guidothepimmp
hey all,
as all of my guitars are humbucker equipped, i was looking around at cheap alternatives for strat style with single coil guitars.
Seen some MIM strats but for R6000, i may as well put in R2000 extra and get a US one. However I saw these SX guitars, Vintage Series...
Apparently made in Spain??? anyone ever played these or given them a whirl? how do these compare to a MIM strat or a squier affinity??
The price is off puttingly low. makes one wonder what gives. I checked one out in visually, neck looked alright, finish was decent enough considering the price, frets looked decent, hardware does look a bit shart and the nut is rubbish, but at R900? these are easy mods.
your thoughts? hidden prospect or useful firewood?
chris77
I've seen 'em around and because of the price have kinda grouped them with the El-Toro, Torque and other cheapies sold by respectable music stores like Cash Crusaders and High-Fi Corporation. ?
AlanRatcliffe
Decent value for money cheapies. It's a Spanish company, but I think they are building them in Asia.
The MIM Strat is a slightly better guitar and will hold its value better/be more sellable than an SX. The MIMs also pop up secondhand for reasonable prices.
A US Strat for R8K? If that's a Highway 1, I'd rather get one of the better Mexican models like the Classic series. Or snap up Racman's
Deluxe Player's Strat in the classifieds.
guidothepimmp
yeh i was wondering mostly, i dont think i would actually get one, just curious whether anyone here had tried them and what they thought. The hardware really does look a bit weak.
Still trawling the net for the next bargain of the century strat though ?
DonovanB
I have a MIM strat. Nothing wrong with it IMO. It plays very well and sounds great to me.
Tokai-SA
Grant, my buddy, and excellent guitar tech, uses an SX to gig with.
He's speared it through a closed wooden door, tossed it across the stage a couple of times, used it as a frisbee a few times, I think it's even been used as a weapon occasionally, but it's still in one piece and he still gigs it...although he's glued it back together more than a few times.....it's no wonder his Tyler sat at home whilst he gigged the SX. ?
It has a great neck, he's got some Seymour Duncan Classic Stacks (great great pickups) in it, and it sounds big fat and full to my ears.
With Strats sometimes the cheapies sound better than the expensive ones...IMO.
Keira-WitherKay
yeah don't ignore these cheapies........... i teach and often need to hunt for very affordable guitars for students......... and the guy at music store pulled me aside and showed me the stevie ray vaughn strat SX copy........ it was a fabulous build and sounded ok as is.......sure for this money you not buying a top end instrument ..... but as many have said ...find one that feels good to you .. then change the pick ups and even the tuners.if the tuning is slipping .......... but they not bad at all...........i have tried em up against almost everything ..ibanez/cort in the same price and they definitely give you more "strat " vibe than any of the others.........
also as a side note i also teach bass .and their vintage Fender P bass looks fabulous.. and i still own 2 P bass's ( i was a pro bassist for many years ) and this SX one impressed me no end with the finish and the feel......again i would pop bettert Pick ups in . but for R1000 it would be a great instrument...........heheh but to think in 1985 i bought one of my USA P bass's for R1000 brand new .......
3ight8all
Keira WitherKay wrote:
yeah don't ignore these cheapies...........
Agreed, I played an SX for a while and it wasn't too bad. Much better than other copies. Id personally rather go for a Squier though. you find a lot of them on gumtree for fairly decent prices. Just not the bullet; affinity or standards are better.
singemonkey
Another excellent cheapy for your purposes is the Yamaha Pacifica 112. It's consistently praised for it's value for money as a cheap strat alternative. Even much higher-spec Pacificas go for a song second hand. It's not a straight strat copy, but some models, like the PAC112, have a strat configuration.
mikeyb
I had an sx les paul, vintage sunburst with nickle plated hums. It was great. Really it was. I was going to buy an Epiphone. Call me biased but for 2/3 of the price the SX was built way better, played easier and the finishing compared to an Epi was far superior. Kerry Callagahn a custom guitar builder put me onto them and I was way impressed. I got mine for like R1800 I think. He set the action up and it was amazing.
Call me on this if you want, but I think SX are awesome value for money.
If you want a strat sound and single tone, rather get a cort G series. I got myself a G200, brand new for R1600. It was the last on in store. The build quility and wood grain quality is better than a squier Bullet, which is in the same range, and about the same price. Obvioulsy if you want as close as you can get, strat looks, then a squier is obvioulsy the way to go.
duncanwg7
Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
Decent value for money cheapies. It's a Spanish company, but I think they are building them in Asia.
The MIM Strat is a slightly better guitar and will hold its value better/be more sellable than an SX. The MIMs also pop up secondhand for reasonable prices.
A US Strat for R8K? If that's a Highway 1, I'd rather get one of the better Mexican models like the Classic series. Or snap up Racman's
Deluxe Player's Strat in the classifieds.
where in cape town can i get one? would you suggest a agile, sx or laguna?
nicovlogg
Yeah , have to agree.. Really great guitars for the price. I reckon their teles are better value for money than the Squier teles.
AlanRatcliffe
SX are at least available locally, which makes them far more attractive IMO.
Jacques_nasi
If you want to also check out the Crafter Cruzer Strat type range. I bought a Cruzer telecaster type a while ago and a very very cheap price, awesome value for money and honestly a great guitar. The place I bought it from had a sale on all their Cruzers going for half price, dont know if they have any left though. If you maybe want details just PM me.
makepeace
Is there a dealer for SX in SA?
Cannon
SX guitars are a hit & miss scenario. Some are tight routed around the pups and some are just poor.
U need to lift the scratch plate and have a look if its a nice small, tight rout job & check the neck cavity for gaps.
The pups are pretty hot and have a nice tone but can get noisy after a while.
Otherwise a great guitar for the money....if u pay around a grand or so.
As for the Highway1 comment there earlier Alan.....hahaha.... i have my pride and joy 2003 small headstock H1 strat.
I have never found a Mex strat that could compare. Even the classic players series. And "Made In USA" looks real good too.
In fact it's the best strat i've played.
Can't really speak for the newer ones....ugly headstock!
8)
flatfourfan
I had an SX and honestly, I miss it a lot. Yeah some are hit and miss. I tried a strat styled one and it felt like crud, but I think that was down to bad set up.
My les paul knockoff was well built, I honestly could not fault the workmanship or the hardware, (well with the exception of the tuners). I added a scratch plate and a few other trim peices and it was a kick ass twanger for the money spent. I paid R1200 for it second hand and it was worth every penny.
As for the best local place to get them?.................gumtree or junkmail IMHO.
Nitebob
So that begs another question to be asked. New SX or used Squier Strat designed by Fender.
I can get a squier for R999 which I think is a great price....my opinion would be the Squier, what are your views?
MikeM
Which model Squier?
flatfourfan
Nitebob wrote:
So that begs another question to be asked. New SX or used Squier Strat designed by Fender.
I can get a squier for R999 which I think is a great price....my opinion would be the Squier, what are your views?
hmmmm, why not a used SX?????....... Way more guitar for your money, Fender have as much involvement in the squire as they do in the SX. You're paying for the name. Unless it's an older squire like a bullet???
Better hardware on the SX, better build quality, better materials for the body (mine was mahogany body, set mahogany neck). Try them both though because a decent set-up can decide all.
