Rondo Music Brands

[MatchBookNotes]

Well as many of you are aware Rondo has three main names of guitars; agile, douglas, and sx.
I can see by the price and work sx are the lowest,
agile ranges, but what about douglas brand?
they have some half decent looking semi-hollows.

sorry if this flags the spam alert, but I am interested because their shipping is cheaper than guitarfetish.

[tmix]

My brother bought one of the fret less basses, I don't know which series, but it was under $150.
It was surprisingly good. Very nice in fact. So much so he sent off for a P-Bass copy which was equally nice.

They play and sound very nice .It also is nice when you are traveling to leave your expensive stuff at home and carry stuff that if mishandled, won't set you back a grand.

[Roguetitan]

Rondo sells good instruments

[Gear_Junky]

i almost bought a rondo guitar and bass, but the models i wanted were sold out.

i've been hanging out agileguitarforums.com for a while, been reading reviews and even looked at the douglas semi-hollows.

if i was in the market, i'd buy one without hesitation - it's sure to be a better value and possibly even a better instrument than an epiphone. if there's any problems, you can send back at no cost to you.

but, considering that you'd probably be upgrading tuners/bridge/pickups, you may wanna look at ibanez - they have some interesting values.

for instance, their bigsby equipped guitars already come with a roller bridge as they should. they seem to be most thought out.

[dgatwood]

Originally Posted by Gear_Junky

if i was in the market, i'd buy one without hesitation - it's sure to be a better value and possibly even a better instrument than an epiphone. if there's any problems, you can send back at no cost to you.

but, considering that you'd probably be upgrading tuners/bridge/pickups, you may wanna look at ibanez - they have some interesting values.

I don't know about the OP, but that's why I would want to buy a cheap instrument in the first place. I'm looking at 5-strings and/or 6-strings, and I figure I'll end up gutting, rewiring, reshielding, etc. whatever bass I buy (heck, I wasn't even completely satisfied with a $1600 Fender), so I might as well start with something that's good enough wood-wise, but is as cheap as possible in every other regard so I'm not spending lots of money on parts that are going to get replaced anyway.

[Guitarer]

Douglas makes good guitars as well. One of my buddies got one of their flame topped Telecasters they don't have any more. It's a very nice instrument. I want the S copy they have. They had a really nice neck through one, but now it's just that Ice Blue with the EMG HZs.

[toobalicious]

i also have an SX fretless jazz copy. first, the electronics are pure garbage. the pickups are among the worst i have ever heard. the hardware is cheap and light (but the tuners reasonably hold tune). one of my saddles was stripped from the factory, making intonation impossible (but they sent a replacement bridge post-haste).

but...

with new pickups, wiring and pots, and a badass bridge (all of which i already had collecting dust), the bass is quite sweet. the neck is by far the best part of the bass, and with minor dressing and a good set-up, the bass feels and plays great. i dont see anything beating it for the money, and frankly, it is at least as good as a lot of instruments costing exponentially more.

a

[whyseye]

I just ordered the short scale fretless P copy - I'll post more once I've had the chance to play with it....

[Gear_Junky]

in that case Rondo stuff is probably THE best to get!

Originally Posted by dgatwood

I don't know about the OP, but that's why I would want to buy a cheap instrument in the first place. I'm looking at 5-strings and/or 6-strings, and I figure I'll end up gutting, rewiring, reshielding, etc. whatever bass I buy (heck, I wasn't even completely satisfied with a $1600 Fender), so I might as well start with something that's good enough wood-wise, but is as cheap as possible in every other regard so I'm not spending lots of money on parts that are going to get replaced anyway.

[dgatwood]

Originally Posted by toobalicious

i also have an SX fretless jazz copy. first, the electronics are pure garbage. the pickups are among the worst i have ever heard. the hardware is cheap and light (but the tuners reasonably hold tune). one of my saddles was stripped from the factory, making intonation impossible (but they sent a replacement bridge post-haste).

Out of curiosity, was this their low-end or high-end electronics that you are describing?

[dave.....]

i bought 3 guitars from rondo ..... a lp copy [changed the pickups] a lp jr copy [sounds great the way it is] and a pj bass copy [again sounds great the way it is] ... all 3 are sx ... all 3 are a great deal for the $$ .... great guitars for playing dive bars .... great necks ... nice action .... just need a little set up

[notCardio]

Originally Posted by dave.....

i bought 3 guitars from rondo ..... a lp copy [changed the pickups] a lp jr copy [sounds great the way it is] and a pj bass copy [again sounds great the way it is] ... all 3 are sx ... all 3 are a great deal for the $$ .... great guitars for playing dive bars .... great necks ... nice action .... just need a little set up

+1

I've got that Jr, too. Heavy. Mine's the natural mahogany one, what's yours?

[Tadpui]

Originally Posted by toobalicious

i also have an SX fretless jazz copy. first, the electronics are pure garbage. the pickups are among the worst i have ever heard. the hardware is cheap and light (but the tuners reasonably hold tune). one of my saddles was stripped from the factory, making intonation impossible (but they sent a replacement bridge post-haste).

I found the opposite to be true of my SX 5-string J-bass. The pickups sound pretty damn good but the tuners won't hold tune and are very difficult to fine-tune. Not a good gear ratio so small adjustments are difficult. Plus the truss rod on mine is all screwed up so I'm probably going to need to replace the neck.

[MatchBookNotes]

from reading the other posts, aren't they supposed to replace things if they're broken or screwed up like your truss rod?


thanks for your opinions guys, appreciate it.

[Tadpui]

Yes, they're very good about responding to email. They've offered to replace my bass but I don't have the original sales slip or any sort of proof of purchase. Plus the truss rod bit is kind of my own doing (long story, kind of)...

[JCM900]

Originally Posted by Roguetitan

Rondo sells good instruments

Compared to what?

[toobalicious]

Originally Posted by dgatwood

Out of curiosity, was this their low-end or high-end electronics that you are describing?

i bought this bass:

http://www.rondomusic.com/sjb62ctfretless.html

its not that the pups *sounded* so awful, but that they were so incredibly microphonic that i swear i could hear myself farting through the amp. no, i dont play gimmicky backwards or behind-the-head bass (well, not usually). digging a little deeper, the lack of quality is apparent, especially the pots, and wiring, and jack (yes, everything). also, the ground to the bridge was missing on my bass. hole was drilled, but no wire. not sure how that made it through QC, $140 bass or not. the hardware is of the "pot-metal" variety, as near as i can tell. reminds me of a hot wheels, only thinner. there were some fit and finish problems, as well. the pickguard was screwed on a little askew. the ashtray cover was either installed while the finish was still soft, or it got mooshed really hard; down to the wood in three spots. the mating surface was not flat or straight. then again, for all i know it was assembled by a 12 year old chinese girl with nine fingers. the knobs are ultra-cheap metal-capped plastic push-on dealies that sit 1/4" off of the control plate. the fretboard was nearly immaculate though, and with a little 600 grit action, the neck feels as good as practically any bass i have played.

look, i am not complaining. i think it was worth every penny. i have paid "$100" for several instruments in my life, but they were all used (it seems $100 used to be a magic number around here, but i digress).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Roguetitan View Post
Rondo sells good instruments


Compared to what?

it isnt that simple. as a whole (at least as far as my SX bass is concerned), it is what it is, a cheap chinese copy. but technology is a bitch, and their CNC stuff works as good as ours, it seems, or nearly so. so, if you get rid of the parts that make the instrument crap (namely electronics and hardware) and replace with good stuff, you end up with a really nice playing and sounding instrument for $300 or so.
FACT: the upgraded SX plays much nicer than a mid-90s MIM fender J i used to have. the neck feels better and has better action; the fender had a couple of high spots that forced higher action. they were only $300 or so when i got it, but they are more like $450+ now--- $479 at MF.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...ss-?sku=516046

it is all relative, though.

a

[JCM900]

Well, I dont know about Rondo, but a lot of the cheap instruments are made from plywood as opposed to real wood. You mentioned a mim fender, I would never consider it any better then the rondo in the first place.
When I started playing about 30 years ago, I started on a super cheap guitar.... it was a 25$ Tiesco, man I thought I was in heaven... I have probably been through about 50 guitars since then and have finally climbed the ladder of guitars, Now I play a Gibson Explorer,(not the cheesy explorer pro with the small body), and I play a Gibson SG standard, and a Gibson Les Paul Custom, which is my latest addition.
I can tell you from experience if you can save 300 or 400 dollars, you can wait a little longer and save the money needed to buy a guitar that will last you the rest of your life, and you dont have to do any parts replacements.
But hey, thats just my opinion.
Above all else... Rock On!

[Toddskins]

My opinion about guitars cannot be taken seriously because I'm not a guitarist. I'm a pianist. I bought the SX, with 2 double humbuckers and 1 single coil. It's a heavy metal axe with Floyd Rose Tremolo, to try and learn. I therefore, also bought a Line 6 Pod XT.

But I did the following to improve it:

1) The intonation was wrong. I had to take it to a specialist for service. For example, when all the strings were in tune at the 12th fret, they were out of tune at the 24th.

2) The locking nut at the top of the guitar, got stripped as I tightened the screws. Rondo sent me a replacement. It stripped, too. I bought a better brand, heavier guage metal, elsewhere.

3) The tuning screws, at the top of the guitar, are made of plastic. Pretty cheesy. But they work.

4) The neck seems okay to me, but WhiteStrat (username on here) did some work on it recently, and he said it was the weakest point in my guitar. He said the wood was not perfectly straight, if I recall correctly.

5) I paid $150 including shipping.

6) It sounds really cool to my ears, playing through the Pod XT.

7) You will love this article by PC Magazine guru, Bill Machrone, who just also happens to love electric guitar, and bought one from Rondo. He did an article and piece on it. Read it for yourselves:

http://machrone.net/usbguitar/

[toobalicious]

Originally Posted by JCM900

Well, I dont know about Rondo, but a lot of the cheap instruments are made from plywood as opposed to real wood. You mentioned a mim fender, I would never consider it any better then the rondo in the first place.
When I started playing about 30 years ago, I started on a super cheap guitar.... it was a 25$ Tiesco, man I thought I was in heaven... I have probably been through about 50 guitars since then and have finally climbed the ladder of guitars, Now I play a Gibson Explorer,(not the cheesy explorer pro with the small body), and I play a Gibson SG standard, and a Gibson Les Paul Custom, which is my latest addition.
I can tell you from experience if you can save 300 or 400 dollars, you can wait a little longer and save the money needed to buy a guitar that will last you the rest of your life, and you dont have to do any parts replacements.
But hey, thats just my opinion.
Above all else... Rock On!

i used the MIM fender J for comparison because (a) it is a bass that i owned for about seven years, and (b) the price of the SX with upgrades compares to what i payed for the fender when it was new (and i alluded to the price inflation that MIM fenders have seen over the last 10 years).

the SX is NOT plywood, but 3 piece alder. the wood is the reason to buy these.

and re: the gibbys you like, i sometimes play with a guy who has an agile lp copy with a couple of upgrades, notably an aftermarket TOM bridge and some nice covered duncan pups. the guitar kills, in tone, playability, and looks. and frankly, the fit and finish of the thing compares to (and is perhaps better than) a lot of "real" gibsons costing 10x more.

i understand the appeal of the "real" article. copying something is as old as mankind, and doing it in a way that can severely undercut the original is basically what business in china is made of. also, brand loyalty is a natural human response, and something that also dates way back. the rondo stuff delivers a reasonable amount of quality at a wal-mart price. and like so many other things, this allows replacement of certain key components to arrive at a decent instrument that dollar-wise, is much greater than the sum of its parts. kind of like upgrading the speakers in your car, or adding a stick of RAM and a nice video card to your compy.

of course, i own ZERO $3000 guitars, and that isnt likely to change anytime soon (lottery notwithstanding).

a

[Buck62]

The bottom line on the guitar brands sold by Rondo is that they are "project" guitars for experienced players and "beginner" guitars for teenagers and novices.

[dgatwood]

Originally Posted by toobalicious

its not that the pups *sounded* so awful, but that they were so incredibly microphonic that i swear i could hear myself farting through the amp.

Sounds like they needed to add a little paraffin.

[Guitarer]

I just bought an SX J-Bass the other day. No doubt in my mind I'll be modding the hell out of it, but that's why I bought it.

After factoring in new pups, new bridge, new tuners, new electronics, and the cost of painting it, I'm only spending $50 less than a Fender Standard MIM, but It's bound to be a good deal better.

[Gear_Junky]

sure, and the same can be said for the majority of Epiphones (i mean the gibson copies, not "the" epiphones), Squiers and possibly even MIM fenders.

there is probably some differences in warranty, etc. but as a player progresses and learns what he wants he's bound to do projects on those, unless maybe he can afford gibson and/or fender (on which people still often upgrade pickups).

Originally Posted by Buck62

The bottom line on the guitar brands sold by Rondo is that they are "project" guitars for experienced players and "beginner" guitars for teenagers and novices.

... and don't forget those who can't afford an expensive instrument (or several) and hobbyists who can't justify spending thousands on guitars/amps (which would actually be robbing the family).

so i'd say rondo is occupying a pretty good niche there. They do good and they do it well and i'm sure they're doing well as a result

[toobalicious]

Originally Posted by dgatwood

Sounds like they needed to add a little paraffin.

actually, these pups are either not potted at all, or are not potted well. i remember no evidence of potting when i pulled them out--- yes, i did give them the once over before filing them away. i have seen other cheapos that had no potting, so this is no surprise. i do remember it having a healthy amount of that brittle "cheap guitar" kind of sound. cool, it *was* a cheap guitar.

but i love the shape and feel of the neck, especially after i wet-sanded the back of it with 600 grit .
a