Fluke Posted January 22, 2005 Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 Hello!! I found some Saga guitar kits on ebay that were suprisingly cheap ($78-ish), and have been thinking about buying some to put together and sell to make money to buy some of those outragiously expensive peices of shop equipment. All that I'd have to do would be to finish it, cut out a head stock shape, and put it together. I'm guessing I could sell it for at least $200 each with the stock parts, and charge extra for special finishes (like competition stripes and sunbursts) and better pickups/hardware etc. But I'd like to know if this is a good idea. Anyone have any experience with such kits?? Also, I can't find the website for these kits. Anybody know the url? Thanks -Fluke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nalo1022 Posted January 22, 2005 Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 i personally kinda doubt ppl would buy em for 200...maybe 150 and thast with a custom paintjob...but i may be wrong but i personally wouldnt buy a guitar form some eprson who ive never met before and whose experience i know very little about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted January 22, 2005 Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 The quality of the parts in a Saga is no better than the average $100 no-name you can pick up at the local music store. They're great for learning basic assembly on, but they usually require a little tweaking to get 'em just right. You also have to keep in mind what you sell, you support. What I'd do is if you're good at custom finishes, finish the bodies with a cool design and sell the kits unassembled with a $30-$40 premium. You'll probably make a lot more money that way, especially if you can make it worth people's while to pay you their hard-earned cash for a stellar paint job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluke Posted January 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 The quality of the parts in a Saga is no better than the average $100 no-name you can pick up at the local music store. They're great for learning basic assembly on, but they usually require a little tweaking to get 'em just right. You also have to keep in mind what you sell, you support. What I'd do is if you're good at custom finishes, finish the bodies with a cool design and sell the kits unassembled with a $30-$40 premium. You'll probably make a lot more money that way, especially if you can make it worth people's while to pay you their hard-earned cash for a stellar paint job. ← Wouldn't it be worth even more if it was put together and had all the bugs worked out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted January 22, 2005 Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 Nope. Even Brian sells the kits he's hand picked and worked out the bugs on for less than $130, with the headstocks precut. You can't beat Indonesian and Chinese slave wages. That's why they can give us $150 Squier Affinity Teles with butterscotch blonde finishes, good fretwork, and decent pickups. I'd say with a custom finish and headstock, you could probably get away with selling them for $150 assembled, $125 unassembled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluke Posted January 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 (edited) Were you thinking I was going to try and sell these with an ore for a headstock?? lol. Of course I'd cut it out. After looking up reviews, I think I'd have the best luck with tele kits (simplicity will always prevale I suppose) and the strat kits are getting ok reviews. As for more complex kits like the LP and PRS, I don't believe I'll even think about trying those for quite a while (extra crappy, lots of work). I guess I forgot to mention that I'm also doing this to gain experience in instrument making. I'm sure they'll require much fret dressing, and some wiring repair; perhaps some extra wood work and nut replacement (would I have to drill-out the nut, or could I pull it out in one peice?). I know these kits aren't going to be worth the box they're shipped in if I go into this expecting to just slap it together and have an American Fender equivalent. I've sketched out alot of competition stripe designs. some better than others. So whats the cheapest way to paint good stripes? Edited January 22, 2005 by Fluke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluke Posted January 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 Nope. Even Brian sells the kits he's hand picked and worked out the bugs on for less than $130, with the headstocks precut. Who's Brian and where does he get his kits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvertonessuckbutigotone Posted January 22, 2005 Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 brian the guy who runs this place. i dunno where he gets his stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted January 22, 2005 Report Share Posted January 22, 2005 This is a little wierd coming from an old sceptic of cheap like me but I bought a couple of the Saga kits for kids in my Sunday school class to "build" and have a few positive comments. The Tele kits were wonderful. Crap hardware, of course, but the necks were amazing. The kids were FLOORED when they plugged them in after spending about 30 hours of painting and adjusting. They did some nice (wierd) color-schemes and were tickled to death when they made noise. The carved-top ones leave a little more to be desired. The bodies are paintable crap and the hardware is worse. I think you could build a couple of the Tele kits on a "custom" basis and learn a lot. Please don't sell them before doing a complete shielding job on them. They REALLY need it cause the things are radio antennas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluke Posted January 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2005 They REALLY need it cause the things are radio antennas. ← You don't mean that literally, do you? I have picked up radio stations with cheap stomp boxes. But yeah, I'll probably solder and sheild it and the like. Basically, I'm will to put as much labor into this as it takes to make a (smaller) gig-worthy instrument that I can charge enough money to make a good profit. Any other ideas are welcome and appreciated. -Fluke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javacody Posted January 23, 2005 Report Share Posted January 23, 2005 If you get them wholesale, then you could probably sell them at a profit. I think you'd have to buy quite a few. I'd start with one kit and see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlGeeEater Posted January 23, 2005 Report Share Posted January 23, 2005 If you really wana get something for them, put seymour duncan pickups in, grover tuners and new pots. Thats what i did and my saga PRS thing sounds awesome! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted January 23, 2005 Report Share Posted January 23, 2005 I'm contemplating on getting a PRS style saga myself, so that I can use it as kinda like a template. Rather pay for this and made the templates my self and have a half decent playing guitar than just dish out 50 for a template set. And Brians kits are already shielded and like they already mentioned he have checked them and fixed the major problems in order for them to be good kits. Check his site http://universaljems.com/shop.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickyg Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 yo. I got a saga tele kit not so long ago. Damn easy to put together, and to be honest, the finished guitar sounded damn sweet. I love it. I really like the idea of making them and selling them on, although there are so many differant copies of tele's for pretty cheap I don't know how many you could sell. Although.... just an idea for you..... you could let people decide how they want the guitar finished and therfore people would pay more.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 I'm contemplating on getting a PRS style saga myself, so that I can use it as kinda like a template. Rather pay for this and made the templates my self and have a half decent playing guitar than just dish out 50 for a template set. And Brians kits are already shielded and like they already mentioned he have checked them and fixed the major problems in order for them to be good kits. Check his site http://universaljems.com/shop.htm ← Buy the templates. Not to disparage anyone's guitars, since I'm aware a few folks here have put these together, but I think the Saga take on the PRS is one of the ugliest guitars I've ever seen, and frankly bears no comparison to the inspiration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlGeeEater Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 I'm contemplating on getting a PRS style saga myself, so that I can use it as kinda like a template. Rather pay for this and made the templates my self and have a half decent playing guitar than just dish out 50 for a template set. And Brians kits are already shielded and like they already mentioned he have checked them and fixed the major problems in order for them to be good kits. Check his site http://universaljems.com/shop.htm ← Buy the templates. Not to disparage anyone's guitars, since I'm aware a few folks here have put these together, but I think the Saga take on the PRS is one of the ugliest guitars I've ever seen, and frankly bears no comparison to the inspiration. ← You're right, and ive built one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted January 25, 2005 Report Share Posted January 25, 2005 You know what Setch, I was planning on getting the Saga since my take on it was to make a solid color guitar, but I just got a nice quilt on e-bay it's 15/16" thick so I guess that I will be getting the template for this, I ain't taking any chances on this baby!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGwaH Posted January 25, 2005 Report Share Posted January 25, 2005 Here is the Saga website. As well in my journies looking for information on these kits, here are a couple of sites from GuitarAttack where they customized a Strat style kit and a Tele style kit. Hope this has been of some help. Jonathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted January 25, 2005 Report Share Posted January 25, 2005 I think it's a bad idea... Look, you must have a guitar or two lying around collecting dust that you can sell? Do that and buy your shop equipment NOW. I just sold a guitar and a bunch of parts, got 750 euros to throw around ...just bought a router and a jointer/planer...next up: bandsaw! Then make a couple of guitars, nothing to fancy--but YOUR design, and put them up on ebay --you never know! I plan to do that soon....I figure I'll at least recover the costs of the wood and hardware...and it'll be worth it thinking there's someone out there playing one of MY designs. And if it works out, I'll use the profit to get more gear and tools... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted January 26, 2005 Report Share Posted January 26, 2005 Setch, you got it right!! Their PRS version is an absolute travisty. Still gotta say, the kids have loved building the TELEs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted January 26, 2005 Report Share Posted January 26, 2005 I started out with a SAGA Strat kit, but it was very poor. The neck is like a boat paddle, it's really thick, and who knows if you can actually sand down more or not, simply because you don't know what kind of truss rod they used. I had to totally relevel the fret job, the tuners are horrible and be careful with the multi piece (I stopped counting the number of pieces of wood used) basswood body before you get it finished because it dents easy. So basically please don't expect much from this kit, except that you will learn alot from painting, assembling, and modifying the kit. I say buy one if your new and are getting started, but don't if you think you can make alot of money off these. You'll end up spending more money buying good parts that you'll need to make it play good. Just my opinion though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howfar Posted August 3, 2007 Report Share Posted August 3, 2007 (edited) I sold a Saga Tele for $200. I was lucky and got one with a perfect neck fit and no fret issues. Cut the headstock a little more like a Strat. Painted the body Mica Red. Changed the tuners to black gotohs, added B/W/B PG, (screwholes were ever so slightly misaligned - got it to fit though) swapped the chrome knobs for black and that's it. Looks good. I loved the sound. Very impressed. I just lent it out for a few weeks and my friend decided he'd rather give me $200 than give the guitar back. The test drive sold it. I wouldn't expect someone to pay that without playing it first though. That's been my best luck method to selling guitars, lend them out for a few weeks. Point is though there was really no profit considering the invested time and add-ons. Edited August 3, 2007 by Howfar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotgoalie11565 Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 The one nice thing is that it taught me about how to finish a guitar and how to do a setup. But I've found a lot of issues with the neck on my strat. First, it's not to the same scale as Fender. Therefore, I was able to get the intonation at the 12th fret. But for the harmonic over the neck pickup; nope, not happening. Also, the neck felt really thin in my hands. It makes me want to build my own to replace it. I think the hardware is crap too. The tuners were literally falling apart but that wasn't a big deal to me since I planned on not using them and putting in Kluson style tuners anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 But I've found a lot of issues with the neck on my strat. First, it's not to the same scale as Fender. Therefore, I was able to get the intonation at the 12th fret. But for the harmonic over the neck pickup; nope, not happening. Also, the neck felt really thin in my hands. It makes me want to build my own to replace it. I've never had an intonation problem with any Fender at the 12th fret, unless the guitar wasn't set up properly and I took the time to adjust the saddles... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotgoalie11565 Posted August 5, 2007 Report Share Posted August 5, 2007 But I've found a lot of issues with the neck on my strat. First, it's not to the same scale as Fender. Therefore, I was able to get the intonation at the 12th fret. But for the harmonic over the neck pickup; nope, not happening. Also, the neck felt really thin in my hands. It makes me want to build my own to replace it. I've never had an intonation problem with any Fender at the 12th fret, unless the guitar wasn't set up properly and I took the time to adjust the saddles... The intonation was OK at the 12th fret. Like I said it is the harmonic over the neck pickup that I'm not getting. Oh well, guess I'll have to make my own neck now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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