This review is going to be of the SX SST LTD2 2TS, and NOT the vintage '57 strat. The reason I am submitting a review in this section is because the LTD2 is basically an upgraded version of the lower priced sx strats and, in my opinion, there is a lot of bad information being posted here for potential buyers... and I don't want other people the read all these positive reviews (like I did) and think the LTD must be even better.

I won't go into all the details about the features that have already been mentioned, but the main difference between the vintage 57 SX Strat and LTD2 2TS and NAT is that the LTD bodies are made from swamp ash and the neck is supposed to be AAA flamed maple neck with the new SX headstock. Other than that it's the pretty much the same junk hardware and electronics.

I was supposed to get a "NAT" with a clear butter scotch looking finish, but Rondo sent me the "2TS"instead with the dark cherry burst finish; they are basically the same guitar with a different finish. I did return the guitar for a full refund (more on that later), but feel it's still important to share my experience and tell the truth.

I'm only giving the features on this guitar a 5 because, IMHO, the swamp ash body and AAA flamed neck (the two reasons I wanted to purchase this guitar) are of little added value from the vintage 57 when taken into account that the neck looks like it's been puked on with yellow cat barf and then dunked deep into a giant bath of hot gooey crispy donut glaze... it's that bad. Other than that it has the same junk hardware anyway and so the features aren't much to talk about.

The neck seems like a really good strong piece of maple- too bad it looked like it had about a quarter inch of plastic shrink wrap melted over; I must of spent about half an hour looking for the starting point... no kidding, it's that bad.

I'm very disappointed... if only they had given the neck a standard satin or gloss finish it would be a very nice neck, but as it is it feels very "plasticy" and toy like to play on and as if the sound wasn't bright enough with swamp ash and maple... the thick coat on top makes it snap crackle and pop even more to the point that it's just way too bright to play on... beyond that the logo that looks like it's branded in the pictures on Rondo's website is now just a cheesey looking gold paint.

No complaints here... the pickups actually sounded very good for cheap stock pups, but only at lower volumes as they would just sort of fall out and lose power as you turned up the volume. Still, they aren't bad tonewise and there was clear definition of strings and a nice tonal range from all 5 tone settings.

The swamp ash body just resonates with full vibrant sound and is, IMO, the best thing about this guitar. It really breathes and looks fantastic.

The neck seems like it would really sound great too if it wasn't for that thick clear coat messing things up... way too much lacquer makes the maple neck sound too bright and poppy on an ash body... with a plasticy sounding dead-end to boot.

The neck could be very really good, but NOT thanks to lacquer overkill!

Again, the body sounds great!!! If you still want to try the LTD2 out with swamp ash body, maybe get one with a rosewood neck (if that's even possible) and that might balance things out tone wise and you wouldn't have to deal with the blinding glare.

The frets are indeed jumbo and actually would be very nice to play on if only they were polished "round" at the end, but instead they are "cut" way too short from the edge of the fretboard which is the cheap and easy way of doing it so as not to hang over the edge...

Normally, that would be okay for somebody to just polish the sharp edge off, but they are cut way too short and when you pull off on the e string it slides down on to the wood of the neck and the string goes dead. Not good.

I've heard you can't remove the glazed finish either because the frets are placed over it and if you do it will leave a big gap under the frets and above the finger board with daylight showing through forcing an entire refret.

The neck pocket was nice and tight and the action was not too bad out of the box, but I couldn't even adust the saddles because Rondo sent me the wrong Allen wrench and I had misplaced my own.

Anyway, intonation was a bit off, but not so bad that it wouldn't tune up and I could tell that there was plenty of room to intonate the string saddles back properly when and if I needed to... but I never kept the goo guitar that long.

I noticed a slight buzz at about the 7th fret and so tried to give the neck a slight turn to add more relief (since I couldn't raise the saddles), but quickly noticed that the relief was already all the way out of the truss rod and the only resistence keeping the neck straight was the THICK coat of lacquer covering it. No kidding... this thing doesn't even need a truss rod... you could probably put 12-14 gauge strings on without any bow whatsoever!

The finish on the body LTD 2TS is very nice... simply beautiful! You can see the swamp ash wood grain showing through the clear coat (also thick, but acceptable) and the burst was very nice as well. The clear finish was a little too deep for my taste, but still very nice with absolutely NO FLAWS anywhere.

Almost too perfect! The swamp body and finish is really a nice selling point to this guitar, but really... if that's all you're getting... it's not worth $222 shipped + all the mods. For that kind of money you can get a nice nitro finish that's just as deep looking without actually being so deep, if you know what I mean.

Don't know about the electronics, but obviously the hardware is utter junk and would have to be changed out. The tuners were like happy meal toys and it was scary to use the whammy bar... don't do a dive bomb... the bridge will rip right out.

??

What can I say... nothing bad can be said about the customer support. Rondo really shines here... so even if your worried about getting something you don't want... as long as you play by the rules they will honor them.

From the day I orderd the guitar to receiving it and sending it back and getting my account refunded it was only about 17 days for a cross country round trip. That's very timely and not just due to Fed

If you track the package you can see that Rondo responds very fast and lives up to the great comments that people have made in the reviews as far as customer service. Also, when I told Kurt that I wanted a refund there was no attempt to change my mind or get an exchange. All good here... thanks Kurt!

Would I do business with Rondo again? Absolutely, but I only wish they took the time to care for the customer before they send the package as they do once the package is returned. I'm very sure that nobody even took the time to look inside at what they were sending me... it was the wrong guitar and the neck was missing a nice patch of toner in the back and the "silk" cover inside was torn from the case and they sent me the wrong Allen wrench.... come on people!!!

I think with the cheaper $99 or less guitars there may actually be a bargain factor for mods, but for $199 ($222 shipped) the current LTD2 is just not worth it when you consider all you have to do. You're better off buying a used Mexican Strat!

The Good: The Swamp Ash Body and Customer Service...
The Bad: The Junk Hardware and Cut of the Frets!
The Ugly: The Neck Toner and OVERLY THICK "PLASTICY" LACQUER!!!

Rondo, if you read this please take note... this would be a fine product if you would just give the neck a normal finish and upgrade the hardware at least slightly. You could probably use the money you save in lacquer to buy decent hardware!

This review is going to be of the SX SST LTD 2TS, and NOT the vintage '57 strat. The reason I am submitting a review in this section is because the LTD is basically an upgraded version of the lower priced sx strats and, in my opinion, there is a lot of bad information being posted here for potential buyers... and I don't want other people the read all these positive reviews (like I did) and think the LTD must be even better.

The main difference between the vintage 57 SX Strat and LTD 2TS and NAT is that the LTD bodies are made from swamp ash and the neck is supposed to be AAA flamed maple neck with the new SX headstock.

I was supposed to get a NAT, but they sent me the 2TS instead; they are basically the same guitar with a different finish. I did return the guitar for a full refund (more on that later), but feel it's still important to share my experience. I will probably post this review in the 2TS section as well.

I'm only giving the features a 5 because, IMHO, the swamp ash body and AAA flamed neck (the two reason I wanted to purchase this guitar) are of little added value when taken into account that the hardware is utter junk and the neck looks like it's been puked on with yellow cat barf and then dunked deep into a giant bath of hot gooey crispy donut glaze... it's that bad.

I actually thought it had about a quarter inch of plastic shrink wrap on it and spent about half an hour looking for the starting point... no kidding, it's that bad.

I'm very disappointed... if only they had given the neck a standard finish it would be a very nice neck, but as it is it feels very toy like to play on with that surface covering and looks like a toy too.

I've heard you can't remove the glazed finish either because the frets are placed over it and if you do it will leave a big gap btwn the frets and the finger board with daylight showing through.

No qualms here... the so called cheap pickups sounded good, but only at lower volumes as they would just sort of lose power as you turned the volume up... probably due to the volume pots and caps, etc. Still, they aren't bad tonewise and there was clear definition and tonal range in all 5 settings.

The swamp ash body really resonates with a full vibrant sound and is, IMO, the best thing about this guitar. It really breathes.

The neck seems like it would really sound good too if it wasn't for all that clear coat messing things up... it makes the maple neck sound way too bright and poppy on an ash body... with a plasticy sounding dead end feel to boot. Could be very good, but NOT!

It's hard to describe, but you just get the feeling it would be a sweet sounding combination without the cheap THICK COAT of lacquer (or whateveter it is) giving it that plasticy feel and sound.

Again, the body sounds great!!! If you still want to try the LTD out with the swamp ash body, maybe get one with a rosewood neck, if that's even possible, and that might balance things out tone wise and you wouldn't have to deal with the clear coat problems.

Neck pocket was nice and tight. Action was not too bad out of the box, but I couldn't adust the saddles because the allen wrench they sent me was too big and I misplaced my own.

Little bastards... where are they when you need them.

Anyway, intonation was a bit off, but not so bad that it wouldn't tune up and I could tell that there was plenty of room to intonate properly when and if I wanted to... but I never kept it that long.

I noticed a slight buzz at about the 7th fret and so tried to give the neck a slight turn to add more relief (since I couldn't raise the saddles), but I quickly noticed that the relief in the truss rod was already all the way out...

I gues the only resistence keeping the neck in opposition to the string tension was the THICK COAT OF CLEAR GLAZE covering it. Not good...you could probably put 12-14 gauge strings on without any bow whatsoever.

The finish on the LTD 2TS is very nice... simply beautiful. You can see the swamp ash wood grain show through the clear coat and the burst was very nice as well. The clear finish was a little too deep for my taste, but still very nice with absolutely NO FLAWS anywhere. Almost too perfect!

Don't know about the electronics, but obviously the hardware is junk and would have to be changed out. Tuners were toy-like and bridge was too.

Don't do a dive bomb... it will probably rip right out.

Awesome!!!

Rondo really shines here... so even if your worried about getting something you don't want... as long as you play by the rules they will honor them.

From the day I orderd the guitar to receiving it and sending it back and getting my account refunded it was only about 17 days for a cross country round trip. That's very timely...

If you track the package you can see that Rondo responds very fast and lives up to the great comments that people have made.

Well, this guitar would be great for modding if they stopped putting so much clear on the neck and toned down the yellow (don't expect it to have the orange tint you see in the pictures, it's more of a puke yellow with orange highlights). Still, structurally it's a great neck that would be even better without the clear and stronger truss rod. Swamp Body is a great starting point.

I bought this guitar with the same intentions as most people buy this guitar and the lower end SX strats... to mod... but what's the point when you have to remove the finish from the neck and all the hardware and at some point even the electronics... it's not worth it for $199, but the $99 sx may very well be worth it.

The neck is a nice big strong neck with big frets and would be great without the finish being so overdone. I'm repeating this so much because so many others have said nothing but great things and it's very misleading...

My thinking was if the neck was as nice as they say it is and I get a beautiful swamp ash body then I've got a great modder... well the neck failed to live up to the reviews... so back it went.

The Good (The Body)
The Bad (The Hardware)
The Ugly (The Neck)

21 frets 3 single coils traditional vintage strat, Alder body, maple neck etc. I'm giving a 10 here because if you're looking for a vintage strat then this guitar has all you need. The neck is a little fat but to me it felt great

Don't let anyone fool you, if you're buying this guitar for the vintage sound, then you will be blown away by how close these pickups sound so much the fender 57 pickups. I originally thought for sure I was going to change the pickups but once I heard them and played them I quickly decided this guitar was not going to be a Frankestein. I has a great neck and body. I changed the nut and I might change the pickup selector but I install in it itw will be to keep imporve on the original configeration.
After I set up the action to Fender specs this guitar sound and feel
as good if not better than many american made fenders. if you don't know how to do a setup aguitar then by all means spend whatever amount needed and you will be way a head! Guitar 99! Setup is how much? for under a couple of hundreds you will have a true vintage strat. It's trully amazing that I was going to spend some money on after market necks and bodies and as I was lookig I heard about SX and came here for the reviews. You know the rest

If you don't care for the vintge sound then this guitar could be a great strating point to modifiy in any way you like, good neck good body and the rest is up to you

The action was very high. It was playble but it was somewhere near 8 to 9/64!! the good news I was able to bring it down to somewhere around slightly less or at 4/64 at the first 4 strings and 5/64 at the 5ht and 6th. These are almost the identical numbers suggested by fender at their website.

I kept three springs tenstioned with a distace of 23/32 fro the body cavity and the bridge is somewhere less than 3/32 for the body surface.
The pickups distance were neck 6/64, middle 5/64 and bridge 4/64.
if you want to go higher and retain the vintag sound i wouldn't go any higher than adding 1/64 t the above numbers. IF you really want volume raise the volume knob, don't raise the pickups, turst me on this, if you know tone you won't believe your ears.

This setup yielded a tremelo that stays in tune with light use and responds smoothly to the mere touch of your hand
I didn't like the nut so I changed it to a graph tech tremelo nut Preslotted so that wasn't so bad. I filed the new nut down after I nodged the old one with a small block of wood lightly tapping with a hammer came right out. After I put the new nut, there was good improvement but the original nut would have been ok. The finish is trully goregeous. I will give this category a 10 becuase if you want to buy a stratocaster to get rediculously low action then you have just bought the wrong guitar and I think 1/16 is damn nice action for any guitar for that matter.

This guitar will very likely outlive a few generation if it's not left out in the rain or hidden in a moldy basement but then again you never know

Kurt is very responsive. i sent an email at 4 AM got a reply around 7:am. It was a question about the order I placed.

I have to give it a 10 because every new guitar needs a setup and for a vintage strat this guitar has that sound. Most people including me buy it with the intention of swaping pickups but those of us who appreciate vintage tone will likley keep the guitar as is (changing the nut and basic electronics only enhances the vintage tone).
I will buy another one to modify with other pickups and I have no doubt that I will get a great guitar because the one i got has a great sound unplugged. I've been playinf for close to 20 years and I've played many guitars 20 to 30 times the price of this one and this one doesn't sound inferior.

Not sure what year it was made. 21 frets, standard S/S/S coil configuration. Alder body (same as Fender), maple neck with vintage tint. Regular standard Stratocaster body style, full size. String-thru body, steel bridge saddles, upgraded tuners and looks like a graphite replacement nut, and tremolo bar. The body and neck look and feel (except for slightly different headstock) exactly like Fender.

Very close to a vintage Strat sound. I'm using a solid state amp, but I can still here that very "Strat-type" sound coming from this thing. It sounds just like a Stratocaster should sound. The 5-way switch will give you all the variations you expect from a good Stratocaster. It does have the single-coil hum that you will get on even the most expensive Fenders. I can definitely get the Hendrix tone, SRV tone, with good, clear not separation in chords. I am very impressed with the sound. Especially at this price-point.

I got mine second hand from an estate sale. So I don't know what the factory set-up was like. I still had to do some minor adjustments, but that is to be expected from any guitar that you buy. As mentioned before, it looks like the factory nut has been replaced, as well as the tuners. I forgot to mention before that the pickguard was also replaced, and the plastic control knobs were replaced with chrome speed knobs. There is a small space between the top of the pickguard by the neck pickup and the neck itself. It might just be a poor fit with the replacement pickguard. My guess is that the body may be routed for H/S/H pickups, just as the new American Standards are. I haven't removed the pickguard yet, so I can't be sure. The finish is a beautiful 3-tone sunburst. I have owned an American Standard Strat, and it really does compare. VERY GOOD QUALITY!!! EXCELLENT VALUE!!

While I am not gigging professionally, I have owned pro gear. I believe with some minor upgrades this guitar could definitely surprise you. Again, it is an EXCELLENT value. It's a very solid-feeling guitar. Definitely as good as the MIM or Squire Standards, for a fraction of the price. Yes, you could play live with this guitar. I am so happy with it, and because I'm a huge David Gilmour fan, I plan on getting another in CAR (candy apple red).

As far as I know SX guitars are sold exclusively through Rondo Music Online. I will find out how they are when I purchase a NEW SX SST SE Stratocaster! I have heard though that they are very good in customer support.

I have been playing guitar off and on since I was 10 years old. I got serious about it when I was about 20, and that was 30 years ago. So yes for quite awhile. I have owned all the great guitars, Gibson Les Pauls, SGs, Fender American Standard Strats, Teles, Marshall, Fender, and Peavey amplifiers. Lots of toys over the years. This guitar surpasses what I would expect from something at this price. These are currently $99.00 USD through Rondo's website. Simply incredible. I like the solid feel and finish of this SX SST Vintage. If it were stolen, I would definitely buy another. Heck for this price, buy 2 or 3!

Standard Strat style features. Vintage 6 screw tremolo, plastic nut, Vintage white body color, tinted neck. Body is 3 piece alder, 21 fret Maple neck with Maple fingerboard. Import quality tuners, bridge, etc. 2009 Made in China. Jumbo frets. Because of the nut and tuner quality, I give "features" an 8

OK. This is my 2nd go around with this guitar, as I sent the 1st one back due to shipping damage and defective bridge saddles. As far as sound, after set up and pickup adjustment, I am impressed. The 3 ceramic magnet pickups are hot and quiet. They are a bit too bright and brittle, but this guitar sounds like a strat should sound, in all pickup configurations. I am comparing this guitar to a Custom Shop '58 relic I once owned. The CS relic obviously sounded better, but at $3,000 + it should. I have played the snot out of this thing with numerous POD X3 models, and really enjoy the sound. I have recorded with it using a very accurately modeled vintage Marshall, and it sounds great. The middle pickup is reverse wound for noise cancelling, but all in all, the guitar is very quiet and stratty, no apparent mis-wiring or grounding issues. For th price, wow!

Set up was non-existent. I immediately adjusted the truss rod, set the string height, adjusted the pickup heigth, set the intonation and tuned it up. Because the nut is cheap plastic and the strings trees are rough, the tuners felt horrible. After putting some lipbalm on the underside of the string trees, and penciling some graphite on the nut, the tuners felt better, no pulling, quite smooth. Finish is very good, the wood in the neck is beautiful, with very nice figuring design. After set up and alot of oplaying, I must say this guitar plays very well. The action is vey low, it stays in tune, and the neck plays very fast. This is quickly becoming one of the best playing guitars I have owned. Knobs and pickup selector feel very solid, even though I know they are cheap, there are no issues.

This guitar will definately withstand live playing. The 1st one I got from Rondo worried me. Along with the shipping damage, there were stress cracks on both sides of the neck pocket, and the saddle adjust screw stripped out on the 3rd string saddle, rendering the guitar unplayable from the outset. On the replacement, the bridge and saddles seem guite good, although the tremolo block is small, pot metal, and will eventually be updraded.

Although I generally don't use the tremolo on a strat much, I put this through the paces and the guitar did go overly out of tune, which was surprising. The guitar is very solid and has a quality feel to it. It will go well with my Epiphone Les Paul on stage.

Kurt at Rondo offered an incentive if I wanted to keep the 1s one, I did not, so it was sent back and replaced with a perfect condition replacement. Kurt at Rondo answered every email promptly, and updated me on order status regularly. Excellent customer service.

I have been playing for over 24 years now. I started out as a drummer, and eventually became a jack of all trades. I have played in bands most of my adult life, on guitar, bass, and drums. I somehow got the recording bug years ago and have become very skilled at engineering and production. I like to think I have a good ear, ad definitely know good tone when I hear it.

Having a wife and 3 kids, my budget for another guitar was very limited. I read everything I could find on this guitar before ordering, and I am glad I did. I have many upgrades in mind for this thing, a new trem with a fullsize block, an Earvana nut, better tuners, and eventually better Alnico Pickups. However, as it is, stock, I am loving this guitar! Solid feel, great action, stratty tone, and it stays in tune. The neck is truly special, just like all the review hype about it. I will probably get another, to mod with a Fender licensed neck. Strip off the Poly finish, paint it black nitro, and relic it. I miss my '58 relic, and love he look of a reliced strat.

Don't hesitate to add this guitar to any collection. For the price, there is no better deal, and with some work, these guitars play well above the pricepoint.

SX sst 57 in vintage white "VINTAGE SERIES" model - 2009. I was looking for an alternative to the FENDER standard M.I.M STRAT ( since FENDER has jacked UP the price of the standard from a street price of $399 to a whopping $549 ...ADIOS FENDER) Out of frustration I decided to search online and stumbled across these SX guitars. WOW vintage tinted maple neck , alder body,sealed tuners, 3 ply pickguard , vintage tremelo, single coil pick ups , 5 way switch, vintage white finish; ok looks good . Price was $99 plus shipping- decided to test the water with this one first . If this one was gig worthy I would order another. When the guitar arrived I was not going to delude myself by thinking no set up would be necessary and had my tools ready to set it up to my tastes. Upon opening the box I noticed right away the action was " CHEESE GRATER" high. With the supplied allen wrenches I was able to reset the neck enough to adjust the saddles for a nice buzz free action. 15 minutes later I had it set ...time to tune up and plug it in!

I play rock , blues ,jazz ,c&w or what have you, and play regularly in church as well as public gigs. I ran this SX thru Fender Blues DEVILLE, REDBEAR MK50 CUB COMBO and VOX PATHFINDER 15r. I grabbed my M.I.M Fender standard STRAT (also in white )to do a side by side comparison. With the SX I found a great sound with either amp altho the stock pickups lacked definition; there just wasn't enough clarity between the notes of chords with the SX that I came to enjoy from FENDER. Still the SX came thru with the FENDER DEVILLE giving a very Fender -ish tone altho more similar to a MUSTANG than a STRAT. The SX output was slightly less than a FENDER and due to the lack of note detail a pickup upgrade is a must. Pickups get this an 8 .

AS stated the action out of the box was horrible but once adjusted was great. The neck was well done with a slick orange tinged finish. To my surprise the frets were well dressed and did not have the " IMPORT PALM -SHREDDER" feature found on most import guitars in this price range. The nut was a little cheesy but was entirely functional and presented me with no issues. The tuners held up fine and I do not see replacing them soon. There were no finish flaws and the guitar looked great . When doing a side by side comparison with the FENDER , the SX held its own in fit and finish. On the merits of the quality of neck alone I would give this a 9 ..the overall beauty and finish of this guitar earns a solid 9.

One of the things I love to do is find sleeper and awaken it to its's full potential. After my initial set up I took the SX out for its first gig! ( I NEVER gig without a back up ...anyone that gigs on a regular basis knows " MURPHY'S LAW " will SCREW up the intonation on your PRS Private Stock or yank the input jack right out of your GIBSON ES 335 at the worst time.) I however did have my trusty FENDER STRAT on standby. Playing the SX halfway thru the set on a few slow songs gave me the courage to let fly with a bendey ALBERT KING blues solo on the next song . The SX did sound bluesy thru the FENDER Blues Deville and did very well , altho the slight volume loss and lack of definition made me wish I would have grabbed the FENDER instead. VERDICT :PICKUP UPGRADE ( I'm thinking CARVIN PREWIRED PICKGUARD) The finish seems thinner than FENDER as I got a nice nice pea sized ding in the finish right away banging into a mic stand ....oh well $99 bucks not $999 ! The hardware seemed sturdy enuff for gigging ..I dont forsee changing them soon. Once I change out the pickups this SX will gigged bwith for sure! For the pittance paid for this guitar you get a whole lot of bang for the buck a well finished well made BEAUTIFUL guitar that with a pick up swap will give you a solid guitar to gig with! I WILL BUY ANOTHER RIGHT AWAY!!

Cmon this thing is a steal, don't hassle the man , buy it and tweak it yourself. If you do not have the cash to spring for a tech to go over your SX this is the time for you to learn and save HUGE. SOLID beautiful well finished neck and a well finished body in a good selection of colors is well worth the $99

I have been playing guitar for 15 yrs and mainly use Gibson Les Pauls and Fender Strats . I have several Mexican made Fender Strats for daily use which I have come to love. Due to FENDERS' insane jump in street price i.e $399 to $549 I chose the SX SST 57 as my new daily gigging guitar. I will buy several more . YES if bwere lost or whatever I would not hesitate to grab another . GREAT BUY!!

Recently I received my 57 Vintage guitar from SX and it's a beautiful axe. The guitar came in perfect condition with the exception of a missing screw which was a very minor thing. The tones are great as well as the pickups. It feels like a Fender strat. I'd recommend this product to anyone.

I've been playing guitar over 10 years now and honestly can't hear the difference between a fender strat and my SX. If it were a blind test, I'd think it was a 57 fender strat. I'm using a BXR 25 Fender bass amp with the guitar and it sounds great with it. The guitar sounds like a top of the line brand but only costed $99. You won't find a better deal.

The guitar wasn't really set up at all. I could tell that it was probably never played before, just put together and thrown into the box. The set up was way off. However setting it up myself allowed me to set it to fit me perfectly, it just took some extra time and was tougher because of the missing screw.

The guitar will withstand live playing and the hardware seems like it will last. The finish should last and the only part that has started to wear is the top of the neck and that's because of the allen wrench when I tried to set it up. You can depend on it. If it broke I'd buy another one.

I bought the guitar on a Tuesday and was playing it by Friday. It was shipped quickly. I never had to deal with the notorious Kurt because I didn't have any problems and didn't need to call Rondo.

Honestly, you won't find a nicer guitar that actually sounds like a genuine strat for less money. You could buy a more expensive Squier, but you'll just be paying more and will receive a poorer sounding guitar. The Sx SST 57 blows all other copies out of the water. Also as a side note, all 57 models are vintage, not just the white.

SX SST57 Vintage white, made in China. Alder body, maple neck and fretboard with a vintage-esque amber tone to the wood which turns out a bit too orange but to an extent makes it look more vintage. Cheap import hardware; tuners, tremolo and pickups but they're all something you can change.

The pickups are stock and weak but do an alright job for the price of the guitar. I wasn't expecting it to have top of the line pickups out of the box but they're not bad for what they are.

The neck is chunky and took me a few days to get used to, after a new set of strings and a saddle adjustment the guitar plays really well. Out of the box it wasn't too terrible but it wasn't to my standards.

Import hardware is junk, change it out and you'll have a solid guitar at an unbeatable price! The hardware really brings this score down.

Mine came in damages but Rondomusic made it worth while! I can't say enough about Kurt.

I bought this guitar to modify in the first place, if you're expecting a gig ready guitar out of the box don't even try. If you're wanting a solid no frills guitar you can swap things out on, whether you're a beginner and you're afraid to take a soldering iron to your Les Paul or you're a profession who'd taken a soldering iron to all of their gear, these guitars are worth giving a try!

Well its a strat. A strat with a big "S" with an atitude. Litlle rough around the edges with some flaws ... nobody is perfect, but this baby got caracter and can stand its own graund with a pride. The best fature is no doubt the neck, heavy laquer beautiful neck ... certanly one of the best neck i ever played and i have a lots of guitar and lots of strats. it gots vintage tuners, cant beat them, body is heavy nice finish, mine is black with maple neck. U just got to do your own set up and it may take a litle more time like usual, but ita a big pay off.

Sound. I have mexican, american, squire, g&l as a strats. As i plug this baby in and start to play ... well i ve got tears in my eyes its that good. Its got tons of character a big sound, articulate sound. I realy dont know how they do it for such a price, If u forget about the tag on the head and close ur eyes and just listen, its everything u want from the strat, belive me its just cant get any better. Pickups are not so sweet sounding like on g&l and not so lifeless like on mexican, they are wild ... dynamic, with some fine amplification u can get all strats sounds u want ... purple, hendrix, SRV, knopfler ...

As i say u need to do your own set up. take your time. Quality of the neck is just perfect. I used to have sx tele, sx ash strat (also a great guitar i just dont like natural ash as it looks) and now i have sx bass ... and they all have beautifil necks. Body finish is flawless. Electronics ... pickups are great, potenciometers are not so great, but i can live with that. This guitars have no money values, but they are keepers. Belive me i have some crap strats they look and sound like some f**** plastic toys, but not this one. This one sounds like a 57 strat ... just listen thats all u need.

as woods parts and finish ... its a strat its a tank its a haevy peace ... Electornics u may need to change, but keep the pickups. Tuners r vintige ones and they can coupe with lockin tuners anytime.

never deal with them

I have a lots of guitars, some i buy some i trade... right now i have fender cij telecaster, les paul supreme and this baby ... i just love sx guitars, they r wild beasts and beautiful guitars ... and what is most importand they sound and play great, give them some reverb and some overdrive and u r in strat heaven. For that kind of price there s no better deal. For this one i trade some amp twice the price of a new sx 57. But it was worth it.

Strat knockoff, made in China, solid (3 piece) alder body, Sunburst finish, Maple fretboard maple neck, s-s-s pickup configuration. Very nice looking right out of the box. Bought it strictly as a project. The body & neck are a great base to begin with so for that it gets an 8

Fairly lifeless sound as stock but that was expected. First off I shielded the body cavity. Then dropped in a set of BL Keystones, changed out the pots with CTS, soldered in new caps & resistors (custom values from internet research, ie: "woman tone") Did 5 way switch mod using push/pull vol pot for getting the two extra p/u combinations. Very sweet & extremely gig usable after all this. Twas much fun along the way. Strat types guitars are the easiest to do this sort of thing with & you come away with a much better understanding of what makes them tick. Make a change or a mod, try it out, make the next change & try that out etc. After all these upgrades I truly can call it a 9 in the sound category.

The action was mediocre but I was able to dial it in pretty dang nice. Certainly not a race car but I'm no race car driver. Great bluesy feel to it. Something you can really grab on to & pull the tone from. It intonats well with saddle adjustment room to spare. Had to flip a couple bridge saddles to gain more adjustment but it was there to be had. Just enough truss rod adjustment available to get some slight relief to the neck & drop the action to a very usable level. The tuning keys were bottom of the line so that was a necessary change. Now it's very serviceable & reliable. Finish & color are quite nice & allow me to kick this part up to an 8

Seems durable enough so far. Pretty sure it wouldn't survive a Pete Townsend attack though. Few do. Like I have said, it now is quite gig worthy but not before going all through it. For me that was just good clean fun & was my plan anyway. Better pick-ups are a must & the Bill Lawrence Keystones make this great fun to hear & play. For the money($99.00) it's a prefect choice for "Project Frankencaster" It sounds great on Zep,Beatles,any blues,etc. It has great tone & a nice feel, now.

I've purchased several guitars from Rondo & love them all. Great fast service from them. My others are Agiles but this is my first SX. I just might get another.

I've been playing since,.... well, all those oldies were brand new when I first learned them. I'm just a weekend warrior these days but it's still good fun & great therapy. Got some nice enough pro gear to try & do it up right as possible. Mesa 5:50, Fender telecaster w/Bardens, DeArmond M75T w/TV Jones, a couple of Agiles: AL3000 with great stock P-90's (nearly my favorite to play) & and an AS820 with Bill Lawrence L500's(too sweet). All analog pedals like Carl Martin, FullTone, TC Elec.,Maxon OD808. All goes together pretty well for getting what I think is a nice straight ahead tone that I've spent way too much time & money hunting for.

What year was it made? 2007

Where was is madeMade in China

Body and neck woods? Sunburst Tele copy with tinted neck kind of fat. Giant frets. I know, not vintage, but eeeaasy to play. I like neck. Neck good. Alder body, generic pups. Only a 5 cause Teles are plug n play. No bells and whistles

BUY BUY BUY! I paid $135 to Rondo music and this instrument was shipped to my door. I play a Fender Hot Rod Deville with JJ 6v6 tubes and this guitar sounds great with no effects. Full sounding pups loads of twang. No brittleness at all even on the bridge pup. Neck pup is a little more muffled sounding than the fender tele I used to have. I don't care cause the in betwen sound is great. If you're into teles, but can't do a genuine fender for whatever reason, this is one of those deals that people will talk about when they're not available anymore.

Me and the other guys in my band have bought a total of 4 of these guitars between us and they all have some minor issues. Mine has a few buzzy spots around the 12th fret. My buddie's has a buzzy 1st fret B string. The others I didn't examine closely. Mine plays great, really great (other than the buzzy frets mentioned) and I didn't do a thing to it out of the box. Point is for the money this is a steal. I would never buy a standard mexi tele over the internet. I've played too many of them and they can vary widely. Maybe the fenders can be set up better, but for my money I'm extremely hapy with my SX. I have never played an American Tele and I don't beleive these are meant to compete in that market. So, if you're a seriuos American Tele guy or a pro then you probably wouldn't be reading this anyway.

I've read that these have cheap electronics and switches. I don't care. Replacement parts are cheap. I have gigged with this guitar and it stays in tune and plays and sounds great.


Is the finish good enough to last, or does it seem thin and easy to wear off with lots of playing?

Once agan it was so cheap I don't care. Having said that the finish appears flawless and seems to be durable.

Would you use it on a gig without a backup? Yes I have backups.

Rondo was very helpfull when my wife ordered a different guitar for me for Christmas. I'm not sure what the deal was, but they somehow accomodated an extended return policy in case I didn't like it, since she bought it way before Christmas. Shipping is always reasonable and quick. I have not had to complain so I don't know how they handle that.

How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?
Been playing as a hobbyist and bar gigs for 30 years. I have owned 2 Gibson Les Pauls and 3 Fender American Strats, a Fender Tele and numerous other less and more expensive guitars. I don't know if the Tele was american or not. When I owned it in the 80's I didn't know to check. It was just ok (PUPs not potted). I play bluesy rock and stuff. Have played reggae, funk, hard rock, jazz etc. Grew up in the 70's so thats my main reference. Anyway I have enough background to be qualified to recommend this guitar. It's really really a good deal. Purists, like my guitar tech. Jim, don't bother. You wouldn't anyway.
What do you love about it? What do you hate? What is your favorite feature?
Like neck big frets and sound. Don't hate anything.
If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else
Definately buy again and wish the thief a happy life, cause it's sooo cheap.

This is a standard SSS strat copy, made in China like everything else. The only "feature" this has is the dark varnished maple fretboard. It looks very nice, and is about the same color as you see on Fender's Mexico made 50's Stratocasters.

The neck and middle pickups sound 90% as good as the Mexican Strat I used to have (ceramic pickups). I play with a good bit of overdrive, and this warms up the sound so that I would never describe it as "thin" or "tinny" (both of which are common criticisms of Stratocasters). These pickups don't make the famous Strat "quack"; I never cared for this sound anyway. The bridge is a bit too nasally sounding, and needs to be hotter than it is (you really don't get any boost in output when switching from the middle to bridge positions). Also, all three pickups don't respond super well to the bass strings-there isn't the high level of bite that you might expect. However, I know full well that I'm reviewing a $100.00 guitar. I have no intention of changing the pickups; they really do sound good enough, and no, I'm not a complete beginner or some kind of moron who doesn't know any better. Put it this way; when you play this guitar, you know that it sounds like a strat. If you don't like it, turn up the reverb a little bit.

There really was no set up. I knew it would be this way, so I wasn't disappointed. I looked up on the internet how to set string intonation (not as hard as it sounds), and I changed the strings out to GHS boomers (10s). The little claw that holds the trem springs needed to be tightened a lot. Stock, there wasn't enough tension on the springs to keep the bridge from pulling completely away from the body. So, I tightened the claw (very easy to do), installed a fourth spring (which I had in the junk drawer), and raised the saddles with the allen wrench that came with the guitar. Total set up time was about 20 minutes, and it didn't cost me anything! I'm sure you can do this level of set up yourself, and it will save you the $35.00 the pot smoking guitar tech dude down at the Guitar Center would charge you.
I will admit; the finishing of the fret ends could be better. If you shred like Yngwie, you won't like the way they feel. If you mostly play rhythm, or just poke around with old country songs like I do, you won't notice the frets. But you perfectionists out there will want to get the fret ends taken care of.

The finish on the neck is absolutely beautiful. A few missed spots with the varnish (for instance, inside the hole where the truss rod is adjusted). The body is beautiful (I got the classic sunburst-it looks very nice). It seems to me that the body is a hair thinner than my old MIM strat, but I don't own it anymore so I'm not able to say for sure. The switch feels pretty good, and it works right. But I'm sure they saved some money on the switch, so if you need the thing to be perfect you will probably want to have a Fender switch installed.
The hardware is actually better than it ought to be on a one hundred dollar guitar. If you just add up the sum cost of the neck, the body, the electronics and the tuners, you are well over the hundred dollar mark. How do they do that?

Rondo Music is a class act. They deliver exactly what they promise. The guitar looks even better in person than the photos on Rondo's website. They don't "oversell" their products. They got the thing from New Hampshire to Mississippi in just 5 days, and didn't overcharge for shipping. I'm very pleased with their honesty.

I've been playing for 3 years. I am self taught, but really not a horrible player. It sounds like a Strat. I wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen with this guitar in a live setting. In fact, it's great looking, it feels very nice, and it is a perfectly presentable guitar. Any teenager with a birthday coming up would absolutely love you forever if you bought him (or her) this guitar. You will be kicking yourself trying to figure out how they can deliver this kind of quality (and sound!) for a mere hundred bucks. I used to own a $200.00 Squier Telecaster, and this SX is easily the equal to the Squier, and for half the money.

The Vintage White strat style from SX out of China, three decent sounding staggered pole single coils, 5 way, vintage 6 screw vintage trem, plastic nut, alder body, maple fretboard on maple neck, SX sealed tuners, 2 chrome string Ts. All the chrome appears medium thick. The maple neck is very nice with 21 jumbo frets that weren't finished in the ends, yellow color is dark and has walnut skunk stripe on bottom. "D" shaped neck. The white paint is thick and matches the plastic except for the white pickguard-3 ply WBW. The "aged look" is kind of ivory in some light but has a lime green tint in most light. Master Volume Neck, not middle tone, and reversed bridge tone. Came with small and large hex keys.

The neck pickup is very bluesy and variable depending on the tone for it, which is a nice change. The tone for the bridge was reversed, probably a screw up, but still gives the bridge all the way to a real telecaster twang. So you can get it all between the two even more than a regular strat. The pickups have a tendency to get noisy, probably need more shielding, but they don't have that real annoying chime--just right instead. Harmonic feedback is controllable and similar to a '68 Fender. It gets noisiest on highest treble settings and gain. I haven't been able to really rip it up because of the fret ends.

Finish was very good, set up was non-existent. Very flawed unfinished fret ends will take a day of sanding, filing, and steel wooling. It took hours to get it intonated, action height adjusted, trem spring tension and had to move them to outboard on two, and neck straightened. The hex nut is very deep and hard to reach, and string damaging with the movement it needed. The color just was wrong for a real vintage look, with that lime green glow that it tends to have. Action was way high. The pickup heights are OK for now. The plastic still has to come off of them and the pick guard.

It seems solid enough, but I would have a backup for string breakage. The finish and plating are thick enough to last. I wouldn't trust the nut to last long. It would definitely need a couple more springs with heavier that 10s. Big Bends Nut Sauce is a necessity along with Dunlop 65 or String Eze with those jumbo frets.

I had a week to return it , and almost did when I couldn't adjust the truss rod at first. The limey color, too and the fret ends were worse than a Mex strat. After I work on the frets, the neck alone is worth the price.

Too long to remember and too much to count. I'll be putting in Gold Locking Wilkinson tuners and straplocks, creme overwound pickups with full sized alpha pots, creme knobs for VTT, and I may paint over the green white cheese with almond then clear, which I think will have the look I want. I got it for that Hendrix at Woodstock look and sound, and would brutally kill anyone who stole it, even though it was only 100 bucks.

Strat knockoff, made in China, solid (3 piece) alder body, maple neck, s-s-s pickup configuration. I love the color - Vintage green with a amber-colored maple neck.

Not bad acoustic (unplugged) - very close to my American-made Strat. Plugged in the stock pickups sound harsh and lifeless. I put in some different pickups (out of a Korean Squier) and it actually sounded pretty decent. Vol/tone pots work OK, and you can get a variety of usable tones. I think it is capable of sounding pretty good if you drop in some good pickups. I'll probably stay with something inexpensive like GFS or Bill Lawerance Keystones.

Body paint (vintage green) is very nicely applied. There was a couple of varnish runs on the fretboard. It is not the thick, gobbed-on poly finish you often find in budget Asian imports. Body/neck joint is good, parts all fit like they should. Neck is straight and solid, large frets, no sharp edges, no buzzes. It came pretty well set up out of the box. After I changed the strings it needed intonation set, a little tweek to the truss rod and strings lowered a bit. The stock strings are worthless... won't stay in tune and actually hurt your fingers, even though they are very light guage (9's?). The nut is cheap, soft plastic and not cut well. The pickguard is white, and looks nice, but had some rough edges. The pickups and knobs are sort of yellowish to make them look vintage... they look very cheezy.

The body/neck is solid. No issues there. The tuners are poor quality and don't hold tune very well. The trem block is very thin and made of some sort of base metal (not steel). The vol/tone pots were very stiff at first, but loosened up. They seem to work OK, but are the small, cheap ones and probably won't last. The pickup selector is quiet and works OK. Strap buttons are small. I'm afraid the strap would fall off. The pickups look like they come out of a Fisher-Price toy... cheap, molded plastic.

I would not take this to a gig in stock form.

It was shipped quickly. I bought a guitar from Rondo once before that I had to return, and they were good to deal with.

I purchased this to use as a platform for modding and experimenting with various wiring options. The only parts of this guitar that are really servicable as a "professional quality" guitar are the neck and body. The rest will be replaced. There are a bunch of very positive reviews of SX guitars here that say they are "just as good as a real Fender" and a few that say they are trash. If you are expecting to get a guitar that stacks up to an American or Mexican strat, you'll be disappointed. It is a $100 guitar. If you are lucky and get a good one, it may be as good as an Affinity Squier. If you are a beginner with no knowledge of basic guitar set-up, know that for this guitar to be at all usable you will need to install new strings and have it set up by someone who knows how to do that. If you are getting this as a platform to mod or build your own... it has possibilities - the body is nice and the neck is decent. For another $200 or so into new pickups, tuners, electronics, and trem unit I'm hoping to end up with a pretty good sounding/playing guitar that should stack up pretty well with a MIM strat. It will never be as good as a MIA strat. My overall rating is based on out-of-the box, and considering it only cost $100. Compared to a REAL Strat I'd give it a 2 or 3.

SX SST 57 Vintage - Vintage White Strat Cost $109. Maple skunk stripe neck with maple fretboard and jumbo frets. All hardware from factory: 3 Single Coil Pickups, 5 position switch, Factory tuners, two tone knobs and one volume.
Came from Rondo Music with absolutely no flaws. All I needed to do to play this guitar was tune it. The action is a little high near the body but can be reset and will be just fine.
Under the right lights, the vintage white finish looks like key lime green... cool color.

I am just starting to play again... don't do well, but have been able to play some simple riffs, and actually make them sound like they should. I use a Line 6 Spider III 15 watt amp, which gives me enough options to make the guitar sound pretty much the way I want it. With more practice I think the guitar will really shine.
I have had no trouble at all with buzzing or other noises that have been nothing more than my inexperience.
I have been able to play a little Pink Floyd with amazing results.

As I said the action is a little high, and I will have that set when I can. The neck feels good; there are no sharp edges on the frets and the neck itself is a good fit with my hands. I do have a small problem with my fat fingers but that will improve with paractice.
The finish again is flawless and beautiful. I just love the lok of the vintage white and the maple neck and fretboard.

I don't have much of an opinion yet as to how long the guitar will last, playing live or otherwise, but it holds a tune very well, even with the cheap strings it came with.
The strap buttons need to be replaced with locks, but I think that would be the case with any buttons.

Rondo has been a great company to work with. The price of this quality of guitar is slightly unbalanced... The price should be higher. Rondo ships them with lightning speed. Got mine in three days from New Hampshire to Iowa over a weekend.

Great guitar, I would recommend it to any beginner or intermediate player.
If this axe ever gets "Nicked" I will buy another. Without hesitation.

2007 SX SST 57 Vintage with P-90 pickups, made in China.


For starters, the finish is nice and thick, with no flaws whatsoever. It can definitely hold up to more than its share of picking mistakes.

As for the body, it's the 1957 Fender Stratocaster, with some minor differences in the headstock. It's classic, and it's comfortable. Looks just like my cousin's Fender American Custom '57 reissue, save the the minor differences in the headstock. Not only does it look identical, the materials are identical as well. This is real Alder, and it's dense, heavy stuff.

The tuners aren't the best ever, but I really see no need to replace them (unless you play relentlessly, a la Husker Du). They're already keeping the guitar in tune, and I haven't even had it for ten hours yet. The nut is plastic, so it's robbing the guitar of quite a bit of sound.

The neck is solid maple. Yeah, solid maple, and not plywood. Surprising? Not as surprising as it being a *flamed* maple neck. I'm serious. It's so smooth on my fingers, and it's beautiful. It's got 21 frets, and to be honest, who needs more than that? This isn't a Metal guitar, remember.

The pickups are P-90s, so the features have been adjusted a bit (different selector switch, no third knob). It also came with a tremolo bar, though I only use it for looks at the moment. Overall, the hardware is good, but I'll be upgrading the pots, switches, pickups, and possibly tuners in the somewhat-near future.

The sound this guitar makes is outstanding, especially considering its price ($109). The P-90s really give the Strat a beefy edge, something that's missing in the single coil models. And not only does it give it some meat, it doesn't take any of the high-frequency jangle away, especially when you're just using the neck pickup. And these stock pickups are good, too, as there's no audible noise.

It's got a nice range of rich sounds that it can make, but it sacrifices the multitude of possible sounds a single coil strat can make in exchange for better overall sound quality. And in my opinion, that's a nice trade. This guitar can suit a lot of musical styles, but forget about Metal (well, unless you're as good as Randy Rhoads was).

That said, it could sound a bit better. The output's not quite as high as I'd like, and the pickups are missing a bit of heat and low end. A bit.

The action's at a medium level. Definitely playable, but it could go lower... All that's required is a truss rod adjustment (needs more tension in my case), and then a bit of bridge adjustment, and I'll be set. As for the frets, they're all perfect. Every single one of them, and they're *GASP* hand filed! I doubt that this guitar was a freak accident, because the fretboard is just too... Mechanical for that to have been the case. My guess is that SX has switched to computer-aligned frets in the production process.

Out of the box, the neck pickup was adjusted decently, but the bridge pickup wasn't even touched. It was almost inside the pickguard, and I quickly fixed that with a small screwdriver. Now, the pickups are in perfect position, and I'm getting the most out of them.

There are absolutely no flaws on this guitar. None. The initial setup can't be accepted as "flawed", as even $2,200 Gibsons need a setup. Every production line guitar needs a setup, no matter how big or small the job may be, and this guitar was no exception. But after it's set up, this guitar will play like a dream... And it already plays like butter, so keep that in mind.

I wouldn't even think twice about using this as my main guitar, if I were in a band. It's solid, it's sturdy, the finish is thick and smooth, and the hardware's not going to fall apart on you. There's not one single thing wrong with this guitar, and it's one that'll last for decades.

I'm not sure, as I've not yet dealt with Rondo Music. I just placed my order and waited for my package... Their shipping is speedy, and that's about all I can say.

I suppose their customer support is great, though, as a lot of people seem to rave about it.

I've only been playing for six months (I'm 19, though... late starter), but do understand that I'm obsessive about quality in absolutely everything I'm involved with. And this instrument is first-rate through and through.

If it were stolen, I'd hunt down and torture the bastard(s) whole did it. And I think that just about sums up how much this guitar is really worth.

It's a very no-nonsense guitar..strat type body and trem, 2 p-90's, 3 way toggle pick-up selector. Nice sealed tuners. Neck is strat scale but with a 50's gibson feel, thick, with a flat-ish radius. It's a nice piece of maple with a maple cap..cool! Body is mahogany. One volume, one tone pot. Came with a truss wrench and bridge wrench. Doesn't have a ton of features..just the ones you want..so I'm giving it a 10.

This guitar rocks! It's a blend of strat (body shape, neck wood, neck scale, and maybe a LP junior (mahogany body, P-90's, neck shape). I play lots of rock styles. The pickups, construction and materials add up to a balanced rock and roll sound. Great for ac/dc type rhythm playing, Probably not the best choice for metal styles. I wanted a P-90 guitar..tried Epiphone, Gibson, PRS, etc at GC. These pups have a nice tight midrange snarl.

Ok, for the money, excellent BUT here's what I found: Finish was nearly flawless. I'd prefer a thin nitro finish, but, for the money? can't whine too much! Body is a good piece of mahogany with nice grain and the 2 tone sunburst is nicely done. Pickups were adjusted perfectly..everything aligned first rate. The screws holding the tuning pegs weren't tight and the tuning peg collars. No big deal, just snugged 'em up and all is well. Action was a little high out of the box. I lowered it with the allen wrench provided and tightened the truss rod half a turn for a little less relief..perfect. I don't like a super glossy neck, too sticky feeling, so I carefully went over it with a FINE grit sanding sponge...knocks the gloss down without removing the finish..can restore the gloss with swirl mark remover. Then I removed some slight burrs on the bottom of the string trees with a metal file , put nut sauce on all the string contact points and restrung. Intonation needed to be set. Removed the tremolo spring cover...easy tweaks that make it play like a custom guitar! Frets were good.

Haven't had it long enough to say for sure but it feels pretty solid. I don't anticipate any problems.

Kurt answered my emails promptly and the guitar shipped right away. Beyond that I don't know about customer support. I noticed that they have new models based on customer requests..very cool.

I had been looking for a P-90 guitar for a while and kept coming back to this one. Finally hit the "buy" button. I own a lot of guitars including vintage Gibson, Gretsch, Rickenbacker, etc and this guitar is a lot of fun for cheap. I like the simple design...no gaudy cosmetic frills like a lot of guitars have these days. I don't think you can beat it for the money..just a little tweaking and it's sweet!

I'll just mention the best parts of the guitar:

Alder body - 3 piece
Maple neck in vintage
Pots are solid, but small, however they are fine, no upgrade needed
Output switch is solid

Now for the upgrades:
1) Gotoh Tuners
2) Graphite Nut
3) Fretlevel and crown + Polish
4) American Fender bridge - 6 hole vintage
5) New american 5 way switch
6) Rewired the bridge pickup to the tone pot

I will later put in bill lawrence keystone pickups.

I bought this guitar with the intention of upgrading it, so my rating is based on the wood quality. You can't get a neck or body for $100 bux these days, so this is the best deal around. I'm not even gonna include the rest in my rating.

And best of all, the body is routed for S/S/S. You can't even buy a guitar today that has that unless its a reissue fender.

Stock is sounded fine. With my effects board, anything will sound good. These sound just like any other pickup when run through my effects. But straight into amp, they sound fine. After the new 5 way switch, there was a slight improvement. I would rate the sound an 9 compared to an actual american fender.

Set up was alright. Nut sucked, tuners sucked, 5 way switch was alright but I wanted an upgrade, bridge is decent. The finish was flawless though. The frets were alright. JUST GET THIS GUITAR FOR THE WOOD!!

This guitar is reliable as hell now, shoot. I have two strats and this one is my favorite. My other strat is a 57 vintage reissue Made in USA.

Kurt is awesome!

Been playing for years now. I own two american kramers, agile les paul, american strat reissue, and a ton of pedals and amps.

Mind you, my guitar is far from stock. After all my upgrades, I prefer this to my vintage reissue, and I'll tell you why:

1) I'm not afraid to wear it down because it didn't cost so much
2) Its as durable as the reissue fender
3) The sound is the same, but I am gonna get new pickups
4) Feels more comfortable
5) Feels nicer

A few things to note:

1) I had to dowel and redrill to install new american bridge.
2) the bridge is set to float

Final comments:

My reissue obviously cost more, but the cost isn't justified. Remember, the quality of a guitar is the sum of its parts and workmanship, not just the name. The better parts you put in, the better the guitar will be, period. Seeing past the name, my SX is just as good as my vintage reissue. Some of you might slander me for saying this, but its true. I'm not even gonna get into that nitrocellulose lacquer crap that everybody loves because it doesn't make a difference in sound to have an effect on the human ear. If you can't hear it, whats the point? I know when we spend a lot on something, we expect it to be the best and better than the imitations, but things dont work out this way all the time.

Sunburst finish, Maple fretboard, Vintage tremolo Strat copy.
Purchased from Rondo Music for $112 with shipping. Check out their site for the specs.

Play hard rock and blues through a Behringer Vtone 210. Bridge pickup has some hum but expected through stock single coils. Middle pickups are quiet. Very good tone and clarity which was unexpected for this price. Has a good Strat sound. Pickups had more punch than anticipated.

Setup was not near as bad as other reviews I had read. I tweaked the neck a bit just because I put on .11 Power Slinky's. Action was a bit high and I lowered it as much as I could without any fret buzz. Couldn't get the action as low as I prefer but it's not too bad. Adjusted the pickup heights to my preference. The only issue I had is that I can't get rid of a minor fret buzz on the G & B strings at the 14th fret only. Intonation isn't perfect but that could be me. The sunburst finish is gorgeous. Tuning heads were better than I expected based on other reviews.

This is a solid guitar. Nice and heavy. Only hardware concern down the road would be the input jack which doesn't have as tight of a fit as I would like. I would not have any concerns gigging with this guitar and expect this thing to last just fine since I'm pretty gentle with my guitars.

I've had this guitar for about 6 weeks and haven't had to use customer support but I've heard that they are very good.

I've been playing for over 20 years and have owned cheap guitars before. This is not a $99 dollar guitar! I'm a bit of a bargain hunter which is why I was searching for an affordable Strat copy for my collection. I was very skeptical when I saw the SX line on Ebay because I had never heard of it. I did my homework on other knockoffs and kept coming back to the SX. I based my decision on the reviews from Harmony Central and it definitely paid off. If you are not hung up on the name on the headstock, this is definitely worth the money! I it were stolen or lost , I would buy another one in a heartbeat.

Finish: 3TS Sunburst Finish(absolutely gorgeous and flawless)
Body Style: Vintage Stratocaster Standard(Feels and looks like the real things)
Tuners: Comes with decent Sx tuners, not the best, not the worst. They work fine and I wouldn't even bother replacing them.
Neck: 21 jumbo frets with a rosewood finish. Frets are at a perfect hight out of the box
Year: 2007

When I plugged this guitar into my Fender DeVille, I was amazed at the sound quality. It sounds just like my friend's Highway 1 stratocaster that cost him over $1000. This guitar sounds awesome and has the classic stratocaster sound on all settings. I love it.

Action: I'm a soloist, so I rarely find a guitar out of the box with perfect action. This guitar was no exception. The action was at a normal level, for me it had to be adjusted. In the end, to get the guitar perfect, I had to adjust the saddles, truss rod, and intonation. Everything else was perfect
Pickups: Pickups were adjusted at a perfect position and still have not been modified.

The guitar has no flaws what so ever. You'd think I paid over $800 just by looking at the finish and not even playing it. Once you play it, you think its worth even more.

I already played this guitar at 3 live gigs and I had no problems at all. I got this guitar as a backup initially, but now its my primary over my Gibson Les Paul Custom($3,200) This guitar has it all. It is extreamly reliable. I depend on this guitar very much, but I never ever go to a gig without backup. Strings will always break, something always goes wrong during a gig. This guitar has proven to be very reliable though. Very solid

Never had to deal with rondo.

I've been playing for about 4 years now and have a Gibson Les Paul Custom, a Yamaha SA-500, a Fender Telecaster, and now my Sx Strat. The Strat is now my primary and favorite guitar out of them all. I love this guitar. If it was lost or stolen, I would be very upset, but since it was in expensive, would definatelly buy another one in a heartbeat.

This guitar is very deceiving. It seems like it is a very expensive piece of equiptment, but it's $100. I let a friend play it I asked him how much he thought I paid for it(he's been playing for 12 years, awesome guitarist, knows his stuff)He told me about $900...lol

I would highly recommend this guitar to even a professional player.

Features? It's got all that a strat has got through and through, standard stuff, nothing flashy. I ordered the stoptail version because: a)I don't tend to use tremelos even when a guitar has one, b)All of the reports of cheap and flawed tremelos on this guitar turned me off, and c)I have never felt this feature to be so vital that it's worth detuning my strings every time I use it. So, that's one feature that I won't be reporting on. Mine was made in China in 2006. The guitar came well packed with a tremelo arm (?) and two allen wrenches. The finish is three-tone sunburst, with a white pickguard which was cut poorly (though I'm very willing to

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