Members chuck1016 Posted December 19, 2009 Members Share Posted December 19, 2009 During the down time a box showed up at my door with my new SX Mahogany Hawk in it. I've had a week or so to tweak it, complain about it, tweak it some more, and get used to it. There's a lot of good and a lot of bad to this guitar, but over all it's about what I expected for $119: The Good: Sounds great! P90s are wound opposite for hum canceling in the middle position and give you three very distinct, very usable tones. I put Alpha 250k pots and a .047 cap in it (just my personal preference) and I have no complaints on tone. It's surprisingly light for a mahogany body. It's the same weight or possibly a shade lighter than my H1 strat. Nice neck. I understand now why so many comments are made about SX necks. It's not a baseball bat, but it's substantial. It took me a day or two to get used to it as it's thicker than my other guitars, but it's very comfortable. Super fast shipping! It arrived at my door two days after I ordered it. The Bad The tuners are garbage! Not only stiff and jerky to turn, but two of the plastic collars popped off before could get new strings tuned up. I had to tighten the buttons down, which made them even more stiff. They're gone as soon as I can get replacements. There's a blemish at the 3rd fret that I'm pretty sure is where something bumped it before the clear coat was dry. The springs under the bridge pickup weren't long enough to allow pickup adjustments. I put some longer springs from a humbucker mount in it and it's fine. The pole pieces on the bridge pickup aren't adjustable. I spun them for a while and they didn't move. The neck pickup screws moved just fine. There are a couple high spots on the frets. The most aggravating of which is at the 7th fret and is bad enough that anything behind it on the D & G strings buzz out. I'm watching CL for a replacement neck, but I'll probably end up leveling the frets and keeping this neck on it. The tort on the pickguard is some kind of print that raises up when you tighten the screws One of the pickguard screws was stripped The Bottom Line This is definitely not one of the gorgeous flame maple neck oddities that DC and others have posted pics of in SX threads, and it's not an amazing "bang for your buck" guitar...but it's not junk either (except the tuners ) If I were looking for a great starter guitar I might be disappointed in this one, but since I have to tweak & mod every instrument I touch anyway, I'm not too upset. Here are the pics: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Loudog99 Posted December 19, 2009 Members Share Posted December 19, 2009 Honestly, your "bad" points are pretty minor considering the price paid. You could upgrade with GFS Wilkenson tuners, Tusq or Graphtech pre-cut nut, stainless steel saddles, and a new pickguard and have an EXCELLENT guitar for around $200. Fill the stripped screw hole with a toothpick dipped in wood glue, trim it flush once dry and re-drill a pilot hole. Good as new. I don't see the problem with any of that at all. The neck and body alone are worth the price and the fact that those SX P90s sound killer is icing on the cake. Everything else can be upgraded from GFS with a bit more cash. Congrats, that looks like a very nice guitar for not allot of money. Lou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chuck1016 Posted December 19, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 19, 2009 Honestly, your "bad" points are pretty minor considering the price paid... ...Everything else can be upgraded from GFS with a bit more cash. Yea, that's the plan. Like I said, I'm not too upset about it. I'll have a good time tinkering with it and have a great guitar in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jjpistols Posted December 19, 2009 Members Share Posted December 19, 2009 I bet Kurt would send replacement tuners if ya sent him that pic, but tuners and fret finishing are the weakest points of a new SX, I've found the tuners usually hold tune fine, but don't feel smooth like nicer machines those SX p90s are little badasses though, huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted December 19, 2009 Members Share Posted December 19, 2009 The tuners on the 2 sx's I have were horrible. I replaced them, the nuts and the saddles (obviously can't replace those on yours!) and the guitars were great. Fretwork and necks are amazing for any price ax. Yours looks really nice! I would level the frets and replace the nut and I'm sure you'll be happy w/it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SuproSuper Man Posted December 19, 2009 Members Share Posted December 19, 2009 are you sure that the tortise pickguard is a print and that its not the peel off plastic that usually ships on most pickguards to protect them from getting scratched ..? Im just guessing that its that clear protective plastic that is what your seeing when you tighten the pickguard screws,,,try pulling it up at one of the edges if its transparent then its just the protective plastic and can be taken right off to reveal the true color of your pickguard... wow that ding in the neck looks nasty... EDIT NOTE - JJ seems to know about these guitars , ask him first if his came with plasic protective peel on the pickguard if your scared to try pulling it off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dimmypage Posted December 19, 2009 Members Share Posted December 19, 2009 Ive gotten a lot worse and paid a hellava lot more.Nice lookin guit for $119:thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Big Elipso Posted December 19, 2009 Members Share Posted December 19, 2009 I just got a bass from them yesterday. Its a Christmas present for my kid. I only had a few minutes to look at it but it looks pretty good. The only thing I could see was the neck might need the truss rod loosened a little bit. Otherwise it looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vintage clubber Posted December 19, 2009 Members Share Posted December 19, 2009 looks cool! If I got one of those, I'd do the vibramate bigsby on it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted December 19, 2009 Members Share Posted December 19, 2009 It is a pretty nice looking guitar. I'm a big fan of cheapies, but I'm more of a 'wait for the right 80s to early 90s Japanese or Korean guitar comes along' kinda cheapie guy. I have had two SXes, both were bought used locally. I actually thought both were solid guitars. The strat had been modded a bit, had new tuners and a new nut. The Tele had stock tuners which are pretty terrible. I know his primary market isn't to HCEG, but it's a shame they don't just go with $5 or $10 more expensive tuners from the start. I've bought several pairs of various tuners from GFS and they've all been solid and my guess is they are made in the same Chinese factory as the stock SX tuners, but at a $1 per tuner higher price point. Still, it's nice that SX and GFS offer guitars that are reasonably solid in non-traditional colors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brewski Posted December 19, 2009 Members Share Posted December 19, 2009 congrats - now send it back and ask for a replacement unit - Kurt wants you to be happy. I had to send back three Agile PS-970's becuase of a packing flaw that ended up denting each one in the same spot on the body - Kurt replaced each time and then we chatted and he discovered the ship box flaw and fixed. the only was he can know your issues is for you to tell him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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