One thing to understand about buying a guitar from an internet source: obviously you cannot hold and play the instrument. Rondo has fantastic bargains, but on occasion I have had to do some serious work on their guitars. I had a nut shatter into pieces on a Tele clone during the tuning process and had to replace it. This required digging out the pieces of the old nut, cleaning out the nut channel, and replacing the nut. I used a graftech black nut for this. If you aren't up to this stuff, it might be better to go locally and buy an instrument there. Another Rondo violin bass had the tail piece installed about a 1/4" off center! Wacky. I had to remove the tailpiece and drill a hole in the right spot, then re-install the tailpiece and re-adjust the floating bridge and brass saddles.

Point here is: I doubt that Rondo does any examination of the product before they ship it out. It may arrive in fine condition, or it may require work. I'm willing to do the work, as I do this stuff all the time, and the bargains are so good, but if you don't have the skill or patience or tools, you might be wary. Guitarfetish items are very nice and way cool, but their tuning machines are not very good in my opinion. I count on changing them out as a matter of course. The overall quality and price make this a very viable option for me, but not for everyone.

In any event, count on some set-up time with neck adjustment and intonation settings as well as the action, and pehaps a change-out of strings. This stuff can and should be done by a local retailer, but you're on your own if you buy from an internet source.

Fire, the wheel, and the I IV V -- foundations of civilization.