Saga ST-10 Kit

Your basic squire-type body, SSS, basswood body, your everyday rosewood/maple neck, standard tremolos and cheap tuners.... Comes with everything you need to get the guitar playing, strings, cords and stuff...

I havent hooked up this thing to an amp before but I have done it ocassionally on a home stero system. It hums just as much as a squire....

Action sucks, had to file the slots and I didnt have the right tools for the job, so I broke the nut trying to do that.... My hand hurts trying to play it and the neck pocket is either too shallow or the neck is too thick that I had to sand and plane like crazy in order to get the neck to be low enough that the string doesnt touch the neck! I had to finish the body myself and since I dont own equipments like spray guns and I dont know where to get auto paints, I used rustoleum lacquer and the finish comes off if it bumps into ANYthing!!!

Would definatly never gig, not that I am good enough to even gig, but the paint job looks great on the outside, but it sucks when bumped into anything... Oh by the way the tuner never stayed in tune, as soon as I am done tuning the high E string, the low E string is way out of tune. That never happened on my new mexican strat.... Hell I think Squire strats are better than this POS!!!

what??

I just got started with playing the guitar, and I sold the parts on ebay because I just want to concentrate on learning to play the guitar. I spent too much time trying to refinish, setup, anything to make the guitar look as good as ones you see in guitar center (and as playable as well) to no avail. So I sold all the parts and bought a mexican strat and it looks a LOT better and stays in tune better too!

S/S/S pickups (middle is Reverse Wired Reverse Polarity for Humbucking effect). 5 way selector pickup selector. Basically, this is a Fender "Strat-In-A-Box".

My musical styles are "garage band", classic rock and hard rock. The guitar is well-suited for all these styles. (I will admit that I did some serious rewiring before I put the guitar together - BUT I did NOT change the pickups). I've been rewiring guitars for decades and so I wanted to get the widest range of tones as possible.
I find it is NOT noisy because the RWRP middle pickup does a great job at humcancelling. If you like the single coil tone, it's great 'clean' (with little hum) but don't use single coils for distortion (sounds weak and you'll really notice the hum - of course that's the case with ANY single coil setting on any guitar).
Since the guitar is rewired, I can get tones from the thin Fender sound all the way to a rather full, rich, warm tone. I play this through a Mesa Boogie Nomad but I think the real test is playing it through my Peavey Envoy, which is a transistorized, small speaker amp. Not many guitars have a "full" sound through that amp. The Saga guitar passes the "Peavey" test quite well!!
Although it is a guitar kit, and all pickups are pre-wired, I STRONGLY suggest that you do rewire it for greater tonal range. There are many great books and websites that can teach you guitar wiring - why not try visiting this one - www.guitarnuts.com - (a highly-rated site). In some reviews, people have said that they replaced the pickups, but try a rewiring first. You'll be surprised at the result (and it's much cheaper than buying new pickups).

Since this is a guitar kit, it arrived with absolutely NO set-up of action, intonation, etc. but all the parts (especially the neck & body) seemed okay.
The instructions claimed that the neck truss rod adjustment was already set at the factory. However, I agree with the other postings that the truss rod will have to be adjusted. It seems naive to think that a guitar neck just sitting in a factory is going to be perfect as soon as you tighten up the strings.
Be prepared to make LOTS of adjustments - (truss rod, saddle height, intonation) and be prepared for filing the nut. A good site for learning all this is www.Fender.com and then click on the Gearhead page.
In spite of all this, I still give the Saga high marks because, eventually, the action, intonation and so on can be adjusted precisely. (I was really surprised at the action - about 1/16" at the 12th fret !!)

To me this seems like a solid guitar. I wouldn't rate it with the incredible craftsmanship of a Gibson - but still it seems that this guitar is going to last a long time.

Didn't deal directly with Saga. I bought it from www.jklutherie.com. (It arrived in less than a week). Also, a few parts were missing and they were sent to me via Express Mail. Very good service.

I've been playing for decades now and I am amazed at this guitar. I bought it because I was interested to see if I could build a guitar from a kit, but I never thought it would be this good!!
If you are careful, have good woodworking skills, and know about guitar settings and construction, you will be well-rewarded when you build one of these.
I feel I have bought a Fender Strat? for about a sixth of the price!!

As the other posts on this product have stated, this is an awesome value! I paid 112 bucks for the kit from ebay (97+15 for shipping. All of the peices were in the box when I opened it (something I was leary of before it came it..) and everything fit as it was supposed to. The only thing that I can really harp on about assembling this beast is that the screws that bolt the neck on are extremely cheap, be careful not to strip them out when you put them on. Also, the tuning keys are really cheap. I am currently deciding on a brand to replace them with. The pickups are not really that bad considering the price of the guitar. I will eventually replace those as well, but as I am saving for some nice ones they will suffice. The tuning keys are a critical upgrade if you plan to use this in a gig/studio situation. I really love the tone of this guitar. It sounds as good as any strat that I've heard. The setup wasnt that difficult, I use 11's religiously so I had to set the bridge saddles up pretty high to get them off of the neck. The instructions were good to a certain degree, although I beg to differ on one part of the instructions. It states on there that they have pre-adjusted the neck and no trus rod adjustments are needed. It is worthy of checking the neck for a proper setup after assembling.

This guitar suits my style. I play a lot of blues/rock so this guitar works well w/ my sound. I have two amps that I play through, a Marshall Valvestate 3030 combo as well as a Peavey Ultra Tube 212 combo. This guitar sounds really good on both amps, however it does sound a little noisy in high gain situations (what low output single coil is though?). As I said before, I do plan on upgrading the pickups sometime in the near future.I really love the tone of this guitar. It sounds as good as any strat that I've heard. The setup wasnt that difficult, I use 11's religiously so I had to set the bridge saddles up pretty high to get them off of the neck. The instructions were good to a certain degree, although I beg to differ on one part of the instructions. It states on there that they have pre-adjusted the neck and no trus rod adjustments are needed. It is worthy of checking the neck for a proper setup after assembling. I do a lot of home recording now and I needed a strat sounding guitar for a new some new tones. Since I cant currently afford a strat this guitar is just fine for me. I will also use this guitar as a backup axe to my EVH Wolfgang in gigging situations.

The setup wasnt that difficult, I use 11's religiously so I had to set the bridge saddles up pretty high to get them off of the neck. The instructions were good to a certain degree, although I beg to differ on one part of the instructions. It states on there that they have pre-adjusted the neck and no trus rod adjustments are needed. It is worthy of checking the neck for a proper setup after assembling.

You could use this guitar as your main axe if it is set up properly after assembling and if you did some critical upgrades, first and foremost the tuning keys and the pickups. The hardware is kind of elcheapo, but what do you expect for 100 bucks? As I stated before, watch yourself when you put the neck on as those bolts are cheaper than hell and will strip rather easily. I will use this guitar as a backup to my main axe through gigging. I give it a five in this category simply because of the cheap tuning keys, the cheap bolts, and the semi-cheap pickups.

Never heard of the company before, never dealt w/ them....Most likely never will in a "support" type scenario. If I built it, why should I call them for support? LOL

Overall this guitar gets an eight. This guitar is a really good value for someone who is on a tight budget and has the minimal knowledge that it takes about guitar building to put throw this thing together. Granted some of the hardware is cheap, but Hell, for around a hundred bucks why complain? For another hundred or so in the future I can have virtually the same guitar as an american strat w/out the expensive Fender name on the headstock. This is truly a killer guitar for the money.

Guitar in a box--assemble yourself kit. See above reviews. Kit made somewhere in Asia I would suppose. Chunk of Strat shaped wood to be finished. Pickup plate is pre-wired so it is easy. Standard strat configuration. Cheapie tuners. Tremelo bridge. The ready for painting finish already applied. Directions about this are good. Overall, directions were very good.

Typical inexpensive strat sound, but not as noisy as a Squire. Running through a Crate acoustic and SWR bass it has nice low end, treble is a little thin. Selector switch is good. Volume dial is regulated a bit low. Variety on my amps is limited, but they are not made for overdrive situations.

The kit didn't cost much. I bought two, and my 16 year old son and I did them together. The largest problem we both had was when we put the necks on and strung them up, they both had the strings laying on the fingerboard. We had to sand and file both the neck cavity and the neck itself considerably to get it to fit well enough to get useable string height. This was an unmentioned step and a little frustrating, but it worked out. You do your own finish (most of the work) Be careful to hang it with a strong wire and watch out for paint build up at the bottom of the horns. The directions are good about these procedures . Follow them, including the final sanding and rubdown. Screws are pretty soft metal--be careful. Spring installation was a little trick for us.

Don't plan to use it out much. It was a fun project to do. Lousy INTONATION is currently a large issue. I can maybe tweak it some at the bridges and elsewhere, but for me, the out-of-tuneness is really not acceptable for use in public (so far anyway). I wouldn't use this in a playing situation unless doing a WHO tribute. It feels pretty solid. I am much more aware of taking care of the finish since it was my own work. Straps buttons fine.

Probably none as the maker is pretty unknown. All parts were there! Directions were complete and stuff was well packed.

Been playing since 1965. (Whew!) Have a Epi Sheraton, which is an incredible value and I love it, an Epi Emperor Regent Jazzbox, 1981 Martin D-28 (also a jewel) and a Toby Pro-4 (Gibson Tobias)bass, a wonderful instrument. (Also a semi-professional cellist.) The kit is cheap, it was fun to build, and I'm not disappointed, for what it was. I don't love it by any means, but I can look at it and say " I kinda made it" and there is satifaction in that. I might do another someday. Don't count on a miracle. I considered a Carvin kit but it was 3X as expensive.

Kit guitar bought off e-bay for $109, $16 shipping. Strat style, 3 single coils (ceramic bar magnets), Sealed body and neck. all you gotta do is put it together and set it up. I agree with the earlier post that it is a great deal. I put mine together and used the strings that came with it to help set truss rod, level frets and adjust height of bridge saddles. I had to take a little wood off the neck where it joins to the body, to get the saddles lower, but this was not an absolute nessecity. I also put a radius on the tremolo holes so that the strings wont break at the sharp corner. Got a cord and 3 Fender picks in the deal.....they all ended up in the junk drawer. After I leveled frets I installed Power slinky 11's and did the intonation and truss rod again, it plays beautifully. You just can't beat this price.

With the stock pickups it sounded like a strat with typical 60 cycle hum. I went out and got some Fender noiseless pups, set them accordingly and use this guitar playing out constantly. If I ever decide to part with it I'll take the pups out and replace them with the old ones. The Basswood body looks like a chopping block when looked at from the side (1 1/2"x2" blocks glued together), but it has a very nice acoustic tone, And it sustains well playing clean, Pretty much as good as my ash bodied strat(although I notice my ash bodie is a little brighter, it also has a maple neck, whereas the saga has a rosewood neck). with the stock pups I'll give it a 6. with noiseless pups a 10

It took a lot of work to get the frets leveled, there was string buzz at different places all over the neck. The guitar went together without a hitch. Like I said I did sand down the front of the mounting surface of the neck to lower the bridge saddles, but it really didn't need to be done as there was still plenty of adjustment left on them. Tuners are cheap, but I did some nut detailing and have no problems keeping it in tune, and I bend a LOT. I don't use tremolo, so I tightened the claw down until the tremolo didn't move while bending, and tuned the tremolo springs to a "G" note. This guitars' fit is just as good as any Fender Strat I've played, or worked on except the body contour of the lower horn does not curve up as much as a fender strat. This would not be noticeable except the pickguard matches a strat as far as the curves go. So when you look at lower horn, it don't match up just right. I'll eventually cut another pickguard for it before I paint it. Also the headstock is not the same angle as a fender, causing the total length to be longer than a fender. Not noticeable unless you put it in a fender case, it won't fit right, so I use a gig bag. I haven't painted it yet, I live in Illinois and It's just too cold to stand out in the garage and expect to get a decent finish, plus I gotta cut another pickguard and seal the old hole where the old pickguard screw mounted. I am not going to try to pass this guitar off as a fender strat, so much of the stuff I am complaining about is trivial but I just want it to look nice. When it is done it will be foam green with a mint green pickguard, and aged knobs. I'll give it an 8 because of pickguard and headstock.

I play out with this all the time and it works great for me. I never play without a backup, but so far I haven't had to use the backup. I feel i can depend on it. Basswood is supposed to be soft so I'm trying not to use this guitar as a baseball bat, and so far I don't see no dings!

I bought it off a guy on e-bay, It came in about a week and everything was in the box when I got it. No customer support.......It's a 109 dollar guitar for Gods sake. what would you expect? a lifetime warrantee?!?!

2 guys I work with have bought the same guitar off e-bay since they played mine, and have not had one complaint. It's cheap, makes noise, and you don't have to worry about it falling apart in your hands. You can make upgrades like pups and tuners and have a great tool for playing out.........And you won't be nearly as depressed if your kid decides to use it as a trampoline.......... by the way this happened to an ES-335 I loved, And it took a long time for me to pull out of that depression!

This kit cost $109 new. Get that, $109 new. As this appears to be a new manufacturer, as there are no reviews to date, I thought I put one out. This is a Korean maker of guitar parts who sells some kits as well. It is a typical stratocaster style clone. It came with a traditional 6 hole trem, 3 singles, 2 pieces basswood body, maple neck with rosewood fretboard, and all the screws. All the plastic parts are white. Everything is pre-drilled so all you have to do is assemble it. The parts are a mix of mid-level and low end Korean parts. The tuners are quite cheap, for example, while the trem is decent. The pickguard is not fender compatable (shape is the same but the holes are in different place. Neck is a mexican strat quality part with medium frets and truss rod adjustment at headstock. The body comes with a sealer on it. This one was routed for 3 singles, the newer ones have a bucker route in the bridge position. Pickups are low output strat style, with reverse wound center pickup. All electonics were Korean, but decent. It is prewired for a traditional stratocaster control style from the 5 way switch. It had all the expected features. It is a very good deal for $109.

Teh sound of this guitar is about the same as for a standard stratocaster, or upper end squire. I play using a Crate solid state amp, POD, Flextone and Blues Junior. It sounds like a mexican standard strat sounds thourgh all of those amps. Is has a thin single coil tone, which is expected fromt he low output singles. The pickguard is sheilded so it does not hum any more than any other strat. It could use a pickup upgrade.

Everythig went togther as it was supposed to, well except for the hole for the 1/4" jack. The hole for the wires was drilled at the wrong angle, so a new hole being drilled took care of everything. All the parts fit together fine. As it is a kit you make all the adjustments and setup. The directions for doing so are a bit sparse, but adequate. Neck to body fit was OK. The routing is a bit sloppy in places, but not bad.

I finished my kit using white lacquer. I sprayed the lacquer (Rust-O-Leum -SP) from cans with sanding periodically. the body was shot with 5 color coats then 7 clear coats. It looks exceptionally god. The neck was shot with 5 clear coats. Again it looks and feel great. When you spray lacqure you need to let the finished material cure for a week to two weeks when your done as it takes lacquer a while to cure. I have no complaints about the final product.

I have built kits from Warmoth, and Carvin. So when I cam comparing this kit I have some backgroud ith these things. For $109 it can't be beat. Certainly Carvin or Warmoth uses better parts, but your paying 4 to 8 times as much. This is an xcellent deal for a sloid body guitar. Great project.

As fr duraility, it is as durable as any mexican stratocaster would be in the same situation. It is fine.

There is no customer support that I know of for these things. The company does have a site on line, but deals directly with dealers only.

This has to be the best stratocaster deal on the planet. Fiyou are at all handy, and can spray paint, you can have a great guitar. I will replace the tuners and pickups, and it will be as decent a basswood body strat style guitar on the market. You have the quality you put into one of these when your done. I will probably order 2 or 3 more to complete and sell. My wife and I talked about getting a couple of these for the teens in our house to complete for their guitars as they have liked this one so much.

Tehre is no better bang for buck that I know of in the guitar world right now.