I bought one of these a few days ago. Other than some tuning issues, it's a massive step up from the 100$ - 200$ budget guitars I've been playing for the past 5 years lol
Thank you for your honest review, man. Was about to get one just for the looks but decided to watch a review first, made me decide on getting a Schecter. Subbed.
Thanks for the feedback! Good to know that upgrade helps, I’ll be sure to mention that in the future. I don’t keep the guitars I review though so all that matters IMO is the stock setup
I never had tuning issues with the ones I’ve tried in stores and eventually bought a used one that some fucker tried consigning for over $600 when it had a crack near the neck pickup and the new ones even without the gc/musician’s friend pre-Christmas sale are cheaper so the store came up with $450 and the seller agreed I’d pay that though another used one I tried and three new ones didn’t have as smooth fret edges as the used one I actually bought or a fourth new one
Put a fret wrap on it. claw and string pegs definitely needed messing with. I say go with Schecter if your a beginner. Got mine perfectly in tune to A standard’/Drop G with 11-58 cobalts by Ernie ball
Thanks for watching, def not this model. I'd recommend going anything Schecter. The closer you get to the $1500 price point though I'd recommend anything Kiesel (stainless steel frets are a big plus) Maybe Angel Vivaldi Sig Charvel if you can find one used. I'd recommend avoiding Sterling unless you're buying a higher end model used for crazy cheap with the plan of upgrading the bridge to a Gotoh 510 bridge. The Gotoh is expensive but a great tremolo, and it drops right in. That's the only way I'd recommend any Sterling models, I upgraded the bridge of one of my students guitars in 15 minutes.
I think the pickups are better in the six string version which is why the price is the same but if anything the seven string tone is too thick though an articulate amp or pedal will balance it in three stores I came across two jp60s and four jp70s one of each had the whammy bar in them stayed in tune of course after I tuned the guitar they probably weren’t properly set up anyways but the issue I found was that the four that happened to not have the whammy bar installed had at least some fret ends sticking out though as far as material I think stainless is only worth it if touring since you’re changing strings more often anyways otherwise you probably don’t want your strings to get worn as fast and harder material strings will still take longer to wear down softer material frets than that as I’ve tried all steel or titanium wound strings on stainless being worn out by the frets not much after nickel plated or pure wounds
Even 4000$ Music Man won’t stay in tune if nut is not lubricated, for me that’s the first thing to do when guitar has trem, before changing strings. I didn’t have issues with my jp157.
I had an older JP7 MM that never needed to have the nut lubricated and it always stayed in tune, even if you lubed the nut on the Sterling stuff it wouldn't matter. The bridge is such a piece of trash, it still won't flutter or stay in tune. I stand by my opinion: run far away from Sterling products, they're trash.
Dude, your song though at the beginning.... So awesome. Absolutely love it, hahha so sick, I thought the guitar sounded decent from your demo track, very possible it is just your skill level though lol I had the 6 string version of this guitar like 3 or 4 years ago, and I really did not like it. It felt some what chinsey to me, like it was cheap and you knew it. Didn't inspire me to want to pick it up or play anything on it. Never wanted to write anything and I brought it to a band practice like one time, then decided it wasn't for me and sold it for like 300$. I've played my other guitarist's sterling 7 the JP157DQM - and it was so much better. I think it's a higher end sterling or something, but you could tell it wasn't as chinsey as mine lol he seems to love it and swears by them - I'm not sure about the tuning issue as I haven't sat down with it for too long to play it.
Thanks for watching and thanks for the kind words. I really don't like how the guitar sounds here, it was so freaking hard to record, I'm glad that you like it! There were quite a few frustrated hours lol I def agree the higher end Sterling guitars are better but they've still got the exact same quality hardware and from the ones I've either reviewed or seen students play, it's still the same problems: won't stay in tune, won't flutter and does sound good. A Gotoh 510 will fit them perfectly though, that upgrade def makes sense on the higher end guitars if you get em for cheap enough. I've got 5 new reviews coming in the summer, hope you'll stop on back n check them out. Here's a link too if you'd like to hear all of my DOOM cover EP's, or check out my original music. Rock on! linktr.ee/aminorerror
Hey Rob, thanks for this review! You say the tonewoods are horrible. How is it possible that one maple differ from other maple necks, or basswood body from other basswood bodies? One might think that it’s all the same. I know there are differences in humidity and construction but that aside what exactly makes this tonewood different from other guitars build of the same woods? Addition to this I think the Sawtooth guitar made of full mahogany will probably also be made of low quality wood judging by its low price.
Thanks for stopping back and checking out the new review! I'll have to admit I don't know really anything about building guitars and what makes a good piece of a wood or a bad one....but I have played bad sounding ones and good sounding ones and know a shitty sounding instrument when I hear it lol I've seen Paul Reed Smith talk about wood in some interviews too but that was very surface level. My guess is it probably involves the density of the wood but that's just a guess. I def agree that a cheap Sawtooth made of mahogany is probably also low quality woods, IMO I've almost always had bad experiences with Basswood though (even on the 3 old school Ibanez Universes I've owned). At the end of the day, I think the proof is clearly in the demo. This guitar sounds terrible, it was probably the 2nd worst guitar I reviewed over last winter and while I think a large amount of that is the bridge/tremolo (video coming out next week about that actually), I really believe there's nothing here to warrant an upgrade to the bridge or pickups. A shitty guitar is a shitty guitar. Check out my recent Schecter Reaper 6 review...that guitar sounds amazing so it's proof it's possible to get a budget instrument that sounds great. Rock on!
@@aminorerror thank you for your long replies as always. Not many TH-camrs do that although I understand it takes extra time and not always possible if you have many subcribers. Keep up the work and looking forward to new review video’s 👌🏻
@@chocolatecookie8571 the thing is wood doesn't matter on electric guitars, only matters with acoustic guitars. Wood doesn't make sound on an electric guitar, pick ups do that, your guitar can be made out of plastic or literal concrete it will sound same with same pick ups... talk about wood is just absolute bullshit when it comes to an electric guitar. Does it matter feel wise? Absolutely. Does it matter tone wise? Absolutely not.
@@MarukagePlays this channel also has uploaded a video recently about tonewoods and why it does matter. On Warmoth channel you can find the original video where they compare the woods tonewise.
@@chocolatecookie8571 acoustically it absolutely does, every electric guitar unpluged will sound differently... once plugged in clean sound will sound different on each one as pickups are different on each one, once gain and everything is added no difference at all... you can believe your ears, channels on YT, whatever you want, same way I will believe my ears and luthiers I personally know, guys who are taking care of my guitars.
i've had 2 sterlings so far actually the woods were not an issue, you got to chance the humbuckers crunch Lab and Liquid fire make them sound good, intonation: can be something that you would need to adjust on the guitar, tremolo: this is something that i would say is a down side, sterlings i have played don't have a good tremolo system, but overall experience i've had with these guitars is good, however i do also have 2 EB Music man guitars and you can feel why these two are more expensive, you feel the craftmanship and also the quality, specially when recording at the studio
A floyd rose is a floating trem, I think they need to equip a better quality floating system. The current Sterling bridge is total junk: sounds like crap, won't flutter and doesn't stay in tune. IMO they need to redesign the Sterling system all together, or just start using something like a Gotoh 510 instead. Cheap Floyd systems do stay in tune, flutter and sound mediocre but that would require a locking nut, something that musicman doesn't like to use for whatever reason. On a budget trem, the non double locking systems are pretty much universally bad which is why most companies use the budget floyd systems. Thanks for watching!
Your playing in the intro as a great, really good b-roll, but you lost me at the tonewood complaint. Did you swap any electronics before attributing the sound to the wood?
Appreciate the kind words! In my experience it's my opinion that tone woods do matter although I probably didn't make it clear enough in the video but the quality of the woods in general are bad. Not just in a tone way, but by the quality and feel of the neck, the finish of the body, like everything SUCKS. The hardware does this guitar no favors either, I've got a whole video going into detail about just how HORRIBLE the bridge especially is on these guitars too. Most of the shitty tone is coming from the terrible bridge, and mediocre pickups, the last bit of shittiness is the woods IMO. th-cam.com/video/BNoPjJ-K0JE/w-d-xo.html
I picked one up about a year ago now. Personally I think the trem is great, I have little to no tuning issues and stays in tune. Granted I don’t go ham on the bar just little dips. The pickups for me aren’t the worst, especially on the clean channel it sounds amazing. Even dirty on the bridge neck I personally love it
I went pretty hard both ways trying a bunch out in various stores they stayed in tune I bought one but I broke a string while doing a whammy up I think I’m gonna make the bridge posts lower and the individual saddles higher than the default then it would be more like a flush bridge that’s why I strayed away from floating trems for like a decade
Well, thank you for watching! Maybe (although I highly doubt it) you'll have a different experience. My advice would be test out the tremolo pretty intensely and see how it holds tune. If you're having problems with tuning stability, either return it if possible or take it to a local guitar shop and see what they can do. Lubricating or replacing the nut will def help some, and the Gotoh 510 bridge is a direct replacement and performs great. Only problem with that is I don't think the rest of the guitar is worth it...sorry. Good luck!
"The tone woods are horrible" Foff. Replace the pickups. Get with the times the wood has nothing to do with the thinness you're hearing. Uses normal scale in drop A without proper setup. Big cringe.
No, a pickup upgrade doesn't make sense for a guitar this bad. Yes, the wood is terrible and that's part of it but also the hardware is even worse. This is a turd you can't polish with pickups. Thanks for watching, although hard pass on your douche bag tone.
Thank you for this honest review. I already have the budget. Good thing I have watched this! Saved me a lot of pain.
Glad to have helped! Good luck!
I bought one of these a few days ago. Other than some tuning issues, it's a massive step up from the 100$ - 200$ budget guitars I've been playing for the past 5 years lol
Thank you for your honest review, man. Was about to get one just for the looks but decided to watch a review first, made me decide on getting a Schecter. Subbed.
Thanks for the sub, really appreciate it! Which Schecter did you go with? I def think you'll be happy with the guitar. Thanks for watching!
bro tone woods dont make a difference
Thanks for watching, I disagree.
@@aminorerror thats fine
lol they absolutely make a difference
@@snop6176 bro are you an idiot
@@snop6176 not in electric
I just picked one up, put graphite on the nut and im not having any tuning issues at all it actually impressed me how well it stays in tune.
Thanks for the feedback! Good to know that upgrade helps, I’ll be sure to mention that in the future. I don’t keep the guitars I review though so all that matters IMO is the stock setup
I never had tuning issues with the ones I’ve tried in stores and eventually bought a used one that some fucker tried consigning for over $600 when it had a crack near the neck pickup and the new ones even without the gc/musician’s friend pre-Christmas sale are cheaper so the store came up with $450 and the seller agreed I’d pay that though another used one I tried and three new ones didn’t have as smooth fret edges as the used one I actually bought or a fourth new one
Put a fret wrap on it. claw and string pegs definitely needed messing with. I say go with Schecter if your a beginner. Got mine perfectly in tune to A standard’/Drop G with 11-58 cobalts by Ernie ball
Schecter makes really shoddy guitars at the low price range. I would say not, just go for Ibanez.
been waiting for this :)
Thanks dude! Appreciate you watching as always.
i want a 7 string guitar with a tremolo, what is your recommendation
Thanks for watching, def not this model. I'd recommend going anything Schecter. The closer you get to the $1500 price point though I'd recommend anything Kiesel (stainless steel frets are a big plus) Maybe Angel Vivaldi Sig Charvel if you can find one used. I'd recommend avoiding Sterling unless you're buying a higher end model used for crazy cheap with the plan of upgrading the bridge to a Gotoh 510 bridge. The Gotoh is expensive but a great tremolo, and it drops right in. That's the only way I'd recommend any Sterling models, I upgraded the bridge of one of my students guitars in 15 minutes.
I think the pickups are better in the six string version which is why the price is the same but if anything the seven string tone is too thick though an articulate amp or pedal will balance it in three stores I came across two jp60s and four jp70s one of each had the whammy bar in them stayed in tune of course after I tuned the guitar they probably weren’t properly set up anyways but the issue I found was that the four that happened to not have the whammy bar installed had at least some fret ends sticking out though as far as material I think stainless is only worth it if touring since you’re changing strings more often anyways otherwise you probably don’t want your strings to get worn as fast and harder material strings will still take longer to wear down softer material frets than that as I’ve tried all steel or titanium wound strings on stainless being worn out by the frets not much after nickel plated or pure wounds
Even 4000$ Music Man won’t stay in tune if nut is not lubricated, for me that’s the first thing to do when guitar has trem, before changing strings. I didn’t have issues with my jp157.
I had an older JP7 MM that never needed to have the nut lubricated and it always stayed in tune, even if you lubed the nut on the Sterling stuff it wouldn't matter. The bridge is such a piece of trash, it still won't flutter or stay in tune. I stand by my opinion: run far away from Sterling products, they're trash.
Dude, your song though at the beginning.... So awesome. Absolutely love it, hahha so sick, I thought the guitar sounded decent from your demo track, very possible it is just your skill level though lol
I had the 6 string version of this guitar like 3 or 4 years ago, and I really did not like it. It felt some what chinsey to me, like it was cheap and you knew it. Didn't inspire me to want to pick it up or play anything on it. Never wanted to write anything and I brought it to a band practice like one time, then decided it wasn't for me and sold it for like 300$.
I've played my other guitarist's sterling 7 the JP157DQM - and it was so much better. I think it's a higher end sterling or something, but you could tell it wasn't as chinsey as mine lol he seems to love it and swears by them - I'm not sure about the tuning issue as I haven't sat down with it for too long to play it.
Thanks for watching and thanks for the kind words. I really don't like how the guitar sounds here, it was so freaking hard to record, I'm glad that you like it! There were quite a few frustrated hours lol I def agree the higher end Sterling guitars are better but they've still got the exact same quality hardware and from the ones I've either reviewed or seen students play, it's still the same problems: won't stay in tune, won't flutter and does sound good. A Gotoh 510 will fit them perfectly though, that upgrade def makes sense on the higher end guitars if you get em for cheap enough. I've got 5 new reviews coming in the summer, hope you'll stop on back n check them out. Here's a link too if you'd like to hear all of my DOOM cover EP's, or check out my original music. Rock on!
linktr.ee/aminorerror
Hey Rob, thanks for this review!
You say the tonewoods are horrible. How is it possible that one maple differ from other maple necks, or basswood body from other basswood bodies? One might think that it’s all the same. I know there are differences in humidity and construction but that aside what exactly makes this tonewood different from other guitars build of the same woods?
Addition to this I think the Sawtooth guitar made of full mahogany will probably also be made of low quality wood judging by its low price.
Thanks for stopping back and checking out the new review! I'll have to admit I don't know really anything about building guitars and what makes a good piece of a wood or a bad one....but I have played bad sounding ones and good sounding ones and know a shitty sounding instrument when I hear it lol I've seen Paul Reed Smith talk about wood in some interviews too but that was very surface level. My guess is it probably involves the density of the wood but that's just a guess. I def agree that a cheap Sawtooth made of mahogany is probably also low quality woods, IMO I've almost always had bad experiences with Basswood though (even on the 3 old school Ibanez Universes I've owned). At the end of the day, I think the proof is clearly in the demo. This guitar sounds terrible, it was probably the 2nd worst guitar I reviewed over last winter and while I think a large amount of that is the bridge/tremolo (video coming out next week about that actually), I really believe there's nothing here to warrant an upgrade to the bridge or pickups. A shitty guitar is a shitty guitar. Check out my recent Schecter Reaper 6 review...that guitar sounds amazing so it's proof it's possible to get a budget instrument that sounds great. Rock on!
@@aminorerror thank you for your long replies as always. Not many TH-camrs do that although I understand it takes extra time and not always possible if you have many subcribers. Keep up the work and looking forward to new review video’s 👌🏻
@@chocolatecookie8571 the thing is wood doesn't matter on electric guitars, only matters with acoustic guitars. Wood doesn't make sound on an electric guitar, pick ups do that, your guitar can be made out of plastic or literal concrete it will sound same with same pick ups... talk about wood is just absolute bullshit when it comes to an electric guitar. Does it matter feel wise? Absolutely. Does it matter tone wise? Absolutely not.
@@MarukagePlays this channel also has uploaded a video recently about tonewoods and why it does matter. On Warmoth channel you can find the original video where they compare the woods tonewise.
@@chocolatecookie8571 acoustically it absolutely does, every electric guitar unpluged will sound differently... once plugged in clean sound will sound different on each one as pickups are different on each one, once gain and everything is added no difference at all... you can believe your ears, channels on YT, whatever you want, same way I will believe my ears and luthiers I personally know, guys who are taking care of my guitars.
Sir, can you review a guitar brans from solar sir☺️
Thanks for the suggestion, I'm gonna try and check one out this year!
Awesome playing!!!
Thanks for watching! New videos go live every Monday at 9am est, hope you’ll stop on back 🤘🏻
i've had 2 sterlings so far actually the woods were not an issue, you got to chance the humbuckers crunch Lab and Liquid fire make them sound good, intonation: can be something that you would need to adjust on the guitar, tremolo: this is something that i would say is a down side, sterlings i have played don't have a good tremolo system, but overall experience i've had with these guitars is good, however i do also have 2 EB Music man guitars and you can feel why these two are more expensive, you feel the craftmanship and also the quality, specially when recording at the studio
Do you think this guitar should have came with a Floyd rose instead of a floating trem?
A floyd rose is a floating trem, I think they need to equip a better quality floating system. The current Sterling bridge is total junk: sounds like crap, won't flutter and doesn't stay in tune. IMO they need to redesign the Sterling system all together, or just start using something like a Gotoh 510 instead. Cheap Floyd systems do stay in tune, flutter and sound mediocre but that would require a locking nut, something that musicman doesn't like to use for whatever reason. On a budget trem, the non double locking systems are pretty much universally bad which is why most companies use the budget floyd systems. Thanks for watching!
Your playing in the intro as a great, really good b-roll, but you lost me at the tonewood complaint. Did you swap any electronics before attributing the sound to the wood?
Appreciate the kind words! In my experience it's my opinion that tone woods do matter although I probably didn't make it clear enough in the video but the quality of the woods in general are bad. Not just in a tone way, but by the quality and feel of the neck, the finish of the body, like everything SUCKS. The hardware does this guitar no favors either, I've got a whole video going into detail about just how HORRIBLE the bridge especially is on these guitars too. Most of the shitty tone is coming from the terrible bridge, and mediocre pickups, the last bit of shittiness is the woods IMO.
th-cam.com/video/BNoPjJ-K0JE/w-d-xo.html
I picked one up about a year ago now. Personally I think the trem is great, I have little to no tuning issues and stays in tune. Granted I don’t go ham on the bar just little dips. The pickups for me aren’t the worst, especially on the clean channel it sounds amazing. Even dirty on the bridge neck I personally love it
Glad to hear you’ve had a good experience. Thanks for watching!
I went pretty hard both ways trying a bunch out in various stores they stayed in tune I bought one but I broke a string while doing a whammy up I think I’m gonna make the bridge posts lower and the individual saddles higher than the default then it would be more like a flush bridge that’s why I strayed away from floating trems for like a decade
Try to use hipshot tremsetter,, and there isn"t any guitar in the world obsolutly perfect...
I just bought a brand new one today. Shit lol
Well, thank you for watching! Maybe (although I highly doubt it) you'll have a different experience. My advice would be test out the tremolo pretty intensely and see how it holds tune. If you're having problems with tuning stability, either return it if possible or take it to a local guitar shop and see what they can do. Lubricating or replacing the nut will def help some, and the Gotoh 510 bridge is a direct replacement and performs great. Only problem with that is I don't think the rest of the guitar is worth it...sorry. Good luck!
weird how some are good and some suck...im staying away from them...i almost bit on one...
this guy socks.
"The tone woods are horrible" Foff. Replace the pickups. Get with the times the wood has nothing to do with the thinness you're hearing. Uses normal scale in drop A without proper setup. Big cringe.
No, a pickup upgrade doesn't make sense for a guitar this bad. Yes, the wood is terrible and that's part of it but also the hardware is even worse. This is a turd you can't polish with pickups. Thanks for watching, although hard pass on your douche bag tone.