Saga T-Style Kit

I saw this tele-style kit on ebay and thought I'd take a chance. Overall I'm glad I did. It's got all of the basic features of a std tele, which is what I wanted.

Body is pre-sealed basswood (a few blemishes, but that didn't bother me). Neck is maple, with a rosewood fingerboard. It's also sealed. I was a little rough in places, but was easy enough to smooth down by rubbing for a while with a polishing cloth. I didn't paint the guitar, but instead put a couple of coats of tung oil on, which enhanced the natural wood very well. (You can also accomplish this in about 8 hours, if you're dying to get the guitar together).

As others stated, the tuning machines aren't the best. But I've got a Mexican strat that came with worse. I put them on, and they seem to be smooth enough and hold tune, at least for the way I play.

This guitar sound great, especially in postion 2 and 3. Very bright in position 3. But the neck pickup alone seems decent enough too. I'm actually blown away by the sound of it. I keep plugging it in and comparing it with my other axes, and well....I think it's better than both of my strats. It also sounds great acoustically, which is a good thing. It just rings.

The kit went together well. The neck pickup was a little bit of a tight squeeze into the routing, but it made it in. Although, this in turn threw off the pickguard. Fortunately I was also able to tweak that into place. The neck fit very well with the body. Couldn't ask for a better fit there.

Probably the most important thing to note about this kit, is that you have to do some setting up once it's together. You can't just expect to put it together and have perfect action and intonation. I usually find it takes my several days of fine adjustment to get a guitar just the way I like it. And the same was true for this. Spend some time with truss rod fine tuning, string height and intonation adjustments and it'll be just like you want. Otherwise you'll end up with a slide guitar :-)

I'd use this guitar live. No questions about it. The parts are all durable, except you might dislike the machine heads. Strap buttons are good, although they came out easily after installation. The screws were too thin for my liking. I put in some industrial strength ones and now the strap buttons are there for good. Of course, I wouldn't gig with it without a backup. I always have a backup - for string breaks, and acts of God. However, I would use another one of these for a backup.

Haven't tried anything here.

I've been playing guitar for 25 years. I have (or have had) almost every kind of guitar you can think of, LP's, Gretsch, Fenders etc, etc. I've had cheapies that are amazing, and expensive ones that are crap (and the other way around, too).

My style is blues/jazz influenced rock and this guitar is good for that.
Overall, I'm very happy with this and plan to buy the other 2 saga guitar kits.

Yes if it were stolen I'd buy a new one.

So, you've seen these Saga kits on eBay for $79. Are they any good? I just wanted to share a few comments. The bodies are three piece basswood, extremely well sanded and with sanding sealer. Basswood is a good tonewood for guitars. (The Line6 Variax is basswood.) The neck is very nice, chunky and smooth. Actually, you could get by without putting any more finish on it. The neck and body have the same number written in crayon on them, which suggests to me that they were adjusted for an individual fit. Nice touch.

The tuners are very poor quality. The other hardware seems solid and decent. I haven't tried the pickups.

It's worth noting that you can buy a neck just like this neck from Stew-Mac, a Telecaster style body just like this, a pickguard just like this, a control plate and bridge just like this, as separate components, and pay over $300. This kit is a GREAT source of parts for the cannibal. ,

I got this kit, really, just for parts and for experiments. What am I doing with it? When I started, the body, stripped, weighed 4 lbs. 10 oz. Leaving solid wood in a strip from the neck to the far end of the bridge, I routed out everything else from behind, leaving a half inch strip of wood around the whole guitar and 1/4" of wood on the top of the routed areas. The body now weighs 3 lbs. The complete guitar will weigh 5 lbs when I'm finished. I sanded off the edge where my forearm rests on the front of the body so it would be more comfortable. I cut off most of the headstock. I'm planning to install Planet Waves locking tuners into the routed out body. These will tune from behind the guitar and cut the guitar length by 6" and make the guitar more balanced. I'll also but in Bill Lawrence pickups and Q-filter, aiming for a jazz sound at the neck and a steel guitar sound at the bridge. I also may put in an RMC guitar synth pickup and control system.

All parts looked good and straight. Electrics were pre-wired. Instruction book was top notch. Tuners are okay quality 6 inline. Neck is very close match for early 70's style tele with 22 frets. Headstock must be shaped by builder, for obvious reasons. Metal components fit as they should and work like they are supposed to. Screw holes were pre marked. Pickguard on mine looked as if someone had tryed to modify the neck pocket with a dremel tool. Body and neck come sealed with laquer based sanding sealer. I used laquer automobile paint in spray cans to finish it. Overall great quality.

Good range of sounds for the rocker. Pots are limited for tone adjustment. stay bright until last little adjustment when they suddenly change. They are cheap. Replace them for serious music.

Action and intonation are easily adjusted by following the booklet instructions. Fitment is very good for the price. Finish is done by you, so any flaws are you fault.

This is my blues guitar. I typically use it for open d tunng and slide work. It will take everything I have done to it, and more. Very well designed and manufactured.

This is the first kit I have put together, and I am already trying to justify buying a few more just to have. They play great, are an easy introduction into guitar building, and can grow with you as your needs change. I have no fear of tearing it apart, putting a different neck on it just to "see what happens", and changing electronics to get new sounds. Tyhis is my experimental platform for all the crazy stuff I ever wanted to do to a guitar. Greatest bargain on the planet!