SX KY1ASH22

Glossy transparent Ash-capped Mahogony body.
Glossy maple neck with glossy 22 fret neck.
Chrome SX brand tuners
H/S/H pickup configuration with 5 way "Strat-style" switch
1 volume, 1 tone control.
Chrome Tremolo.
Jumbo (and I mean JUMBO!) frets.

This guitar has quite a few pickup possibilites. Very Strat-like in it's ability to combine or isolate the pickups. Single-coil center pickup is an interesting touch in combination with the 2 humbuckers.

In neck position, it is very full-sounding and mellow.

Single-coil adds some harsh "twang", if you want it.

Bridge position is bright and rich.

I like it, although the single-coil is a little harsh and noisy.

The thick ash cap really does seem to add some tonal "character" to this guitar.

This guitar isn't set up very well at all. You will need to either have a pro do it for you, or do it yourself.


OK: Here's a flaw.
The neck pickup ring is "jammed" between the humbucker in the neck position and the actual ending of the fretboard (neck). This pushes the humbucker towards the bridge. The result is that the humbucker doesn't sit right in it's socket. It's uneven, and pushed up towards the neck, and pinched down towards the bridge.
This problem is a design flaw and would be easy enough to fix at the factory level, but they have declined to do so, for whatever reason.

Other than that, it's a pretty nice guitar for the money.
Surprisingly playable after you set it up.
Some minor flaws in the abalone inlay dots on the fretboard, but nothing major.
Frets are actually finished quite nicely.

Tuners are not very good.

However, due to the design flaw of the pickup ring (which they didn't bother to fix), the crappy tuners, and the fact that you're going to have to set it up yourself in order for it to play properly, I'm giving it a 3.

This guitar would never withstand live playing as it comes from the factory.
Of course, who's going to play out with a $129 guitar?

You would need to upgrade the tuners at the very least.

Strap buttons seem solid.
Finish seems thick enough to last.

Giving it a "No Opinion".

Rondo probably has the best customer support around.
They are always very curteous and polite, and super quick to respond.

Playing for 20+ years. It's amazing what you can get for the money these days.

You're going to sink a little time and money into this guitar in order to get it "up-to-snuff". And by that, I mean, the ability to stay in tune, and be playable all over the neck.

As long as you don't mind that, it's hard to beat the value.

PRS swampash copy, made in the early 2000s, Chinese. 22 frets, mahogany body (unlike the real prs), ash top (transparent finish). HSH PU configuration, five way switch, tone- and vol control. Bolt-on (like the original) maple neck (medium thickness) and maple fretboard with binding, real abalone dots, very nice. Wilkinson-style trem, non locking tuners (all chrome hardware).

Sound is decent, I bought the guitar for the blues and jazzy pieces I play with my current band. The bridge PU will do rock as well. I haven't played it loud yet, so I can't tell if the PUs are microphonic. I will change the single coil to a OBL 250R, cause 1. it will optically resemble the original a little more, 2. it won't hum and 3. Bill Lawrence PUs are the best anyway... ;))

There was no setup from the factory at all. What's worse, the neck PU frame was narrowed by the fretboard so that the PU wasn't able to pass through the frame. I wonder how such a guitar could ever leave the factory. I finally decided to fix it myself but had a strong urge to send it back for quite a long time....
1 square mm flaw on the top. Tuners are on the verge of crap.

The other side is nicely chosen woods, decent trem, jumbo frets with a straight neck so I managed to achieve a very low action which I love. Will probably switch to locking tuners.

Looks reliable enough to me.

If it wasn't for the flaws I'd give it a screaming ten because of the unbeatable price. Add some money and time of your own or give it to your favorite luthier, after that you'll still have a great value.