Donner Designer Series DST-200

I’ve owned and consistently played the DST200 for 7 months now and comparing it to my 5 Squier Affinitys and 2 Bullets (Teles and Starts) purchased over the past 6/7 years from Amazon because these guitars are in the same price and quality categories and I’ve had adequate time to make a fair opinion. Over all it’s a great guitar and surpasses a Squire Bullet but falls short of the Affinity line which was my unreasonable expectation considering the $70 difference. It probably falls the middle of a Bullet and Affinity but I would chose the DST200 over a Bullet or Sonic due to the over all feel, primarily the body wood which I think contributes to the overall tone, an idea debated in some circles (the tone wood conspiracy lol). I’ll try not to repeat what’s all ready been said so my points are it really is a good feeling guitar to play, kind of thin but setups and inotates very well contributing the overall tuning. The black finish is professional and top notch! The electronics sound great and the additional splitting humbucker is useful. Some players don’t prefer the ceramic pickups but they sounded good to my ears lending to all the classic Fender tones in all 5 switch positions with the added push/pull switch for the bridge humbucker (a nice competitive idea from Donner). The plastic nut was cut perfectly and the original Donner tremolo is good and compatible to a stock Squier vintage type. The frets are smaller in diameter compared to the larger fender/squier which could make or break a player’s opinion but I’ve accepted it (still like jumbos for the feel and longevity). Now swapping out parts could be a problem, I’m always modding and found that some of my numerous loaded pickguards didn’t fit resulting in drilling extra holes for the 11 screws, the horn portion didn’t exactly line up and the tremolo template was slightly off and required some shaving. I swapped out the stock tremolo for a fender gold vintage and it was a perfect fit. The body is the same size of an Affinity meaning it’s smaller than the standard Fender Strat. When I replaced the stock tuning machines with gold vintage F-hole Fenders I found the holes had been reverted back to a smaller diameter with plugs then redrilled for smaller holes as if Donner was using larger tuners at one time. These “plugs” popped out when I tried to replace the original retainer rings so I had to tap them back in and repair the cracks and splits with wood filler, sanding and a repaint which brings me to an inconsistentancy, in the stock pictures the headstock is shown painted black but mine was a natural finish. I just painted mine with black lacquer and buffed to a professional shine. I also swapped out the pups and pots for some better alnico brand and rewired the split humbucker switch to go series/parallel (personal preference) and I stayed with original Donner pickguard as others didn’t exactly fit. I also kept the cheap import 5 way switch but will swap it eventually as the cheapies get scratchy over time and using. I replaced the stock boat input plate and jack with Fender and found a slight difference in size but nothing significant I’ve also replaced the plastic nut with a high quality precut bone, this is new territory to me as further adjustments are needed like recutting slots due to string buzz and intonation problems but it was a perfect fit in the slot (found an exact replacement on Amazon with the same measurements. This is important!!) I also sanded down the clear satin finish on the back of the neck with some expensive nitrocellulose amber colored lacquer, personal preference. I don’t usually review products but I’m passionate about guitars in general and hope these details are beneficial to anyone. Play, mod and learn!

The famously boasted brand on the YouTube channels have us aware of their presence. By chance we see this model including attractive color scheme, vintage-correct appointments like bent-steel saddles, split shaft K-style tuners , push-pull splitting bridge humbucker , knock-out price. Full thickness body. included strap, decent cable with soldered end jacks, wrenches to adjust saddle height and truss rod (essential to tweak the action just right from the shipped 'happy medium' setup. neck carve is substantially comfortable familiar in feel. pickup tone is satisfyingly rich and throaty humbucker with gain, single coils sing their familiar smooth quacks and clucks & Srv bluesy snarls. I won't be 'upgrading' (or 'sideways-grading' -as it tends to be with pick ups), these perform well. And a gig bag included! Q C is respectable all around. I was hesitantly skeptical , yet am pleasantly surprised at the instrument delivered. Stretch the strings, apply Dunlop 65string cleaner & conditioner lowered the strings a pinch and tightened the truss rod less than a quarter turn, backed out the trem springs in the back to free up the Whammy play and it's inspiring with sound and feel. Classy and modern functioning strat-a-like that is not uncanny valley in the design department,familiar and functional and most of all FUN!

I really love this guitar, I use it dang near every day, very versatile on the setting and the slick fretboard makes playing simple and fun.

Sounds great and looks great

Donner is making really good guitars for not a lot of money. I got this one shipped for $127. It comes with a decent backpack style gigbag,strap,cable and allen wrenches for truss rod and action adjustments.I did replace the bridge block with a solid brass one added a couple of tremolo springs and replaced the string trees with roller ones. You don't have to do those things for this to be a really good instrument. A good setup is really a they need. Just my personal preference. If you know how to do some basic guitar setup and repair these guitars are a no-brainer for the price. I initially purchased the tele style with the f-hole and dual humbuckers. I liked that one so much that I bought another. Get them when they have a $70 coupon, I got the tele style one for $106 shipped! Unbelievable!

Bought for my teen daughter for Christmas. Works very well and way better quality then what I had expected because of what YouTube videos said about the cheaper guitars. Surprisingly this was not the case when it came to this one. She loves it.

Me llegó muy bien embalada, muy bien protegida, solo puedo decir que le faltó un tornillo a la tapa trasera. Aún no la he desarmado porque le voy a montar unos pickups de alnico, los que trae originalmente no son terribles, pero es algo que sabía que iba a mejorar apenas llegara, trae cuerdas 0.9 de fabrica cosa que también voy a cambiar a 0.10. el filo de los trastes en los costados me lastimó un poco el día que llegó, pero al siguiente día ya los trastes estaban en su sitio, la madera con la humedad de esta ciudad puso todo en su sitio, el diapasón llegó bastante derecho, lo ajusté un poco más para mí gusto y el alma es súper suave, no hace falta hacer fuerza, el puente trae 3 resortes de fabrica, le quité uno y la ajusté para semiflotante, hasta ahora bien pero igual pienso cambiarle los resortes cuando le cambié las cuerdas. Las clavijas no son las mejores pero funcionan bastante bien. La verdad es una muy buena opción por el precio, solo deben estar concientes de que es necesario hacerle al menos ajustes mínimos precisos al recibirla. El gig bag y los accesorios están bastante bien! La verdad muy contento con la guitarra, ya solo esperar que lleguen las pastillas nuevas y el puente.

This thing I got on a Amazon Warehouse special for dirt cheap. I was drunk one night and wanted a shell link strat to play SRV riffs. Lol Had some fret sprout. Not anything more than my recent Gibson USA purchase.. that was easily fixed. It sounds like a strat. Gets all the classic strat tones , the back of the neck feels unfinished almost great feel. The stock pickups actually aren't bad and the stock coil split on the humbucker is great. To me it's classic neck or 1 click back strat position or all the way back for the humbucker. Fretwork was great no frets buzz etc. Very resonate and loud! Buy it.