Hey, hey, how are the slave labor guitars: Gibson-Baldwin Signatures and SX/Agiles

Haven't come across any Rondo instruments, but I have noticed that the quality of extreme budget electric guitars is immeasurably beter than it was when I was a kid.

The Gibsons in BestBuy were bolt-ons, but the SXs and Agiles are set necks, which surprised me.

Now, on the other hand, the SXs and Agiles do come in a variety including Junior's in TV yellow and LP "Gold Top[s]" -- one even amazing with three P-90s.

Try this: http://www.rondomusic.net

The prices are staggeringly silly and they appear to be Chinese and Korean imports.

I started out on cheap junk guitars but even by those standards, these are lots cheaper. I think I payed at least $150 for a Kent in the early 70's. And a Hondo Pro II was significantly more. These were made overseas, mostly all rebranded from the Teisco plants in Japan, I think, which did not employ slave labor.

I don't know how it was over your side or the atlantic, but over here, the kind of breakthrough price/quality instrument was WESTONE. They were unbelievably good for the money. My sister-in-law bought an old Westone Rainbow a couple of years ago for 25 quid, and I picked it up & played with it last year. Still a nice back-to-basics 2-pickup job, it was still playable, and in tune 20 years after it was new!

Have you ever tried one of those late-'70's Kawais? Kind of similar in outline to the double cutaway Gretch solid body, but with a slotted headstock? They got blown out over here in something like 1981 for 100-150 quid. I always fancied one, and picked up an example in good nick for 200 quid off ebay last year. Wow, man, what an instrument!

Well, if they're using slave labor then it might actually be cheaper to do a set neck and save a few pennies on bolts.

Starway!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Starway-Electric-Guitar-Restrung-Perfect-Working-Order_W0QQitemZ7361679517QQcategoryZ621QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Look at those flipping 'piano-key' switches!

!!! Good grief! Surely the ultimate instrument for JaMC-style feedback?

I only used it on one song during the set - the one with the big feedback squall at the end.

Earl's right tho... a lot of the cheaper guitars are made okay but have shit electronics. I replaced the pups and pots in that Strat.

Anyone know if Best Buy is stocking the Fender Starcaster packs anywhere yet? (rebranded Squier with a godawful looking headstock). As a Fender dealer, I'm much more concerned with how well those come across.

They're sold near the washing machines and dryers, in with the boomboxes in my nearest store. I guess it's a reversion to the days when Sears sold musical instruments decades ago.

Price Paid: US $25
Features: 5
Plastic knobs, Plywood Top, Back, and Sides, Groovy sunburst finish....This is a Toy...I bought it for my 6 mo old so he could beat up on it instead of my guitar. I tuned and played 6 of these at the local target to find "the right one" $25 guitar

Sound: 5
Not bad for a plywood box. I keep it tuned to open G and strum and play slide on it...sounds pretty good...really bluesy the intonation is bad though....

Action, Fit, & Finish: 4
Ouch! Sharp frets! Bad intonation....ok action....not worth fixing right now....

Reliability/Durability: 8
TOUGHEST little guitar I have ever messed with. My boy (now 18 mos) and his friends HAMMER on this thing plus they pour their sippy cups on it...even crusty and bashed it still plays/sounds ok. I used to try and minimize the abuse it got but now I'm pretty curious to see what will finally kill it...... I took 2 points away cause the finish pretty much flakes off (must be french polihsed heh heh).

Customer Support: N/A
Wouldn't know

Overall Rating: 7
Been playing a long time....recently started slide and I really like this guitar for that... This is not really a guitar but more of a cheapie six string ukelele..... Sounds better than my martin backpacker though (although worse intonation)....I've thought about getting another one as a travel guitar....

Cheers!

Rondo gets a fair bit of Harmony Central love, so I gave one of the 3000Ms a try when they blew 'em out ($299 for a full maple cap, grovers, and ebony fretboard? um, okay!).

Very nice fit'n'finish. Seriously great looking guitar except for the stubby l'il microhorn (I went with the plain black, nothing flamy). A lot of folks change out the pups'n'pots. And now I know why. I struggled for a few nights to coax a decent sound out of it, but anything on the G string or below tended to come out all plinkityplink-like, and the tone controls didn't help since they were effectively on/off switches with decorative numeral markers.

A very decent, well-finished slab of mahogany and maple though, and the ebony fretboard (my first) was mmmm silky. Didn't feel like investing in it though since I'm entirely happy with the stock EpElite I've already got, so back it went. Customer service: entirely good. I'm thinking about trying the P-90 doublecut if I can't find a decent yellow one in auctionland.

NOT fair to compare Agile to the Gibson/Baldwin line. No experience with SX.

I have a SG Les Paul Custom from the mid-70's or something, a Les Paul Junior with one P-90, a Yamaha SG and a Variax. If I want a cheap- sounding guitar like the Kend, I switch the Variax to the Danelectro emulation in the "resonator" bank.

As a learner and kid, having to wrestle the guitar to get good tone in early bands really ate it. If I were a parent, and I'm not, I wouldn't start my kid, if the kid was serious, on an instrument like the Gibson-Baldwin Signature or any of the First Act things they have in these stores.

For under $100, you could do worse than...

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Guitar/Electric?sku=519795

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Guitar/Electric?sku=512150

but I have noticed that the quality of extreme budget electric guitars is immeasurably beter than it was when I was a kid.

by which (extreme budget electric) I was referring to stuff like the JHS-distributed "vintage" range, which start at 169 uk pounds. Far, far better that what we used to play.

These 49 quid jobs must be another level of suction altogether, surely.

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data4/First_Act/ME_302_Telecaster_Copy-1.html

Yes, I was browsing the store again recently. Horrible wrap-around bridges are stock with stamp-edged fulcrums, guaranteed to break strings like a hot knife through butter. Fingerboard felt like a polymer.