GGJaguar
Reverential Member
I have a very nice Westerly-made S-100, but took up Sweetwater on their S-100 Deluxe. I’ve been impressed with the NS S-100 ever since I read GAD’s excellent review plus @matsickma was excited about his and that excitement is contagious. GAD's sound bites and my short-lived ownership of the GSR X-150D reinforced my opinion that the Korean-made reissue HB-1 pickups sound very good for the music I like to play. But having both a US-made and Korean-made S-100 didn’t make sense… until now. I justified the Deluxe version because it has a Bigsby. Yes, that qualifies it as being different enough.
I ordered the sunburst version because I like sunburst finishes very much. It’s a classic finish. Call me old fashioned, call me an ol’ fuddy duddy, but I like what I like. A well-done sunburst is beautiful.
I compared the specs of the standard NS S-100 to the Deluxe variant. Here are the results with differences highlighted in yellow:
Also as Ralf noted, the rear cavity cover on the Deluxe model only has 4 screws while the standard model has 6-screws, so that’s another difference.
Here is photo comparison of the different pickguards and bridges between the two models. I can’t comment on the quality difference between the bridges on the two guitars because I don’t have a Korean-made S-100 on hand to compare. I’ll go out on a limb and say it’s a less expensive unit which could translate to lower quality.
This is my first encounter with an Indonesian-made Newark Street model. When it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised by the fit and finish. It’s pretty much flawless. Still, the guitar needed some tweaking as the intonation was way out of whack, the action is little higher than I like and it looks like the nut slots were not cut deep enough. They did a good job making and finishing the body, just not setting it up and wiring (more on this later).
The tuners are Guild-labeled 18:1 Sta-Tite clones that may be made by Marvel. They are not Grover Sta-Tites as stated on the Sweetwater website. Tuning stability is very good, but the tuners have a bit of play in them. The guitar is easy to tune and stays in tune, but the tuners don’t feel precise. For the record, Grover Sta-Tites (V97-18) are not a drop-in fit. I tried.
I ordered the sunburst version because I like sunburst finishes very much. It’s a classic finish. Call me old fashioned, call me an ol’ fuddy duddy, but I like what I like. A well-done sunburst is beautiful.
I compared the specs of the standard NS S-100 to the Deluxe variant. Here are the results with differences highlighted in yellow:
Also as Ralf noted, the rear cavity cover on the Deluxe model only has 4 screws while the standard model has 6-screws, so that’s another difference.
Here is photo comparison of the different pickguards and bridges between the two models. I can’t comment on the quality difference between the bridges on the two guitars because I don’t have a Korean-made S-100 on hand to compare. I’ll go out on a limb and say it’s a less expensive unit which could translate to lower quality.
This is my first encounter with an Indonesian-made Newark Street model. When it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised by the fit and finish. It’s pretty much flawless. Still, the guitar needed some tweaking as the intonation was way out of whack, the action is little higher than I like and it looks like the nut slots were not cut deep enough. They did a good job making and finishing the body, just not setting it up and wiring (more on this later).
The tuners are Guild-labeled 18:1 Sta-Tite clones that may be made by Marvel. They are not Grover Sta-Tites as stated on the Sweetwater website. Tuning stability is very good, but the tuners have a bit of play in them. The guitar is easy to tune and stays in tune, but the tuners don’t feel precise. For the record, Grover Sta-Tites (V97-18) are not a drop-in fit. I tried.