Menu
Heres another cheapy for those interested in Strat-type guitars: a Chinese
manufacturer is
churning out models under a variety of trade names. The actual company is ASC.
Most are
model S101 (I bought one under the name Drive). I paid $70 plus shipping, and
got a
really, really decent guitar. Good tone, solid wood body, nice neck, holds its
tune, has
decent pickups and finished frets. If you are looking for an extra Strat backup
or a cheap
guitar for a beginner, these things are much better than Squiers, and cheaper
too! I
bought another as a project surf guitar (more on that when it is done.)
Gavin
--- In , Zone Fighter <zonefighter@g...> wrote:
> Interesting, your experiences are just the opposite of mine. I have
> and SX PJ Bass that I purchased in February and it is absolutely
> beautiful. Fit, finish & sound are all top notch. I also have an Agile
> 2500 LP Gold Top with set neck & P90's that is incredible for the $199
> I paid for it. I use it as my main guitar these days (I'm in a "Rawk"
> band right now not a Surf band) it is much nicer than the Epiphone I
> once owned. (Is your LP one of the older Essex/SX ones with the bolt
> on neck?) My Agile IJ Cool Cat is the nicest playing guitar I have
> right now
> I did have to upgrade the pickups to GFS "Nashville" (Filtertron-like)
> pickups on that one. It came with "PAF Style" pickups that just didn't
> twang at all.
>
> I had a Jay Turser 335 copy that buzzed or had miserably high action,
> sharp frets (that actually popped out of the fretboard on occasion)
> and extremely muddy sounding pickups.
>
> I think what we can see here is that the quality control on these
> Korean & Chinese imports can be a little iffy. If you get a good one
> (and most of mine have been) it can be a jem.
>
>
> Z
>
>
> On Tue, 05 Oct 2004 14:54:55 -0000, Roger <lipsonr@s...> wrote:
> > Just wanted to put my review in as to the Rondo guitars:
> > Specifically, I bought a gold top SX Les Paul w/ P90s. The P90s are
> > loud and though I've never cranked my amp with them, the tones are
> > very good. However, the machine heads are really poor and don't
> > stay in tune very well and should be replaced with something more
> > reliable and aesthetically pleasing (I can't stand the terms "retro"
> > or "vintage" anymore - sign of aging). Also the neck was a big draw
> > back for me - the frets weren't dressed and felt like little spikes
> > as I would run my hand up or down the neck. I know, I know - for
> > that little amount of money ($200) I should expect to lay out
> > something for upgrading, but nevertheless I was disappointed. The
> > inlay work is sloppy too and there are gaps between it and the wood.
> >
> > However, I CAN happily rave about my Jay Turser JT300 - strat copy.
> > For $129.95 this is a great guitar. No problems with anything, good
> > frets, machine heads, nice contour, "classic" (another overused term)
> > strat sound and the whammy is pretty typical of strats. My finish is
> > metallic gold and its just the icing on the cake. I have played lots
> > of surf with it and its a keeper as far as I'm concerned.
> >
