ryema22 Posted January 11, 2007 Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 This might have just been a freak accident, but I thought I'd throw this out there as a warning for anyone who tries one of the Saga kits. Obviously the hardware that comes with them isn't the greatest but I bought this one just to be a reasonably priced gift for a beginning guitarist so I replaced the tuners but I didn't want to spend the money to replace the bridge, control plate, screws etc. When I was test fitting everything before I started the finish, the head of one of the neck mounting screws completely torqued off while i was removing it and left the screw shaft inside the body holding the neck on. Fortunately I was able to slowly pry the neck free without doing too much damage and repaired the stripped out hole. Examining the screws now, they're definately a weaker (very maliable) metal and not well suited for the body joint. The bridge seems like it's okay, but I plan to replace the screws used to mount that as well. Just thought I'd pass the warning along - I was fortunate that it only caused minimal damage. If it's within your budget I'd recommend upgrading all of the major hardware on one of these kits. But other than that I'm very happy with what I got for the money and it's been a quick, fun project for build #2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 1. Don't use power screwdrivers to drive the screws into the neck. 2. Use a bit of bar soap on the threads to aid threading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 You gotta expect that for ANY kit that sells for less than $300. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 crafty...keep in mind that there is a plague of substandard screws in this country right now,perhaps other countries as well. major chain stores(ace,home depot,etc..) are buying up screws of the poorest quality you could imagine and passing them to you,the consumer,at the same price as the good ones and with no warning or markings...i had several break in a cavity cover on a guitar a while back...screws i got from ace(they are supposed to have good fasteners)under VERY low pressure.... now i ONLY buy stainless screws from ace...stainless are 100,000 psi tensile strength if i remember right...and you can be sure they are not cheap pot metal...because you can see the difference between stainless and pot metal very easily. stewmac has good quality screws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryema22 Posted January 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 Crafty - It twisted off with manual torque only. I probably should have reamed out the neck pocket holes a little wider before trying to test fit everything. I'll try the bar soap trick in the future, thanks for the tip. Regardless, they were crappy screws and I picked up new ones for the neck joint and mounting the bridge. The rest of the kit seems to have far exceeded my expectations for what I could expect in a $100 kit. I'd recommend it as a fun project to try out a new finish on or for a beginner instead of a cheap factory guitar. (my brother was saving up to by a cheap Epi and now wants to try assembling one of their LP kits instead) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 keep in mind that there is a plague of substandard screws in this country right now,perhaps other countries as well. This is no joke. I'm not positive of how many screws I've had break or strip-out when screwing in a neck pocket or tuner, but it is more than you could imagine. I have never had this happen on any of my older refinishes, this has only happend with the newer screw purchases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 i also use lag bolts and screws at my work...and i have had 1/2" threaded lag bolts break off under medium to low pressure with a regular length socket wrench.and this is even after oversizing to the next reccomended pilot hole size.it is so bad i called my office yelling at them for "cheaping out " on screws and increasing liability because of it...and they claimed they still buy from the same people they always have...and for the same price. these screws are so crappy they come with little pieces of metal flaking off and little "hangers" and bits of garbage stuck in the threads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Libbey Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 This happened to me yesterday! My solution -- surely the worst possible -- was to Dremmel out the material around the remaining screw until it had nothing to grip. Then my friend Wood Glue and his pal Dowel Rod came over to play. Wood is hard! I need lego guitars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 Wood is hard! I need lego guitars. don't...tempt...me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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