NK

Folks, this is an NK guitar. It's a Chinese made instrument, the one you'd tell others to avoid & the subject of ridicule when a conversation about knock-offs gets going. Yes, it's  trying to do a Strandberg of sorts but that bat wing tail end design is a miss when it comes to close manifestations. 

This one came in for a re-string & some other general maintenance. I did a fret polish, fretboard re-hydration & tidied things up at the bridge end; it was mostly corroded. I have a feeling this was an impulse buy & it was left to hibernate along the way. A quick check revealed that it's no longer in production, NK Guitars had moved on with other goodness in their catalog & moving up the price range as well. New, this could have been had for less than $400.

There is currently a pair of DiMarzio Air Classics in there which leaves me to appraise it for its good tones; surprise, surprise. My overall impression of this guitar - it's surprisingly a good player but two things:

1. That bridge there is proving to be a scourge. One of the reasons why I accepted this for a re-string was to see how this thing works. Apparently, you need a key to turn the tuners, this could be done with bare fingers but it requires a good pinch to turn. I suppose, this is to keep tuning in tact while in use, a locking mechanism. Also, it did not manifest a radius compliance; having played the guitar for quite a bit, I can feel that the fretboard is not flat. It might be a 14" Ibanez-esque curvature but definitely not flat. So The action at both E strings felt higher than the rest of the strings.
2. The body is a slab design. That's right, no elbow relief, no ribcage contour; a very Telecaster type design. It makes playing uncomfortable especially for someone with a medical condition like me. 

OK so this episode put NK Guitars as another benevolent brand name from China. It's not shabby by any means. Eart & NK, good stuff.