First Time Build - SAGA JB-12 Fretless Jazz

[rocmonster]

I have decided to add a fretless to my current stable of one this summer. I considered a buying a MIM Fender Jazz (either fretless, or modify by de-fretting), Squier Modified Fretless (very nice bass I've played in the shop) or building my own (from a kit, as I don't have the proper tools or skills to roll one from a tree trunk yet).

I found this kit online for a decent price and decided to take the plunge. I figured that if anything, the bass would be somewhat playable (enough to build back my fretless chops and ear), and at the very least be unique to my personal preferences at an affordable pay as you go price.

Here is Saga's promo picture of what comes in the box (it's pretty much accurate):



I will have pics and commentary coming up as soon as I start this build. If you have built a SAGA KIT before, or if you have ever thought about building your own bass from a kit, please stick around - it will be fun and informative. I am also looking for the TB community to chime in with your own take as this build unrolls.

thanks!

[rocmonster]

After doing a quick inventory and inspection, there was good news, and bad news.
Good news: Nothing was missing.
Bad news: the nut fell off the neck. Nothing a little glue can fix, and this is actually an advantage as it is cut way too high for a fretless. I plan to sand the bottom to set the nut height anyway.

First, I assembled the tuners, bridge, and neck to the body, strung it up and noodled around.



Closeup of the body. The bridge has two screws on the neck side of the mounting plate, unlike my Fender Jazz. The saddles tend to 'fan out'. I will check the spacing when I finally install the pickups. If there is a problem, I can always swap out the stock saddles for threaded ones in the future:



Back of body. The body is two pieces with a little 3rd piece by the control cavity (about 1 inch worth). The back has a laminated cap of tight grained wood! That explaines the color difference between the back and the belly cut. Surprising. I wonder how ugly the wood would have to be to do this as the top is not laminated....?



Headstock front (faint pencil lines traced from my Jazz headstock). Even though the neck is maple, it's not the most attractive grain so I'm leaning towards a painted headstock to match the body color:



Back:



The tuners (and the rest of the hardware pieces) are decent for the money. The fit of the neck to the body is tight. The fingerboard is rosewood with some sort of maple strips inlayed for fret lines (as per the website). I think it's filler. The fingerboard is smooth. The neck feels good, just as wide as a real Jazz, maybe a little fatter front to back, slightly. The finish is a satiny clear coat and needs no sanding. The body is prefilled and primed. I did notice that the body will still need some contouring and fine sanding before painting. Everything is pre-drilled and easy to screw. Bridge, tuners, and neck bolts went in okay, I went slow so that I didn't strip any screw heads or bore out the pre-drilled holes.

The pickup route for the bridge pup is spot on flush. The neck looked spot on , but is actually a little bigger - too big to not use the pickguard. I will probably fill it to make it flush as I prefer to make this bass pickguardless.



I set up and test drove the assembled bass and it plays well. I left it strung at pitch for two weeks, and aside from some minor retuning, the neck didn't move.

Next step, dissassemble the bass, sand, prime, and choose a paint color.

Any suggestions for color would be appreaciated.

[Stealth]

Very cool, I had no idea these Saga kits were so well-made.

[mikebpeters]

I bought a Saga kit as well for my first build, but ended up using it more as a guide for what could and should be.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of each componenet.

In the end the only piece I used was the basswood body, and even only half of that as I laminated new tops and bottoms on.

No complain about the kit though - I just wanted to have an essentially scratch built bass.

[Clydesauce]

I was looking at buying one, and using everything but the body. I was going to make my own custom one, is the neck nice?

[Eggman]

Looks like you might be missing a washer for the tuning posts. Just got a fretless neck for one of my Carvin SB 4000s and the tuner hardware had a washer that "filled up" the space (at least visually) around the post.

Looks good - I thought about these too - until I found that Carvin would make a neck for about the same cost as the Saga Kit.

[rocmonster]

Originally Posted by Eggman

Looks like you might be missing a washer for the tuning posts. Just got a fretless neck for one of my Carvin SB 4000s and the tuner hardware had a washer that "filled up" the space (at least visually) around the post.

Looks good - I thought about these too - until I found that Carvin would make a neck for about the same cost as the Saga Kit.

The photo of the headstock - there is some glare and it looks as if the 'washers' are missing, but the press fit sleeves are included and attached. There are no gaps.

Updated headstock pictures to come tomorrow!

[rocmonster]

Headstock Update.

Used a scroll saw to cut the classic "F" shape traced from my Jazz. The key is to go s l o w to keep the blade from grabbing. I also tried not to cut too close to my guide lines or notch any spots where I began/ended a cut. The end result is okay, and nothing that a good sanding can't correct. I find that the cylinders and rectangular blocks from my daughters Playskool block bucket work well for getting into those tight curves when finish sanding the headstock.

First cut:



End result:



Pics of the sanded headstock and body to come.

[rocmonster]

Headstock Update #2:

Finished rough sanding the headstock shape:




Then I noticed this hairline crack at the end of the headstock



Now I have to figure out how to stabilize this crack before moving further. I was thinking of drilling perpendicular to the crack from one side across the crack, and inserting a Titebond coated maple dowel of the same diameter, then trimming and sanding flat the exposed end of the dowel.

Any thoughts on how to approach this challenge from those of you with more experience would be apreciated. Bear in mind I will be painting the headstock to match the body color.

By the way, here is the color I plan to use, it's Rust-Oleum Metallic Sienna Mist. It looks like the color of a 2005 Nissan Murano:



Picks of the repair to come.

[BigDaddyMick]

Subbed.

[Smilodon]

Are you sure that's a crack in the headstock? Looks more like a grain line.

[rocmonster]

Originally Posted by Smilodon

Are you sure that's a crack in the headstock? Looks more like a grain line.

Unfortunately it's a crack along a grain line. When I sand across it, it makes that 'hollow' noise. The crack is too tight to put glue into, hense the dowel pin attempt. Unless there is a better way, I am open to suggestions.

Gonna paint the body today

[bassteban]

Unless a tuner mounting screw goes into or very near the crack, I'd either ignore it- or, work some diluted wood glue in w/a small paintbrush and lightly clamp it up. Wipe up the excess w/a moist paper towel- to the point that there's a small bit of recess for adding wood filler. Add filler to hide the glue line, sand & drive on. Looking forward to a end-of-build review.

[Hopkins]

I would flood the area with thin CA glue and sand it back to bare wood after it dries. It should wick into the crack enough to keep it from getting worse.

[rocmonster]

Thanks Bassteban and Hopkins for your input. I will see if there is any gap in the crack to help wick in some sort of adhesive. The whole dowel thing is sort of overkill, most likely resulting in some unforseen complication which I would like to avoid. I don't want the crack to get bigger, so I will heed your advice. Wish me luck. Pics to follow.

[bakerbass]

Hi,

I'd flood the crack with low viscosity CA glue. The water-thin stuff would definitely flow in there. I'd also mask the crack, especially on the end of the neck, as that stuff soaks right into end grain. If you can't get enough grab with a cramp to nip it up, it shouldn't be a problem. You'll have stopped the crack from getting any longer with the glue alone.

[rocmonster]

Well I injected some slightly diluted Titebond into the crack and clampted it over the weekend. When it set, I sanded it and primed and painted the headstock. I stilll need to lightly sand the edge between the color and the naked wood along the edges. I still have tape covering the truss rod access hole (don't want to seal the rod with sticky paint). I will relocate the string tree to better match the position of my jazz headstock. It will also let my logo fit better on the headstock.



I also primed, sanded, and painted the body. There was a little orange peel so after a few prime/sand/prime attempts, I chose to cut my losses and just live with it (on the back near the belly cut). The body took several coats of paint before I got an even coat. I noticed the metal flakes are kinda tiny. I guess next time I will make my own and shoot it with an air gun. I took my time, sprayed several light coats and didn't overload any area with paint to cause drips. Besides with a metal flake finish you don't want sanding for the color coats. I will sand/buff the clear after a few coats to even it out. Besides, the color coat still feels a little tacky after several days drying, I wonder if the hot and humid weather is causing this...



Here is the body and neck for the full color effect:



Next step- clear poly over the body and neck, also add a homemade decal to the headstock.

[rocmonster]

BTW: I'm leaning towards getting a pearl pickguard. That and the chrome hardware will make it sparkle.

QUESTION TO CONSIDER: Mask off the rosewood fingerboard when spraying clear poly, or should I include that too? I don't want to go down the epoxy route as I REALLY WANT TO PLAY THIS THANG!!! I plan to use flats which shouldn't cause much wear, coated or uncoated.

[JJ_in_MI]

You don't want to spray the fret board. Not a rose wood or ebony one anyway.

The issue with the finish on the body still being tacky is more likely than not due to humidity. As I understand it Humidity can also cause that "orange peel" effect.

[rocmonster]

After almost two months of inactivity I've finally completed my SAGA fretless build and I have the pictures to prove it.

Headstock shot (with 'Fender Fretless Jazz Bass' decal )



Body shot. Considered a crushed pearl pickguard but putting a $35 on a $120 kit bass doesn't make sense...



The full monty:



Set it up today and noodled around a bit. I had to nearly bottom out the bridge a bit to get decent action. May have to shim the neck, I will let the bass sit for awhile and see how the neck settles in. Anyway, there it is. My lawsuit Fender clone