I have the kit sitting on my couch and will tackle it this weekend. Mostly I need an electric mandolin for a project and since I was very successful making the acoustic kit, I thought I would try my hand at a Mandocaster clone.
I was surprised to see that, so far, no one has made one. Will I be the first? (Will I need to add a Virzi <G>?)
There is a thread and a picture on the Electric section too.
I opened the package and found the following:
A Saga logo, which means that most likely it is a clone of the KM-300E since it does seem to have the same hardware and is made of the same wood.
Some type of finish already on the wood. Without doing much more than observing, I can't tell you if I will be able to stain or put on another finish. I suspect I can.
No binding on the fingerboard. Flat fingerboard (or a very slight radius.)
Headstock configured to be shaped or cut into a more pleasing style, I think a backwards Fender cut might do.
No instructions, even though the ad on the IV site promised instructions. Maybe they are in the large box full of newpapers that it came in. It doesn't look too hard to put together, however, and if I skip the finish and the headstock, it may only take 20 minutes <G>
It looks like a great deal for $125.
Could you post where you got this kit? Also, if anyone else out there knows of good electric mando kits, could you post what they are and where to get them. Thank!
Good luck with your kit. I'm sorry I can help you with you question. After you finish building your kit, pleas let us know how things went building it. Also, it be nice if you could give us feed back what you think of the kit as well as the finished mando.
I currently attemting to build a electric mando from scratch, except for the neck. I do not have great confidence in it truning out very good and am already starting to look at electric mando kits for a 2nd try. Any feedback you can give on your experence with your kit building would be helpfull.
Thanks!!
You can get it at International Violin and according to the literature it was designed by Ken Wise of IV for Saga. #The "finish" is a sealer to keep moisture out according to Saga literature.
Can't tell from the picture, is the body sculpted for the tummy and arm? It might look nice bound like a Tele Custom or my Thinline...maybe with faux tortoise.
Peace, Mooh.
Not sculpted, but that shouldn't be too hard to do.
Mike,
I just ordered the kit from International Violin Co.
It was on sale for $125.00 with shipping being only $11.00. I figured for that price, I would give the kit a try myself. International Violin Co.
Thanks For Directing Me To Their Site!
I would like to make an 8 sring version of this. After building this one, I just might order another and try to make a new 8 string neck for it.
I didn't understand the question you asked when you started this thred. Now that I have ordered this kit, I am now very currious just what it is you are asking. Could you explain a little more on just what it is you are asking?
Tracy
Yeah, I figure to get the general contours from a Strat, adjust them to scale, and go to it with a belt sander, then finish sand. Mooh.
Tracy,
There was no question other than had anyone made one yet. When the acoustic kit came out there were a lot of comments on the quality of the kit, how to put it together, and ways to modify it. I'm hoping the same will occur here with the electric kit... or at least pictures will be put up.
For an extra $20-70 the pickups can be changed, there will probably be attempts at changing the electronics, and plenty of wild and wacky changes in the headstock and finish.
The advantage is that it is very inexpensive to own a decent electric mandolin with this kit and you learn a lot about setup in the process.
Back to my belt sander, bandsaw and spray paint.
Mike,
Since you are the first to build one, then you need to be the one to take photos and create the instructions. It all rests on your shoulders now.
Please let me know who needs instructions. I am sorry but some instructions were left out by mistake. i will be happy to send them. Yes, Saga was the maker. I am working with many makers for kits and I hope to bring good news about other kits in the future.
It looks to me like you wouldn't even need to make a new neck. Couldn't you just drill out the headstock with four more peg holes, add an extra set of tuners and modify the nut or cut a new one? Any thoughts? Would the neck handle the extra tension? Does it have a truss rod? Does it need one?Originally Posted by
Also what is the nut width on this kit?
Here's a novel idea, why not build the 4-string and play the snot out of it?
What a great idea, I think I'll do it!
Less talk, more pick.
The nut width is 28.5mm1 3/16 inch. You can re-groove the compensated bridge and plug up the holes and make a traditional type head stock. I may do this myself but WAIT! I ned to finish the 2 A model that I have been in the middle of doing for moths now!. Get the flat wound strings to make this mandolin sound at its best.
I really should proof read my posts! I am not a bad speller LOL.. The strings that I was talking about are the Labella MF20 Flat wound strings.
I'm stymied by the lack of instructions. There are several parts that are not obvious or wrong (three shrink tubes, an extra blue wire with the plug-in do-hickey which I suspect should be soldered on somewhere, three screws that look like they go on the tailpiece but are too small, the string holder thingy is missing a screw, some of the holes are slightly out of place) and there is some fitting needed (the pickguard needs to be cut back a little as it interferes with the placement of the neck.)
I have been working on it for about three hours now, mostly trying to figure out what to do with the electronics which I suspect have a broken wire and I don't know the first thing about it.
The woodworking part is fairly easy. I drew a shortened Fender style headstock (pictures soon) on a cardboard template and transfered it to the headstock. I cut it with my band saw, smoothed it out with my belt sander and finished up with files and sandpaper. This took about 25 minutes. I then sanded the instrument with 120 grit and then 240 grit to get rid of the sealer and to take out the scratches. I could have used my orbital sander for this, but hand sanding went very well. Then, since I was in a hurry to finish the project, I used a Behelen product calle Woodturner's Finish which dries almost instantly and did two coats of that. I polished with auto scratch remover and waxed it (not the neck) to give it that cheap early Fender look. When I build another of these I will probably paint it red.
My only problems come from the (possible) incompleteness of the parts (the three screws must go somewhere. And I can't find the screws that put the plug-in dohickey in, either that or there are no screws for the endpins. Lucky for me that I have tons of screws. Also, that broken blue wire bothers me. If I knew where it is supposed to be soldered in, I would do it.
In spite of these problems (Ken, I will email you with my address for the instructions) it is a very nice kit and should sound at least as good as the Kentucky 8 string electric.
Here is the start of my project. Sorry about the picture quality.
OK, I figured out that the blue wire goes to the bridge as a ground (this from my Dan Erlewine book on repairs) and the shrink wrap covers the connections so they don't short out. Now to figure out the screw situation and I should have a working mandolin.
Finally done!
It's too late to play it in the house (and it is snowing outside) but I did manage to run it through my little cigarrete box amplifier and it works. Both the tone and volume knobs work fine, so the blue ground wire that goes to the bridge is important.
It needs a lot of setup. I worked for an hour on the nut and it is still not as good as it can get. The intonation needs a little work, but that will be for the morning. I realize that I can lower the action at the bridge by drilling the holes it sets in a little deeper. It is a little high at the lowest setting right now, but that is not a problem. I will play with the height of the lipstick pickup in the AM when I have access to a real amp.
All the screws were there, I just needed to plug the holes for the tailpiece and redrill them with a pin vise/drill and a small bit I have for putting in railroad tracks/banjo fifth string capos.
All in all a very easy project once I figured out what to do. It works, it looks good and it needs a lot of set-up. It is a lot cheaper than the Mandobird while comparable in feel and (so far) sound. The only special tools I used were nut files that I already had from the acoustic mandolin and my banjo making. I recommend this kit to anyone who wants to make and/or play an electric mandolin. I'd rate it a 3/10 on the difficulty scale. A novice to woodworking could do it easily.
I played it on a real amp this AM. Volume and tone controls work as expected and it seems to be OK except for a hum that occurs (60 Htz?) that may be due to the cheap pickup or tha fact that I have the blue wire (which is shown attached to the plug in hicky on the picture) attached to the bridge. I will need a little help here.
I still need to lower the action at the nut some but that will be my project while I watch the ball game today.
60 Hz hum, the bane of electronics... 90% of the time it is a poor ground return somewhere. Check the cable, the connector (do you have a good meter to check continuity and DC resistance?) If the blue wire is ground it may need to be right there at the plug.
I would also check that the wiring is neat - rerouting wires can often lessen some of the AC bleed (the 60 Hz hum), I'd even try this with the electronics in my lap, move things around to see what increases/decreases hum.
I'd bet on a bad ground in your cable, though.
Clark Savage Turner
Los Osos, CA.
I changed the nut to a bone nut and changed strings to a half set of the Labella Jazz Strings (flatwounds 36-10) and took the instrument to our local music store. I played it on a Fender Champion 300 (30 watts, lots of effects) and it was, well, great. I haven't played electrically since the early '60s (when I owned both a tele and a mandocaster and sold them for nothing to buy a banjo) and it was a lot of fun. This one will go to a local blues jam one of these days.
The hum is gone, I changed the blue (probably ground) wire and made sure it was solidly connected. Whoever solders these things together must use a pound or so for each instrument <G> so I resoldered the blue wire. No more hum.
This is a much better mandolin than the Mandobird, possibly because it is well set up, but it just looks better too.
Where is the picture of the finished project?
Bill Snyder
Here is the finished product. Plays purty <G>
And the headstock. Not very original but it goes with the body.
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