-This review is a long one, I apologize.
-Also, I purchased my guitar from their website, I do not live close enough to go to their physical store front.
Now I know AIO and Wolf are supposed to be "bang for the buck" style guitars, and AIO is probably going to be upset by my review after refunding me $50 for being unhappy with my purchase, but honestly I hate the SC77 I purchased, and am probably going to take it to the range to do a nice video review and "tear down."
I read alot of positive reviews of AIO and watched several Youtube videos from Guitar MAX where he is quite literally telling you to buy an AIO guitar, including when he went to their warehouse to showcase their QC / fretwork/setup process and honestly now that I have one of their guitars, I don't know what all the buzz is about, unless you mean fret buzz... HaHa!... No, but seriously I can not get it to stop so imma have to take it in to my guy and see whats up!
Let's talk about the positives.
1: Getting a case with the guitar at what I assume is wholesale price is awesome! $90 for the nice molded plastic case is something like 40-45% off of retail! Thats nuts! Thanks guys!
2: The back of the guitar looks fantastic! There is a spot on the heel that didn't get properly filled with paint, but other than that it's Very nice, and I love looking at it!
Now the not so good.
1: My first impression was opening the case and the first thing that I see is a bunch of light colored sawdust shining brightly against the black plush material, not a deal breaker by any means, but just makes me question the validity of the QC process and attention to detail.
2: Black spots in the finish.
3: Dust in the finish on the body and headstock
4: Blue finish that got onto the aged white/cream binding
5: and honestly the worst visual offender is the abalone binding... its an absolute eyesore.
So it's set next to the veneer and on the main body and then there is the aged white binding around the guitai and they fill the rest of the empty space with a clear resin, and then the veneer finish is applied and then the final clearcoat. This hosts a few problems.
-The resin must be brittle at it is cracked all the way around
-There are a few chunks of saw dust in some parts of the resin
-They scuffed up the clear resin before the final finishing was done so in some areas the resin is not clear anymore.
-You can see the unfinished veneer underneath, which wouldnt bother me as much if the abalone was laid more consistently to give a clean look
-The finish has areas that go off the veneer and over the resin and even on the white binding.
Not a single one of these cosmetic defects would have been a deal breaker for me, but it really adds up to being a rather ugly piece overall when you're up close and personal with it, though I will say that it's an ok wall piece if all you want it for is to impress a friend or date who knows nothing about guitars and wont care to take a closer look.
6: For saying they "Really focus on playability," it seriously buzzes on strings 3, 4, and 6. I am not exactly sure the cause, I assume it's a poorly cut nut or the frets need leveling since I've tried adjusting the truss rod, lubricating the nut, making sure its not the bridge, and then tried raising the action so high its barely playable, but raising the action only helped with string 4, so its eitI've had problems with the low E on almost every guitar I've played that a small adjustment fixed, but never on strings 3 and 4. Again, I'll have to take it in to my luthier just to take a quick look before I do my "tear down."
Overall if you are looking for a budget guitar, especially if that guitar is going to be your daily workhorse, don't buy one online! I highly recommend going into an actual store and trying out a few guitars before buying one, hell even go to AIO in person if you live close by since buying in person and getting hands on with a guitar is so much better than just having whatever is in stock shipped to you based on a photo you liked! And honestly if the store you go to has one, try a gretsch 5220 or 5230 they're a legit blast, and mine is currently my favorite guitar, definitely recommended by me! If you want a strat or telecaster style then try out a squier, they're honestly pretty good these days. Want a Gibson style? Epiphone makes a cheaper version of pretty much everything Gibson puts out! And there are so many other decent affordable brands out there! Are they better than an AIO or wolf? Idk, because this was my first and will definitely be my last experience with them, but I can't stress enough that ordering online is nothing like hand picking your axe! read more