If your going to venture into the world of building your own guitar for the first time SAGA kit's are a wonderful and easy way to go about it with little effort in the actual manufacturing of parts such as a body or neck.

The ST-10 kit is a wise choice for people who would like to build there first Strat-Style guitar. It comes complete with all of the parts needed to build a guitar except finishing supply's and a way to cut the head stock into your own personal desired shape.

Here are just a few of the details of the ST-10 kit:

Front and Rear Routed S-Style Basswood Body which is already primed with sealer and ready for paint. 21 Fret Neck with Jumbo Frets which measures 1-11/16" at the nut and has a 12" Radius Fret Board. A Prewired 3 ply Pick Guard with easy to connect electronics that include 3 Single Coil pickups and a 5 way switch. A Completely adjustable 6 point tremolo System in Chrome reminiscent of the Original Design Fenders 15:1 Ratio economy tuners. All the necessary screws, springs, etc to complete your kit. A pack of Strings and a cord to plug it in to your Amp.

You will need a saw to cut the head stock shape. Paint to finish your guitars body in the desired color(s) you want and a screwdriver plus a heat source to use on the shrink wrap tubing for the electronics such as a lighter.

If your lucky you may receive a special kit since some have been known to have Flame Maple wood in the neck which is a prized possession to many guitar players.

Pro's:

Ease of assembly make this a winner for all beginners.

With the Sealer smooth and already on the body finishing time is cut down.

Having the electronics already assembled means you don't have to waste precious time and effort soldering them together.

The directions give you basic and sound advise for setting up your guitar once it is assembled.

Con's:

While they do work the strings which come with the kit should be used for setting it up then discarded for a fresh set because they are of lower quality then a standard brand name set.

While they do work I recommend cutting the ends of the quick connects off and wrapping the bare wire's together before sealing them with the shrink tubing for a much stronger and better signal.

Recommendations:

While they do work the tuners would be the first thing I would upgrade because of a lack of true quality (seasoned players will notice this immediately). If your going to replace the tuners the easiest way would be to purchase a Vintage Style or Real Kluson tuners to do the trick. That way you can use the tuner ferrules which came with the kit on the face of the head stock and all you will have to do is drill 7 simple small hole's for the mounting screws on the back. Upgrading to sealed tuners of any other style may require you to drill out the mounting hole's (the one's the tuners actually go through the neck) to a diameter of 3/8" for them to fit correctly.

If your going to replace the pick guard with a standard Fender Product or other color aftermarket pick guard you will probably need to redrill the mounting hole's so count on that before you paint and do the finishing work on your kit's body.

Before you get started inspect your kit for any missing parts or defects. While this is not common place it does happen. Key points to look at are if the neck is straight or warped and are all of the parts listed on the directions in the box. I say this because once you have modified your kit in any way the dealer you purchased the kit from can no longer give you credit because SAGA will no longer replace the kit for them so check it out throughly. Necks that are merely out of adjustment via the truss rod do not qualify since they can be straightened via the supplied truss rod wrench.