cknowles

I pre-assembled and gave it a basic setup to make sure all was good. The holes in the neck were shallow so I had to drill deeper. The neck joint was tight but tended to lift a bit as the screws were tightned. I resorted to clamping the neck in place while turning the screws. Other than that everything lined up and installed as it should. I was very careful with the electrics and did a condinuity test on each connection while it was all on the table. No cold solder joints. I was actually quite pleased and surprised at the action and the sound quality. I didn't ground the bridge properly and had a minor buz when I touched the loose string ends (to be resolved at final assembly) One thing I did notice though was the the neck pickup is not quite parallel with the strings. Not sure if this is normal or adjustable. Aesthetically I didn't care for the angle, so I may make my own trim covers to adjust for that mis-alignment.

On mine it appears to be multiple pieces of bass wood laminated edge to edge, then as a top piece mated to a bottom, much as you would build a normal Les Paul. A minor sand through in the maple top shows more bass wood rather than particle board. However I wouldn't put it past them to hide some in there in inconspicuous places I counted 5 different pieces of wood for the back portion of the body alone. It's hard to see from this pic, but there is a horizontal seam about 5/8" below the top in the pickup cavity. Looking in the pickup cavities there are some nasty tear outs at the ends of several of the strips. However they are at the join between the top half and the bottom main body, if that makes sense. I'll take a pic tonight to illustrate better.

Pick Guard and truss rod cover are my own creations and did not come with the kit. I"m also making my own inlay, never done that before either. I started with some aluminum siding to get a feel for the tools before destroying my teeny piece of MOP. Also created a dummy headstock to experiment with.

I really hated the plain jane neck, so I experimented with some stains and sanding techniques to replicate a spalted look. This pic shows the stain, with just one coat of clear on it. It was no small feat I'll tell you!! Pick guard and truss rod cover were simple black plastic so I picked up some nice vener in maple and mahogany, laminated it and made these. First try I ended up making a left handed pick guard by mistake! Fortunately I made extra just in case.

I've been lurking on the board for some time now, and reading threads back to 2004. Of particular interest are the Saga kit topics that keep croping up. For your enjoyment I'll post a couple of pics here. 6 hours of sanding very carefully with a randon orbital sander and 100 grit paper brought it down to the bare wood so that I could apply a finish. You can see the bass wood grain peaking through the dark walnut and mahogany stain mix. The curly maple top shows up better in this pic, without the flash. http://www.sourcecable.net/~cjknowles/my-s...a/images/18.JPG

I've been playing acoustic for 33 years and in the words of Neil Young "When I grow up I'm going to get me an electric guitar". So I guess I've grown up (Maybe not) At any rate I had a choice between an el-cheepo or a kit. The kit sounded like more fun, plus maybe I'd learn something along the way. I picked up a Saga Les Paul copy from Universal Gems. I spent 2 days trying to soak the sealer off the body with no effect. SO I graduated to sanding which took about 6 hours. At least the epoxy (1/8" thick in some places) is now off the body, and the maple veneer actually does have some figure. The front will be natural. I've applied an ebony stain to the bass wood since it's grain was way too wild for anything but basic black. Dark walnut on the mahogany back makes a nice contrast. So far I'm pleased with how this kit is coming along, I did give in to the temptation of putting it all together and giving it a basic set up before starting the finish on it. I was at least pleased that the electronics worked and gave a somewhat pleasing tone... I know most on this forum are building custom guitars, and kits are not in the same league, but I figured I have to start somewhere. At the very least it's akin to modifying/customizing an original guitar. I've taken some pictures and may post as I progress through the build. I must say, I am having a lot of fun with it which is the whole point really. Chris

The way I see it, you have two options. The easy way is to return the guitar, you already guessed that. The other option is to follow the tutorial section on fret board replacement Clicky Here This would give you an opportunity to examin the truss rod as well. Just depends on how patient you happen to be.

I have a Ryobi 16" scroll Saw that I bought at Home Depot for about $100. It has a variable speed from 400 to 1600 strokes per minute. It will accept pin end and straight end blades, and has a very nice blade clamping system. I've used it to cut stock up to 2" thick and it produces a very nice cut. My theory when buying it was that if I wear it out, I'll then buy a better one. After 2 years and some very heavy use, it's still going strong. The Dremel and Delta tools are superior, but then you are also paying their price. For $100 it's an excellent tool for the budget minded.