Plastic nuts aren’t ideal for tone or durability, but if you take care of your guitar and are careful when restringing it, you shouldn’t have any issues such as wearing down the string slots. It should also be noted that the DST-152 is one step up from Donner’s mega-budget DST-100 strat style guitar, and sits below their Seeker series strat, the DST-400, which we will be reviewing at a later date. But are Donner guitars like this? Or are they just cheap Chinese-made axes that don’t deserve any attention from us? Well, you’re about to discover the truth. This guitar is part of the Donner Seeker series that includes 3 different guitars sharing a lot of characteristics: the Donner DST-152, the DST-200, and the DST-400, reviewed by Guitar International HERE. The DST-152 is a classic Stratocaster model with a poplar body. So if you’re not really into Donner DST-152, that’s not a problem! There are dozens (or even hundreds) of great cheap guitars out there. Of course, it all depends on what you’re looking for and how much are you willing to spend.

The amplifier was surprisingly good. Due to its small and lightweight construction, I thought It would be useless. I was wrong. The cleans are nice and bright. The distortion is adequate for a beginner. I love the fact that it has rechargeable battery power which makes it very portable. First, the volume knob affects your sound only from 5-10. It turns to silent when you reach 4, so it doesn’t give that good control over the volume. For me, this doesn’t really matter since I mostly adjust the tone knobs and only sometimes turn the volume to around 8 instead of 10. Overall, it’s really nice to have it and it should get you going if you’re a beginner. But if you’re a bit more experienced player, you will probably want to look for something better. Accessories What’s interesting, the string action wasn’t that high either. Usually cheap guitars have a very high string action which makes bending very uncomfortable, but in this model it’s just not a problem. Depending on where you live, the time it may take for your exchanged product to reach you, may vary.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

The versatility is also important for beginners as you will be playing many different genres before you decide your style and tone. This guitar can help you explore all different regions of tonal areas for you to decide which one suits you. Finally, another con, a bit rough fret edges below the 11th fret I already mentioned in the “Hardware”-section. Again, this didn’t bother me too much, but it’s still something that needs to be pointed out and takes a bit out of the playability score too.

I have the Ice Blue color model, which looks pretty special as it is a blend of light blue and metallic colors. The color changes slightly with the light and appears gray or light blue depending on where you are. Overall, it is a good first-time guitar to learn some techniques and songs with a comfortable, decent-sounding instrument without breaking the bank. I needed to change the strings because the factory set (9-42) was really cheap and the guitar didn’t stay in tune. Thanks to the correct relief from factory, I was able to get great low-string action.Secondly, the body of the guitar doesn’t have shielding. This can cause especially single-coils to produce unwanted hum and buzz when there’s radio- or electromagnetic interference present.

If you’re a bit more advanced player, you will probably consider replacing these tuners with a better set, but if you’re just starting out, it won’t make any difference to you. I guess they traded the good knobs for better tuning keys, because these tuning keys are MUCH better than the ones of my LP-style Donner. On that one, the keys slip and don't "catch" easily, making tuning a slower process than it needs to be. (They're honestly the worst part of that guitar.) These, on the other hand, are a step up. They're still not as precise as a more expensive set, but they are a marked improvement and don't take nearly as much fiddling. I got approached by Donner’s staff member Brandon, and he offered to send me products to test and review for free. I was flattered, but at first, I declined. I didn’t want to become like the Youtubers who produce commercials for guitars and rarely disclaim that they got products for free or even got paid to produce content. But I started to have second thoughts… The fretboard was made from an unidentified wood, which we think was likely pau ferro or Indian laurel. It was quite dry, but that would be easily remedied with some conditioning oil. We found that the fretwork was actually quite well executed. The edges weren’t perfect, but there was nothing sharp enough to cause discomfort or injury. This means if you attach the included tremolo arm (shown below), you can push it down and it will lower the pitch of the notes you play.

One major problem is with the push-pull knob, which decreases the comfortability of controls. The push and pull knob is hard to manage, especially in the 10th setting. This might take some time to get used to. The strings on the left sit in the middle of the saddle (where they should be), but the strings on the right have slid off-center and sit to the left.

I also have to mention that the fingerboard of that Strat is also really nice – it’s made of Indian Laurel. And I’m surprised that it wasn’t that dry! Usually fretboards in budget guitars are super dry and they are screaming for some lemon oil, but in this case, that’s not a problem at all. Hardware I was impressed with Donner DST-200 as it feels great in hand and plays quite smoothly. Of course, I rate it with consideration of its price. Despite that, it is an amazing guitar, especially for beginners. As you can see from the above photo, the cable comes with one straight end and one right-angle end. Donner DST-200 Sound Apart from these two issues, I couldn’t find any problems or quality concerns. When you consider the price of this guitar, that’s impressive.

QUESTIONS ET RÉPONSES

Imagine that you’re going on a tour with your band and you have mixed feelings about taking your vintage Fender with you. Choosing a cheap Donner like this one instead may potentially be a better option for you, as crazy as it sounds! Alternative Options The guitar weighs around 7.6 lbs (3.45 kg), which is slightly heavier than I like. My personal limit is around 7.25 lbs (3.3 kg), and this one exceeds my limit slightly. However, this is highly personal as different musicians can handle different weigh.