How good can a $99 guitar sound? Very good according to Dave Criddle, co-host of the Home Made Hit Show podcast. Dave was referring to his new SST57, a Stratocaster knockoff from Rondo Music. Rondo has been importing Chinese and Korean built instruments since 1959.

While Rondo readily admits that these guitars are “great for beginners or novice players to learn on,” most experienced players like to have “beat up” guitar that they don’t have to worry about scratching or denting. And many pros will reserve their $10,000+ instruments for studio use, while gigging live with a sub-thousand dollar ax. Few sound systems can even effectively  reproduce the nuances of difference between these instruments in a live situation.

Although Dave prefers the feel of his $600 G&L ASAT, he finds no difference in the sound quality between his $99 SST and a friends borrowed $1,000 “real” Strat. The fit, finish and setup action of the Rondos may reveal thier price range, but co-HMHS host and co-Rondo enthusiast Tony Butterworth recommends a full fledged setup (rod adjust, fret filing, etc.) straight out of the box as an important step in Rondo ownership.

For months I’ve had a hankering for a Tele, but have been hesitant to drop six to ten bills on a real one. I wonder if a $109 STL50 3TS Sunburst would sufficiently scratch that itch? Hmmmm … you may be seeing a guitar review here soon.

What’s your opinion of cheap guitars? Have any experience with Rondo? Let me know through the comments here.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 4th, 2009 at 2:00 am and is filed under Gear. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.