SX Review: Telecaster, '57 vintage-style

History:

Purchase: I bought this guitar on ebay for 139 EURO (180$ at the time, but they sell much cheaper in the US). Being used to hollowbodies, this was my first "real" electric guitar. I always liked the telecaster look and sound, which is kind of hard to produce with semiacoustic guitars, and I wanted a cheap, "uncomplicated" guitar to practice and for minor gigs. Looking for tele copies, I ran across this SX model on the internet.

What I Like About This SX Telecaster, '57 vintage-style: Compared to other telecaster lookalikes (except Squier, which I also tested), the SX looked amazingly like the real thing, although the finish (vintage white + white pickguard) may not be original vintage style. Except for the SX logo on the head it looks like a `57 Fender telecaster, and here`s the best thing: it can be equipped with original Fender parts (alas not the neck, I`ve been told). For my taste, it comes very close to the "real" telecaster sound, and the playability is amazing!

What I Do NOT Like About The SX Telecaster, '57 vintage-style: Considered the price, which is even lower in the US, there is nothing I truly dislike about this guitar. It had to be finetuned, I had to set the bridge and the neck, but since I put on stronger strings (.10 instead of the original .9), this was to be expected and posed no real problem.

SX Telecaster, '57 vintage-style Quality Rating: The overall quality surpassed my expectations, the components of this guitar harmonize well, the maple neck plays smooth an easy. The tune-keeping capability is not different from my other guitar ('62 Gretsch Tennessian), so no complaints. The body is slightly thinner (and possibly lighter) than the original Telecaster, but since I'm a tall guy and wear my guitar at belt-level and higher, this comes to my advantage. I considered replacing the pickups, but decided against: there's nothing to do but fiddle with your amp + effects to get your desired telesound.

Review Summary: I dare say that, if you can't get the real thing, the SX vintage tele is a better choice than a Squier, and at roughly half the cost! I join those who consider the SX brand worth the money spent -and more. If I got a 50's Fender Telecaster with the same attributes as my SX at less than 1000$, I'd give it a full score, hence I give the SX a 4 out of 5. But BEWARE: ever since I bought my vintage-Style SX Telecaster, I've never seen this particular SX model again, at least not on the net. Their "standard" tele model as offered on the net has a different, tele-unlike head, as most of the other tele copies... Greetings from Europe T.A. Mauss

Rating of this SX product: 4

This SX Telecaster, '57 vintage-style Electric Guitars Review Submitted By: T.A.Mauss

Review Date: 2005-01-20