The neck has dried out...
and when the neck dries out, the wood shrinks, which makes the frets protrude. This happens to all guitars, which is why the more expensive ones have binding on the sides of the fretboard. It's not just there to look pretty. Just re-humidify it, and then if it still sucks, send it back. Are you saying Rondo wouldn't take it back? Send me a pic, I might be interested in it.
I've cut myself on Squires, Epiphones, and even Fenders, as well as a myriad of other cheap guitars. Oh, and BTW, the absolute worst ones have been the OLP's, otherwise I probably would've bought a couple by now.
As far as the price difference on those two goes, VeganZombie had it. Mostly it's the different body wood. Generally the maple and rosewood necks are the same price. If you look at any mid-priced guitar or bass, you pretty much always have to pay more for certain finishes because it changes the wood they use underneath. A finish that you can see the wood grain through forces them to use a better-looking piece of wood, hence it costs more. Go to Musician's Friend and compare finishes within the same axe and you'll see what I mean.
I've got 2 SX basses and one SX guitar. Not high quality by any stretch of the imagination, but definitely as good or better than anything I've seen in the price range, and believe me, I've seen plenty. The tuners aren't very good, but at that price point, what do you expect? My only beef is with the maple fretless, which I bought because, c'mon, where else are you gonna get a maple fretless except on a high end or custom instrument? (This is where APL points out the you can get options from Carvin that they don't advertise
) Anyway, the 'fretlines' are really essentially wood frets that have been inserted into the fret slots and filed down. Not a bad concept, but the execution was a little lacking. There's a slight dip where the fretlines are, which kind of messes with the whole fretless vibe. Still, I didn't hate it enough to send it back.
And speaking of finishes, the maple necks on the SX line are tinted to have that aged look of 50's lacquer. Some will hate it, but I dig it.
I like them just because between them and Agile, they've got some very unusual stuff, and I like unusual stuff. I thought I got great email support, too. Answered some pretty weird and stupid questions promptly and courteously.
Here's my suggestion. If you don't play now, and you just want to get something to goof around with, it's fine, as are most of the other cheapo's. Then when you get a feel for the instrument and say 'hey, this is pretty cool' and want to stick with it and take it further, upgrade. If you're getting into/starting a band, my personal advice would be to get something a little better (don't look in the sub $200 catagory) from the beginning and go for it.
Good luck and have FUN.
