It’s often the case that guitars with roasted necks cost more than gloss poly finishes, but Donner is challenging that assumption with its feature-laden import DST-700 Hyper Series.

Aiming for rock players, Hyper models are offered with pickups in superstrat configurations – HH, HSS, and HSH – some with push/pull tone pots. They have bodies made of basswood with matte finishes or mahogany in natural, and five-piece maple necks with that trendy “roasted” finish. The 25.5″-scale necks have 22 frets on a rosewood board and a compound radius that goes from 10″ to 14″ for maximum shredularity. There’s also a truss-rod adjuster next to the neck pickup, Donner’s 18:1 locking tuners, and a two-point vibrato bridge.

In hand, our tester HH did indeed possess a hard-rock attitude, offering mid-favored tones that sounded good with more volume and gain ladled on. Its comfortable neck arrived with a reasonable setup following a 7,000-mile journey from China, but as with any guitar that has traveled that far, it would benefit from a trip to a tech.

Like its popular effects pedals, Donner’s latest aims to blow up accepted norms of guitar pricing and deliver jaw-dropping value. The DST-700 Hyper is well-positioned to do just that.

This article originally appeared in VG’s June 2023 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.