“These guitars make Donner a firm competitor with other major brands in the sub-$500 category”: Donner DST-600 and DST-700 review
Donner Music might not be the first brand on everyone's lips when it comes to affordable electrics with impressive specs, but here are two reasons why that might change soon
The Donner DST-600 and DST-700 models are affordable, high-performance guitars with attractive vintage and modern styling and loaded with proper player upgrades.
Pros
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Affordable traditional and contemporary-style guitars with modern upgrades.
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Donner Lab pickups cover vintage and harder-edged tones with coil splitting.
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Multiple finishes and pickup configurations available.
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Solidly built.
Cons
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Discriminating players may want to upgrade some of the hardware or pickups at some point.
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Donner Music might not have been on your radar since it surfaced in 2012, but if you’ve been online-gear surfing, you’d know that the global brand has launched some seriously neat guitar products lately.
Take, for example, their co-branded collaboration with Jack White’s Third Man Hardware for the excellent-sounding Triple Threatmulti-effects pedal, which offers three essential guitar effects in a stylishly packaged compact floorboard for less than a hundred dollars.
You also can add their Hush Seriestravel guitars, Circle Looper (which I use religiously) and fantastic mini-pedals to that list. Sure, you wouldn’t be wrong pointing out that Donner's targeted consumers are usually entry-level and budget-conscious players, but for what it’s worth, the overall quality of their products can’t, and shouldn’t, be overlooked.
The recent introduction of Donner’s DST-600 and DST-700 electric guitars – two solid new guitar models in their Seeker Series of electrics intended for discriminating players – have all the potential to make Donner a firm competitor with other major guitar brands in the sub-$500 category.
(Image credit: Donner Music)
Donner DST-600 and DST-700: Specs
Donner DST-600
(Image credit: Donner Music)
Launch price: $439 (inc. gig bag) Body: Alder Neck: maple, bolt-on C shape Scale length: 25.5” / 648mm Fingerboard: Rosewood, 9.5" radius Frets: 22 Pickups: ToneDesign series Alnico V Pickups designed by Donner Lab. Humbucker bridge (for Sunburst only), 3x ToneDesign single-coils (bridge, middle and neck, for finishes in Red, Black, Green, Pink and White) Controls: 5-way selector switch, Humbucker split (Sunburst), 1x volume, 2x tone Hardware: Donner Lab vintage style tuners, 6-point bridge Finishes: Fiesta Red, Obsidian Black, Sunburst [as reviewed], Surf Green, Shell Pink
Donner DST-700
(Image credit: Donner Music)
Launch price: $499 (inc. gig bag) Body: Mahogany Neck: Mahogany, bolt-on C shape Scale length: 25.5” / 648mm Fingerboard: Rosewood, 9.5" radius Frets: 22, medium jumbo, steel Pickups: Donner Lab designed high-output humbucking and single-coil pickups Controls:3-position pickup selector and 2 metal control knobs: Master volume and tone with coil split Hardware: Corrosion-proof Donner steel hardware, 18:1 locking tuners, 2-point tremolo bridge Finishes: Natural Contact:Donner Music
Donner DST-600 and DST-700: Usability and sounds
(Image credit: Future / Olly Curtis)
The DST-600’s traditional aesthetics and features are convincingly executed on an alder body with a 3-color sunburst gloss finish that looks fairly authentic combined with the aged pickguard.
The very slim C-shaped maple neck has a shallow carve with rolled edges, making playability comfortable across the neck for players with smaller hands. The fretwork on its rosewood fingerboard with 22 medium jumbo frets (maple fingerboard models have only 21) is spot-on without any sharp or protruding edges, adding to its smooth feel.
Plugged in, the ToneDesign alnico V pickups – a humbucker bridge and two vintage staggered single coils – sound firm, with medium output throughout the range of the 5-way selector switch.
(Image credit: Donner Music)
The humbucker brings on the warmth with honky mids and a sharp bite (when you access the coil split); the single coils have a softer and glassy texture if you’re playing clean lines but cut with brightness when overdriven.
The guitar’s six-point tremolo bridge with steel saddles worked fluidly for slight vibrato wavers; however, the vintage-style tuners had some slippage. Then again, tuners are one of the first things I’d swap out on a budget guitar.
Donner ups the ante with the DST-700 model, which sports a satin-finished mahogany body and neck with a rosewood fingerboard that appears primed for high-octane shredding.
(Image credit: Donner Music)
Out from its included gig bag, upgrades abound with 22 medium jumbo steel frets, 12-inch compound radius fingerboard, Donner Lab humbuckers with coil switching at the tone control (HSS configuration available), heavy-duty knurled volume and tone knobs, Donner 18:1 locking tuners and a floating 2-point synchronized tremolo with block saddles and a steel plate.
Playability across its modern C-profile neck is as speedy as expected, and the softly carved neck heel offers unimpeded access to the higher frets.
The DST-700 feels more substantial with a bit more weight than the DST-600 and more ergonomic contours that make it drive faster than high-performance guitars twice its price.
(Image credit: Donner Music)
The Donner Lab high-output humbuckers sound clear and full, although many discerning speed merchants will install pickups with more complexity.
Donner DST-600 and DST-700: Verdict
(Image credit: Donner Music)
For many beginners, the DST-600 or DST-700 will be appealing choices for their upgraded features and inviting playability; still, many savvy guitarists will want to spend time with these affordable axes to add their own modifications or employ them as solidly built backup guitars for gigging.
For many beginners, the DST-600 or DST-700 will be appealing choices for their upgraded features and inviting playability
The Donner DST-600 and DST-700 models are affordable, high-performance guitars with attractive vintage and modern styling and loaded with proper player upgrades.
Donner DST-600 and DST-700: Hands-on videos
Donner Music
Classic Tones, Modern Playability I Donner DST-600 Electric Guitar - YouTube
Paul Riario has been the tech/gear editor and online video presence for Guitar World for over 25 years. Paul is one of the few gear editors who has actually played and owned nearly all the original gear that most guitarists wax poetically about, and has survived this long by knowing every useless musical tidbit of classic rock, new wave, hair metal, grunge, and alternative genres. When Paul is not riding his road bike at any given moment, he remains a working musician, playing in two bands called SuperTrans Am and Radio Nashville.
