| Note from
GuitarAttack: We've built a number of T-Styles, but hadn't
considered an "Esquire" from a Saga TC-10 kit. Check this one out.
From
Steve Holter
Hi, just thought you'd like to see a different slant on a kit build!
I got my SAGA kit off Ebay, but having had a series of Tele's over the
years, and seeing the silly prices Esquires were fetching, I decided to
build my own Esquire.
I put the thing together, minus the bridge pick up in about an hour, and
used it for a few months. I used it minus a scratchplate, and while using it
did little jobs, like honing the set up and filling all the holes using ash
cocktail sticks!
The basics, e.g, the neck and body were very good, so much so, that I
decided against a seafoam blue paint job, and used 36 coats of antiquing
wax, buffed with an battery drill equipped with a sheepskin polishing mop.
The finish looks oldish, is as hard as nails, easy to fill little nicks with
(using a hard lump of the same wax) is glass smooth, without being over
glossy. It also makes the neck ultra slippery, and retains the same
glass-like finish.
I then got a better neck pick up and a three saddle bridge a set of Fender
pots, and downloaded an Esquire wiring diagram and wrote out a parts list. A
quick visit to a local electrical hardware centre had the required bits and
bobs, and using a bit of plywood to hold it all together, soldered it up.
The strings were removed, and the old bridge holes filled. Then using
fishing line, I lined up the "new" secondhand bridge and marked it up,
drilled and fitted it, along with the new pick up. I couldn't get a five
hole scratchplate, but got a bargin, genuine Fender eight hole one, and the
job of filling the holes proved right as NOTHING lined up!
That was fitted as was the "Esquire" wiring loom. I reversed the volume and
tone pots, then flipped the control plate, so that from the neck back it
goes, Vol-Tone-switch, which I prefer.
I then tweaked the set up, leaving it a couple of days between tweaks to
allow it to settle, finally setting the intonation using an electronic
tuner.
Today, she got plugged in for the first time, and it's been worth every
minute of change, tweak, filling and drilling. The Esquire wiring works
really well, and allows for some really great Tele twang and retro sounds,
until you boot the volume and it really takes off! Last job is to make up a
"Partscaster" headstock transfer (they do some great kits in
modeling shops
that use your basic word software to produce your own decals) and then I have
found a company that makes an SG and a Les Paul Junior kit!!
The upshot is, building a kit has given me EXACTLY what I wanted, and I
wouldn't part with it for anything, there's a bit of me in her!! Hope you
like it. Be great to see her on the Saga Sagas page!
Steve Holter UK/France
|
 |
