Thoughts of SBS Steve Brown Sound after a month....

[mystixboi]

I purchased one of these a day or so after they were released because it looks cool and because Steve Brown is a beast! Here are some pros and cons:

Pros:
- Shipped within a few days of ordering
- Looks really cool… total shred machine
- Sounded great
- Plays fairly well

Cons:
- When it arrived, the neck had a weird wet feel to it. I had to use 0000 steel wool to get that weird layer off
- Volume knob wiggles even when set as tight as it can go
- And this is a big one… the 3rd song into the first gig I brought it to, the neck pickup died. The ground wire somehow became loose. Over 30 years of playing owning hundreds of guitars and that’s a first

This was purchased this guitar as a live guitar because I sometimes don’t want to bring my Suhr or custom Strat. I wasn’t expecting that level of quality, but I was expecting to have a working guitar that didn’t die during it’s first gig.

I am going to try to use it again live, but I’m definitely going to have to bring a backup(I planned on this being a backup to my main guitar). I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

I was planning to buy another one, but I will hold off for a while. Until this one proves to be a gig worthy guitar.

 

[dcburn]

Totally agree, really cool looking guitar!
Always love a reverse headstock.
Sorry about the cons.

I've not familiar though with Steve Brown?

 

[phillybhatesme]

379.
Solderless pup swapping.
Never heard of, but that doesn’t mean anything…
Were you comparing this guitar to anything else when making the purchase?

 

[mystixboi]

Totally agree, really cool looking guitar!
Always love a reverse headstock.
Sorry about the cons.

I've not familiar though with Steve Brown?

he plays in Trixter and fills in with Def Leppard at times

 

[Devin]

If it has that solderless crap inside it should be easy enough to hardwire everything with solder


Definitely not saying you should have to on a new guitar but I bet it would be solid as anything after that

 

[mystixboi]

If it has that solderless crap inside it should be easy enough to hardwire everything with solder


Definitely not saying you should have to on a new guitar but I bet it would be solid as anything after that

agreed

 

[JackBootedThug]

thanks for the review. I would rip all the guts out anyway....

 

[dcburn]

he plays in Trixter and fills in with Def Leppard at times

Thank you.
Appreciate the info.

Gotta say though, I thought his name sounded familiar.

 

[PurityS.L.G]

So I ended up getting one too. My thoughts....

1. The guitar looks ok but the relic job looks super fake as there is an eggshell coat over the whole guitar. Not sure if I will further relic those spots or repaint the whole body myself.

2. Bought it as a pickup testing mule and to my surprise, I found out this guitar has a kwikplug system which actually seems great if it holds up. I bought some kwikplug adapters to use with some other pickups and keep the wiring system in place. However...the electronic cavity looks like a total rat's nest mess with ZERO organization. Also the soldering job with the pots/electronics is terrible. I guess that's part of the cheaper pricing deal.

3. The stock pickups actually sound pretty good. Some amps it gets a little too quacky in the mids, especially with a boost pedal.

4. The neck sits way too high and you have to put the pickups quite high to match height. I'll most likely have to cut and sand some of the meat off of the base to get it where I want.

5. The Floyd is not as cheap as I thought it would be. I was under the impression it was a FR Special but it seems a notch above. Higher quality than any Squier, Schecter, Jackson, Ibanez entry level models I've played on.

 

[guitarnate2000]

thanks for the update! I think this might be worth pulling the trigger on. I can always add pickups..

 

[romanianreaper]

Maybe a company should sell a guitar where you choose your electronics separate and everything else is in place.

 

[Tone Ranger]

My band NOWAKE just opened for him about a month ago. Trixter acoustic. I dig it. Only talked to him briefly about his new line.

He is partnering with GuitarFetish.com. They sell guitar parts super cheap. I've gotten some decent stuff from them.

 

[Bardagh]

Doing a clear coat over the relic job is pretty typical. It’s what Fender does. I have one of the Jason Isbell road worn teles and it’s exactly like that.

I’m most surprised to hear that the floyd isn’t garbage.

 

[PurityS.L.G]

Doing a clear coat over the relic job is pretty typical. It’s what Fender does. I have one of the Jason Isbell road worn teles and it’s exactly like that.

I’m most surprised to hear that the floyd isn’t garbage.

I hear ya but the relic spots almost look like stickers/decals vs real wear which possibly could be the case since they mass produce these things and the relic spots are exact on every model. IDK, maybe I’m trippin but if you saw it in person you would know what I mean.