ST-20HSS SBK Standard Series : Black Beauty on a budget

I have imported four of these guitars to practice my set-up skills and know a fair bit about them now. Overall they are great starter instruments for beginners as well as great looking foundations for upgrading and modding for more experienced players. Would I go on stage with one, YES. Of course, at a 20 series price point there have to be compromises and you find them in the pots and guts of the guitar. Everything is absolutely functional but you can improve on the parts as and when you wish IF you wish. As a budget guitar it has budget elements but these are only one piece of the pie. The finish, the fretwork and the pickups are better than some 500-1000 dollar instruments, mentioning no names. You can't go wrong with these ST-20s. If you read anything negative about these guitars online then I strongly suggest ignoring what you see because simply put a 120 dollar guitar that looks and plays like this does is simply brilliant. It should not exist at this price.