ST-62CC RW Lake Placid Blue : So nice for the money

Pros

This is a robust thing you can just have fun with. Mine could probably have a lower action but the one it came with is similar to my other guitar.

The pickups have what I believe is vintage output, which means you have tonnes of headroom for even your cheap pedals. For me this is an advantage, as I have some pedals I can't use because my humbuckers will break up causing a lowered output with the pedal engaged.

Has great colour too.

I saw many people saying you need to change the strings right away. Mine are fine. I put GHS fast fret on as a precaution before playing and after a few days they're basically new.

Cons

I used Dunlop Micro fine polish to polish the frets when the strings were loosened to replace the string trees and they're nice and smooth.

The string trees are quite poor and affect tuning, so order two of the Harley Benton Chrome rollers for next to nothing and that fixes that.

The trem detunes the guitar a lot so I don't use. Will try after replacing nut. The trem screw is a bit too tight too. Also the saddles do dig into your hand a bit if you're palm muting.

The scratch plate has some screws in at a weird angle like the holes were drilled wrong.

It's no American Deluxe Strat, but it's also not one of the awful offerings many people might be familiar with. It's quite good and playable. I'd record and gig with it.

Total rating takes into account the price!