Saga Mandolin Kit... Veneer

[bmac]

I am finishing my second Saga mandolin kit purchased from International Violin. My first was an f hole and my present one is an oval hole.

I am generally pleased with both builds and most of the components but I thought I'd mention one thing which has been iffy on both of my builds. The veneer on the head stock is literaly paper thin and very very delicate and subject to damage. On my first one I accidently nicked a piece of veneer off but managed to more or less repair and hide the flaw... On my second though the veneer was so poorly glued on it immediatly began to break and peel off. I might have been able to salvage and reglue it on but fortunatly I had some nice veneer left over from another project. It was a lot thicker and easier to handle and nowhere near as fragile as the original veneer on the peg head. I would recommend having some veneer handy just in case as I suspect you stand a 50/50 chance of needing it. We bought our veneer on line from Logs to Lumber or you'll find other sources on line. My veneer is called Burly Imboya and I am more than pleased with its appearance. In fact I may just redo the veneer on my first build.

[buddyellis]

Yea, you've found one of those things that they should just leave off the kits. IMO they should just not even put that veneer on there and leave it bare so I don't have to take it off (an iron gets rid of it in short order). Toss that, as well as the tuning keys, and IMO it's still worth the money for what you get (first thing I do when I open the box is play 'lets shoot for three points' with the tuning machines)

[rareich]

I built my first IV recently and didn't have any trouble with the veneer but I knew the machines would be junk. I ordered some Schallers not remembering that the pre drilled holes would be too small. Not wanting to screw up anything, I used the bushings from the supplied junk machines (still needed a little help to get them in) and slammed in the Schallers. Worked perfect. Better than drilling the holes off center by a novice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bmac]

Regarding Saga supplied tuners:

My experience with the original supplied tuners has been the opposite of you guys. My tuners work just fine after three or so years on my first build and the new ones seem fine too. No slipping, even tension, no hard turning. I too would prefer Shaller and maybe if these fail I will consider them but for now my original kit tuners work perfectly.

[Avi Ziv]

I too removed the veneer and replaced it with a nice piece of ebony. Infinitely nicer.

I didn't like the tuners that came with my kit. Way too much play in them. I "upgraded" to Ping and didn't like those either. Got a set of Grovers and I'm loving them

[guitar junkie]

I really think the same as Buddy.

The rosewood shaving they put on my kit was worthless... I took it off and put on a nice rosewood overlay that I ordered from Ken.

The tuners I have are ok for now, and I was lucky to have enough money to even build this mando so for now they stay when money is not hand to mouth I will put on a set of something else.

[Paul Hostetter]

I didn't like the tuners that came with my kit. Way too much play in them. I "upgraded" to Ping and didn't like those either. Got a set of Grovers and I'm loving them

Upgrading from something just like Pings to Pings probably was unproductive. Grovers are very nice gears alright, but what the kit had, basic as it was, would have worked just as well. Why do people think tuners should not have play in them? They do, and they should, and that play is taken up by string tension if they're installed and everything is adjusted properly.

[Avi Ziv]

Paul - I agree that some play is notrmal. I felt they had too *much* play and they seemed to slip and not keep the strings in tune. They just felt too "loose" to me. The Ping purchase was indeed foolish but I'm very happy with the Grovers.

[Jim]

Tuners on my first kit are quite difficult to turn on the A , though lubrication helped and they do hold. I sanded the veneer off the head stock , I'll try the iron next time.