NEW USED GUITAR: Ktaxon HH Strat
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 10:04 am
The other day I paid $30 for this unbranded HH Strat.
I thought this post would be an interesting addition to our AGF archive as I’ve never seen mention of this brand on the forum. There are so many of these off brands floating around on Amazon and Ebay that it's difficult to determine what's decent and what's crap. So here's my take on this thing . . .
A search for “Matt black HH guitar unbranded” immediately revealed an add for an identical instrument being sold under the “Ktaxon” name on Amazon. A little more research found some indication that Ktaxon may actually be an unbranded Glarry.
What I was immediately struck by when picking it up was how light it was . . . I mean like balsa wood light. After discovering that it's constructed of paulownia this made sense, as that is one of the lightest hardwoods. Paulownia is also said to be tonally similar to swamp ash, with an open sound and pronounced high mids. Indeed, this guitar resonates like crazy and has a very lively, airy tone, almost like a Thinline.
I was very surprised by the quality of the tuners. They are super tight with zero slack in the gears.
The fretboard is spec’d as rosewood and looks like the East Indian variety, being quite dark and even with no red streaks. The neck itself is raw and unfinished and on the fuller side for a Strat, though not at all uncomfortable. The rubber spacer between the neck plate and the body was a nice addition.
The frets were perfectly level. While there was no sprouting, the ends felt sharp when I ran my hand up the neck just by virtue of being jumbo and undressed. One hour on the bench of sanding and polishing had them feeling like a $1000 instrument.
The nut slots were cut too high, as they most always are on guitars like this. Addressing that issue makes all the difference in the world. It doesn’t matter if you get the relief, the saddle height, and the neck angle set correctly, because the guitar is not going to feel right for me and for the way I play unless the strings exit the nut just above the first fret. It took me about ten minutes to address this issue.
I usually don’t expect much from humbuckers on cheaper guitars like this, and especially when they have slugs all around and no adjustable screws, but I was genuinely impressed by these. The bridge measure about 12.5 K and the neck about 9.5K. I assume that they’re ceramic. The bridge pup is defined, snarly, and raucous without being harsh, brittle, or overly compressed. The neck pickup is defined while also having body and warmth. The middle position is exceptionally nice, being very percussive, woody, and warm. All three positions have an underlying open and airy tone, perhaps imparted by that super light and resonant paulownia body.
Once I had this guitar set up, with the nut slots lubed, and it was settled in, it stayed in tune exceptionally well. Granted, I’m not using the tremolo, which I never do on Strat with the old style six screw fulcrum. The bones of this instrument are such that if I was to install a Floyd Rose it could be a very respectable superstrat.
All in all, I say color me impressed by this cheap Ktaxon HH Strat.
As a caveat, I say this as a guy who knows how to do the final stages of finishing, tweaking, and set up that are left out of production with instrument in this price range. A total beginner, or even a player who has no experience setting up a guitar, fret dressing, and so on, will definitely find the Ktaxon inferior compared to comparable name brand beginner instruments. The rub is, those name brand lower tier offerings will cost 2-3 times as much as the Ktaxon.
I’ve come to believe that the real beneficially of these dirt cheap imports are guys like us on this forum who know how to do the final set up on these little gems. Heck, I enjoy the hour or so of my time it takes to put the finishing touches on a guitar like this. It’s actually kinda therapeutic, like doing a puzzle or putting together a ship in bottle.
I thought this post would be an interesting addition to our AGF archive as I’ve never seen mention of this brand on the forum. There are so many of these off brands floating around on Amazon and Ebay that it's difficult to determine what's decent and what's crap. So here's my take on this thing . . .
A search for “Matt black HH guitar unbranded” immediately revealed an add for an identical instrument being sold under the “Ktaxon” name on Amazon. A little more research found some indication that Ktaxon may actually be an unbranded Glarry.
What I was immediately struck by when picking it up was how light it was . . . I mean like balsa wood light. After discovering that it's constructed of paulownia this made sense, as that is one of the lightest hardwoods. Paulownia is also said to be tonally similar to swamp ash, with an open sound and pronounced high mids. Indeed, this guitar resonates like crazy and has a very lively, airy tone, almost like a Thinline.
I was very surprised by the quality of the tuners. They are super tight with zero slack in the gears.
The fretboard is spec’d as rosewood and looks like the East Indian variety, being quite dark and even with no red streaks. The neck itself is raw and unfinished and on the fuller side for a Strat, though not at all uncomfortable. The rubber spacer between the neck plate and the body was a nice addition.
The frets were perfectly level. While there was no sprouting, the ends felt sharp when I ran my hand up the neck just by virtue of being jumbo and undressed. One hour on the bench of sanding and polishing had them feeling like a $1000 instrument.
The nut slots were cut too high, as they most always are on guitars like this. Addressing that issue makes all the difference in the world. It doesn’t matter if you get the relief, the saddle height, and the neck angle set correctly, because the guitar is not going to feel right for me and for the way I play unless the strings exit the nut just above the first fret. It took me about ten minutes to address this issue.
I usually don’t expect much from humbuckers on cheaper guitars like this, and especially when they have slugs all around and no adjustable screws, but I was genuinely impressed by these. The bridge measure about 12.5 K and the neck about 9.5K. I assume that they’re ceramic. The bridge pup is defined, snarly, and raucous without being harsh, brittle, or overly compressed. The neck pickup is defined while also having body and warmth. The middle position is exceptionally nice, being very percussive, woody, and warm. All three positions have an underlying open and airy tone, perhaps imparted by that super light and resonant paulownia body.
Once I had this guitar set up, with the nut slots lubed, and it was settled in, it stayed in tune exceptionally well. Granted, I’m not using the tremolo, which I never do on Strat with the old style six screw fulcrum. The bones of this instrument are such that if I was to install a Floyd Rose it could be a very respectable superstrat.
All in all, I say color me impressed by this cheap Ktaxon HH Strat.
As a caveat, I say this as a guy who knows how to do the final stages of finishing, tweaking, and set up that are left out of production with instrument in this price range. A total beginner, or even a player who has no experience setting up a guitar, fret dressing, and so on, will definitely find the Ktaxon inferior compared to comparable name brand beginner instruments. The rub is, those name brand lower tier offerings will cost 2-3 times as much as the Ktaxon.
I’ve come to believe that the real beneficially of these dirt cheap imports are guys like us on this forum who know how to do the final set up on these little gems. Heck, I enjoy the hour or so of my time it takes to put the finishing touches on a guitar like this. It’s actually kinda therapeutic, like doing a puzzle or putting together a ship in bottle.
