall MG30DFX and a Marshall MG10CD and it sounds well on all of them. This thing really sounds good with the texas special pickups although because they are higher output single coils, they make a little more noise but that doesn't bother me. Very versatile. I like it a lot.

Well this was a do it yourself and it was my first try. I had to basically resand and refinish everything to make it fit. I chose to leave this guitar natural, so I just put about 10 coats of clear varnish on it. It would be cool if it had a maple fretboard instead of the rosewood, but I can live with it. This is a great kit if you are wanting to have a hobby and sort of learn about the mechanics of guitars.

I'm a physician by trade, so I'm a stay at home player but I let a friend of mine do a couple of gigs with it and it held up just fine. The hardware is ok for home playing, not sure it would stand up to night after night gigs. Strap buttons are solid. If I gigged I don't think I would gig without a backup.

I've basically been playing guitar for 40 years, since I was 5, but never had the desire to be a professional musician. It's all for my entertainment. I have also the PRS and Tele Kits by Saga and I have Fender Strat and Tele's made in Mexico as well as a Korean made Epiphone Les Paul. I have Martin and Takamine Acoustics. Again, this is a cool experience. Although I had been playing a long time, I really didn't know that much about guitars except a little about setting them up, which I had to learn here in the Philippines because I can't find any techs. I thoroughly enjoyed putting together my 3 Saga kits.

Basswood body with a sealer - why they sealed it I do not know. The sanding work was pitiful. Electronics and hardware were pretty sad as well. BUT - this is a GREAT building experience!

The stock electronics are just sad. But let me tell you two words - "Mighty Mite".
Replaced the pickups with a Mighty Mite prewired tortise shell pickup set. Very different sound - peel the paint high end! Try DancingDragon Guitars for the pickup
set. After the stock pickups are replaced, it holds up tone-wise fairly well to an American Strat ( not the same tactile experience, however!)

This is a hobby guitar, kids! But you are forced to learn how to set action and intonation, replace parts, woodwork, oil the neck, lubricate the nut -- it is just
a GREAT learning experience. If you are looking for a fab kit that all the parts are stellar but not cheap - carvin is your friend. But this was a great 1st guitar project. The body woodwork needed help. I chose to just put a tung oil finish on it and move on. I replaced the tuners, the string seats, the pickgaurd assembly, oiled the fretboard, replaced the string trees, and paid about $150 bucks over the original cost.

The fretboard needed some rounding of the sides of the fretboard to make this less abrasive, the frets themselves are pretty average. The string seats were replaced with graphite ones from Stewart MacDonald. Major difference in the ability to keep this in tune. I added in the max 5 springs and screwed down the tremolo to keep it from budging, tuning was a bear to keep stable.

You are making your spare guitar here. If you are looking for a learning experience,
and have the time to make a guitar that will be a kick-around one that you can modify
at will and start from scratch, this is a cheap way to go. If you want to build
a sexy Strat, you would do better to get parts from DancingDragonsGuitar.com or
warmoth. But if you want a practice version, start here.

This is an importer selling a ceap kit, so support is going to be terrible.

Played on and off for 25 years.

If stolen I would go for a standard Strat with humbuckers to provide a light Fender option along with my American Strat.

Would have preferred a better bit of woodwork, but it is light and playable after some work,

I bought this kit to have a test project for finishing...I wasn't really in need of a strat as I have a G&L Legacy with Fralins for Strat sounds, which is ofcourse a high quality instrument...When I completed it, however, I find it's really pretty good...Not without effort though...The nut was glued in off center, so I replaced it with a Tusk nut from Stew Mac...The tuners were also pretty poor so I replaced them with locking Klusons, also from Stew Mac...They look like the old strip tuners, but they lock in a very trick way...A nice touch...But the holes drilled weren't accurate enough for an easy substitution...The body is basswood, but adequate for this application, and took the nitro finish well...Decent, though cost effective neck with a pretty flat radius(12"?) with some well installed sort of jumbo frets...Very straight...A chunky U shape...Not Bad at all...The bridge is also ok...Pretty much what you'd find on a Squire...Maybe a little better...

I intend to replace all the electronics...They are cheesy...But I put it together with what came with it and am pleasantly surprised...It really sounds ok despite the obviously low quality electronics...Go figure...It is quite resonant unplugged...It sounds like a Squire plugged in and the pickups that came with it are ok for what they are...

Well, since I'm responsible for all this it would be disingenuous of me to complain...I bought all my finishing stuff from the Guitar ReRanch...Nitro lacquer...I gave it a sort of relic finish which came out very well...A lot of work, but worth the effort...Some of the predrilled holes were off, but nothing that couldn't be finessed... You'll get out of it pretty much what you put in...So I'll leave that for the individual to decide...Just don't think it'll all fall in place without effort....

This seems dependable...If it isn't there's only me to blame...But be prepared to make it so....I'd never gig without a back up...

I've been playing about 40 years now and I've got a ton of other guitars, mostly G&Ls which are really great guitars...This guitar as built is not perfect...but it's definitely not bad...I don't understand some of the other reviewers comments...Do they really think you're going to put together a custom shop strat from a kit that costs $140? I probably spent about $400 total for the kit, finishing supplies, and upgraded parts, and the guitar I got out of it is probably like a $500 guitar...Whoa!!! Did I just write that? That's a fair chunk of change, considering that you can buy a run of the mill am std strat for that, used...This thing, however, looks really cool, and is what I think a strat should look and sound like...It plays really well and is ultra personal...Plus it was enjoyable to build...It's rumored that Bob and Jacob Dylan spent some quality time putting one of these tele kits together...Now that's what I call family values...If you put some sweat equity into it, you'll get more than you pay for...If you just want to plunk $100 bucks down so you can bitch about what a cheap piece of shit you bought...Well you can do that too...But why would you want to?
I would recommend this to someone who wanted to learn about what goes into a strat and who's competent enough modify the kit to their own expectations...If I were to build another guitar, I'd probably buy higher quality parts from the get go, but for a starter this is a good deal...

All the usual strat features... if ya need it explained... this review won't help you.

Well.. I can't review the stock sound because I took one look under the hood and replaced all the electronics. Cheesiest elctronics I have ever seen on anything. This guitar was a project for my kid to learn about constructing and maintaining a guitar. He plays though practice amps like a Roland Cube or Vox VT30AD.

I understand that for $69 for a guitar kit compromises must be made with component quality and construction. So I guess we got about what I expected. The body is bassword, with numerous flaws and knotts, the routing looks like it was done by a beaver... the rout for the trem was crooked... fortunately the trem screw holes were OK and the trem block had enough room in the offset routed cavity. The neck pocket is also poorly routed and fit to the neck. Many holes for the scratchplate or trem spring cover do not line up to anything. The electronics are absolute junk! The tuners are even worse. The bridge was cheap... but usable... if you intend to tighten the springs up to keep the plate flat on the body and discard the trem arm. The neck was actually usable, even though it is of a low quality... it was straight and to my surprise... the fret work wasn't too bad. The headstock paddle was of a size and shape that prevents you from recreating an accurate Fender Strat headstock. The tuners/string trees do not quite line up with the strings coming out of the nut... so everything takes a slight left. Well that is the worst of it and what I expected for $69.

What I did do was install CTS pots, switchcraft plug, a quality 5-way switch and GFS vintage pickups ($43 from GF) and some extra Ping tuners that were laying around. I intend to use the body for a test bed to perform a good lacquer finish(don't want to learn on a good body). After asembling everything and spending some time setting it up... it actually sounds and plays surprisingly well for what it is... equal to my kids Mexican STD strat... even though the Mexican strat is overall of far better quality. But hey... We only have about $150 invested in this project.

There isn't anything stock on this guitar that looks like it would be reliable or withstand any abuse.

n/a

It is what it is... if you want a fun project to do with you kid... or a testbed for trying stuff out first on a cheap guitar.... this could be for you. But absolutely don't think for even one moment you are building a quality guitar that approaches the quality of a fender for a fraction of the price... it isn't even close to the cheapest squires ever made... even the plywood ones. Want a good guitar on a budget... buy used. Want a fun project for the kid? This may be up you alley... with some component replacement and elbow greese... you can actually build a playable guitar from these kits and do some bonding with the kid.

The guitar kit is properly made in The far east (China, Korea) bought 2004
It is a Strat copy with 21 freets and S/S/S pickups.
The body is some kind of Ash and the neck is Maple with Rosewood fingerboard Jumbo frets.
Screws and springs for the tremolo were missing. And the shop newer sends the missing parts.
The tuners were bad. The pickguard was like squire.

When the guitar was proper setup it sound great using an old Roland amp almost like my Fender Strat.

The neck and the frets need some work, when the frets were planed and the trust road adjusted the neck become great.
It can play with very low action 1? mm at the 12. Fret.
I have got a great guitar.

There was no support.

It's a Fine Guitar

Seems to have all the features I am familiar with on a strat-style guitar. I didn't like the cheap looking tuners that were sent to me so I went out and bought some Gotoh tuners and cut out the tuner holes with a drill press. The neck claims to be maple and the body Basswood. It did come with a very cheap cable which has a short in it so I will be throwing that thing away. The strings appear to be 9's or 10 gauge and they came wound together. I tried unwinding this mangled mess and would up throwing the strings away as well.

When I first plugged it up it sounded ok and it did get better when I intonated it. I sighted down the neck which appeared to have a slight twist in it. The strings had a buzz that I couldn't quite overcome and I took it into a more experienced tech.

The action was high at the nut and I had to take extra time cutting the nut which was an added expense that I didn't anticipate. The neck fit the body well and the holes were all drilled to fit fairly well.

This guitar was a waste of time and money. Although I had fun with cutting the headstock and tuner holes and painting/sanding it to a smooth finish, I was very dissapointed to find out the neck was twisted and the nut was not properly cut. The guitar will not even interest the garbage man during trash collection.

Ya know SAGA .... blaming the customer for causing a twist in the guitar neck is like blaming the carpenter for twisting lumber when he cuts a stock of two X fours to fit the dimensions of a house!! Un-believable!! But true!!! Dude's name is Tino. If you call tell him I said hello.

I've been playing long enough to know a good guitar and this one doesn't even come close to good workmanship. As I said earlier, the garbage man would pass on it during trash collection.