The Steel Guitar Forum

Well, the Rondo SX was supposed to show up tomorrow according to the Fedex tracking system. Imagine my surprise when it was at the door when I got home from a lesson this morning.

No dings, pickup poles are pretty close to center of the strings, the case looks like it was built around the guitar. Finish is not bad. The body has an open grain look to it, but it does not look bad.

I think I'll get a tetnus booster shot before spending much more time with the strings that came on the SX. Two of them were out of the notches in the bridge and I had to remove the cover to really get the strings wrapped and set correctly. I guess the person who puts strings on in China either works long hours without a break or he/she is smiling as I write this note.

I raised the pickup a bit and, overall it sounds pretty fair through a Roland Cube 60. For $100, I am actually quite impressed. I think I would be nearly as impressed had it not come with a case, but the case really puts it over the line in the value department.

Luckily, my comment to my wife when I mentioned getting another guitar "But honey, it is really cute and inexpensive", came true in the end. When she got home and looked at it, she smiled and, I think, actually held back a laugh. She thought it looked like a toy. As is normally the case, her insight came through loud and clear.

Several on eBay right now, even in solid colors. Not $100 though.

I ordered my stand today
they answered my email and found a stand some Guitars left at $109.95
Must be the OIL
here is there answer

Hi
thanks - we have a few left at $109.95 now

We have in natural and black

http://www.rondomusic.com/LG1na.html
http://www.rondomusic.com/lg1bk.html

stand

http://www.rondomusic.com/lgs50.html

I expect them to be sold out completely by next week

Kurt

Darrell Urbien wrote:Several on eBay right now, even in solid colors. Not $100 though.

Wow! Even at the Aussie prices converted to US dollars, you could get 2.62 SX lap steels from Rondo.

I forgot to mention this. When I opened the case, I was greeted with tiny beads of that silica gel/dessicant stuff that they always warn us not to eat or otherwise ingest. I guess the bag got punctured when they closed the lid. Quite a mess, I might add. It did vacuum right up, though.

FYI, I got my Rondo SX LG1/NA and LG200 stand last friday. I was immediately impressed by the look and feel of it when I pulled it out of the box and like others have said, the case that comes with this thing is incredable. The pickup was a little off but not bad... I'll get to more details in a bit. the first thing I did after a quick inspection was to tune it and plug it into my tube amp. Even with the crummy strings the tone was surprising... very strong with good character and very "county-ish". The controls worked well and good feel when turned. The pickup handles distortion well.

Pros:
- Good tone but I would describe it as an in-between tone. The pickup doesn't have the rock/blues quality of a p90 or humbucker, nor the rich tone I hear in Hawaiian music. This is subjective though and might have different results with a different amp. For what it is it's very good.

- Good looks. The finish on mine is good enough that I will leave it as-is. There are no rough spots and is relatively smooth all over.

- Nice case. It looks good and guitar fits well plus I'm a sucker for guitar shaped cases.

Cons:
- The pickup on mine is about 1/16 off to the left which throws the balance off toward the treble side.

- The bridge is the biggest problem IMO. For one it's huge, so tall in fact that there is no way to get the strings down to where I think they should be. At the nut the strings are just over 3/8 off the fretboard and at the other end mine were 5/8 with the bridge adjusted all the way down. In addition, the strings load at the front, which is directly behind the pickup, so if you want to change one string you have to loosen all of the strings so thet you can shift the bridge rearward until you can get the string in the hole. If you use the chrome cover that has to be removed as well.

For 99 bucks it's a great deal although I see on the site that they've now jacked the price up on the natural to $109. They still have black ones in stock but acording to Curt the naturals won't be available again until sometime next summer.

Because of the pole misalignment, this is the pickup I decided to put on mine:



This is the same pickup I put on my Artisan and it worked out great. It is a dual polepiece, humbucking pickup that only costs $19.90 plus postage from Stew-Mac.com

Erv, how's it sound with the EMG?

I'll fix my alignment problem when I replace the bridge but I also plan to replace the pickup to get away from the 60 cycle hum. Not sure what I'll get yet.

Mark,
I have yet to install this pickup on the guitar under discussion, however, it sounds real good on the Artisan. It is a high impedence pickup typical of steel guitar pickups.
This is the blurb on the pickup:
"A dual-blade hum-cancelling design with the clean warmth of a single-coil".

The SX is a ton of fun. I can imagine all sorts of ways to spend $99 and never remember where it went, but this ain't one of them.

I sorted out the pole alignment by loosening the strings and sliding the bridge over just enough to center on the poles. No more problem.

Not to be one to sit by and gawk while others tweak, I ordered a GFS lipstick PU to try out on the SX. Also swapped out the strings for a set of DR. Ducks. Nice sound and I am no longer playing in fear of getting lockjaw from the original strings.

Are you guys keeping the bridge? I just can't deal with how high the strings are.

I'd actually buy another one if they were in stock.

If anyone wants to sell their's let me know.

The real beuty of these to me is that they're cheap import guitars so I feel that I can mod to my hearts content with no guilt. With a few new parts and a little work I think the SX will be a good daily player that I won't have to worry about getting dinged or scratched.

I can imagine all sorts of ways to spend $99 and never remember where it went,

Now they're up to $109.95.

Harry

I'd be interested in suggestions on a replacement bridge. That's been the biggest problem I've had with these guitars.

On my guitar the three lower bridge inserts were installed backwards, facing the end of the guitar. The result is that the bottom three strings were actually higher than the top three.

This lap steel definitely needs adjustments, but you can't beat the price.

Brad Bechtel wrote:I'd be interested in suggestions on a replacement bridge. That's been the biggest problem I've had with these guitars.

Maybe a cheap LP Jr wraparound would be an decent and easy improvement.
They generally are a lower profile, and you can also notch the middle strings to take some of the radius out.
http://store.guitarfetish.com/lespajuwrinb.html

Brad,
I don't think the saddles are backwards because every tunamatic bridge I've had was set up that way. Never did know the reason for that but mine is the same way.

Tom,
The LP JR bridge idea would be an easy fix if it's actually low enough. I might try it for short term but I still don't like the front load feature of wrap arounds since the pickup is so close.

I'm thinking of making a simple bridge and drilling the body for string through.

Mark ... this diagram from GuitarHeads site, may help.
http://guitarheads.net/productpages/Wrap.htm

.

Just received my SX lap today. Very happy with the sound. Mine is black and the finish is pretty good. Glossy black with chrome. It will come in very handy with 2 of the groups I play with. One is an old time hippy bluegrass group and the other is a Hank Sr type group all 6th tuning type stuff. I'll use my D10 for the alt country singer I backup, more serious gig. But to go out and have some stompin C6 fun. I really apreciate Greg Cutshaws review and tab lessons. Thx Greg! I have been a pedal steeler for 1 yr. and a dobro player for about 3. I got an old really beat up national 8 string to learn C6 on right away. I knew there was something important about that tuning from the Hank sr. era. My favorite sound. Anyway, this is my first posting on the forum and I am proud that it is on the steel without pedals section. Hope you all enjoy your 100$ steel as much as I will.
TC

I received my SX today. The pole pieces are aligned perfectly. What a deal for the price ! The case alone is worth what I paid.

Tom - on the black model is the bridge cover connected to the plat for the volume control as I have seen speculated in another post?


Thanks
Bill

Hi Bill. Mine came with the chrome bridge cover that does not cover the volume and tone pots. It covers only the bridge and stops before the pickup. Pickup is exposed. Also no SX logo on the cover. I prefered this particular bridge cover anyway because it doesnt have the logo on it. I am going to have a Duncan lipstick pickup put in eventually. The poles dont quite line up correctly as other posts indicate, but the lipstick will take care of that plus look really cool. Black and chrome. I am very happy with this thing. I am playing it through a Fender Blues Jr. and a volume pedal. I will be using it out a lot. Finish also really good on mine. I guess it is luck of the draw. These can be easily moded so it still is a great deal. Saw a newer model chinese fender at a music store today. Nowhere near as solid as the SX. $450.00. They are giving these away at 1bill.

Tom P,
I think the LP JR bridge will get the strings down to where they need to be. Thanks

Tom C,
Congrat's on the new guitar. It's interesting that the one you got isn't like the one advertized on the Rondo site. Hope you enjoy it.

Just out of curiosity, what's the tone like with the lipstick?

FYI,
apparently the LG1/NA is available again. Kurt told me last week that they wouldn't be in stock again until next summer but I was just on the website and was able to order one. I don't know what's up with that but I've got a second one on the way

Have not installed it yet. Hoping it is a retro type sound. Need to save a little more money. Greg was right. It is fun playing 6 string lap. And so easy to take to gigs. Happy Steeling. TC

Are the black guitars made from the same mahogany that the original issue SX guitar is made from. I am always very leary when I see a black guitar as to what might be lurking under that finish.

joined the club today...cool little guitar! needs new strings for sure.