Drawn to this guitar like everyone else. Price and potential, for what you are paying for you are getting a good not great platform to swap out pickups replace tuning keys and have an entry level to intermediate guitar.
The good.
Looks great, the finish on the guitar is very nice and I was surprised that it really isn't a finger print magnet. Good weight, the tone knobs and position switch have a Very good feel. Shipped fast, and in good shape with tracking everything was handled in a professional manner.
The bad.
The pickups are not good, they make sound and you can make a nice sound with them but should be replaced whenever possible.
The tuning keys are not good, miles ahead of where we were on budget off brand guitars of the 90's these are squishy feeling and unstable and should be replaced whenever possible. The neck, this could be a case specific thing so fair warning. Fret ends were pretty sharp but a file cleans that up. What is interesting is that the fretboard ends are round, where there may be a binding on other guitars I notices its rolled over pretty hard almost like the ends are scalloped, It does not affect the playability but as far as fit and finish goes it looks cheap and feels cheap in the hand.
The gripe.
The instrument that I received was NOT a thru body as shown in the images. Very disappointing, deal breaker? I don't think so just buyer beware you may not get a string thru body. Over time I can see this causing scratches in the finish of the body.
Final thoughts,
You are buying a cheap guitar. As cheap guitars go this isn't a bad one. I would compare it to a bad Fender bullet. With the cosmetic flaws of the guitar I received the best I can hope for is a guitar that I can upgrade to sound better, not the sleeper guitar I was hoping to build that looked amazing and sounds great. If I drop in $300 dollars in upgrades to the tuning keys and pickups I will have a entry to mid level guitar that has some cosmetic issues, add in the shipping and cost I would say if your plan is to get a steal of a guitar that is ready to rip right out of the box, skip this one. Find something that you can hold and see first hand, $500 state side will get you a better guitar. If you plan on changing out pickups and upgrade as you go....I'd still say skip this one. I may have received a poorly QC'd instrument and your experience may differ but I can not recommend this one and sleep at night. I took a gamble on this one and lost, I will take the time and effort to make it sound better but I wont be dropping much on upgrades here. You guys got me with they hype, well played. If you are buying this as a beginner guitar and don't want to go too deep in the pocket, then sure this would work but so would the Bullet from fender or even a dinky the market is saturated with close enough $150 dollar guitars.