A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

Hey all. I just picked up Jr copy with P90s in TV yellow. This model: https://www.rondomusic.com/callistojrtvy.html

I’m looking at it, and realize mine has a sharper horn, and the upper bout is a different shape. I assume this is an older version and they had to redesign at some point (lawsuit maybe?).

Just curious. Cool guitar, and my first SX since I had a LP copy in the early 2000s.

Edit: The f hole is a sticker.

I like it, especially the sharper horn. The F hole fooled me until you mentioned it was a sticker. I like the idea of a semihollow special though.

Welcome to the forum and you are correct, it is an older model. It definitely was built before 2014 (when I first became aware of Agile and SX) because of the horn, and probably after 2010 or so because of the Agile style headstock.. The really old ones have a headstock like this:

Congrats! That sticker looks nice too!

I'm guessing mine, which I love, was made around the same time as yours:

Congrats and welcome! That's one SX model I wish I would have grabbed back in the day. I like the yellow, also remember a cool Pelham Blue of the same model. And yes, they had a few different variations over the years, i agree that the pointy horn was older.

Yep, that F hole had me excited too for a second. You'll have to excuse some of us for being fooled, as it's exactly the type of quirky thing one might expect to see offered on Rondo's website in the old days. I'm not the only guy here who has ever seen a post about some unique but now long discontinued SX, Hadean,or Douglas model and said to himself, "Why didn't I buy one of those when I had the chance?"

Even though the F hole is a sticker, aesthetically speaking it balances out the pickguard. Are you a Paul Gilbert fan by any chance? He used to put fake F Holes on his Ibanez guitars and I always thought it looked cool while cleverly referencing the lineage of stringed instruments from which the modern electric guitar is descended.

Congrats on you new/vintage SX and welcome to the forum.

I bought the Pelham blue used for a friend. I might have bought it from the old AGF forum?

I wonder if he still has it?

I hate to resurrect a thread, but it's pretty consistent with @squierjoshj's OP. I'm finally going to join the Callisto JR club. I didn't grab one from Rondo, but just found this one, also with the sharper horn at GC Used this morning, so it's on its way. I assume it will be a lot like the AD-201.

BatUtilityBelt wrote: ↑Wed Mar 12, 2025 11:47 am I hate to resurrect a thread, but it's pretty consistent with @squierjoshj's OP. I'm finally going to join the Callisto JR club. I didn't grab one from Rondo, but just found this one, also with the sharper horn at GC Used this morning, so it's on its way. I assume it will be a lot like the AD-201.
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The Callisto was heavier than my AD.

BatUtilityBelt wrote: ↑Wed Mar 12, 2025 11:47 am I hate to resurrect a thread, but it's pretty consistent with @squierjoshj's OP. I'm finally going to join the Callisto JR club. I didn't grab one from Rondo, but just found this one, also with the sharper horn at GC Used this morning, so it's on its way. I assume it will be a lot like the AD-201.
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Congrats!

And I, personally, like my SX P90s more than my Agile P90s.

dabbler wrote: ↑Wed Mar 12, 2025 6:21 pm Congrats!

And I, personally, like my SX P90s more than my Agile P90s.

Thanks! I'll definitely A/B them with one of the AD-201. I never wanted to swap those pickups either, so your take is encouraging. I just really like the idea of 2 volumes, that lets us blend the pickups exactly how we want.

I have the nat finish newer callisto Jr. Great guitar. I was just playing it tonight.
I like seeibg a selection of different colored guitars. So sick of black white and red. But it does bug me when companies call this a TV yellow. They should just call it yellow. It's OK for it to be yellow.

nomadh wrote: ↑Fri Mar 14, 2025 5:39 am I have the nat finish newer callisto Jr. Great guitar. I was just playing it tonight.
I like seeibg a selection of different colored guitars. So sick of black white and red. But it does bug me when companies call this a TV yellow. They should just call it yellow. It's OK for it to be yellow.

Sure it is. But let them have their marketing moment while giving homage to Les Paul who, I believe, came up with the name. I believe it was a way, in the days of b&w TV, to have the guitar show up light on the screen but not be washed out like a white and not be drab like a gray when seen in person.

nomadh wrote: ↑Fri Mar 14, 2025 5:39 am I like seeibg a selection of different colored guitars. So sick of black white and red. But it does bug me when companies call this a TV yellow. They should just call it yellow. It's OK for it to be yellow.

I agree. But it bugs me more that they called it a JR. To my thinking, a JR has 1 pickup, and a Special has 2 pickups, period.

I have a 2009 Sx Callisto Jr., with the different upper bout. As @tobijohn mentioned, the yellow thinline one in the original post is pre-2009. I want to say that was a brief offering from the 2007 - 2008 time period. I remember seeing them offered and I did not get introduced to Rondo until 2007.

BatUtilityBelt wrote: ↑Wed Mar 12, 2025 11:47 am ...I assume it will be a lot like the AD-201.

They're heavier than they look and heavier than AD-201s. Mine is close to 9lbs, the AD-201s are around 7.5lbs.

BatUtilityBelt wrote: ↑Wed Mar 12, 2025 11:47 am I hate to resurrect a thread, but it's pretty consistent with @squierjoshj's OP. I'm finally going to join the Callisto JR club. I didn't grab one from Rondo, but just found this one, also with the sharper horn at GC Used this morning, so it's on its way. I assume it will be a lot like the AD-201.
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Resurrected threads are cool!

I suppose you have your F sticker ready at hand, right?

Congrats, enjoy it!

tobijohn wrote: ↑Fri Mar 14, 2025 1:33 pm They're heavier than they look and heavier than AD-201s. Mine is close to 9lbs, the AD-201s are around 7.5lbs.

Oh, I think I see it now. To me, it looks like the Callisto JR is more akin to the AD-2300, and your weight comment makes sense of that to me too. My AD-2300 is 1.8575" thick and clocks in at 9 lbs, 7 oz. It's a bit beefy. If the Callisto JR is just like it, then it's pretty redundant except for the switch position. But if it's a bit lighter, it might be a great compromise between the AD-2300 and the AD-201. My Callisto JR arrives tomorrow, so I'm on egg shells here.

My SX LP Special...I call it "The Red Menace".

Gibson Mini in the Neck Position, Dimarzio Super Distortion in the Bridge Position and...

A Fishman TriplePlay Midi Pickup.

I've since added a Roller Bridge, TP-6 Fine Tuning Tailpiece and Locking Tuners ALL from Guyker.

Sad ending on the GC Callisto JR today. Apparently the Daytona Beach GC put the guitar in this rickety old acoustic case with no bubble wrap, so it played pinball the whole trip. Lots of dings, busted strap button, busted pickup switch, looks like blunt force trauma maybe cracked the neck a bit. So it's going back.

I really like what the guitar was before all the damage though. For the record, this one only weighs 7 lbs, 13 oz. It does play, and the pickups seem like an exact match of the AD-2300's P90s. Too bad, but I'm not into this level of repair (the neck does it for me).

Edit: pics
Neck stress? Howdy Doody case with no bubble wrap