What are your thoughts on this guitar?

http://www.rondomusic.com/hadron727fxna.html

Just to further muddy the picture, this was just released this morning...727 stoptail

I like that one!

The "unfinished" guitars are beautiful. But I wouldn't buy a guitar that cheap. You get what you pay for. If you want a good cheap 7 string, get an ibanez.

Ariel,seekeroftruth wrote:The "unfinished" guitars are beautiful. But I wouldn't buy a guitar that cheap. You get what you pay for. If you want a good cheap 7 string, get an ibanez.

*sigh* There's one in every crowd

*DON'T* buy in to the brand name game in the sub $5-600 guitar game. just don't. worst mistake you can possibly make. Take it from a guy that's got more years shopping and buying under his belt than you're profile says you've been alive.


"you get what you pay for" is not exactly a truism......you have to understand what EXACTLY your paying for, first. ESPECIALLY with "cheap guitars".....


NO, these are NOT going to be on par with Premium/Prestige/ Team J. Craft Ibanez instruments. You're not getting an instrument the level of an RG1527z.....but you're not paying for one of those, and they're well beyond the price range we're looking at anyway. Once you get into the lower/middle range brackets, though, this will QUITE EASILY compete with the RG7321 and RGD7421 Ibanez offers at $450-$600 street retails, the Shecter and LTD stuff as well. Ibanez has HUGE (relatively speaking) advertising/endorsing costs, and gets an additional markup for the name recognition factor, JUST like Gibson, Fender, Jackson, and others do. These are inexpensive, Asian made imports cut with CNC on an assembly line, and finished as inexpensively as possible. Same goes for Schecter and ESP/LTD. At these lower end price points, you're paying extra for the name on the headstock, not for extra attention, hand crafting, and 20 steps of finish/sand/buff to get her to look pretty.

Rondo Music doesnt' have salesmen in the field, large lists of artist endorsees, or A&R reps to pay, they do no advertising, it's all word of mouth, and only sold on the internet. the only things they have to cover are the front end costs of importing the goods for sale. when you buy a $200 guitar from these guys, you are NOT buying a BC Rich Bronze Series warlock.......you are buying a guitar that would BE a $450 guitar if you bought it new off the rack in Guitar Center. THAT is what get's missed EVERY SINGLE TIME. Rondo isn't some fly by night operation, they've been around for YEARS, they've got a GOOD reputation as one of THE places to go for mid-range gear amongst players for a reason....as a side note, I've got experience with a 7321, and currently own a Washburn WG587. If I hadn't JUST shelled out $250 less than a month ago for another new (to me) guitar (and another $200 for a freaking speeding ticket ), I would have ordered that 727 stoptail as soon as I knew the link was up, with confidence.

I know that less known brands will have better value. But I think that only goes so far, as the larger companies can also produce for less. If you have experience with these guitars, than by all means buy it! I guess I might be interested in one of these 7 strings eventually. They look great. I'm a somewhat pessimistic person, so I have a hard time believing that a $200 guitar can compete with a $400-500 one.

Ariel,seekeroftruth wrote:I know that less known brands will have better value. But I think that only goes so far, as the larger companies can also produce for less. If you have experience with these guitars, than by all means buy it! I guess I might be interested in one of these 7 strings eventually. They look great. I'm a somewhat pessimistic person, so I have a hard time believing that a $200 guitar can compete with a $400-500 one.

That's the thing....the $400-500 RETAIL price range doesn't mean it's a $400-500 INSTRUMENT. The guitars Rondo sells come off a factory line right beside a LOT of other brands....just because "brand x" is on the headstock, doesn't mean "brand x" owns the plant. MOST "import line" guitars are actually ghostbuilt, and have the company's name slapped on them at one of several plants.....

You're essentially looking at TWO $200 instruments but one of them has all the other NON INSTRUMENT QUALITY RELATED markups piled on top of it.It probably costs Ibanez about $150 for a 7321 from the plant in Indonesia, BEFORE adding in all the A&R/Sales/Advertising/Endorsee expenses, and they're PROBABLY selling them to GC in the $300-350 ballpark.. (I say "probably", because while I have no direct knowledge of Ibanez dealer pricing, I DO have plenty of experience with "retail markups") I mean, the woods, quality of electronics and metal parts......in the lower price ranges, there's just NOT gonna be that much variance in the cost (or quality) of the materials themselves. That WG587 I mentioned was an MSRP$1,000 guitar, streeted around $750, and eventually, the clearance blowout on them, I paid $189+tax for the showroom floor model of a GC owned subsidiary........

I already have a Rondo guitar myself. I have two 6 string semi hollow body electrics. One is an Epiphone Dot that retails at around $400 depending on where you buy it. The other is an SX GG-5(a Rondo brand). The pickups in the SX have a better tone than my Epiphone, and the guitar body is heavier and it makes the guitar balance better. The Epiphone feels lighter, but the neck really wants to dive to the floor. The SX had cheaply made tuners, so I put a $69 set of Grovers on it, and that is the same as what the Epiphone came with. Total cost of the SX with my modification was $260 versus the $400 I spent on the Epiphone.

So, in defense of Rondo, their guitars are good. They are not meant to compete with the bigger brands until you get up into the more expensive Agile brand. The SX guitars are their starter guitars, the Douglas like I am considering are the mid range, and the Agiles are their top line.

What I'm curious about is if it would play and sound as good as say an upper-mid ibanez rg series. I was thinking this is the sortof guitar I could use as a back up/alternate tuning guitar. The agiles look really good. If you buy it tell us what you think!

Well, there's no reason it can't. there's going to be a difference in neck profile, but it's comparable in thickness(20.5mmto 22.5ish on the rondo, 19 to 21 on most Ibby's), both have fairly flat fretboard radius's between 15 and 16 inches....in short the neck on the Rondo axe isn't a baseball bat or a broom handle, but it's not an Ibanez Wizard either. As long as your hand gets along with the overall profile (and my hands don't actually like Ibanez's version of a "shredder" neck; thinner isn't always better....), the neck will be plenty playable. the Rondo axe is also neckthru with a nicely contoured heel, so comfort in the upper frets shouldn't be an issue either. the body of the Rondo is more similar to an Ibanez "S" series guitar than the RG series, although not quite as contoured or thin at the edges. Either way, though, it's not a flat topped instrument that might hurt the forearm after playing for awhile. There is nothing other than player preference that prevents the Rondo guitars from being EXTREMELY playable after a good, proper setup.

Sound wise: the pickups on the Rondo aren't going to be anything special, it's not like it's shipping with dimarzio's, duncans, or EMGs.....but PLENTY of people find most stock Ibanez pickups to be severely lacking as well, and swap them out, even on the higher end stuff. the thing to remember is that MOST Ibanez RGs are basswood, the rondo axe is mahogany, so there are different fundamental tones that are emphasized right out of the box. the Ibanez guitars are also typically bolt on instead of neckthru, and that lends to the notes having a bit more attack to them. the trick there is to choose pickups that complement those differing traits to achieve the sound you're after...


The agile line DOES tend to have better quality hardware, pickups and cosmetics. Pickups are usually EMG81-7 or 707s, or Seymour Duncan Blackouts, and
those alone will add nearly $150 to the cost of an instrument. Add in a higher quality floyd or hipshot bridge, grover tuners, and the neck construction being a 5 piece laminate instead of a 3 piece, and all of a sudden, you're looking at a $400-$500 cost instrument without changing too much of the BASE instrument itself :8 Those awesome looking tops aren't full carve tops though, they're almost always veneer tops unless it states otherwise. They're also produced at the Unsung plant in Korea (made a lot of the higher end Epiphone imports for YEARS, I have an Epi LP7 from around '01 they did, and it is of as solid build quality as they come), as opposed to the Saein plant where the Douglas stuff is. I THINK the Douglas stuff is typically done at Saein's Chinese facility, so there's a bit of a labor cost diference....that, and the upgraded parts/electronics account for a LOTof the price differential between an Agile and the Douglas. BOTH manufacturers, however, are well known "behind the scenes" names.....

and on THOSE notes, this thread has officially pesuaded me in regards to what I'm saving pennies for next....

Yeah. I'm sold. Ive been reading and it seems people think they are great. I will look at buying one in 6 months to a year when I start hearing that voice in the back of my head screaming "NEW GUITAR!!!!!!".

My main guitar is a ibanez rgt42dxfm, and I love it. But. it would be nice to have another floyd rose to tune to another tuning.

There will definitely be SOME differences in "feel" between 'em, and I'd imagine that the EdgeIII on yours is a decent step up in quality on the trem front. I wouldn't expect the Rondo axes to play like a high end production piece or a custom shop model. They're just FAR from "buyer beware" type junk once given a proper going over......Even if you get one that is flawed out of the box shipped (it DOES happen), so long as you are US/Canada, that's not a problem either, as Rondo has one of THE BEST return/replacement policies out there....

Well, I made up my mind and my order is placed. I ordered the Douglas Hadron 727 FX NA: http://www.rondomusic.com/hadron727fxna.html

Awesome! I look forward to hearing about it!

My guitar was delivered late yesterday afternoon. I didn't really get to take her to the studio and play, but I did get her out of the box and examine it.

The finish is superb. It does have a natural wood finish, but they put a high gloss coating on it. So, the body and neck are quite pleasant to the touch. No nicks or chips during shipping, either!

The string action, just messing around with it, it very smooth. The string height is very low already. The frets have already been dressed and not very high unlike my previous SX guitar from Rondo. I might still have the intonation set, but not just yet.

The guitar only weighs about 10 lbs. While lightweight, it doesn't feel cheaply made. It feels solid, and the weight is well balanced between the body and neck.

That's all I can say for now, folks!

Awesome. which one did you end up getting?

alldatndensum wrote:My guitar was delivered late yesterday afternoon. I didn't really get to take her to the studio and play, but I did get her out of the box and examine it.

The finish is superb. It does have a natural wood finish, but they put a high gloss coating on it. So, the body and neck are quite pleasant to the touch. No nicks or chips during shipping, either!

The string action, just messing around with it, it very smooth. The string height is very low already. The frets have already been dressed and not very high unlike my previous SX guitar from Rondo. I might still have the intonation set, but not just yet.

The guitar only weighs about 10 lbs. While lightweight, it doesn't feel cheaply made. It feels solid, and the weight is well balanced between the body and neck.

That's all I can say for now, folks!

In iother words, I should nab one as soon as I have funds? LOL!

DEFINITELY.

Yuo should post a couple pictures, bro......I'd like to see some shots of one that aren't "studio perfect" like on the rondo site

Ariel,seekeroftruth wrote:Awesome. which one did you end up getting?

This one. Both Exo and I had previously posted links for this one:

http://www.rondomusic.com/hadron727fxna.html

I don't play my 7-string nearly as much as I used to.........perhaps I should rethink that..........

It is possible to to set up a 6 string for a lower tuning as well, it just has to be set up properly and have a higher gauge string on it. Barring that and barring having to deal with a 7 string to achieve the desired effect, you might consider looking into a baritone guitar which is still a six string, but is designed specifically to handle a lower tuning.

Too late, man. I bought the 7 string.

alldatndensum wrote:Too late, man. I bought the 7 string.

Congratulations man......hope it does everything you need it to.

Dudue, you apparently got one of the last ones, too! the link is now gonefrom the main page....looks like Rondo is temporarily out of the fixed bridge model.