Thoughts on 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.

[GuitarBilly]

Yeah, that's not good. But they're not major issues either.

I look at guitars in this price range as upgrade platforms. If you like the look and feel of the guitar, do some upgrades and you will end up with something really solid.

[mystixboi]

Yeah, that's not good. But they're not major issues either.

I look at guitars in this price range as upgrade platforms. If you like the look and feel of the guitar, do some upgrades and you will end up with something really solid.

absolutely, i'm thinking of getting new electronics... should be killer afterwards

[Heath]

- 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

I played a show a few months ago and one of the other guitar players there that night was playing his brand new ES-335 when the bridge pickup went out and being a young guy, he didn't bring a backup. I let him use my tele the rest of the night to get him through and volunteered to help him out with the pickup issue since I have known him for a while and he is one of my son's friends. When I got into the guitar it became evident that the people that wired the guitar didn't solder the metal wire braid to the pickup base plate, so it was losing ground connection. The pickup cover was not soldered either. Sometimes these things just miss QC checks and slip through, even from the big brands.

[nightflameauto]

I'm curious, mostly. How's it hold tune if you slam the bar? Very rarely does a guitar in this price range hold tune well enough to not annoy the hell out of me.

I really dig the purple. Not big on the pre-relic thing, but at that price? Meh.

[GuitarBilly]

The Floyd Rose would be a point for concern for sure. Maybe not immediately but these cheaper Floyd copies tend to wear out fast and start to have issues.
I'd upgrade it to a Gotoh trem or at least a Floyd Special.

With the stick tremolo, I'd at least get a trem stop and set it to dive only. That should make it a bit more stable. Or just block it completely and hardtail it.