SX KY1 STD 24 BO MSL

Made in China
24 frets
Humbucker/Humbucker
3-way switch, volume, tone
Passive electronics
Carved top,double cutaway, PRS-like mahogany body
Bolt-on mahogany neck, jumbo frets, black binding
Rosewood fingerboard, abalone position dots
Sealed, non-locking tuners
Metallic silver paint on body, neck
Two way, non-locking tremolo

I like this guitar for rock/hard rock. The pickups have mediocre tone - not bad, not good, but lots of output. I think the high output sacrifices some clarity but they sound fairly full otherwise. Both pickups are quiet humbuckers, the middle (both) position is quieter. There are no splitting, tapping, phasing features built in so your options are infinite as long as you want straight humbucker sound a la Les Paul. The mahogany body and tremolo, I think, make this guitar sustain less than a Les Paul and sound rounder/less biting/darker than that type of guitar. Overall, I'd say this is a straightforward, basic, loud, warm sounding guitar.

The action was good out of the box, medium - low. The pickup heights gave well balanced output when switching. The intonation was slightly off. The tuning machine knobs were a little sloppy/loose. Other than that, the machines work well. The neck binding, while comfortable to play with, and a surprise not listed on the website, was crudely trimmed near the nut. The neck/body joint is not completely stable - the screws may need tightening or the neck/pocket fit may need attention. I have heard/felt slight movement at this joint. The tremolo/nut/tuning machine combination does not stay in tune very well. The paint itself is a nice metal flake silver.

I wouldn't play this guitar live before "bulletproofing" some of the action/fit issues above were addressed. This guitar as is would be hard to keep in tune live. It would require careful set up attention and some modifications to be ready for "prime time". A Wilkinson tremolo, tremsetter, and graphite nut would go a long way to that end. Bring backup if you're playing it live in stock trim.

Rondo music responded to my order promptly and communicated well. Shipping was on time. I haven't tried to have it repaired/replaced.

If Satch is the Extremist, I'm the Hobbyist. I'm more of a gear fan than player although I've been playing for 25 years on and off. I also have a '52 Telecaster Reissue, Collings D2H Brazilian, Matchless Chieftain 2x12, Mesa/Boogie MkI Reissue, and Agile AD-2300 Jr. I doubt I could list all of the other instruments I've had. The attraction to this guitar is the for the body shape, overall configuration, and price. It is very playable; well balanced, comfortable, and the neck profile is a good compromise between thick and thin. I think this guitar design would be a good basis to copy for a custom guitar w/upgraded woods, electronics, and hardware. As is it's a nice looking, playable guitar for the money.

$159 is bloody cheap, thats approx. ??80 to us brits

KY1 STD 24 BO MSL

This stands for Standard, 24 frets, Bolt On, Metallic Silver, the rondo music photos had me thinking it was alpine white, but when I pulled it out, shimmering Silver, was let down but it says nowhere on the site that it is white, I was just getting my hopes up. Alas the finish is great.

Pearl inlay dots, they are really attractive, no cheap plastic here!

Chinese made, I thought korean, but it says in black and white bold writing chinese made. No argument there.

24 Jumbo Frets, REAL easy to play, my fingers are off the fingerboard slightly while playing these and they really effect the guitars playability for the better.

Came with 2 allan keys for adjustments, very handy and you won't have to go searching for some because it doesn't have the best setup, a few minor tweask and its sailing.

2 Way Tremolo Bridge. I was astonished at this bridge, I thought it would be those stock things you would rather chuck in the bin, if you look closely to any pictures you see of this range it sits like a Floyd Rose (what I was going to replace it with) and it floats so you can go 2 ways. Very happy with this bridge, some other reviews say the tuning won't hold, but mine does, and the best thing is it isn't double locking, though a floyd rose still would do a better job all round, this one gives it a run for its money. Really comfortable to rest on too, chrome, beautiful.

2 Humbucking pickups, no covering, 3 way switch, 1 volum and 1 tone.

Some Ok tuners, I was expecting due to other reviews, a lemon, but these things were only getting changed if they slipped and had this magnetic area where you would turn them and nothing would change tuning wise for about a half turn. This isn't the case, they are staying for the mean time and deserve to stay, though i haven't yet dive bombed the thing heavily or strummed heavily, to test them fully.

It deserves a 10 simply because for the money, I just got a swiss army knife.


The bridge, frets and just look of the guitar are great. I can't complain with anything for this section, I won't even give it 9 cos it says SX and not PRS on the headstock, as some may.

I plugged it in and my amp just sung through it, I own a Korean Tokai les Paul (love rock), which itself is a very good stab at the real Gibson.... and it sounds as good as it, very think tone, good sustain, just about all you would get out of a body and bolt on.

Very warm because of the solid mahogany body and rosewood neck.

The pickups aren't great, but who would have expected anything more?
Doesn't do the best cleans, but the dirty sounds are good.

They won't be changed immediately. I would like to one day and im sure many others with this, they do ok and I'm neutral with them, I don't hate them but I don't love them.

gets a 9, a very good stab at a real PRS

Action was just round about where I like it, Medium, the frets help it out as they are jumbo otherwise it would have been high action, no complaints here, and if you dislike it, you have 2 allan keys in the box so work away.

Black binding has a few bits that I dislike, just not perfect, this could have happened shipping or in the factory. Overall the Metallic Silver is perfect, I can't find anything wrong on it, very please considering it came in a plane from California to Ireland. And in 3-4 days!

The intonation isn't perfect, but closer than a LOT of guitars I have seen out of the box, someone did a job at setting this guitar up especially with the bridge it has in it.

No fret buzz except SLIGHTLY and I mean nothing that would be noticeable when you lpug in to your amp, I think the neck needs a bit of relief, and then this will disappear, I looked down the neck and it was only slightly in need of relief, I may leave it, don't like to fiddle with the truss, considering its only noticeable if you are looking for it.

I was astonished at the playability out of the box, for ??130 PnP its a steal, thats $259 and the shipping will be less mainland US anyway. Cos it was $80 shipping half the world away. :D

Nice Archtop, Neck is bolted into the body fine, very heavy neck, when I had the strap on it started to pull that way a bit, rather than all the weight in the body, but I am used to les Pauls and Tele's.

The shiny frets are lovely, they ARE jumbo frets and if you like them you love them, makes it real easy to fret and really comfortable to play too.

9 again, not a perfect 10, but pretty damn close.

I'd say it could take a beating. It's going to be a live axe, and I trust it ;)

Really is solid, change the tuners if you want and stick in a top end bridge and you are geared for war.

Kurt at Rondomusic answered a few questions pretty fast, haven't really needed support, and thats the best kind.

So can't rate.

I've played les Pauls, only tried some Paul Reed Smiths, and this thing I can tell is a solid guitar. Not quite a full imitation of a PRS but more influenced by them. You won't look like a tit playing this with 5 mates holding PRS which would cost an arm to buy.

I couldn't have asked for anything more out of this guitar from the manufacturer. My mouth hung open as it was unpackaged and played, I love the action and playability.

SX have had some bad reviews, but this isn't one, and this guitars certainly deserves the 10 I am giving it. I may buy more SX's in the future. But atm I have enough guitars.

For the price, and what you get, its amazing with what is coming out of Asia, I'm astounded for what I have got for 160 dollars.