SX DG50CE

From the Rondo website:

* Incredible sound with versatile features
* Beautiful natural Sold Spruce top
* High Quality German Shadow P7 pickup with EQ and active (9v) preamp
* Professional Rosewood pushpin style bridge with Graphtech NUBONE saddle made in Canada
* Gorgeous Rosewood back and sides
* Mahogany neck with Rosewood fingerboard and bone nut
* Wood inlayed sound hole binding
* Diecast gold tuners with ellipse pearlized buttons
* D'addario EXP16 made in USA strings installed at factory
* Guitar sounds great with an amp or by itself
* Width of the Neck at the nut is 1 11/16" Overall length 41 1/2" Width at lower bout (widest point) 15 7/8", Depth of body 4 5/8"


Made in China (Sticker on the back of the neck)
20 frets
The initial reviewer did a good job of describing the guitar.

Since this is my first acoustic, I really can't tell you with specifics if it's brite or not. I know that it sounded pretty good out of the box.

I let a friend borrow it for some recording and he mentioned that it distorts if you play it hard. He speculated that it may be due to the pick-up...? I really don't care as I usually just play without being plugged in. If I do record and have it plugged in, I'll make an effort not to bash on the strings...

Action out of the box was OK, but the strings were a bit too heavy for me. I changed them to Dean Markleys, Signature Series LT 11-46. This set had the G string the same as the EA and D (wound), so I changed it out to a D'Addario 020.

I adjusted the truss rod and the action is pretty good. (There are a few frets that have some fretbuzz, but that can be addressed) When it is, the action will be even lower...

There were some very minor finish flaws at the top of the neck, the clear coat was thin around the 3rd fret.....no biggie.

The tuners hold tune fairly well... the part that you twist is plastic, if you don't like that, you can always change them.

Solidly built guitar, it should last quite a while as long as you take care of it.

I've emailed Kurt for another guitar (Agile PS-970) and he answered the email promptly and is always willing to lend support and/or address and questions or issues that you have.

I've been playing on and off for 20+ years. This guitar is very easy to play with extra lite strings on them. I think a big reason for that is because the frets are on the small side. They are smaller than my electric guitar frets!!! (Agile PS-970) I would have liked to have the electric to come with the fret size on this guitar! (I hate guitars that have 'speed bump' sized frets)

You can also use the product 'fast fret' on the strings and you'll really glide on this baby.

The looks on the guitar are great (with the cut-away!), it plays great and sounds great. Taking the price into consideration, this is probably one of the best buys for an acoustic guitar.

It doesn't have a date manufactured, but it is new, so I would suspect it was made late 2007 or even early 2008.

It has 30 frets, and they are accessible up to the 17th or 18th because it's a cutaway. It joins the body on the 14th fret.

It has a solid spruce top with a nice even tight grain.

It has a Shadow P7 pickup which has sliding controls for volume, sub bass, bass, mid, treble and bright, and an anti feedback switch

active electronics requires a 9 volt battery

The neck is mahogany. The body is laminated rosewood. The bridge and fingerboard are rosewood. The finish is flawless high gloss. The binding up the neck and around the body is light maple.

It's a cutaway dreadnaught, but slightly more shallow than other dreadnaughts.

It's push pin bridge style with a nice feature: There is an indentation between the pins and the saddle giving it a nice angle even when the saddle is shaved down.

The tuning pegs are enclosed diecast gold colored with ellipse pearlized buttons. They resemble Shalers and work well.

The neck is very comfortable. It is average width, but is rather thin.

There were no accessories included other than a pickguard you can stick on. It fits my other dreadnaught cases.

If it had onboard tuning, I would give it a ten.
It's really cosmetically beautiful.

I like fingerpicking and acoustic blues.
It's very bright sounding and clear.
It has an excellent sound and I'm hoping it will age nicely.
(I might be grading it a bit harshly, because I have a 30 year old Martin D 18 to which nothing seems to compare.)

The action was high for my taste, but I like very low action. It was set up a bit higher than the standard 3/32 low E and 2/32 high E at the 12 fret. But there was plenty of saddle to file down and after I put extra light strings on it, the action came way down.
It seems to be settling in.

The amplification system is excellent.

The top is very nice with perfectly bookmatched pieces. (I have no way of knowing what kind of spruce it is, but it's a very tight grain.)

The guitar had no flaws.

I've never seen a guitar come from the factory with the action exactly how I like it, but sanding off a little from the bottom of the saddle made it just what I wanted.

I've played it long and hard at a long jam session.

The hardware and finish seem pretty standard and actually incredible for a low cost guitar.

The strap is solid. I had one installed in the heel stock, but I didn't find a gold colored one to match it.

I think it is reliable.

It came well packed and the communication was good.

When I first got it, I was unhappy with the action, and the dealer, Rondo Music, offered to take it back.

After I was able to lower the action and the neck set back from lighter strings, I decided to keep it.

I have a number of guitars. I've been playing for decades.
I used to play professionally. Now it's a sideline.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. I wanted a second guitar that I could take around without worrying about.

I love the look and feel of the guitar. It was a fantastic bargain.
It remains to be seen how well it will age or hold up, but I am optimistic since so much care seemed to go into its production.