I just got mine today. Same situation, tuned up fine then intonation was no good. The nut slots are too high for one thing. The nut to 1st fret is measured at 17.9mm, way off of the expected 16mm. Looks like the fretboard is about 1.9mm too long. This could be why y'all are having set-up issues. Other than those things, it looks pretty good. The Squirrel version is now $42, was $16 a couple of days ago. How's that for whip-saw free market pricing?
I'll either update or start a new thread.
Doggone it, that's a bummer! I wonder if the bridge was mounted inaccurately? Well, in any event, the work you did looks really nice!
I'm wondering how you got the nut off? I wanted to do that with my E. Squirrel, but failed. Tried to file the nut slots. What a disaster! (I am a hack and should not have attempted such a thing, but it was a cheap enough "instrument" that I felt I could experiment.)
Forgot to mention: after all that it still can't be tuned well, the notes go sharp for some reason, plus intonation up the fret board still is lousy (sharp) above the 6th fret or so
I believe that the tuners are at fault for the tuning problems. Fret placement errors might account for the intonation issues.
Conclusion: worth about $18 at the most, it's pretty much a toy not a proper sopranino
Not recommended!
UPDATE:
I've changed the strings to Martin M600 series (used) and it's much better re intonation. I'm thinking of keeping it since it cost me less than $19 including used strings. Play it all the time now, which is odd since it doesn't sound all that great, but, the sound that does come out of it is at a decent volume.
Talking of volume, Enya say that it is a "Spruce Top". Technically correct, except that it's very thick, over 2mm, NOT solid, and super stiff laminate.
I've changed my mind a bit to conclude that it's not that bad, really. If the price goes down below $20, including free shipping, I'd recommend you try it out. That assumes that you are willing to put in the work to make it play properly.
I like the "QC PASSED" sticker right next to your work with the tuners.