on October 18, 2020
Modified this guitar with a few minor components and adjustments, and I couldn't be happier. Paired with a decent set of pedals, this guitar is comparable with ones that cost triple the price stock, and 5-10 times with the mods that would cost you less than the price of the guitar, which is itself ridiculously inexpensive. The craftsmanship is slightly better than you might expect from a guitar at this price point, and it's more than salvageable with some patience and fine-tuning. In other words ...
Modified this guitar with a few minor components and adjustments, and I couldn't be happier. Paired with a decent set of pedals, this guitar is comparable with ones that cost triple the price stock, and 5-10 times with the mods that would cost you less than the price of the guitar, which is itself ridiculously inexpensive. The craftsmanship is slightly better than you might expect from a guitar at this price point, and it's more than salvageable with some patience and fine-tuning. In other words, rather than poor finishing, what you get is a fretboard that is mostly unfinished, leaving room for customization and the craftsmanship of the wielder. If modding, I definitely recommend changing the stock plastic nut and using a bone one (42mm TUSQ, make sure to get a left-handed nut, mine turned out slanted the wrong way which was not a huge deal, still sounds great after some sanding), changing the output jack (Pure Tone multi contact mono), shielding the interior cavity (copper tape), polishing the fretboard (Dr. Duck's Axwax), sanding the fret ends (a fret file and 180, 400, and 1000 grit sandpaper) then polishing the frets, putting on a set of reputable strings (Earnie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottom sound great on it), and disabling the tremolo by loosening the 6 screws on the bridge, opening up the back panel, and jamming a standard 9v battery between the tremolo mechanism and guitar body cavity, then tightening the 6 screws again just enough to hold the bridge back in place (you can discard your whammy bar after this step, and this will stabilize your tuning, you might need to sand a small amount if the body off if the battery doesn't fit initially). Make sure to readjust the action as necessary, tune it up, and you're good to go. You might consider tuners with locking mechanisms and upgrading the pots. I did not do so myself as this would significantly increase cost, however I did swap out the stock wiring for higher quality wires, and this takes care of of the hum alongside the copper shielding. This guitar is an amateur/enthusiast luthier's dream with non of the regrets.