Vox SDC-33 Double-Cutaway Solidbody Electric Guitar Black

Comments about Vox SDC-33 Double-Cutaway Solidbody Electric Guitar:

Just a good set up with my guitar guy and its good to go! Great Buy!

Comments about Vox SDC-33 Double-Cutaway Solidbody Electric Guitar:

The quality of this guitar is much better than I expected. Occasionally guitars in this price range are borderline useless. Not so with this baby. Everything is right-on. Fit and finish are excellent, set-up was minimal, and the brushed aluminum-like tuning buttons are awesome looking with an unusual design. The guitar feels great in your hands and the contour body rests nicely against your body. I own several electric guitars and some were very expensive, but I can't compare this to any of them because of the co-axial pickups. They are a little different sounding. Good for any kind of music but with a sound all their own. They are also very, very QUIET! No humming whatsoever. I can't imagine anyone not loving this guitar. It offers a lot, especially at this price point.

Comments about Vox SDC-33 Double-Cutaway Solidbody Electric Guitar:

I picked this up "gently used", and got an incredible deal. The red finish is MUCH nicer than in the site photo -- more line a deep candy red. It's a very comfortable axe to play, as others have said, very light. Also versatile sound (more single coil than HB) and has a distinct, woody voice with great resonance. No noise in any position. Keeps definition when distorted, sounds great clean. A slight back bow in the neck explains the fret rattle some have noted, mine had it too, I tuned to open A with a set of 11s and the problem went away. I use mine for slide, it rings. If you like double cut axes you won't find a better value, including the low-end Gibsons. Unlike a Gibson Tribute I recently got through a trade, the Vox needs no mods to go on stage. It's a great piece to have in my collection alongside my (mainly) Reverends. If I only had one guitar, I'd be glad to have one as good as this.

Comments about Vox SDC-33 Double-Cutaway Solidbody Electric Guitar:

I feel compelled to write a second review on this guitar. I really disliked the first one I owned and this is reflected in my review. Well I ended up buying a second basically as it was a broken class 4 which I bought for very little. My thought was to pull the pickups after repair as I did like the body and neck on the first one I owned. It was the sound I hated. Well what a surprise this guitar is completely different in sound than the first. All because of body wood. My first one had a full mahogony body. It sounded flat with the vox pickups. My second one was a maple top (actually looks like ash not maple but the website notes maple). What a difference!! The coaxial pickups are bright and dynamic. Really not p90 sounding but a sound all their own. somewhere between a p90 and a mini humbucker in sound. Who says wood choice does not make a difference.
Bottom line is that this is a very well made guitar with solid nice sounding pickups. It is a bit neck heavy but who cares for the price they are selling these at. Just don't buy the black mahogony. Repeat - Don't buy the black mahogony

Comments about Vox SDC-33 Double-Cutaway Solidbody Electric Guitar:

This is as an addendum to my review of 2/23/2013.

The guitar's neck heaviness is something I hadn't taken note of until it was too late to send the guitar back (though I don't know that I would have since it's an incredibly well-built machine for the price). This issue applies particularly to playing while standing.

In utilizing an Ernie Ball 2" Poly Guitar Strap against bare skin I noted that the neck won't drop as easily as it would with the strap on a T-shirt. But how often is a guy going to play topless?

I found that a 2-1/2" wide leather strap will significantly reduce the potential for neck drop, though not entirely.

Thus, it would seem that the most logical means by which to resolve the issue is a counterweight of some sort applied to the butt end of the guitar strap and weighing perhaps 5-6 ounces. (I say "5-6" after clipping to my 2" poly guitar strap a tactical knife spec'd at 3.6 ounces, which wasn't quite enough to balance things out.)

A couple additional notes:

Some guitarists might find the bridge to be a bit uncomfortable against the palm. You would have to try it out for yourself to determine whether it would be a problem for you.

The CoAxe pickups are what they are; you either like them or you don't. They provide clear, distinct, heavy tone with clarity and a wide range of tonal variation.

I actually enjoy the VOX SDC-22 more, but the SDC-33 has its place both where style and tone are concerned. It also comes with a better gig bag.

Comments about Vox SDC-33 Double-Cutaway Solidbody Electric Guitar:

I decided to snag this guitar up when the price dropped (yet again). I do not believe that you could find a better guitar for the price. Super solid construction. It's a very light guitar, but it feels durable. The finish is gorgeous too. Essentially, this guitar is near-flawlessly constructed.

The pickups are not as amazing as they advertise. You're not going to get a true single-coil sound out of them, even still, you get a tremendous amount of versatility from these pickups.

The guitar is very neck heavy. So much so, that if I'm standing and I'm not holding the neck, it will droop quite a bit. That being said, this is the most comfortable guitar I've ever played (ever) sitting down.

If you're thinking about buying this guitar, DO IT. You will not regret it. If you can't afford it, find a way.

Also, I got the one in gold. The back of the guitar is a natural finish, with kind of a red tint. This guitar looks amazing with the cream binding and gold top.

Comments about Vox SDC-33 Double-Cutaway Solidbody Electric Guitar:

I purchased a gold SDC33 for my son.cant say enough about the quality like most reviews have stated.Ive owned many guitars both cheap and expensive and have to say as well that this guitar was a steal at the price.Some said they had alot of fine tuning to set theres up,but mine was great right out of the box.Incredibly crisp and clean sounding through my fender deluxe.I agree with previous reviews that there is a little fret buzz at times,although i dont hear it through my amp so no problem for me.Loved it so much i had to order a second sdc33 in red.

Comments about Vox SDC-33 Double-Cutaway Solidbody Electric Guitar:

bought a black one about a year ago paid full price.fell in love with the looks the feel and sound of the co ax pickups saw thay were on sale bought another tea burst beautiful

Comments about Vox SDC-33 Double-Cutaway Solidbody Electric Guitar:

I've been playing for over 30 years and have had dozens of guitars over the years so my evaluation comes from some experience. This is a good guitar that almost makes it but not quite. it went back to musicians friend and heres why.
First the positives. This is an extraorinarily well built guitar with superb fit and finish albeit a few minor issues. it has a nice amount of proprietary parts so it really is very interesting = not the same old thing. The guitar is just stunning in black and the finish was just perfectly applied. The tuners are some of the best I have ever seen. The nut was cut perfectly. The frets were level and crowned perfectly. The electronics all worked well (more on the sound below). The component parts were truly high quality. The build was great. So why did I send it back?
Basically the pickups were just flat sounding. They were ok clean but without the midrange growl p90's should have. overdriven they were just lifeless. I found the tones completely uninspiring. And believe me I tried everything including most importantly adjusting the pick up height. I really wanted these pickups to work. I LOVE p90's. There is nothing better than what p90's have to offer tonally but sometimes live as with any single coil pickup one can run into issues. I thought this would be the solution. Sadly it was not. These picups were so inspiring that my choice was to pull the pickups or just send back. I chose the latter. Here are some other reasons that led me to that choice. Fret ends were sharp, set up was poor, brigde a bit awkward for palm muting and finally the straw that broke the camels back.... The guitar is a bit neck heavy. I could not play this thing at a gig without significant fatigue. I might have just pulled the pickups and kept the guitar as the build was so beautiful if it were not for this issue that could not be fixed
I will add finally that this guitar was tested through a gibson goldtone all tube combo. Hard to find a better sounding amp for testing any guitar

Comments about Vox SDC-33 Double-Cutaway Solidbody Electric Guitar:

It's a wonder Musician's Friend has any of these left in stock at the price they've been selling them at. I bought the Black (mahogany with maple top) model in mid-December 2012 after the price had been deeply discounted, before it was discounted even further.

First, some relatively inconsequential CON's:

1. Strings. The D'Addario strings installed on the guitar were useless by the time the intrument got to me. They were wrapped in tissue paper taped in place with some of the tape having come in contact with the strings, resulting in deadening of tone. The strings were also entering the corrosion stage whether due to them not being wiped off after testing of the guitar's electronics at the factory, humidity and/or other factors. I thus couldn't make an accurate assessment of the guitar's electronics until I changed the strings, which I swapped out for GHS GBXL Boomers (.009-.042).

2. Factory Setup. The action was way too high. After adjusting the neck and lowering the bridge as far as I could without losing volume from the bridge pickup due to the strings being so close to it, the action was still too high for my liking. I almost returned the guitar until I discovered that I could lower the bridge pickup which I did substantially, enabling me to lower the bridge further. Interestingly, after all that, I didn't have to adjust intonation any.

3. Exposed String Wrap. One reviewer complained about the design of the bridge allowing for the string wrap above the end loops to be exposed, causing discomfort on the palm. This could be an issue for a guitarist bent on resting his palm on the bridge while playing.

4. Neck Dive. I didn't notice this until reading other reviews. Yes, if the guitar is hung from a strap over your shoulder, the neck will dive some if you let go of it. If you think this might be problematic for you but you really want a cool-looking, symmetrical double cutaway solid body guitar, you might consider the VOX SDC-22 which has significantly less neck dive and is not only built just as well but is even less expensive, requires minimal (if any) setup, plays fast, and has awesome electronics.

Now for the PRO's:

1. Price. Is there a better guitar for the money? It's worth the standard discount price Musician's Friend was charging prior to the deep discount. With the deep discount (which has been discounted even further since I purchased my guitar), Musician's Friend is almost giving these guitars away. Note: This is not a cheap guitar with cheap electronics; it is an inexpensive guitar with quality electronics.

2. Workmanship. I found no flaws in the guitar I received.

3. Lightweight. The aforementioned neck dive concern is relative to the lightweight body. It's a tradeoff. If you want a lightweight body with a solid neck, you'll have to live with some neck dive but only when standing up and letting go of the neck. This is one of the lightest solid body guitars on the market. (Note: The VOX SDC-22 is very similar in weight and worth serious consideration.)

4. Styling. Truly symmetrical headstock and body. Beveling on the front and contouring on the back of the body not only makes for a beautiful guitar but one that is comfortable against the body. The beveling below the tone control knob is a nice touch too.

5. Tuners. While the S shape of the tuners isn't exactly practical for fingers, they look cool, turn smoothly, and stay in tune about as well or better than any other non-locking tuners.

6. Nut. The Tusq man-made ivory material that the nut is made of permits strings to move through very smoothly. This is plus for those who use alternative tunings with the same guitar. Changing tunings frequently, I have yet to see a string break. Use of Tusq is but one example of VOX not sacrificing quality on an inexpensive guitar.

7. Pickups & Tone. The tones produced by the CoAxe pickups are clean, clear, distinct and heavy. Plug the guitar into a vintage tube amp, select the bridge pickup, strum away and you just may hear it yelling , "I AM BRITISH!" (even if it was made in Singapore). Through the neck pickup you will hear jazz tones that rival the best and could even cause one to wonder whether the body is acoustically chambered. The range of tones produced by CoAxe pickups is rather remarkable, accommodating everything from jazz to country to rock and a few things in between (though the XLM pickups on the VOX SDC-22 are perhaps slightly more versatile and accommodating while not producing quite as heavy of tone). Setting the 2-way Lead/Clean mode switch to Clean thins out the tone somewhat, providing for some additional tonal variation. As output is decreased when switching to Clean, a volume pedal would be a good thing to have, particularly for live performances.

8. Playability. The relatively thin neck and low action (may require setup) make for one fast guitar. In fact, this is one of the fastest guitars I've ever played. And with the very responsive CoAxe pickups, it's easy to make beautiful music with this thing.

9. Fingerboard. One of the first things I check on a new guitar is the fingerboard to see if it has any dips or rises. No problem with the guitar I got.

10. Frets. No problem here. Perfect height for my liking and dressed appropriately.

11. Deluxe Gig Bag. This is a serious, padded gig bag. I appreciate the factory shipping the guitar inside the gig bag, inside a box. It would nonetheless be good if VOX offered a hardshell case for such a quality guitar.