ST-20MN LH CA : Outstanding guitar for the price

Summary: This guitar exceeded my expectations and was a pleasant surprise in quality & sound. Well finished, a great modding platform.

Background: I've been playing guitar 15 years,and I've owned several S-Style guitars.

Review: Right out of the box, the fit and finish was great. Neck is straight, no sharp fret ends, no blemishes; the guitar was well set up. This instrument is about 7.5 lbs, light compared to your average S-Style; for me this is a plus (I'm a small guy and I don't like heavy guitars). Neck profile is comfy like a modern "C" but a bit thicker, yet with the flatter radius it feels easier to chord on.

Sound: Most surprising were the pickups. Neck pickup is nothing special, but the middle and bridge positions were very pleasant tonally. I've used them for recording with good results. I did upgrade the electronics & hardware with stuff I already had on hand, but you could get away practicing/recording with this on a budget. There are some minor nitpicks I'll mention below about the component quality, but frankly those are to be expected with a guitar at this price. Don't kid yourself. The wonderful thing about this model is that you can upgrade those components rather easily at your preference.

Pros: Great finish, neck well set up, comfortable and light, pleasant/usable tone.

Cons: Undersized import tremolo block (I upgraded to a full-size block and it fit but you'll lose some tremolo movement), mini-pots (I upgraded to full-size pots and they fit but you'll need to ream out the pickguard holes a bit).