Vox SDC22 Double-Cutaway Solidbody Electric Guitar  (Used)

Comments about Vox SDC22 Double-Cutaway Solidbody Electric Guitar:

This is an update to my review of 2/23/2013. In that review, I stated that the bridge pickup sits substantially higher than the neck pickup, resulting in a significant difference in volume when switching between the two. I should have noted that the problem may be solved by adjusting the height of either or both pickups by way of the pickguard mounting screws located at either side of each pickup. Instructions with illustrations are provided in the small "Setup and Maintenance" guide that comes with the guitar. (I hadn't read through the entire guide before submitting my first review.)

Some guitarists may prefer to have their guitars put out more bridge pickup than neck pickup or vice versa. My primary interest in lowering the bridge pickup was to provide enough clearance between it and the strings as I often rest my palm on some of the strings, particularly the lower strings, causing the 6th string to intermittently make contact with the pickup, resulting in an undesirable popping sound. After lowering the bridge pickup enough to provide the needed clearance, I took to balancing out the volume between both pickups by raising the neck pickup just a bit and to where the tone of the two pickups in tandem (3-way pickup selector switch in the middle position) sounded the most pleasing to me.

The guitar comes with an allen wrench with which to lower/raise the bridge and adjust the neck, and instructions (with illustrations) on how to do so are provided in the "Setup and Maintenance" guide. Not included is a Phillips head screwdriver with which to remove the truss rod cover and adjust the pickup mounting screws, or a flat head screwdriver with which to move the individual bridge saddles to adjust intonation. It would have been nice if VOX had included the two screwdrivers, or at least one for the truss rod cover and mounting screws, though I can understand why they didn't. They do provide a gig bag, which was a pleasant surprise as it wasn't listed in the description on MusiciansFriend.com.

A few additional notes:

With regard to the 2-way Lead/Clean mode switch, I had said that switching to the Clean mode decreases output. To be more precise, I find the volume to decrease by about 1.3.

As for the Volume and Tone controls, I appreciate the fact that whatever number I see facing me is the level that it is set at. I also find the sculpturing of the knobs to be rather ergonomic.

In playing through my Carvin Nomad 50-watt tube amp, I find the Volume control on my SDC-22 to work beautifully provided the amp's volume is set to at least 2.5.

As for the Tone control, you may find yourself having to adjust that quite a bit, like down to at least 5 or 3, before you notice much of a difference. But it does work and you can achieve some nice coloration with it.

I appreciate the thinness and shape of the guitar's neck, allowing me to do things with this guitar that I couldn't with others.

With a set of light gauge strings and the action set right, paired with a good amp the SDC-22 is a beginner's dream, the beauty of being that it isn't a beginner guitar.

Comments about Vox SDC22 Double-Cutaway Solidbody Electric Guitar:

This review is based on 30 years of playing experience and a severe case of g.a.s. (guitar aquisition syndrome) which has led me to buy way too many guitars over the years.
This is a solid guitar with a few somewhat minor issues. First of all vox has done a great job marketing all of the unique qualities of this guitar. Unfortunately many of these 'special' features do not amount to much.
As for the pros. This is a very well built guitar. The quality of the build and the components are superb. Wood quality is excellent. The neck is comfortable. the fretwork is superb. the design is attractive. The tuners are top notch. The electronics are solid. It plays quite well and sound wise is decent (not stellar) as played through a gibson goldtone all tube combo. I love the proprietary parts which add a bit of uniqueness to this instrument. Overall it is very nice.
Here are the negatives. minihumbuckers really don't sound like typical mini humbuckers. Not quite as bright as one would expect. Not bad but truly not the best pickups I have heard. Certainly useable and mostly pleasing. Unfortunately they have a unique footprint so if you dont like them it will take a bit of work to swap them out. Bridge is unique but not great for palm muting. volume knob is a bit useless as it goes from 10 to 1 very early in the sweep - no gradual decrease in volume on this guitar. Finally the strap extender really does nothing. This is still a neck heavy guitar (like most symmetrical double cuts) so expect some player fatigue with this baby.
This guitar is certainly however worth the money. It is well crafted, styled beautifully and a nice player. Just be aware that the pickups are not as 'mini humbuckerish' as one would think. They are a unique size and as such swapping out may be a bit of a chore. Despite these issues It is a very nice value for the money. Oh and it does come with a reasonably nice gig bag.

Comments about Vox SDC22 Double-Cutaway Solidbody Electric Guitar:

I consider it divine providence that I stumbled across this guitar and consider it a wonder that Musician's Friend has any left considering the price they've been selling it at. I bought one in Black in mid-December 2012 after the price had been deeply discounted, before it was discounted even further.

The quality build, superb styling, hot electronics and fast playability in conjunction with a ridiculously low price make this a beginner's dream. However, this is no beginner guitar. It's a hot rod.

The XLM pickups on this thing are incredible, providing a full range of tones covering everything from hard rock to jazz and country with high output. I would nonetheless point out that as the bridge pickup sits substantially higher than the neck pickup, you'll experience more volume when switching from the neck pickup to the bridge pickup. However, you can simply back off the volume on the guitar a couple notches or use a volume pedal to balance things out.

This guitar is worth Musician's Friend's standard discounted price. The deep discount makes it even more of a deal. Unless you simply don't like the styling, if you're wanting a solid body guitar that will do it all, why wait? You can always send it back if you don't like it. It's only a matter of time before guitarists find out how good the SDC-22 is. Even if you're only a beginner and find that the action isn't low enough for you, just drop the brige and you should be in business. The guitar comes with a tool by which you can lower the bridge and/or adjust the neck.

I might also mention that while the list of Features for this guitar on the Musician's Friend website doesn't say anyhing about a gig bag, it comes shipped in one. (At least the one I received did.) It's not a Deluxe Gig Bag like the one that the VOX SDC-33 comes in, but it's quite decent and better than nothing.

I found no flaws in the guitar I received. The SDC-22 is noticeably lightweight and thus, easy on the back. It also has minimal neck dive (the neck falling a bit upon letting go of it when hung by a guitar strap while standing). In fact, this is one of the lightest solid body guitars on the market.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

No problem with the frets either. Perfect height for my liking and dressed appropriately.

The only somewhat significant CON with the guitar I received is that the D'Addario strings were useless by the time the intrument got to me, having been 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).

In addition, the action was a bit high, but all I had to do was lower the bridge and without needing to adjust the intonation any.

If you prefer something that doesn't say 'rock' as much but with virtually identical playability and fantastic electronics, you might consider the VOX SDC-33, another incredible deal.

Comments about Vox SDC22 Double-Cutaway Solidbody Electric Guitar:

I bought the Vox Sdc-22 on a whim. I was looking around for a guitar to get for Christmas and they had it on sale so I jumped the gun and bought it. I got the guitar and the first impression upon looking it over is that it's not only gorgeous, but the build quality is nearly flawless! The finish is even and there are no perfections anywhere, which is quite unusual for most of the asian-made set neck guitars I've had experience with. Aside from build quality the overall design of the guitar is quite impressive. Not only is the 3d countouring beautiful and comfortable, Vox also added very small details in like small countouring around the tone knob due to the curvature of the guitar and they even went far enough as to give this guitar one of the cleanest control cavities of any guitar I've ever seen. Aside from the asthetic and build quality the guitar sounds and plays wonderfully! The pickups are nice and warm like humbuckers should be but they have just enough of that single coil-like charecter to make them worth listening to, which is probably a result of their similarity to mini-humbuckers, and the neck is smooth as butter aswell as being the perfect contour for fast jass playing or rock shreding. The guitar is also unusually light but it's just the perfect weight so that it is light but the body isn't underweighted by the neck. Now that I've covered all the good about the guitar I'll mention the few cons of the guitar. Essentially, there were only two flaws to this guitar. The first is not exactly a flaw but rather a preference. The bridge was just slightly high and, as a result, not all of the guitars charecter was being amplified and it didn't quite play as fast as it could; however, this is a relitive thing because the stock action would be great for anybody who wanted to use the guitar for both normal and uses aswell as slide and the adjustment was immensely easy to do. The other imperfection I've noticed was that the coil tapping mini-toggle was cutting out on the humbucker settings when I first got it but after fiddling with it for a while I learned that there was merely a dirty contact and the problem was solved by simply switching the mini-toggle a good few times to clean away the dirt and now it works perfectly. This guitar is a total dream to play and look at and the pickups produce tones that I preffer to many I've heard form companies like Gibson and Epiphone. If you're looking for a Gibson-esque guitar but with a bit more tonal charecter and originallity then I'd highly reccomend this guitar regardless of any price point you're searching in. You simply will not be dissapointed.