starting my first ST-10 build. Wish me luck

[andymack]

Hey guys,

I'm starting my first guitar build from a Saga ST-10 kit. So far, I've made sure I've got all the parts. I do. Then I pre-assembled most of it to make sure there were no obvious problems. Now I'm to the tough part. Picking a paint scheme.

Here's what I'm thinking of:
1. Honey Blond - like a Highway One Strat.
2. Olympic White - like a Jimmie Vaughan Tex-Mex Strat
3. Inca Silver

Has anyone done a color close to one of these? Were you happy with the result?

And I guess, here's the most important question. If I paint it some color and TOTALLY screw it up (i.e. it looks really bad), can you just sand it down and start over? Is there any harm with that?

Thanks in advance,
Andy

oh, and here's a picture. Nothing special, just the mostly pre-assembled guitar. The body doesn't look half bad as is.

[GuitarAttack Forum]

andymack said:

Picking a paint scheme.

Here's what I'm thinking of:
1. Honey Blond - like a Highway One Strat.
2. Olympic White - like a Jimmie Vaughan Tex-Mex Strat
3. Inca Silver

Has anyone done a color close to one of these? Were you happy with the result?

And I guess, here's the most important question. If I paint it some color and TOTALLY screw it up (i.e. it looks really bad), can you just sand it down and start over? Is there any harm with that?

Thanks in advance,
Andy

Andy -- I've done all of the paint schemes, and the same holds true for all: the key is prepping the "canvas" and taking your time. Check out the builds in the Saga Sagas, and the Saga kits in the Builder's Gallery. Lots of tips there that will help you decide.

I've done some experimentation with Rustoleum metallic silver lately, and it looks great. Very Inca Silver looking, and it goes on smooth. You might experiment with it.

And, if you do make a mistake and can't go on, sand it down and start over. Most of us make mistakes, but you can recover!

Good luck, and send more photos....maybe a submission to the Saga Sagas?

John

[andymack]

Thanks John for your input.

I'll try to post updates here every now and then.

Andy

[andymack]

Today I was working out the headstock shape I was going for and went ahead and installed the tuners to see if there was any excess wood that I could cut off of the tuners-side part of the headstock. And I encountered a problem for the B string tuner - there's not enough room for it.

Here's the pic of the headstock with my penciled in design:


If I remove the tuner cover, I can see that the tuner itself will fit, but the cover obviously has to be in place as well.

my first thought (and probably easiest solution, maybe?!?!?) was to dremel part of the cover off so that it would fit seeing that the tuner itself would fit if I did that. Anyone else have this problem? or use my Dremel idea?

I know I could also fill the screw holes (probably for both the B and high E strings and then drill them where they should be. But does it really matter? Is it better to do it this way?

Here's a pic of the problem area:


Thanks,
Andy

[cknowles]

I had the exact same alignment issues with my telecaster.
I was able to gently file the edges between all of the tuners to make
them fit without any one looking different than the others.



All of the holes were approximately 1/2 mm too close together so I made up the difference with the file.

[andymack]

ok thanks. I'll give it a shot tonight.

Andy

[spotnik]

andymack said:

And I encountered a problem for the B string tuner - there's not enough room for it.

Here's the pic of the headstock with my penciled in design:

If I remove the tuner cover, I can see that the tuner itself will fit, but the cover obviously has to be in place as well.

my first thought (and probably easiest solution, maybe?!?!?) was to dremel part of the cover off so that it would fit seeing that the tuner itself would fit if I did that. Anyone else have this problem? or use my Dremel idea?

Thanks,
Andy

I also had this problem with the Tele, but I seem to recall that I was able to get them all to fit by loosening and retightening screws until they all sort of popped together. Of course, after I replaced them with Grovers the problem went away completely.

You're going to find little oddball "mis-fits" here and there, but none of them are deal-killers. Unless a part is missing altogether!

Good luck! I'm thinking about starting a strat kit myself pretty soon.

[andymack]

Well, I finally had some time to start priming my guitar.

Here's what that looks like so far.



It looks a little splotchy - I guess I'll need to see what it looks like tomorrow. And I know I need to put down some more primer because I see a couple of trouble areas.

I'm getting closer to actually needing to pick a color.....decisions, decisions.

Later,
Andy

[GuitarAttack Forum]

What kind of primer are you using on the body?

Color? I am still partial to seafoam green and fiesta red. Those 50's cars were the best.

John

[andymack]

I used Valspar primer I picked up from Lowe's. I went looking for BIN's primer (I saw that mentioned on this website I think), but they didn't have it.

Andy

[GuitarAttack Forum]

I have not used Valspar. BINS is normally what I use because, among other things, it is shellac base and virtually all paints will stick to it. I have never had a compatibility problem with BINS.

I particularly like to use it after I strip a finish with chemicals. It forms a armor-like shield and will protect the finish from hidden remnants of the stripper.

However, it can be difficult to work with, and it is very dusty when you level sand it. If you get a run in it, let it dry overnight. If you try to sand it out too early you will create an awful divot in the finish.

Good luck,
John

[andymack]

ok guys. While I'm still working on the body, I'm thinking about the neck. What do you guys use to cut the headstock?

I was thinking about using my router but I'm a little concerned about the wood splintering.

Thanks for your input.

Andy

[GuitarAttack Forum]

Andy -- Routers are both my favorite and least favorite tools. They are my favorite because they are very versatile and make quick work of myriad tasks. They are my least favorite because they are scary and destroy a really nice piece of wood -- at the worst possible time!

I like using a router table because it is much more predictable than guiding the router by hand. Nothing like a slip of that heavy router to gouge a neck or a body.

Here is an instruction on how to shape a headstock by hand from Stew-Mac:

www.stewmac.com/shop/Bodies,_necks,_wood/Electric_guitar:_Necks/1/22-Fret_Blank-peghead_Guitar_Necks/Instructions/I-4026.html#details

Note: You'll have to copy and paste this URL...not sure why it isn't showing up.

Be careful on this -- this is a critical step!

Good luck,
John

[andymack]

thanks for the advice John.

I have a router and router table, which I would definitely be using if I choose to do it this way.

On the other hand, a neighbor has a band saw.... I might have to go over to his house tomorrow.

Andy

[cknowles]

I used my scroll saw to handle the headstock task.

I made sure to draw the headstock shape onto the raw wood.
I cut close to the line, then used a drum sander mounted in a drill press to "nudge" it right to the line.

Others have use fret saws to do the same job.
For me, though the router may be quick, I'd be afraid of it getting away from me even for an instant. That would really ruin my day.

Chris