Reply With QuoteDang, you certainly have me wanting one badly!
Advanced Fretter
SX SST57 Powder Blue #2 review
I got my 2nd Poweder Blue SST57 last night. I played and worked on it for a few hours and thought I'd share my comments in regards to my previous review.
The good!
Binding bridge nonexistent!
I'm happy to report that this new SX does not suffer from any sort of bridge binding whatsoever as did my previous one had. As usual, I replaced the 6 bridge screws with Callaham hardened steel ones to improve tone and smoothness as I do with all 6-screw bridges. Unlike my previous SST, this one did come with the correct bridge screws that lack thread on the top 1/4" of the screw, giving it trouble-free action. Perhaps my previous encounter was an isolated incident - only future purchases will tell. God knows I'll be back to Rondo soon.
Tuners
The tuners on this SST57 are vastly improved over my previous one, making tuning much easier. No stab wounds!
Guitar tone
This SST sounds just as exceptional as first one I bought. I took the pickguard off while installing .010 strings for the hell of it and was happily suprised to see the pickguard is shielded, routed cleanly, and evey solder joint given had been given a healthy amount of solder. SX uses heavy gauge wire for the pickups which is an added bonus. The pots are the tiny ones normally found on budget guitars, but again there was no sign of static or crackle .
Now the only negative comment I have to make:
The dreaded nut
The nut on this guitar was worse than the first. 2 of the strings sounded like a sitar when played. As done previously, I installed a Graph-Tech precut nut from Stew-Mac and my tuning stability problems were resolved in about 10 minues.
Again, I'd rate the guitar a 9.5 out of 10 and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a low budget Stratocaster who doesn't want to shell $400+ for one.
Special thanks to Kurt at Rondo Music. I got the guitar in 2 days once I placed my order. Talk about quick shipping! Outstanding service as expected by Rondo. I'll be continuing to give them my business in the future for sure!
Last edited by tremoloman; July 14th, 2006 at 09:04 AM. Reason: damn typos!
"It's funny the way most people love the dead. Once you are dead, you are made for life." - Jimi Hendrix
Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clements...
Dang, you certainly have me wanting one badly!
The Law of Gravity is nonsense. No such law exists. If I think I float, and you think I float, then it happens.
Master Guitar Academy - I also teach via SKYPE.
Advanced Fretter
Go for it Robert! I've been eyeballing the P-90 equipped model but I'm waiting for another color option such as LPB.
"It's funny the way most people love the dead. Once you are dead, you are made for life." - Jimi Hendrix
Regular Fretter
2 for 2. Getting closer to that Lake Placid Blue SST57. 3 strikes and I'm out (to visit rondo's website).
Pox on you
Electrics: Hagstrom Ultra Swede (Gold Eagle Burst) Gretsch 5120 Electromatic (Orange) Custom Nashville Blackout Telecaster (Black, Stat mid/neck p'ups; Lil Puncher (Modern Vintage) bridge p'up; Wilkinson Compensated Bridge w/ 3 brass saddles, Warmoth Vintage Modern Birdseye Maple Neck) Fender MIM Stratocaster (Blue Agave, Rosewood Fretboard, Fender Tex-Mex p'ups; GFS Trem/Block Kit) Highland Spitfire (semi-hollow, flame maple top w/ bubinga inlay)Acoustics:Washburn D10CEQSB, Yamaha FG160E
Bass: Westone Spectrum ST, Warwick Rockbass Corvette Basic Active
Amps: Vox NT15H/V112NT Night Train, Peavey Bandit 112, Hartke HyDrive 210C Bass Amp, Vox DA5
Regular Fretter
Trem - Can you discuss the Graph-Tech precut nut in more detail? Is it basically a change out only or is some filing involved. I need a new nut but lack the experience to set one up with proper clearance.Originally Posted by tremoloman
Guitars:
Electric: Washburn HB-30, Squier Tele Custom Deluxe, Jay Turser Strat.
Acoustic: Seagull S6.
AMPs: VOX AD30VT, Peavey Envoy 110.
Modelers: V-AMP 2, Digitech RP-100A.
Pedals: Boss RC-2 Loop Station, Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble, Digitech Bad Monkey, Ibanez DE7 Delay/Echo, DOD VFX40B 7-Band Graphic EQ, Ibanez CS-5 Super Chorus.
Regular Fretter
Awesome, T-man! Congrats on the new purchase, and I'm glad this one seems to be even better than the last, with the exception of the dreaded nut.
Guitars:
Fender 2006 MIM Fender Stratocaster HSS in 3TS
Ibanez RG 570 with a bridge Invader
ESP M II Deluxe with a Tune-o-Matic bridge
Eleanor, the magical, mystical Road Worn wonder Tele
Blackstar HT Club 40
Advanced Fretter
I posed my comments about nuts under another thread. You should be able to find it relatively easy.
Thanks for the positive feedback! I'll be purchasing more of these as Christmas gifts for sure.
"It's funny the way most people love the dead. Once you are dead, you are made for life." - Jimi Hendrix
Luke Skyrawker
Trem. I appreciate the gesture with Christmas and all, but please don't send me one. I'm full.
"No Tele For you." - The Tele Nazi
Ha! Tele-ish now inbound.
Advanced Fretter
Hey... that's not such a bad idea. Maybe we could have a member recruitment contest or something. I'll have to talk to Robert about it.
We have a Christmas grab in my family where each person buys 1 gift of $100 or under. There will be a SST57 in the grab this Christmas.
"It's funny the way most people love the dead. Once you are dead, you are made for life." - Jimi Hendrix
Custom Deluxe
I hope you manage to grab it yourself T-man :P
Spud, I can take care of your old stock so you can make room for a SX instead
I can't say that I've given up on a flanger cause I've never liked the effect either. I also can't say the same about Tremolo. I hate them both equally. - Tone2TheBone 2009
Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clements...
What about this "kit"? http://www.rondomusic.net/product666.html
You get an amp, cable, tuner, gig bag, strap, picks + the SST57 strat for $99.99? Am I missing something obvious?
The Law of Gravity is nonsense. No such law exists. If I think I float, and you think I float, then it happens.
Master Guitar Academy - I also teach via SKYPE.
Luke Skyrawker
My guess is that it's time for Rondo to dump some inventory. Still it sounds like a killer deal. Keep the guitar and sell the extras on Ebay for $15 plus $60 shipping. Killer guitar for $35.
"No Tele For you." - The Tele Nazi
Ha! Tele-ish now inbound.
Advanced Fretter
I asked Kurt about that. He said its exactly the same guitar, only the neck doesn't have the vintage color and that the headstock on the pink model isn't matching as is the one sold by itself.
If you don't mind a whiter looking neck, by all means go for it!
"It's funny the way most people love the dead. Once you are dead, you are made for life." - Jimi Hendrix
Custom Deluxe
Product 666 ... recommended additions to that strat should be a bottle of holy water.
I can't say that I've given up on a flanger cause I've never liked the effect either. I also can't say the same about Tremolo. I hate them both equally. - Tone2TheBone 2009
Advanced Fretter
Robert said Kurt mentioned the following differences between the $99.99 package SST57 and the SST57 by itself:
The pickguard
The pickguard on the package SST57 is a 1-ply model where the solo SST uses a 3-ply.
The neck
We're lead to believe the package SST does not have a skunk stripe unlike the solo SST which does.
The headstock
Kurt said the headstock is a little different than the solo SST.
No big deal... but thought I should mention it.
"It's funny the way most people love the dead. Once you are dead, you are made for life." - Jimi Hendrix
Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clements...
Kurt sent me a page outlining the difference between "SST" and "SST pack" guitars.
http://www.rondomusic.net/sstpack.htm
The Law of Gravity is nonsense. No such law exists. If I think I float, and you think I float, then it happens.
Master Guitar Academy - I also teach via SKYPE.
Advanced Fretter
Thank you for the link Robert. I wonder why you get an extra fret for going with the kit. I'm going to still go for the kit for my Christmas grab gift. Even with the minimal differences it's still a steal!
"It's funny the way most people love the dead. Once you are dead, you are made for life." - Jimi Hendrix
Advanced Fretter
Now THAT is funny! You got a good laugh out of me SuperSwede.
"It's funny the way most people love the dead. Once you are dead, you are made for life." - Jimi Hendrix
Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clements...
Well, I just ordered the SST57 kit with amp all that stuff. Hard to resist when it's ninetynine bucks. I'll let you know all about it once it arrives!
The Law of Gravity is nonsense. No such law exists. If I think I float, and you think I float, then it happens.
Master Guitar Academy - I also teach via SKYPE.
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