trashman Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 so out of all the saga kits on brians page, wich is the better quality? i already own a couple high end axes, but want to get into building, so before i buy a bunch of wood and mess it up i want to get a cheaper kit and build it first. so wich is better? tele or paul? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 In all honesty if you want to learn how to build a guitar start with building one. You won't learn how to design a guitars, make a neck, etc if you get a kit where all of this is already done. Start from scratch and design it from the ground up and you will learn much more about actually building a guitar that way. ~David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 If you are determined to buy a saga, then choose whichever you like best since the quality will be about the same on all the models. When I first got interested in building guitars I also thought that putting together a kit would be a good way to start. I bought one of the Saga LP kits and used that. The quality wasn't that great....and although it was fun painting it, I didn't really learn anything. I hardly ever play that guitar anymore and now wish I had spent that money on wood instead. If I were you, I would listen to Myka's advice and start by actually building you own guitar. If you are worried about messing up then you can start with a simple design and cheap wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougK Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 In all honesty if you want to learn how to build a guitar start with building one. You won't learn how to design a guitars, make a neck, etc if you get a kit where all of this is already done. Start from scratch and design it from the ground up and you will learn much more about actually building a guitar that way. ~David Or split the difference. Build the body and buy the neck or vice versa. Its a good way to not bite off more than you can chew the first time around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 Or split the difference. Build the body and buy the neck or vice versa. Its a good way to not bite off more than you can chew the first time around. This is a good idea too! After doing that saga kit I decided to do my first build, but I used a pre-made neck and built only the body. After doing that I am now working on my first full project, including building the neck. It is an effective way to slowly lead up to the whole process. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 After just building my first neck, I must say it is a lot easier than you would think. But until you get into all of the tools for fretting, you may be better buying a neck. But definitely just buy the wood and build from scratch. Building the body is probably the easiest part of the job. Alder, Ash, Poplar, and Basswood are all cheap woods if you want to buy a preglued blank, and they are even cheaper to glue your own up. Buy a few templates, design the body shape you want, build a template and start the guitar. The Saga kits really are not good quality, and other than the neck, are not that much easier than just building a guitar. The key to building is patience and attention to detail and tolerances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trashman Posted December 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2007 thanks for the encouragement guys, i may just buy a neck and build a new body. any good ideas on a place to buy a good neck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted December 22, 2007 Report Share Posted December 22, 2007 My original plan was to build a body and buy a neck to go with it. Everybody on here encouraged me to build my own neck, and I'm very glad that I did! It has been the most rewarding part of the build, and not nearly as difficult as I expected. I say build the whole thing yourself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidlook Posted December 22, 2007 Report Share Posted December 22, 2007 My original plan was to build a body and buy a neck to go with it. Everybody on here encouraged me to build my own neck, and I'm very glad that I did! It has been the most rewarding part of the build, and not nearly as difficult as I expected. I say build the whole thing yourself! +1 Also very happy I went ahead and built a neck on the first build. I actually bougth one of the saga kits first because I thought It'd be a great start. Turned out to not be very pleasing at all, you don't really do anything. I you want to learn how to assemble a guitar, just unscrew every screw on one you already own and put it back together again, much cheaper. I was only gonna build a body for my first guitar, but then I didn't plan very well when cutting the body and realised I had to make a set neck as well. Turned out to be so much easier than I originally thought, and 10x as rewarding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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