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SX SST62
List: $195 (Starter pack)
If you are deciding on your first electric which should be a decent copy of a Strat, the SX SST62 would be a natural selection. It’s a copy in fine form & more importantly, it doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket. Is the SST62 just a copy cat or does it sing as well?
Construction/ fit/ finish
When I first handled this guitar, I was expecting a light-weight cheapo but it turned out to be otherwise. A quick reference to the SX literature revealed an alder body which triggered a certain level of expectation, naturally. Like its LP copy sibling (the GG-1), the construction & finish of this guitar is virtually faultless. I was expecting a sizeable gap between the neck/ body bolt area but I couldn’t find any. Upon sighting, the neck proved to be straight with very little relief. Rightfully, my physical scrutiny of this guitar ended here, as there were no anomalies to report.
Playability/ tone
The SST62’s default action was rather high & not shred-worthy but very playable nevertheless. I was impressed with the well fitted/ crowned/ cut frets as it made my initial unplugged strumming a breeze. Tuners were also smooth & operational, unlike some stiff default units in other starter guitars, namely Ibanez & Yamaha (but those were unique cases, that, I can assure you). Moving on to the vintage type bridge, there were some protruding bridge saddle screws which affected the comfort of my picking hand but I had the same experience with a Fender Eric Clapton Strat so this is a forgivable eccentricity. The 5-way pickup selector isn’t as smooth as I would have expected, then again this isn’t a $1K Fender guitar.
Clean, the SST62 would rival any Squier strat out there as it’s an alder bodied unit which gave off a very convincing Fender-like chime, especially in the treble range. Moving on to a drive setting, the single coils in this guitar proved to be low-output units which sounded very under-distorted with the gain maxed out, no harmonics galore here. If you are expecting a Malmsteen like drive from these units, please invest in Dimarzio pickups, which these defaults are not. They would give you Clapton tones, no problems. Activated individually, the single coils here gave off some very alnico-like resonance, especially in the neck. My utmost disappointment with them was when they were activated in combo, especially the neck/ mid selection, which proved to be very muddy. The neck of the SST62 is a very Fender-like C-profile, which gets my praise.
Last say
The SST62 isn’t an easy guitar to play compared to its GG-1 sibling, namely due to its low output single coils. However, it had that certain fight-back feel to it that many blues proponents would be at home with. The individual single coils are impressive per se but once activated in combo, they lost marked definition, quite sad really because I believe this guitar would make a fantastic starter. All in all, the SS62T isn’t a shred/ metal affair but it’ll cover other territories quite easily. For $195, the SST62 is bundled with everything that is offered in the GG1-K package which is a real bargain.
PS: The SST62 offered in the starter pack is the 22-fretted version (SST62K), unlike the one depicted here
sorry what i meant is the fingerboard. Any maple fingerboard?
