New Project SX

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jcwillow777
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Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2021 9:49 pm

Just got this today. The pickups actually are not bad, not gonna change them now. I need to file the fret ends down and get the action lowered a little bit, no biggie. I just ordered a new pickguard and knobs for it from Aliexpress. Only 16 bucks. It will probably take a couple of weeks for that to come in. I got the tortouise shell pg. If I decide I don't like that I will probably swap it out for a white pearl one. I wanted to wait til I ordered that until I tried out the pickups to see if I wanted to swap them out. Honestly, I haven't swapped out any of the pups form the guitars I've bought from Rondo. Neck is a little chunkier that I like, but I'll get used to it. I prefer a slim neck. Oh well, for $150 I really can't complain. It even came with a bag!

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uwmcscott
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Location: Northern Wisco
Gearlist: A few LP's, a Strat, a Tele and a few acoustics.

Nice - SX is still one of the best bang for you buck guitars out there, even after all these years. Looking forward to the end result!
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Partscaster
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Thats going to look great. I like the fiery red tortoise shell. Gonna be nice on that natural finish, bringing it some pizzazz .
"The man that hath no music in himself, nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. The motions of his spirit are dull as night, and his affections dark as Erebus. Let no such man be trusted."
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andrewsrea
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Location: Lake Saint Louis, MO
Gearlist: 28 Guitars: (2) basses, (2) acoustics, (3) hollow bodies, (3) Semi hollow, (1) Double-neck, (17) Solid-bodies

Partscaster wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2024 7:13 am Thats going to look great. I like the fiery red tortoise shell. Gonna be nice on that natural finish, bringing it some pizzazz .
Agreed! The tourtouse PG on a natural clear finish was really a mid to late 70's thing and always looked classy!
Live life to the fullest! - Rob
Tonray's Ghost
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There is a Japanese second hand store called Mono-Loop in Bangkok. They have a small guitar section and frankly most of the guitars are a wreck. There was a decent looking Candy Apple Red SX Strat there for about $70 bucks. But what interested me were these old MIJ Yamaha SG style...I did not have time to take a hard look but a little research today showed me these could be gems if in decent shape. There were a couple and they had price tags of about $750 stuck on them. Seems that these 80's models MIJ sell on Ebay for anywhere from $1200 to $3200 depending on condition and model. Next week will investigate further..and maybe that SX for $70 too good to pass up too
jcwillow777
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Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2021 9:49 pm

So I'm pretty much done with the SX I recently bought. The frets are filed down and it plays as smooth as butta. Aside from the new pick guard and cream knobs, etc. I put in a set of cream GFS Neodymium Single Pickup - True Vintage Sparkle Kwikplug pups. They are noiseless, and I love them. I really haven't bought any GFS pups that I didn't like. I also bought a Kwikplug wiring harness from them too. That was the easiest pup/wiring change I have ever done! I swapped out the saddles too for a set of GFS stainless steel saddles. They are really nice, and very reasonably priced. Also a new set of roller trees from AliExpress. I bought a brass block from GFS to replace the wimpy one in the SX. Well, the wimpy one is still in it. It was too big, I guess I knew it was a tad big when I bought it, but I thought I could grind it down a little and make it work. I did grind it down, but I couldn't get it to work, YET. I'm gonna work on it a little later. Right now I just wanna play this baby! Overall I am happy with the outcome.

I started using D'Addario .008s on all of my guitars a several years ago. B4 then it was .10s I put a set of .008s on the SX, experimental when trying out the new block. I thought they felt a little stiff, so I ordered a set of Ernie Ball Zippy Slinky .007s. I am in love. I haven't used EB strings in years. From now on all of my Strats/Teles are gonna have EB .007s. They are soooo slinky feeling. I have to admit when I first started playing them I thought they were a little too slinky. But the more I play, the more I like. The ease of bending and over bending (3 frets) notes is sooooo easy! If .007s are good enough for Billy Gibbons... Still gonna use D'Addarios .008s on my stop talipiece style guitars. I have a boatlaod of D'Addario .10s that I will probably never use again. Oh well.

The cream pup covers I bought from AliEpress didn't fit!!! More of a hassle to send them back, the pick guard did fit, I just needed to drill some new holes, but I figured I would.

Oh yeah, it came with an SX soft case. The zipper already broke cause the guitar is a little too big for the case. I just ordered one from Sweetwater. It will be here Thursday. :-)

Gonna take it to Church and play it this Sunday.

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