Rondo SX teles;I just don't get it

Double · May 12th, 2008, 03:20 PM

So I bought a Rhondo SX STL50 3TS and it is not quite what I expected.
The Bad: The bridge was set way too close to the nut so you cannot intonate the guitar. The low E and G strings were so bad that the guitar played out of tune everywhere. Because of the style of the bridge no Fender replacement bridge will work and who cares if it has string through body if the bridge sucks and won't intonate. The tuners will not hold tune even with just mild bending so replacing the tuners is a must. It has these tiny 500k pots, what where they thinking, with single coil pickups the pots should be 250k no matter what size they are. The pickups are uh junk, they sound thin with no depth.
The Good: The price (I guess for a guitar that plays out of tune and does not sound that good), the frets and fret job were decent and the finish was not too bad.
I would say to future buyers to stay away from the SX teles and save a few more dollars and headaches and buy the real thing, there is just too many things wrong even for $107.00. I am not sure what I am going to do with the thing (as I call it), I might be able to use the neck but the body will make for good target practice.

dlxtele · May 12th, 2008, 03:29 PM

If it is bad and you bought it new ask Kurt at Rondo for a refund or exchange. Guaranteed return if the guitar is not right or is damaged in shipment. Give him a call and a chance to make it right.

dlxtele

jwells393 · May 12th, 2008, 03:46 PM

I find it a little hard to believe that the guitar won't intonate.

serialsteve · May 12th, 2008, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwells393

I find it a little hard to believe that the guitar won't intonate.

If the bridge is placed improperly, why?

Daddydex · May 12th, 2008, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwells393

I find it a little hard to believe that the guitar won't intonate.

This was my first thought as well. I will admit that I really had to roll up my sleeves and tweak my SX SST 57 but with a little TLC my guitar tunes up nice and stays in tune pretty well too.

Dan

62_Inca_Esquire · May 12th, 2008, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Double

So I bought a Rhondo SX STL50 3TS and it is not quite what I expected.
The Bad: The bridge was set way too close to the nut so you cannot intonate the guitar. The low E and G strings were so bad that the guitar played out of tune everywhere. Because of the style of the bridge no Fender replacement bridge will work and who cares if it has string through body if the bridge sucks and won't intonate. The tuners will not hold tune even with just mild bending so replacing the tuners is a must. It has these tiny 500k pots, what where they thinking, with single coil pickups the pots should be 250k no matter what size they are. The pickups are uh junk, they sound thin with no depth.
The Good: The price (I guess for a guitar that plays out of tune and does not sound that good), the frets and fret job were decent and the finish was not too bad.
I would say to future buyers to stay away from the SX teles and save a few more dollars and headaches and buy the real thing, there is just too many things wrong even for $107.00. I am not sure what I am going to do with the thing (as I call it), I might be able to use the neck but the body will make for good target practice.

From just over a month ago....

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/telecaste...ml#post1187681

Quote:

Originally Posted by Double

I just got a SX STL50 3TS and I am very impressed. I replaced both pickups with Dimarzio Virtual T's then replaced the pots and switch with CTS brand. I also replaced the Saddles with some GraphTech's Tusq's and the tuners with a set of Pings. Not a lot invested and quite a nice sounding and playing guitar. These Guitars are a real deal.

jwells393 · May 12th, 2008, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by serialsteve

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwells393
I find it a little hard to believe that the guitar won't intonate.

If the bridge is placed improperly, why?

That's the point. I find it hard to believe that the bridge was placed improperly.

62_Inca_Esquire · May 12th, 2008, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwells393

That's the point. I find it hard to believe that the bridge was placed improperly.

A month ago when he "replaced the saddles, pickups, etc" it was fine.

mikespe · May 12th, 2008, 05:04 PM

The is the FIRST complaint I have EVER read about the SX tele's...are they MIM's or American quality...not at all. I have the SX Ash Strat and it sounds VERY nice, innotated (took a bit but I got it), and it stays in tune PERFECTLY. And that's with a trem style bridge...a Tele bridge should innotate much easier (except from what i hear the 3 saddle bridge can be challenging).

getbent · May 12th, 2008, 05:17 PM

sometimes not understanding can take some time and effort.... I'm lucky, when I don't understand it is pretty immediate.

boris bubbanov · May 12th, 2008, 05:18 PM

Well, you know, when I first receive something I want it to be everything I'd hoped for. I'm liable to be willing to overlook some things at first, but over time, the truth will out. Focusing on some things more than others, etc.

C'mon, we've all had that honeymoon thing with new acquisitions, and we're under pressure to get feedback into the hands of our brothers here.

It takes guts to admit ya messed up and gave a guitar an undeserved rating. and maybe the critique now is on the heavy side; I have swings like that. And I have days when no guitar is quite right. And other days when basically any guitar is fine as it is.

I'm not saying you never ever get more than you paid for, but it is kinda understandable that a $ 107 might get you through the day but not likely through the year. I hear the same things about Hyundai Sonatas. Great around town, running errands. But exceedingly tiresome on a cross country road trip after 6 days.

OaklandA · May 12th, 2008, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 62_Inca_Esquire

A month ago when he "replaced the saddles, pickups, etc" it was fine.

Funny how that works. The thing is, Rondo has a very liberal return and exchange policy if he's that unhappy. Of course if he's altered the guitar significantly they might not take it back. Which then begs the question of whether the guitar was bad to start or whether the mods were done improperly.

Who knows. They're $100 guitars for crying out loud. My son had an SX Strat to start out on years ago and it was a pretty decent guitar....at least as good as a Squier at twice the price.

I, like some of the others, don't get how it wouldn't intonate as described.

bowlfreshener · May 12th, 2008, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwells393

That's the point. I find it hard to believe that the bridge was placed improperly.

Even if the bridge placement was just 1/64" off of where it should be, it could affect the intonation. I have a Les Paul copy where the bridge is just maybe1/64"-1/32" off where it should be, just a fraction of an inch closer to the nut, so the wound strings are just a couple cents off from being able to be be properly intonated because there is no more room left on the screw or bridge to loosen the saddle to where it should be. Intonation is a game of fractions of inches, so something being just a small fraction of an inch out of place coud affect being able to achieve proper intonation.

62_Inca_Esquire · May 12th, 2008, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

Well, you know, when I first receive something I want it to be everything I'd hoped for. I'm liable to be willing to overlook some things at first, but over time, the truth will out. Focusing on some things more than others, etc.

C'mon, we've all had that honeymoon thing with new acquisitions, and we're under pressure to get feedback into the hands of our brothers here.

It takes guts to admit ya messed up and gave a guitar an undeserved rating. and maybe the critique now is on the heavy side; I have swings like that. And I have days when no guitar is quite right. And other days when basically any guitar is fine as it is.

Sure, but the OP never said anything about his initial "glowing" review... he just said "this guitar sucks" and left it at that. He never mentioned all the changes he made to the guitar. Never mentioned that he changed all the things that he was complaining about in this thread. He had made those changes BEFORE and the guitar was GREAT. Now AFTER he made those changes, the guitar is "BAD"? I'm just not following how it can be great with the changes he made and suddenly terrible with the changes. It seems like
he would have known about the intonation issues in early April, when he changed the saddles. He said in this thread "The bridge was set way too close to the nut so you cannot intonate the guitar. The low E and G strings were so bad that the guitar played out of tune everywhere. Because of the style of the bridge no Fender replacement bridge will work and who cares if it has string through body if the bridge sucks and won't intonate. The tuners will not hold tune even with just mild bending so replacing the tuners is a must. It has these tiny 500k pots, what where they thinking, with single coil pickups the pots should be 250k no matter what size they are. The pickups are uh junk, they sound thin with no depth." He never mentioned that he changed that stuff well over a month ago and LOVED the guitar then. (obviously there were no intonation issues then) "I also replaced the Saddles with some GraphTech's Tusq's........Not a lot invested and quite a nice sounding and playing guitar. These Guitars are a real deal."

Listen, I understand the "honeymoon period". I've been there...we all have. But in no way did the OP "admit he messed up" as you said...so no "guts" there. He never mentioned the glowing review for early April. He never mentioned that he had made all these changes to the guitar. He just gave a poor review of a guitar without actually addressing that he had owned and "personalized" the guitar.

It really isn't a big deal...but people should be aware of the whole story, instead of just reading a crappy review.

hamish5178 · May 12th, 2008, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 62_Inca_Esquire

It really isn't a big deal...but people should be aware of the whole story, instead of just reading a crappy review.

Yep, besides, Rondo Tele's are awesome!

redddog · May 12th, 2008, 07:08 PM

Yeah, I'd love for Double here to give us a timeline giving us the transition from "these are the real deal" and "a really nice player" to "these guitars are crap."

It's cool if you changed your mind. But how about you fill us in a bit on how and what happened.

jwells393 · May 12th, 2008, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bowlfreshener

I have a Les Paul copy where the bridge is just maybe1/64"-1/32" off where it should be, just a fraction of an inch closer to the nut, so the wound strings are just a couple cents off from being able to be be properly intonated because there is no more room left on the screw or bridge to loosen the saddle to where it should be.

We're not talking Les Paul copies with their limited range of intonation adjustment. Telecaster type bridges have a large range of adjustment. If you run out of adjustment you can put in a longer screw if you need to move closer to the neck. You can shorten or take out the spring if you need to move further from the neck.

Chuck 909 · May 12th, 2008, 08:26 PM

Mine was the same, the bridge was put on at a slightly funky angle, so I replaced it with an old-skool tele bridge. But I only paid 75 bux for it on fleabay, so I consider it worth it. Even at 109 bux retail you get a nice neck and a good piece of solid wood for the body, a nice platform to mod. Price a neck and body separatly out there for a project and then look at the SX tele`s, I think it`s a good deal even with the flaky stuff.

It`s the guitar in my avatar. I had the neck off and was fiddling around with it before I realized the bridge was put on goofy.

redddog · May 12th, 2008, 10:13 PM

I think one of the knocks against this guitar is that you can't really replace the bridge that easily.

I have seen that there is a 3 barrell mod and others have replaced the bridge with much effort. But it doesn't seem like you can just sway the bridge out for something else easily.

The question I have is that the bridge on the SX looks FURTHER away than where a vintage bridge would sit. Is that just an illusion?

I'm with Chuck. If you just price out the body and neck, you'd be way over an SX. The entire reason I bought one was for the body and neck. I was disappointed that you can't swap the bridge out easily but as for all the other components quality? I planned on changing it out anyway.

I think that 90% of the people buuying these guitars have mods in mind. And you gotta admit, the body and neck is not bad at all. I'm impressed even though I had some issues with mine.

Tele Fan · May 12th, 2008, 10:20 PM

I should get one tomorrow and I plan to mod the living daylights out of it.

bowman · May 13th, 2008, 09:57 AM

I've got one of the new models, with the P90 in the neck, arriving today. I think it's called an STL50. It's a great looking guitar, and as has been said, to get a platform like that for just $110 is a really good deal. And who knows, it just might play and sound good right out of the box.

Steve G · May 13th, 2008, 10:15 AM

I think I need to own one. Can anyone please confirm this?

gtrwrks · May 13th, 2008, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bowman

I've got one of the new models, with the P90 in the neck, arriving today. I think it's called an STL50. It's a great looking guitar, and as has been said, to get a platform like that for just $110 is a really good deal. And who knows, it just might play and sound good right out of the box.

Let us know.

Double · May 13th, 2008, 02:28 PM

Well I will try to answer a few of your quires. The first review was based on a SX tele that I bought through a local musician’s add, the original owner had taken the SX a part and had the bought the Dimarzio pickups and tuners but never put it back together. After purchasing the guitar I reassembled it with the new parts (without checking the intonation) and it seemed to play well but out of tune, so I replaced the tuners but it still was not quite right. After a couple of weeks (when I had the time) I decided to do a complete set up, this is were the bridge problem was discovered, I could not extend the length of the “E” “A” and “G” strings because the saddles passed over the string holes, this is when the honeymoon ended. I borrowed a tele bridge from a friend and of course they did not match up. Very frustrated I put the guitar back together with the original parts to sell it. After playing it for 15 min I knew I did not have the heart to try and pawn this off on somebody else. That’s when I posted the review of the guitar in its original condition. I hope this helps.

getbent · May 13th, 2008, 02:54 PM

Double, you should sell it in the classifieds with a link to this thread. My bet is that a member will say "Ha! I can make it work, and they'll buy it and either make it work or die trying."

You might as well try to recoup some costs.

Nashter · May 13th, 2008, 06:12 PM

I had an SX tele, and I actually measured and the HOLES for the bridge were 1/2" closer to the nut than on a Fender. I could not intonate without wrapping the string over and under the saddle, by cranking it way back.
At that time, I had already modified the guitar with the new nut so could not return. (well maybe, but I don't know any retailer that will take back a modified guitar).

Shoved BassVIII · May 13th, 2008, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by getbent

Double, you should sell it in the classifieds with a link to this thread. My bet is that a member will say "Ha! I can make it work, and they'll buy it and either make it work or die trying."

You might as well try to recoup some costs.

Yeah, and I'd be that member LOL

6x47 · May 13th, 2008, 09:30 PM

I bit on a lefty SX, the one with 'comfort contours', at the selling price it made more sense than hogging out the belly and arm cuts on a regular body, just to see if it would work for me..

I had previously bought a lefty SX body on eBay and found that I couldn't do much with it as the Fender parts don't work and like the guys have been saying, they just cannot be intonated with the SX bridge because the string holes are in the wrong place.

Jeez I really liked the look of that little guitar with the plain wood finish but like the guys have been saying it can't be set up as delivered.

I measured Fenders vs SX searching for a way to 'save' it as it turns out the 'comfort contours really work for me.

I had reached the stage where I had tossed everything but the body with a view of filling all the holes and using the body as though it was a blank when I came across some import bridges I had bought in hopes they would work with Fender, they didn't and they didn't work with the Sx but saddles looked like they might sit farther away from the nut so I started swapping parts.

This is where I ended up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...arlane/sx1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...arlane/sx2.jpg

That's the SX body and bridge plate, the saddles are from an offshore bridge. The saddle for the big E is actually back of the string hole. I thought I might have to chisel some wood out of there but it seems to be working.

The pups are SX, the neck is WD, the control plate is a tool I use for testing for best cap for a set up. Inbetween the 2 Gibson knobs is a 5 way switch with 4 different caps. The switch is a Gibson toggle.

I bought this thing thinking that at best I may be able to use it as a body blank and that's what I got as it turned out the holes for the neck are so far out of spec they would have to be filled and drilled and then the nut would still be too close to the saddles. The neck screws are larger than Fender

Double · May 14th, 2008, 10:55 AM

I can get the saddles back far enough to intonate but they pass by the string holes, so there is no way to restring the guitar without having to back off the saddles to the string holes. Again it’s a cheap guitar and I should have known better to stay away from them and bought the real thing instead.

Coffeemutt · May 14th, 2008, 11:14 AM

I've got the same problem on the low E on my SX. The screw in the saddle is actually "kissing" the string, and still need to go back a bit further. The low E and A strings actually wrap around the saddle because bridge plate holes are a little too close to the neck.

I don't sweat it, since the intonation is pretty close, but I'm either going to buy a shorter screw for the saddle (way cheap) or just drill the bridge for the 3-barrel mod and string it as a top loader (still pretty cheap). Anyway, at the price price/quality ratio of an SX, I think that either of these mods would be worth it.

May 12th, 2008, 03:20 PM	#1 (permalink)
Double TDPRI Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 20	Rondo SX teles;I just don't get it So I bought a Rhondo SX STL50 3TS and it is not quite what I expected. The Bad: The bridge was set way too close to the nut so you cannot intonate the guitar. The low E and G strings were so bad that the guitar played out of tune everywhere. Because of the style of the bridge no Fender replacement bridge will work and who cares if it has string through body if the bridge sucks and won't intonate. The tuners will not hold tune even with just mild bending so replacing the tuners is a must. It has these tiny 500k pots, what where they thinking, with single coil pickups the pots should be 250k no matter what size they are. The pickups are uh junk, they sound thin with no depth. The Good: The price (I guess for a guitar that plays out of tune and does not sound that good), the frets and fret job were decent and the finish was not too bad. I would say to future buyers to stay away from the SX teles and save a few more dollars and headaches and buy the real thing, there is just too many things wrong even for $107.00. I am not sure what I am going to do with the thing (as I call it), I might be able to use the neck but the body will make for good target practice.

May 12th, 2008, 03:29 PM	#2 (permalink)
dlxtele TDPRI Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: SE Texas Posts: 13	If it is bad and you bought it new ask Kurt at Rondo for a refund or exchange. Guaranteed return if the guitar is not right or is damaged in shipment. Give him a call and a chance to make it right. dlxtele __________________ "Starry eyed and laughing..."

May 12th, 2008, 03:46 PM	#3 (permalink)
jwells393 Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Albuquerque, USA Age: 65 Posts: 13,965 101 Photos	I find it a little hard to believe that the guitar won't intonate. __________________ Jack's Disclaimer: When I say something.... always ask yourself ..... "What the hell does he know?" _ I'm not cool enough to be a Mac person.

May 12th, 2008, 05:17 PM	#10 (permalink)
getbent Moderator Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Benito County, California Posts: 12,853 37 Photos	sometimes not understanding can take some time and effort.... I'm lucky, when I don't understand it is pretty immediate. __________________ 'It is said that 98% of people are sheep. The other 2% are evenly split between sheepdogs and wolves.' -James Mattis

May 12th, 2008, 05:18 PM	#11 (permalink)
boris bubbanov Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: New Orleans, LA + in the past Posts: 12,794	Well, you know, when I first receive something I want it to be everything I'd hoped for. I'm liable to be willing to overlook some things at first, but over time, the truth will out. Focusing on some things more than others, etc. C'mon, we've all had that honeymoon thing with new acquisitions, and we're under pressure to get feedback into the hands of our brothers here. It takes guts to admit ya messed up and gave a guitar an undeserved rating. and maybe the critique now is on the heavy side; I have swings like that. And I have days when no guitar is quite right. And other days when basically any guitar is fine as it is. I'm not saying you never ever get more than you paid for, but it is kinda understandable that a $ 107 might get you through the day but not likely through the year. I hear the same things about Hyundai Sonatas. Great around town, running errands. But exceedingly tiresome on a cross country road trip after 6 days. __________________ Bubbanov

May 12th, 2008, 07:08 PM	#16 (permalink)
redddog Tele-Meister Join Date: May 2008 Location: Rochester, NY Age: 41 Posts: 163	Yeah, I'd love for Double here to give us a timeline giving us the transition from "these are the real deal" and "a really nice player" to "these guitars are crap." It's cool if you changed your mind. But how about you fill us in a bit on how and what happened.

May 12th, 2008, 08:26 PM	#18 (permalink)
Chuck 909 Tele-Meister Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 296	Mine was the same, the bridge was put on at a slightly funky angle, so I replaced it with an old-skool tele bridge. But I only paid 75 bux for it on fleabay, so I consider it worth it. Even at 109 bux retail you get a nice neck and a good piece of solid wood for the body, a nice platform to mod. Price a neck and body separatly out there for a project and then look at the SX tele`s, I think it`s a good deal even with the flaky stuff. It`s the guitar in my avatar. I had the neck off and was fiddling around with it before I realized the bridge was put on goofy.

May 12th, 2008, 10:13 PM	#19 (permalink)
redddog Tele-Meister Join Date: May 2008 Location: Rochester, NY Age: 41 Posts: 163	I think one of the knocks against this guitar is that you can't really replace the bridge that easily. I have seen that there is a 3 barrell mod and others have replaced the bridge with much effort. But it doesn't seem like you can just sway the bridge out for something else easily. The question I have is that the bridge on the SX looks FURTHER away than where a vintage bridge would sit. Is that just an illusion? I'm with Chuck. If you just price out the body and neck, you'd be way over an SX. The entire reason I bought one was for the body and neck. I was disappointed that you can't swap the bridge out easily but as for all the other components quality? I planned on changing it out anyway. I think that 90% of the people buuying these guitars have mods in mind. And you gotta admit, the body and neck is not bad at all. I'm impressed even though I had some issues with mine.

May 12th, 2008, 10:20 PM	#20 (permalink)
Tele Fan Friend of Leo's Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Louisville, Ky Age: 30 Posts: 2,663	I should get one tomorrow and I plan to mod the living daylights out of it. __________________ Life is better when you just make it up as you go along.

May 13th, 2008, 09:57 AM	#21 (permalink)
bowman Tele-Holic Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Westborough, MA Age: 57 Posts: 509	I've got one of the new models, with the P90 in the neck, arriving today. I think it's called an STL50. It's a great looking guitar, and as has been said, to get a platform like that for just $110 is a really good deal. And who knows, it just might play and sound good right out of the box.

May 13th, 2008, 10:15 AM	#22 (permalink)
Steve G Friend of Leo's Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: LeeK (England) Age: 33 Posts: 2,170 64 Photos	I think I need to own one. Can anyone please confirm this? __________________ "He was a drinkin' man with a guitar problem..." http://www.myspace.com/stevegiddings http://www.myspace.com/hiandlonesome

May 13th, 2008, 02:28 PM	#24 (permalink)
Double TDPRI Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 20	Well I will try to answer a few of your quires. The first review was based on a SX tele that I bought through a local musician’s add, the original owner had taken the SX a part and had the bought the Dimarzio pickups and tuners but never put it back together. After purchasing the guitar I reassembled it with the new parts (without checking the intonation) and it seemed to play well but out of tune, so I replaced the tuners but it still was not quite right. After a couple of weeks (when I had the time) I decided to do a complete set up, this is were the bridge problem was discovered, I could not extend the length of the “E” “A” and “G” strings because the saddles passed over the string holes, this is when the honeymoon ended. I borrowed a tele bridge from a friend and of course they did not match up. Very frustrated I put the guitar back together with the original parts to sell it. After playing it for 15 min I knew I did not have the heart to try and pawn this off on somebody else. That’s when I posted the review of the guitar in its original condition. I hope this helps.

May 13th, 2008, 02:54 PM	#25 (permalink)
getbent Moderator Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Benito County, California Posts: 12,853 37 Photos	Double, you should sell it in the classifieds with a link to this thread. My bet is that a member will say "Ha! I can make it work, and they'll buy it and either make it work or die trying." You might as well try to recoup some costs. __________________ 'It is said that 98% of people are sheep. The other 2% are evenly split between sheepdogs and wolves.' -James Mattis

May 13th, 2008, 06:12 PM	#26 (permalink)
Nashter TDPRI Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Beaverton, OR Age: 37 Posts: 20	I had an SX tele, and I actually measured and the HOLES for the bridge were 1/2" closer to the nut than on a Fender. I could not intonate without wrapping the string over and under the saddle, by cranking it way back. At that time, I had already modified the guitar with the new nut so could not return. (well maybe, but I don't know any retailer that will take back a modified guitar).

May 13th, 2008, 09:30 PM	#28 (permalink)
6x47 Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Northern ON - Northern MN Age: 65 Posts: 560	I bit on a lefty SX, the one with 'comfort contours', at the selling price it made more sense than hogging out the belly and arm cuts on a regular body, just to see if it would work for me.. I had previously bought a lefty SX body on eBay and found that I couldn't do much with it as the Fender parts don't work and like the guys have been saying, they just cannot be intonated with the SX bridge because the string holes are in the wrong place. Jeez I really liked the look of that little guitar with the plain wood finish but like the guys have been saying it can't be set up as delivered. I measured Fenders vs SX searching for a way to 'save' it as it turns out the 'comfort contours really work for me. I had reached the stage where I had tossed everything but the body with a view of filling all the holes and using the body as though it was a blank when I came across some import bridges I had bought in hopes they would work with Fender, they didn't and they didn't work with the Sx but saddles looked like they might sit farther away from the nut so I started swapping parts. This is where I ended up. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...arlane/sx1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...arlane/sx2.jpg That's the SX body and bridge plate, the saddles are from an offshore bridge. The saddle for the big E is actually back of the string hole. I thought I might have to chisel some wood out of there but it seems to be working. The pups are SX, the neck is WD, the control plate is a tool I use for testing for best cap for a set up. Inbetween the 2 Gibson knobs is a 5 way switch with 4 different caps. The switch is a Gibson toggle. I bought this thing thinking that at best I may be able to use it as a body blank and that's what I got as it turned out the holes for the neck are so far out of spec they would have to be filled and drilled and then the nut would still be too close to the saddles. The neck screws are larger than Fender

May 14th, 2008, 10:55 AM	#29 (permalink)
Double TDPRI Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 20	I can get the saddles back far enough to intonate but they pass by the string holes, so there is no way to restring the guitar without having to back off the saddles to the string holes. Again it’s a cheap guitar and I should have known better to stay away from them and bought the real thing instead.

May 14th, 2008, 11:14 AM	#30 (permalink)
Coffeemutt Tele-Meister Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: South-Central Kentucky Posts: 182	I've got the same problem on the low E on my SX. The screw in the saddle is actually "kissing" the string, and still need to go back a bit further. The low E and A strings actually wrap around the saddle because bridge plate holes are a little too close to the neck. I don't sweat it, since the intonation is pretty close, but I'm either going to buy a shorter screw for the saddle (way cheap) or just drill the bridge for the 3-barrel mod and string it as a top loader (still pretty cheap). Anyway, at the price price/quality ratio of an SX, I think that either of these mods would be worth it.