SX SEG Limited Edition

This is the top model SX made in China Strat copy with a real quilted maple top, alder body, dark sorta sunburst finish, black back, vintage style tremolo, pearl pickguard, all gold hardware, rosewood fingerboard amber tinted neck with medium frets, and a BEAUTIFUL case for $159.95. Loaded for a Strat style guitar. VERY pretty.

http://www.rondomusic.net/vegltd.html

Sounds good! Pickups have VERY distinct sounds in each of the 5 positions. More so than better guitars that I also own. So obviously the pickups are well matched as a set. Hot enough, but not metal hot. Not as weak as some "vintage" p'ups I have bought. Staggered polepieces.

The guitar quacks and honks just like a Strat should.

I will probably not replace these pickups, and coming from me, that says alot. They may not be exactly what you are looking for, but they might be, and they are certainly better than I expected.

It would probably cost more than the guitar cost to buy pickups that are better. These might be better pickups than the other SX Strats because this is a special model.

Action was pretty good right of the box. Intonation is good. There's room for improvement, but setting up your guitar is a personal thing. I expect to, on every guitar I buy. You could use it as is, with no problems.

The top is beautiful. Book matched real quilted maple. The finish isn't exactly glass smooth but I'm being really picky here. My standard is that it should look like smoked glass. It isn't, but it's real close. It's not flawed, just not mega buck quality. Duh. Is this a bad thing on a hundred dollar guitar? No, it's a compliment!

The frets need to be polished, they are rough from levelling filing. I expected that some neck work would be necessary to make this hundred dollar guitar play like a much more expensive guitar. If you can follow some simple neck work guides found on the internet, you can have that.

They are not jumbo frets. They are more vintage sized but not quite that small. They are the right size for what this guitar will be used for, tinkling blues. The radius of the neck is almost flat so string bending is easy.

I'm giving it a 7 because final perfect cleaning and setup reamin to be done. But I'd much rather not pay someone else to do that, and do it myself. The basics are all here. Value is where it's at.

Everything looks like it will last. I'm not worried about it.

Never used customer support. I hear Kurt is great. The one email I ever sent was answered quickly.

Shipped fast, well packed. Ordered direct from Rondo's web site, as soon as it appeared (late April 2006). I paid with Paypal which is great that Rondo takes that.

Shipping was CHEAP at $17. I'm near DC, not too far from Rondo who are in NH. It's a better deal to buy direct, cause you save on shipping if you are closer/cheaper than the ebay shipping charge which is $25.

I've been playing for about 30 years on and off. I've written a few other reviews. I play well enough for me, but I'm no guitar hero. I've owned many guitars (I have about 8 right now). I'm on a cheap guitar roll at the moment, selling off my better guitars and buying cheaper ones. Good move these days, this Asian stuff is finally good enough. Even the worst of it is pretty good compared to what I could buy as a teen. This one is nowhere near the worst of it.

I just got this guitar today, but I'm not dissapointed in anything about it. I'll review it again after a while to report on how it has stood up.

As other reviewers have said, the neck is filthy. I'll probably totally disassemble the guitar this weekend and touch/tweak/polish everything.

Once it's back together, it will be a GOOD axe, against any standard. I do pretty intensive neck work on all my guitars, regardless of brand or price so this is not a condemnation of this brand or this particular guitar.

Overall for $176 delivered, I'm tickled pink! I would've gladly paid close to that for the case! I'll be a repeat buyer at Rondo Music!