SC-500 BK Vintage Series : Exceptional quality

Truly amazing level of workmanship on such a cheap guitar. Beautiful frets, smooth neck, great paint work. Only the binding is a bit less precise at the pointy junction of the lower horn, but that is really no big deal - overall this guitar feels great, much more expensive than it is.

The hardware is slightly on the flimsy side but works fine. It is an easy and cheap upgrade, and anyway most people will probably change the pickups. The stock pickups don't sound bad but I replaced them with EMGs 85/60, soon changing them for Fat55s so I can get a more Les Paul vibe.

The tuners are decent, but I replaced the cheap plastic nut with a Graphtec for better tuning stability.

All together, a great guitar as-is, but probably even better as a modding platform. A solid base to get a premium sounding, feeling and looking guitar with a few upgrades.