SX SST 57 Vintage

SX 57 Vintage Strat. Made in China. 21 frets. 3 piece solid alder body, 3 single coil pups, maple neck, maple fretboard, adjustable neck, rosewood reinforced neck, 1 volume, 2 tone controls, 5 position pickup selector switch, came with D?Addario strings, vintage fulcrum with six adjustable saddles. I have 2: one turquoise, one white (well, yellow). I gave it a 9 because the pickguard has a ding in it, very superficial, but there. No one would notice it but me or you. The finish is perfect and gorgeous. The neck is UNBELIEVABLE. And I'm shouting this at you: it is unbelievable. Let me backup. I bought 1 (turquoise) of these a few weeks ago for my 11 year old daughter. I've been playing it a lot, and liked it so much I figured I buy myself one. I got the white (yellow) one. Hers was just perfect, absolutely totally perfect and gorgeous. We were stunned when we opened the box. I loved the maple neck on it. Very fast, very smooth. The frets were MUCH nicer than I thought they were going to be. So I bought one for myself. I have never seen a maple neck on a guitar like the one that came on mine. I guess I got lucky - really lucky. It is beautiful, perfect, smooth, fast. I know this sounds stupid and I don't expect you to believe me and no I don't work for the company, whoever they are, but I think I like playing this guitar more than my other guitars: a Fender 57 reissue (black) ($800 new), a Rickenbacker (cherry) with the fretboard completely restored ($1100), and a custom guitar I bought in Venice, CA ($1100). I had already bought some Schaller locking tuners figuring I'd replace the stocks ones, but I'm not sure that's going to be necessary. I probably will anyway, just for the hell of it.

I had already bought a DiMarzio pup to replace the neck pup, and I will replace it, but frankly I don't think I need to. It really sounds quite good to me. Now, I'm not a pro. I'm 53 and I've been playing off and on since I was 15, but I just play for fun. I like to finger pick, and play stuff you'd ordinarily play on an acoustic, and some jazz and some rock. I think it sound great. I honestly can't complain about it on any of the settings. I do get a lot of hum on certain positions, but that's with the volume set on 10. I'm not sure why, but I like mine (the white) much more than my daughter's, and my daughter's is very nice. It might be that I had read these reviews and everyone said the strings were crap, so I replaced her stock strings with Elixirs. Mine came with D?Addario strings, which are really, really, really nice on this guitar. I'm glad I didn't buy any replacements. I'm trying not to sound like an idiot and rave about this, but it really does sound great - I'm astonished, so I gave it the 10.

The guitar (mine) was set up perfectly. My daughter's wasn't, and still needs some set up, which I haven't gotten done yet. The pups on both of ours seem good, mine seem perfect. The bridge, etc seems fine. My daughter's had a loose plug for the cord, and I had to tighten that. Big deal. Everything else was fine. Her guitar's finish is stunning. Mine is, well, white (yellow), but very very nice for that color. I just wanted yellow. But God both of the necks on mine and hers are just beautiful. I have never seen such nice maple necks. (I used to own a cabinet shop and I've done a fair amount of work with wood, including maple, which I love.) I rate this a 10 for "Fabulous". The necks really are fabulous. The neck plays very fast and smooth. I know this sounds stupid but I'd rather play this SX than my Fender strat. That's the truth. The SX is faster and smoother and easier to play. I haven't done it yet, but I'm going to put pictures of this up on my web site. If you look for it after 2/20/04, it should be up about then. www.LoveLightSeminars.com/guitar

I have no idea how reliable it will be, or how durable it will be, because the future hasn't come yet. But there's nothing anywhere that I can see that looks like it'd be a problem. Everything is solid. I'd personally depend on it, but that's me. I gave it a 9, but probably should give it a 10, but as I said, time hasn't passed yet. Everything seems solid. As I said, I had to tighten the cord plug on the turquoise one, that's it. I tightened the tuners - some of the nuts were a bit loose. That's it. The finish seems fine, but I'm not going to rub on it to see what I have to do to take it off.

Haven't needed any.

Hell, I'd buy another of these in a heartbeat. I'd really like to buy one of their tele's and see how they play. But I'd buy another of these if anything happened to it. Love about it? the neck and the finish. Hate about it? nothing, really. Favorite feature? Guess. Have I mentioned the neck enough? Compare to other guitars? I like it as well as anything I've ever played and it cost about 1/10 what they did. Anything I wish it had? I wish the turquoise one had come properly set up, but you can't really expect that. I truly think that this is a fantastic value. I was going to have lots of fun replacing everything on it - the tuners, the pups, and having the hardware nickel plated or something - maybe I'll just save my $ and buy a tele or something. It doesn't really look like I'll need to replace anything, but I might. For heaven's sake I figured I'd at least have to buy new strings. Not for the yellow one. The D?Addario strings are, literally, perfect for this guitar. I like to play it just to see how smooth it is.

Nice grain on the alder body. Fat maple neck with "skunk" stripe. This is the '57 vintage model "strat". The tobacco burst finish is real nice. Three single coil pups, five way selector switch and tremelo bar.

Sound is impressively nice. This thing sounds like a strat. It has that distinctive Fender twang that we all love so much!
The whammy bar is stiff as hell, not real useable, knocks the thing out of tune real fast.

Action out of the box was awful. It needed a truss rod adjustment and string saddles lowered. This was done easily as the wrenches are supplied with the guitar. Now the action is sweet.
Fit and finish for a $100 guitar is outstanding . .

Haven't had it long enough to rate durability, but it is solid and well made.

Excellent customer support from Rondo. This is the third guitar I have bought from them in the past year. The SX Les Paul I bought last winter wasn't up to par, but Rondo took it back, no problem.

Been playin' since the 60's. Have owned and still own all kinds of gear. I can remember when a cheap guitar was shit. There has been a marked improvement in the overseas quality level in recent years. This is NOT an American Fender, but hey, the alder body with the sunburst finish by itself is worth $100 . . .This is an excellent value for the money, great for a back-up or a knock around guitar for the kids.

Guitar was purchased 2003, made in China. Has an Alder body, 5 way selector,2 tone and one volume. Neck is maple with jumbo frets. Not being an expert and for only paying $99.00 for the guitar, the only flaw I saw before using it, based on the other reviews I formed an opinion the the tuners was not the best. Well in time they will be change out but these tuners are different than the earlier built guitars and appear to be much more solid and staying in tune.

I think the sound is great for the price of the guitar. I just wanted something to play again it is the first time in 35 years I've touched a guitar, so I think it sounds fine. Prior to buying it I did test out some Fender Strats and Tele's and I did not think there is much different sound than the Squier, in fact it sounds better.

When I took this out of the carton I was amazed at the finish first. I plugged it in and was shocked how close it was in tune. Had it about a week now and take it to work at night and fool around during the day, very minor tuning was required. The action was good, the only flaw was the frets on the edge were a little sharp. Didn't take long to fix that, just a little filing. The neck feels fine.

Durability depends on the person using the guitar. What I'm saying if you lean up against a wall or amp and it falls its going to get dinged up. But looking at the finish and constuction it looks solid. As for withstanding live playing, I know in my time in the late 60'S I would not hesitate in using this guitar as a primary or backup.

I purchased this guitar from Rondo off of Ebay. I Emailed Kurt several times and he responded back very quickly. A guitar like this has more exposure because of it being on Ebay, and I think if it wasn't too reliable Kurt wouldn't be selling them on EBay. And from the several comments about people having problems Rondo music will stand behind what they sell to make the customer satisfied.

I think for the money this is a great guitar for the beginner, or even the experienced player for just a spare. As for comparison to other Strat copies and Fender, all copies are made overseas and the majority of Fenders are made overseas and Mexico, by the same peole who put this guitar together. Don't get me wrong I have owend 60'S Fenders and I love the guitar and I swear by them, but they were built in the US then and now the price is high for a guitar that doesn't have much more features.qualities and playability than this guitar. SX just came out with a Tele clone and the order was placed prior to this reveiw. If this guitar is treated right I think it will last and asked if I would by again, in a heartbeat.

Made in China. Looks lie a laquar finish. 5 way selector S/S/S Looks like Alder, with a beautiful maple neck. Strat copy. Nica hardware.

I run through a Marshall TSL 122 Combo, with monster cables, and ernie ball strings. 46/11 Not much on effects, but single coils always seem to complemet effects to the extrme. I do have a Rotovibe I accasionally plug in, but for the most part I play pure straight Marshall Distortion! I love the bridge PU. I has that cut through tone. Kinda like another review I saw here. It has that Tele tone, which I was really looking for in the bridge PU. I will be replacing the neck pickup with a humbucker. And getting coil taps for it. I might replce the middlke position as well. But I will keep the bridge PU for sure. I mainly will use this guitar for punk stuff, and crunchy crunch stuff. It can hit a wide range of tones. It can get that STP Tiny Music tone when over driven. It sound good clean with any pickup combo, but my amps clean channel just straight rocks with any guitar. The pickups really are crape and the tone knobs fall off, and the switch slector is lost in oe day. "hehe" But really planned on replacing all the electronics. Turns out I will be keeping the bridge pickup, so I can't really complain.

The action was ok, but I got this really low. I cut into the nut to get all the strings down alittle, except the bottom E string. I raised the bridge sattle down too. Now this thing plays like my Les Pauls. So smooth, but with a maple neck. I mainy purchased this guitar for the maple neck, and the 2 reviews already here. "hehe" It is hard to take what anyone sdays to the bank. I have heard so manny bogus reviews here. I have nice equipment and I can be honest about my reviews. I have never recived a guitar that I didn't have to tune the stup to my prefernces. This guitar lived up to all my exspectations.

It feels solid as any strat. Can't say enough about the beautiful maple neck, and the action, is great.It looks like a laquar finish, and it is very well done.The structure of a start is far more solid that any Les Paul. You would pretty much have to want to destroy it to do this, and sence any guitar is bottom heavy your safe with a strat for the most part. The Les Pauls have that tone chanber right on the but of the guitar which scares me. I am a Les Paul guy myself, but like said earlier their is no such thing as a one trick pony.

na

Sence it really cirpassed my exspectations I have got to give it a 10. The tone can be then at times, but that will easily be fixed, and a good amp will flatter this guitar well. Again I got this guitar mainly for the neck, as their is nothing like a soft maple neck, it is like a vacation. And the guiatr is over all a bright sounding instrument, which is so unlike my other humbucker equipments guitars. Got love that open, single coil tone.

a very attractive 3 tone sunburst strat copy with a maple neck capped maple fingerboard. Madee in China. Most people that see it really comment on how beutiful it looks. Very nice job with the finish. Good defined sunburst (very authentic). The neck is somewhat figured with some birdseye and fire. The maple cap is a + . The bond between the board and the neck creates better stability than a one piece thus better tone. I know Brad Paisely uses maple capped neck Teles for this reason. Standard Strat setup 3 sc pickups, Neck volume, mid volume, and master tone. 5 way switch, 6 screw vintage trem with 90s style bridge pieces. The pickups are not ceramic like on some squires but copper wire wound over magnetic pole pieces. The pole pieces protrude about 3/32 above the cover and are even in height. Tuners are reliable but would replace if I gigged with it. Frets are med jumbo, 2 string retainers. Flush mounted jack. The body thickness is 1.71. A standard strat is 1.75 and a squire is 1.64. The gloss finish on the neck is smooth with a nice tint very 70s'ish with skunk stripe. The knobs and pickup covers are aged white in coloe, with black numbers on the knobs. white 3 plt pick guard. The logo is nice with black letters with gold trim says SX custom hand made vintageseries?
(I wonder)It has all the features of a standard strat. As far a how good they are I give it an 8

I like to play blues, rockabilly,surf,jazz, and rock. This guitar can cover all these styles. I originally bought this guitar as a replacement for a tex-mex strat that I sold I like this better. I planned to replace the pickups, but decided not to once I played it. this guitar sings true, great tone and sustain in all positions. I get my pickups free for work I do for a local pickup manufactuer, so maybe some day the pups might be replaced, but not now. I do most of my playing on the neck pickup and mid-neck selection. The bridge pickup really nails that James Bond tone, very tele like. All are very usable, real stratty. The hum level is low considering the single coils. The 2 position has a great jazz tone with the tone lowered. The volume and tone knobs are smooth and responsive and will not have to be replaced unless they fail. I play it thru a fender blues jr. A good tube amp can bring an average guitar to life but I don't know if its the case here. I can't wait to plug it in to my Reverend hellhound when I get it out of the shop.

Remember where talking $99.95 here. This guitar needed some ajustments when I first got it and with most strats this is an ongoing process. Just part of the fun of oning a strat. First off it had high action,and threm was mounted flush to the body. The selector knob was loose and I had to jb weld it.The grounding wire attached to the spring claw was soldered to the vacant spring hook on the claw, so this would have to be relocated for usage.
The neck joint is tight. Neck backing plate has an embossed logo stamped on it. I needed to file the nut a little to get rid of binding and chinks. The skunk stripe was set a little rough but is of know problem. It has a soft V neck that feels great, I really like it. Nothing really to bad that a good setup job will cure.

Seems solid enough, time will tell. Not much you could break on a strat. New tuners for gigging purposes.

rondo has a great return policy. Shipped double wraped. Arived in 10 days. They give you the tracking number. what warranty.

I own 4 other guitars that cost more but since it came I have been playing it exclusivly. Better than a squire as good as a Mexican strat. Strats fender or otherwise are qurkey beasts and you have to play many to get one that has that sound. This SX had that sound and I got it online. Good luck with yours.

this is a 2003 brand new SX stratocaster copy of a 1957 model. It was made in China. 21 frets. solid alder wood body. It has Vol/tone/tone controls with a 5 way sel switch and s/s/s pickups. The pickups are a disapointment in that they are very cheap in design and materials. The neck is solid maple with a beautiful figured maple fingerboard. It has a deep honey colored laqured finish on the neck and very vintage in feel and appearence.The body has top notch finishing on it and the wood grain is excellent in looks and weight. Very light for a strat. It has the standard fulcrum strat bridge with a tremelo arm. The tuners are excellent for this price range instrument. It came with all the adjustment tools.I'll give it a 9 just because they cheated on the pickups and pots only.

It suits my style and that being blues/jazz and rock. I use it with a Roland blues cube 60 and a Fender 88 amp. I only use a Marshall bluesbreaker distortion pedal and a Boss dd2 delay pedal only. Never anything else. The sound suffers because of the pickups and pots BUT they are being replaced with Fender vintage series npickups and CTS pots so the sound will be awesome once this is done. It will cover all the tonal ranges that any Fender strat can. I LOVE this guitar except for the stock pickups as mentioned.

the set up was awesome right out of the box, PERIOD! The pickups have been previously covered. EXcluding them it gets a 10 in this catagory.

no doubt it will stand the rigors of live use. Hardware is top drawer.
Finish is outstanding. Strap buttons are just fine. standard size as on any factory Fender strat. I will absoultely depend on it.

Rondo music is an A++++++++ company to deal with. Kurt and Jeremy are top drawer people to deal with. First class. www.rondomusic.com
there is a 5 year warranty.

playing for 40 years. I would defintely replace it but I hope I don't have to. I love everything but the pickups and they are going to be changed very shortly. I whish it came with better pickups but Hey for 99.00 what can you expect, everything. I have a really nice Fender strat and it compares very well with it.