SX VTG Series Strat-Style Solidbody

I really don't know how the owner of this sunburst SX VTG Series Strat-Style Solidbody managed to get hold of one, but it's brand new. Word is that SX were forced to redesign their headstock shape after you-know-who threatened them with a lawsuit ages ago. Now, as this guitar sports the old-style headstock; it must be NOS that someone had carefully stashed away for years. Heck, even the "SX Guitar" gig bag looks mint.

Let's explore this guitar further, then. It sure looks like a '60s Strat, right down to the vintage-style tuners. The C-shaped maple neck sports a skunk stripe and "two way truss rod" with access at the headstock end. There's no walnut plug at this end though, just plain maple.

The 12" radius rosewood fretboard sports 21 medium-jumbo frets, side dot markers and pearloid dot fretboard markers. The rosewood board is rather dry, but a good dose of lemon oil should fix that in no time. The frets have been crowned with care, and sliding one's hand up and down the neck is a pleasure. This is proof that someone took the time and trouble to properly dress the fret ends. Good on you, SX!

Neck pocket fit is nice and tight, something I have rarely seen on lower-priced guitars. I'm also pleased that the neck pitch is sufficient for a low-action setup. No need for a shim or anything like that. Saves me a lot of time because now I don't have to remove the neck to make any adjustments.

As for the body, it seems to be two pieces of solid wood, probably topped with an attractive ash-like veneer. The three-tone sunburst finish has been artistically applied, and protected by a thick layer of clear poly. You might find it hard to believe, but there isn't a finish defect to be found anywhere.

The vintage white three-ply pickguard, pickup covers and switch tip complement the body nicely, I must say. The three ceramic single coils have flat polepieces, and the bridge is a generic vintage-style six-screw tremolo with block saddles. The skinny trem block is most probably zinc, and only has three holes for three springs. This means you'll have to break out your portable drill if you ever want/need to add more springs.

The body features HSH pickup cavity routing, and is unshielded. Which is a plus point, strangely enough; as the lack of shielding paint allows one to clearly see that the body is solid wood. It's not a sandwich; and definitely not plywood. Might it be ash? I salivate at the thought.

Electronics consist of the three aforementioned three single coils, mated to a generic PCB five-way switch, mini pots; and sturdy output jack. The switching sequence is as one might expect: neck only, neck+middle, middle only, middle+bridge; and bridge only. The controls are for master volume, neck tone, and middle tone; which is vintage-correct.

I set up this SX with Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys (010-046) and almost no relief, plugged it into my Ross G515 MiniMouth (which I use for testing both guitars and basses) and spent some time noodling away. I tell you, she's a smooth player. And, yes, I turned on my phone recorder and uploaded the audio file to SoundCloud. Do give it a listen if you're curious about what this guitar sounds like.

On the whole, this SX VTG Series Strat-Style Solidbody represents value for money, and performs much better than most lower-priced guitars I've worked on so far. If you can find one, grab it before someone else does!

Acknowledgement
Fender®, Stratocaster®, Strat®, Telecaster®, Tele®, P Bass®, Precision Bass®, and the distinctive headstock designs of these guitars are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

 

SX Standard Series Strat-Style Left-Handed Conversion

The first thing I was asked to do on this right-handed SX Standard Series Strat-style was to convert it to a left-handed instrument. This basically meant flipping the nut and stringing it with the high E string closest to the ceiling. But as the existing nut was broken, it was best to simply install a new one.

The guitar had not been played in years and was full of grime, crud and rust. The electronics had crapped out altogether, and as for the hardware, well; the less said the better. I should also mention that the stock tuners were missing their nylon washers, would not turn; and were thus unusable.

However, the owner wanted these tuners retained because he really loved the "SX" logo stamped on the back. Yeah, I thought they looked cool too. So he went on a world-wide online search for replacement washers. Finally found them in a UK store; but they didn't ship to Malaysia. Major bummer!

Now, it so happened that I had a couple of used Vape device OCC (Organic Cotton Coil) sourced from a nearby Vape shop. "Sourced" meaning I got them for free as they were going to dispose of them anyway --- lucky me! Some of these OCCs had silicone ring washers which fit the SX tuners quite nicely; albeit after a little modification. Each tuner required 3 or 4 of these washers to get it turning again. Thank goodness! Realizing that these washers would need to be replaced somewhere down the road; I gave him all the extras I had fabricated.

The stock electronics were replaced with Alpha 250K pots, five way switch, 0.022uF tone cap; and Neutrik/Rean NYS229 output jack. Once I'd completed this, I discovered to my dismay that the control cavity was now too narrow to accomodate the full-sized Alpha pots. So out came the mallet, chisels and "Cremel" (Chinese Dremel knockoff). A few hours later, and I managed to get the pickguard on like it should.

When I was finally done, the only stock parts on this guitar were the neck, tuners, body, plastic control knobs, pickguard, back cover, pickups; and bridge plate. It had been a lot of work, but at least the owner now had a left-handed guitar to call his own.

SX Mahogany Explorer Repair

This SX Explorer-style solidbody was suffering from a missing nut, grimy fretboard, tarnished frets, immobile saddles and bridge posts, worn-out tuning machines, plus noisy pots and toggle switch. On the plus side, however, the neck and body were solid mahogany; while the output jack was a genuine Switchcraft.

The aforementioned ailments were remedied with a new set of quality tuning machines, custom-fitted nut, fretboard cleanup (recond), thorough bridge de-rusting/lube job, and new toggle switch plus pots (Alpha 500K). I retained the original Switchcraft output jack as all it needed was some contact cleaner and lots of TLC.