A possible P90 purchase

[blackdog]

Hey everyone,
Does anyone have any experience with the SX SST Ash P90 from Rondo Music?



I recall someone here owning one but I was hoping to know more about it. Does it hold tune well? Does it sound good? etc.. If possible I would like to leave it stock.

Thanks!

Sam

[Brian Krashpad]

Originally Posted by blackdog

Hey everyone,
Does anyone have any experience with the SX SST Ash P90 from Rondo Music?



I recall someone here owning one but I was hoping to know more about it. Does it hold tune well? Does it sound good? etc.. If possible I would like to leave it stock.

Thanks!

Sam

In general the SX's have a pretty good rep as long as you're not super picky. In particular the grain matches on the natural SXs can be pretty bad, though that's a purely cosmetic issue.

I have an Agile (the more expensive MIK line from Rondo) and it's fine bone stock. Mine is an SG-type with P-90's, and if the SX Strat P-90's are similar, you should be fine. An internet acquaintance of mine has had several of the SX offset-waist Jazzmaster/Gumby guitars (he's on the front page of the Rondo site-- JJ Pistols) and has never changed out the pickups, tuners, or electrics on any of them as far as I know. (He makes a change to the bridge, but it's because of that model's Jazzmaster type trem.)

At any rate, Kurt at Rondo is a good guy about returns and customer service in general, so you can buy with confidence.

I considered getting the model you're looking at, but I found a used modded Squier on ebay for about the same price with GFS P-90's, and opted for that instead:



I'd never had anything besides an S-S-S Strat, but I knew I liked P-90's. I think you'll like the SX.

[Unseen]

Originally Posted by blackdog

Hey everyone,
Does anyone have any experience with the SX SST Ash P90 from Rondo Music?



I recall someone here owning one but I was hoping to know more about it. Does it hold tune well? Does it sound good? etc.. If possible I would like to leave it stock.

Thanks!

Sam

How much is that guitar? You can pick up an Eastwood Sidejack (or the Deluxe version of same which has a Bigsby style whammy bar) for under $500 if you shop around. I have one and the sound is sweet. It has a Mosrite look to it and is a handsome guitar.

[Brian Krashpad]

Originally Posted by Unseen

How much is that guitar? You can pick up an Eastwood Sidejack (or the Deluxe version of same which has a Bigsby style whammy bar) for under $500 if you shop around. I have one and the sound is sweet. It has a Mosrite look to it and is a handsome guitar.

The SX's are right around a Benjamin.

[FirstBassman]

Originally Posted by Brian Krashpad

The SX's are right around a Benjamin.

Yup, that's the point.

[Brian Krashpad]

Originally Posted by FirstBassman

Yup, that's the point.

Hey, if you feel like an Eastwood import is going to be 4 or 5 times better than an SX import, that's fine.

Given that Rondo's MIK import line is generally in the $200-$300 range, I find the Eastwoods to be somewhat overpriced. Especially given that at least some of the Sidejacks appear to be made in China, see e.g:
http://www.greatmagnetrecording.com/...ack_popup.html


At any rate, the OP asked about a guitar costing around a Benjamin and specifically said he didn't want to mod it. Doesn't that indicate a person on a budget to you? Suggeting something else that's 4 or 5 times pricier isn't really going to help him.

[Unseen]

Originally Posted by Brian Krashpad

Hey, if you feel like an Eastwood import is going to be 4 or 5 times better than an SX import, that's fine.

Given that Rondo's MIK import line is generally in the $200-$300 range, I find the Eastwoods to be somewhat overpriced. Especially given that at least some of the Sidejacks appear to be made in China, see e.g:
http://www.greatmagnetrecording.com/...ack_popup.html


At any rate, the OP asked about a guitar costing around a Benjamin and specifically said he didn't want to mod it. Doesn't that indicate a person on a budget to you? Suggeting something else that's 4 or 5 times pricier isn't really going to help him.

The Sidejack is about 50%-60% more expensive.

And that it's made in China (mine is)...so what? A sub-$500 guitar made in the United States would almost certainly have to be a piece of crap. With our labor costs, a lot more shortcuts would have to be taken to keep it under $500.

[blackdog]

I'm so close to pulling the trigger. Anyone else chime in on the SX's?

[Michaell]

P-90s are more about hype than tone

they'll be used less and less as time goes by......sorta like coiled cables.....
and Faraw Fawcett pin up posters..........and those Guild guitars with the stand built in the body.....

they were cool for 5 minutes..... riding on the coat tails of " if it's old it must be better " hype......but they're not better just because they are old.....they're just old and the technology was bad

single coils & humbuckers

[xjazzy]

Hype?
I call it a choice!
It's nice to have a single coil guitar, a humbucker guitar and why not a P-90 guitar?!

I have an SX LP Jr. copy and the tuners are the worst part in the guitar. I'm about to replace them. Other than that it's a fine guitar for the price.

[Brian Krashpad]

Originally Posted by Unseen

The Sidejack is about 50%-60% more expensive.

And that it's made in China (mine is)...so what?

For the very same reason as noted in your response below-- so that we can compare like to like. Chinese labor costs are much less than Korean. In general, at present, the guitars coming out of China are of somewhat less quality than those coming out of Korea. (I own a couple Chinese guitars that are exceptions to that rule, but both come with US-made pickups stock.)

The Eastwoods seem to be overpriced to me, compared to comparable imports coming out of the same countries (and possibly the same factories). Mike at Eastwood rationalizes this by comparing his guitars not to other imports, but to the original vintage guitars they copy. But his are not collectable, and our original poster asked about a Strat knockoff, not a Mosrite one, so going on about a guitar that's 50%-60% more than what the OP wants to spend probably isn't of any help to him.

Originally Posted by Unseen

A sub-$500 guitar made in the United States would almost certainly have to be a piece of crap. With our labor costs, a lot more shortcuts would have to be taken to keep it under $500.

A lot of people who have the new Melody Makers (or the immediately preceding P-90 Junior-ish versions) would disagree.

[Brian Krashpad]

Originally Posted by Michaell

P-90s are more about hype than tone

they'll be used less and less as time goes by......sorta like coiled cables.....
and Faraw Fawcett pin up posters..........and those Guild guitars with the stand built in the body.....

they were cool for 5 minutes..... riding on the coat tails of " if it's old it must be better " hype......but they're not better just because they are old.....they're just old and the technology was bad

single coils & humbuckers

First, P-90's are single coils.

Second, P-90's have been around a long time and aren't going anywhere. If you choose to limit your guitars to HB's and non-P-90 singles that's fine. Clearly the OP disagrees with you and has already made up his mind to find something with P-90's. There's nothing "bad" about P-90's "technology."

[octatonic]

Originally Posted by Michaell

P-90s are more about hype than tone

they'll be used less and less as time goes by......sorta like coiled cables.....
and Faraw Fawcett pin up posters..........and those Guild guitars with the stand built in the body.....

they were cool for 5 minutes..... riding on the coat tails of " if it's old it must be better " hype......but they're not better just because they are old.....they're just old and the technology was bad

single coils & humbuckers

That is pretty funny... in an ignorant kinda way.

[6942]

The Agile/SX line is a pretty good compromise between sound/build quality and value.
Nothing wrong with an inexpensive SX.....as long as you do not have unrealistic expectations?
They say SX on the headstock not Fender.
If you can spring a little more money.....the Korean-made Agile's are quite good!
I can't imagine a nicer $159 guitar (2006) than my Agile AL-2000 P-90 Gold Top!?

Steve