tremoloman
Well-known member
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!
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!
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