A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

I just ordered one of these and need another guitar about like I need another hole in my head. I bought an ash Tele about a year ago and love it other than the huge fret wires. I figure it will show up in a few days and will let you know what I think of it. I have never owned a strat so this will be interesting. I like clear finish guitars for looks and it sounds like Rondo is doing away with the SX guitars so I thought I would finally order one of these before they went away.

I imagine most of you all bought something similar at a lower price years ago. If you did let me know what you thought about it.

https://www.rondomusic.com/SX_Hawk_MN_Ash_H.html

Nice! I wonder about the thinline aspect applied to the Hawk, so I hope you follow up. I have two (non-semi-hollow) Hawks, both dual P90. One with trem, the other hardtail. Oddly, they don't sound alike, so configuration differences really matter. Fun guitars, enjoy!

I have (more than) a few SX strats, but not a thinline. But I do have an SX thinline Tele. I'm a big SX fan!

My Eastman guitar is a thinline style guitar and looks very similar to the Gibson 335 but has a maple neck and body with an ebony fretboard. It has a really nice clean sound with a little reverb and probably the best overall guitar that I own. Pickups, wiring, scale length, etc. are all different on the Hawk I think. I really have no expectations other than for it to be a nice guitar for the price point. I had previously bought two guitars from Rondo and was blown away by both of them. I played a Squier guitar unplugged in a music store a few years ago that was a thinline Tele. It was okay but just looked and felt cheap to me and I think they were asking around $400 or thereabout at the time so I passed on it quickly.

Dabbler-I cannot tell for sure but the last guitar on the right looks like my SX Tele. It has what Rondo calls an ash body and maple neck. It stays in tune better than any of my other guitars and I like the sound of it. Of course I do not own a high end tube amp so I can only hear what I can hear with a Mustang modeling amp that I mostly play at low volume. I am strictly a hobby guitar player and happy to just find somebody to jam with. All of those Tele's look great.

I am excited to see what I get with the guitar and I think it is supposed to ship sometime today. I would like to make 9 thickness strings work on this but I just tend to break the high e or b everytime that I try them.

Stoli wrote: ↑Thu Jun 01, 2023 9:10 am ...

Dabbler-I cannot tell for sure but the last guitar on the right looks like my SX Tele. It has what Rondo calls an ash body and maple neck. It stays in tune better than any of my other guitars and I like the sound of it. Of course I do not own a high end tube amp so I can only hear what I can hear with a Mustang modeling amp that I mostly play at low volume. I am strictly a hobby guitar player and happy to just find somebody to jam with. All of those Tele's look great.
...

Yeah, I should have apologized for the poor image quality in my post. And also the fact that the picture included some non-SXes. The one you referred in your post is in fact an AXL and there is
a Douglas 2nd from left on the same row and a Squier in the upper right corner, but I DO have an SX Taurus that is similar in appearance to yours... I just don't have a pic handy.

I'm strictly amateur myself, but my experience tells me that you will, again, get your money's worth!

I am not sure what the name of mine is. On the headstock it just has the SX logo and VTG Series. It was whatever they were selling about a year ago in the SX ash Tele. It has a belly cut and some wood shaved off the tail of the guitar and is comfortable to play. No need to apologize about photos. I almost bought a Squire once. I was working out of town on business in Memphis and there just happened to be a music store next to the hotel that I was staying at. It was a slow night and we just mostly sat around and played and chatted a bit. They had an orange Tele with a white pick guard and it looked just like Tennessee orange and white. At one point those guys handed me a USA telecaster and I did not realize what it was off hand and started playing it and was like wow this is a really nice guitar for $200 and then I saw the price tag was actually $2,000 and figured out what I was playing. Glad I did not drop it. I bought some strings from them and in retro I might have bought that orange and white Tele. It played nicely and seemed to be set up pretty well. I did not go to the store with intentions of buying a guitar but I think those guys were just happy somebody showed up until closing time.

I like my alder SX thinline body very much.
Its seen some varying setups, this is the most recent and my favorite.

Partscaster wrote: ↑Fri Jun 02, 2023 7:00 am I like my alder SX thinline body very much.
Its seen some varying setups, this is the most recent and my favorite.

IMG_0066 2.jpg

Cool looking guitar and cat. The cat looks proud. In reading around online, it seems a lot of people think the F hole strats sound similar to a regular strat except for marketing materials from Fender for a signature guitar. I do not ever recall seeing a strat style with an F-hole in person. It will be pretty unique regardless in looks.

I have a cat too and at times I think he is jealous of me playing guitar and will start pawing and yelling at me. Who knows what is going on in the mind of a cat.

Stoli wrote: ↑Fri Jun 02, 2023 6:44 pm

Partscaster wrote: ↑Fri Jun 02, 2023 7:00 am I like my alder SX thinline body very much.
Its seen some varying setups, this is the most recent and my favorite.

IMG_0066 2.jpg

Cool looking guitar and cat. The cat looks proud. In reading around online, it seems a lot of people think the F hole strats sound similar to a regular strat except for marketing materials from Fender for a signature guitar. I do not ever recall seeing a strat style with an F-hole in person. It will be pretty unique regardless in looks.

I have a cat too and at times I think he is jealous of me playing guitar and will start pawing and yelling at me. Who knows what is going on in the mind of a cat.

I think I hear the thinline body as louder unplugged. Plugged, perhaps it gets to edge of breakup earlier too. The SX thinline isnt a big chamber, its fairly small.
A particular Fender Eric Johnson strat also has f-holes.

That cat, Simon, RIP, was very proud in general. I saw him try to attack a big barking Lab/Rottweiler mix with real fury. The dog was barking and snarling at me from other side of a chain link fence. From out of nowhere, Simon bolts past me and is slashing and growling thru the fence at the dog. Simons chest is pounding and rattling the fence as he tries to reach thru, all yowls, and hisses.The dog is freaked and moves sideways 10 feet and then Simon moves too, again lunging thru the fence as the dog gets more scared and runs away.

If I pissed Simon off, he would crouch low, and hiss, and come toward me like an alligator.
He was also a sweetheart who liked to sleep on my feet in the evening.

The Eric Johnson was the one that I read about. I will have some fun with this one I think regardless.

My cat is 17 years old and has some arthritis and kidney disease but he still eats pretty well and gets around most of the time. He is pretty much a pacifist indoor cat. He usually just yells at me if he is not happy about something. His brother passed last Fall and I think he misses him as some of his behavior's changed.

My guitar came in last week and I had not really had time to fully run over it and review until today.

Rondo shipped promptly and included a nice gig bag. The guitar arrived with no obvious flaws. I hear some fret rattle on the low E and A strings. Not really surprised with that and once the guitar acclimates and/or I break a string, I will put a new set on. Based on past experience, I suspect that once I change the strings then most of that will go away. If not I will try the truss rod tweak if need be.

The look of the guitar is great for me. Ash and maple with no issues that I see. If the picture attaches where you can see it, it looks like there is a tool mark below the bridge. I think that is a reflection as I could not see it and looked all over and do not see it. I put my glasses on, put it under as much light as I could, had my wife look at it and we are not seeing it other than in the picture. It has the body contours similar to my SX Tele. It is lighter than the Tele as I expected and very comfortable to play.

It is a treble sounding guitar compared to my others but I expected that. I like the tone of it though and messed through a bunch of amp tones. I believe this guitar with the combination of the switch, volume, and tone controls is more complicated to figure out. I will try to figure that out.

Overall, I am very pleased.

Sorry, I cannot seem to attach the photo.

Stoli wrote: ↑Sun Jun 11, 2023 5:17 pm Sorry, I cannot seem to attach the photo.

I don´t know if it´s because a problem in the page or whatever, but I do this to upload pics:

Go to Full Editor & Preview Click on Attachments Click on Add Files Select the file(s) form your computer Once uploaded, click on Place Inline button. If there´s any text you´ve written, before clicking on Place Inline, place the cursor where you want the pic to show (blue arrow) and then click on Place Inline button And then, of course, click on submit.

Hope this helps.

I've thought about a SX thin line tele in Ash if one comes back up I have 3 SX Strats and a SX Tele all highly modded and great guitars. I have a SD Antiquities in the bridge and a SD 59 humbucker in the neck of my Tele and it's one off my favorite guitars. From the pictures you should be able to tell how much I love that Tele also I have a thing for the older headstocks which all of these are.

Brown SSS Strat and Tele Black SSH Strat and Tele Blue SSS Strat and Tele and Les Paul and PRS

redman wrote: ↑Sun Jun 11, 2023 7:40 pm I've thought about a SX thin line tele in Ash if one comes back up I have 3 SX Strats and a SX Tele all highly modded and great guitars. I have a SD Antiquities in the bridge and a SD 59 humbucker in the neck of my Tele and it's one off my favorite guitars. From the pictures you should be able to tell how much I love that Tele also I have a thing for the older headstocks which all of these are.

Brown SSS Strat and Tele
cyesotX[1].jpg

Black SSH Strat and Tele
izj3oz7[1].jpg

Blue SSS Strat and Tele and Les Paul and PRS
kCouPXn[1].jpg

Nice arsenal, Randy!

Question-

I have played the guitar for several days now and like it. I have noticed an issue with the tuner on the A string. It feels tight when you turn the peg or that is the best way that I can describe it and has a different feel than all of the other tuners, It works and seems to stay in tune pretty well. I looked up some things online and loosened the small screw on the tuner peg and it does not seem to make any difference. I am not sure what the issue is. I do not want to return the guitar and so long as that tuner stays the same I can live with it. I do not know enough about the mechanics of guitars to know whether I have a defective part or whether there is some other issue at play.

If anyone else has run into this issue I would love to hear how you dealt with it.

I can't remember which guitar, but I've had a flakey tuner on a new guitar, contacted the company, and they sent out a replacement tuner. They're not hard to swap out when they're the same as original equipment. I'd email rondo to ask about just a replacement tuner and see what they can do.

BatUtilityBelt wrote: ↑Mon Jun 19, 2023 9:45 pm I can't remember which guitar, but I've had a flakey tuner on a new guitar, contacted the company, and they sent out a replacement tuner. They're not hard to swap out when they're the same as original equipment. I'd email rondo to ask about just a replacement tuner and see what they can do.

Thank you-I contacted Rondo to see if they can do anything. Hopefully, they have a box of tuners and can send me one.

He sent me a 1/2 scale nut when the first one was chipped. It was free and quick.

Stoli wrote: ↑Mon Jun 19, 2023 9:17 pm Question-

I have played the guitar for several days now and like it. I have noticed an issue with the tuner on the A string. It feels tight when you turn the peg or that is the best way that I can describe it and has a different feel than all of the other tuners, It works and seems to stay in tune pretty well. I looked up some things online and loosened the small screw on the tuner peg and it does not seem to make any difference. I am not sure what the issue is. I do not want to return the guitar and so long as that tuner stays the same I can live with it. I do not know enough about the mechanics of guitars to know whether I have a defective part or whether there is some other issue at play.

If anyone else has run into this issue I would love to hear how you dealt with it.

Alot of times 1 or 2 is tighter. The real worry is sloppy loose or too much backash. Sometimes the tight one loosens some.

A few years ago I was sooo hot to get a thinline tele and especially a strat. I did eventually get the douglas thinline burl ash top. It was a damn good guitar but visually it had 2 issues for as fab as the front was the back was incredibly boring ash grain. And the neck was actually grainless. It made it a bit odd looking after the initial wow factor. The other issue was for being partially hollow it was fairly heavy. I used it unplugged sometimes and it did resonate a bit louder but it wasn't notably much different than a solid body. Later I got the sx ash tele and it played very similar but I loved the grain and the neck was almost billowy looking. So I should the doug. I really wanted a hollow vibe and I found even a 335 didn't really do it so a tl sx strat wasn't going to. Later I got the casino coupe and that was what I was looking for. By then I was barely playing my strats.
Hell now I'm playing mostly bass and my main one is a $70 factory 2nd glarry knock off because the name brand glarry was too expensive.
I wish this were still rondo hayday and I'd get a sx black block ash pj bssbut that ship sailed.

The SX Tele I have has a good bit of the Ash wood grain. The thinline strat does not seem to have as much but much of the woodwork is covered with the plastic pick guard. The necks feel almost identical with little grain which is probably typical of most maple. I just like the look of natural woods and I guess some would say it looks like kitchen cabinetry or hard wood flooring.

On another note, Rondo sent a message this morning and is putting a replacement tuner in the mail. Good customer service in my book. I have bought three guitars from Rondo and they seem to send you something better than what you expected.

Would you say on average there's a 1/16 gap or so around the heel of the neck on your guitars?

jimmyg wrote: ↑Sun Jul 14, 2024 11:30 am Would you say on average there's a 1/16 gap or so around the heel of the neck on your guitars?

That sounds bad. Most of my bolt-ons are downright snug in the pocket. I think I would probably shim them sideways if they were that loose.