Best Inexpensive Electric Guitar (2024 Update)

I picked up the Surf Green Ltd Ed. Bullet Mustang a few days ago off the rack. They had two. One had rusty strings and sharp frets but the one I picked was almost perfect. These Mustangs are great for smaller learners and older guitarists that may enjoy the lighter string tension due to the short scale. I love the sound of both humbuckers. The bridge one gives you a nice grungy Nirvana like tone while the neck is smoother but both love to be driven. I picked up the Imperial Blue Mustang HH a few weeks ago. They both use the same humbuckers, The only difference I believe is the wood type, Basswood vs Poplar. Both guitars are quite light with the Basswood Surf Green one being somewhat lighter.These Mustangs are ideal for modding but for now I've only changed the cheap pickguard on this Surf Green one, putting a Tortoise Shell on it. So far I'm loving both of them and my Fender P90 Mustang is getting quite lonely.Tingman

First of all, this is a ton of value for the price. I got it on sale which made it even a bigger steal. Now, this guitar needs a lot of setup out of the box. You should polish the frets since they are as coarse as beach sand. Otherwise, string bends will be impossible and will most likely damage the cheap supplied strings (which should be changed immediately as with most new guitars). Expect some fret buzz, so be ready to adjust the saddles and the truss rod (I like my action quite low so this was a minor tweak for me). The intonation was actually quite close to perfect, it only needed a bit of tweaking on the A string. The nut and string trees are the ones you typically get on Squiers, which are good enough but won't do wonders for your tuning and should be replaced unless you are patient enough to tune your guitar every so often. Be sure to change these first before changing the tuners/bridge if you have tuning problems, I haven't changed the tuners or bridge on mine and don't plan to – they just work. Finally, the pickups are surprisingly good for the price, not too mellow and you can get some nice tones from the bridge pickup. You might soon outgrow them, though, and might opt for better humbuckers or P90s. For all these reasons, this guitar is not the best as a first guitar or for beginners unless it gets a proper setup first or if you're really planning to learn how to setup or change electronics/other parts in a guitar. However, those are the same reasons (plus the low price and simple design) that make this a really fun modding platform, and if you don't feel like modding it, with the right amount of work it's still amazing. It's light as a feather and the neck is very fast; you can probably muscle through hours of playing with barely any effort at all. The stock tones are reasonable enough, and in my opinion it looks awesome. You can't get a better deal for the money once you're aware of the above.Carlos, M

I like this guitar because of the 24" scale length. Everything else was pretty bad out of the box. The strings were a 1/4" off the fretboard. The fretboard was super dry. There was fret sprout. The frets felt like sandpaper on bends. The E strings are too close to the edge of the fretboard. When you play you're constantly hitting the pickup selector switch. The finish on the neck is supposed to be satin but it looks unfinished to me and there are light and dark areas on the neck which look bad. It is the worst finish on a neck I've ever seen on a guitar and I'm going to have to put some kind of finish on it. Trying to load strings is tricky and not as easy as on most other guitars you have to bend the end of the strings to get them to load. So that is the bad. The good? The tuners are your typical Chinese tuners that come on all cheap guitars these days, and they are fine. The pickups sound good. The 24" scale is great and really fun to play bends on!Steve

I have bought several guitars in the 100 to 300 range. I was surprised on the quality of this guitar and felt it was superior to many other brands in this range. From neck joint to fret polish & leveling and finish this guitar is quality except the tuners, however the guitar stays in tune and rarely goes out. The neck is not a Fender Strat or Tele neck so don't expect it to play like one, Its its own thing. It is not wide at the nut so if you need a wide neck at the nut it may not be for you. I find it fine and would not consider it narrow. The neck is slightly fatter than a Squire neck but it is still a C shape and a bit thicker as you go up the neck to higher frets. It plays great. Its set up well for Rock and Blues playing, neck adjusted with a light bow and strings set low (but not to low to buzz). Bridge saddles are stainless steel and this make the strings ring out bright and loud even when not plugged in. Intonation was spot on. Frets are tall enough to allow for string bending (there not super low). As regards pickups this is a personal thing. Pickups are very basic and do okay, one may want to upgrade them to ones own liking other wise there fine.pchapm

I was hesitant when ordering the guitar, but after I received it worry washed away from a single glance. I'm not good at instruments, I never played anything than doing ukulele club when I was a kid so I didn't expect myself to buy a guitar. It's delicate and beautiful, feels great to hold and sounds just as good. I do not regret buying this guitar at all, in fact I'm greatful that I'm able to own it. I strive to become great at playing it, little by little . Thank you!Nazma B.

It's a beautiful guitar and really well made. I bought it for my 9 year old daughter and she loves it. I don't know anything about guitars as I'm a pianist myself, but her guitar teacher was absolutely delighted with it. It's definitely worth paying the extra for the upgrades. I can definitely see it lasting her as it feels really solid, and the knobs and twiddly bits etc feel really solid. I genuinely can't get over how nice it is. Makes me want to learn the guitar myself!Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

What a brilliant guitar and superb value package! I have owned ‘real’ Gibsons over the years and bought this outfit as a birthday gift for my granddaughter who is learning to play. She has had a fender acoustic for a couple of years and now wants her own electric guitar. I chose this outfit as having previously owned one in the past I like Epiphone guitars. Before giving it to her I thought it best to check it over and set it up but there was nothing to do really, after tuning this guitar was perfectly playable right out the box! The feel, balance and weight is very like my Gibson and the sound is superb. The amp is excellent and packs enough punch to put a smile on your face too. She’s delighted with the built in tuner as well as the other essentials included in the outfit. What’s not to like? I can’t find a better value package!W O.

My original review still stands, but I made cosmetic-only upgrades for less than an average couple's meal at a casual restaurant that makes this look much, much more expensive. No tuner, pickup or pot swaps. Replaced black plastic parts with cream, added cream pickguard, replaced chrome tuner knobs with Klausen-style ivory-look knobs. Installed chrome pickup covers. Replaced speed knobs with gold top-hats.Easily done to make this look like a proper Les Paul. I'm happy with the looks for the little extra money spent.Steve

As the song says: "I'm a Sucker for a Cheap Guitar". I own over 30 – some cheap, some not so cheap. This one arrived perfectly set up: low action, no buzzing, no sharp fret edges, easy to play – amazing for a guitar in this price range. Although not great, the pickups even sounded acceptable. It's heavy, which to me means good, though not as heavy as my Gibson. It's OK-looking, but needed something to enhance it – a pickguard. I added one and it looks much better – more expensive. Instead of cutting off part of the guard to accommodate the knob as I've seen some others do, I drilled a hole big enough for the nut on the body underneath the knob to fit through the guard (see photos). Since the guard isn't much thicker than the nut, it allowed the guard to fit flush with the body and the knob to turn without any restriction of motion, and the pickguard is not butchered. It's a very clean look – like it came that way – not modified. So, I am pleased with this instrument, and would recommend it to anyone for any purpose: especially beginners to play or someone like me who just collects cheap guitars to hang on the wall of their studiio.Steve

A lot of the reviews posted here are for Strats, so I'm not sure what's going on. Anyway, I bought the red sparkle Squier Bullet Tele. The finish is gorgeous and that's what prompted me to do a spontaneous purchase. I have only experienced owning USA Teles, but I've played some Squiers that really impressed me. This one? Not so much. I don't detect any finish on the back of the neck although I'm sure it has a sealer of some sort. The body finish is nice, but the bridge hardware is cheaply made and I'll be replacing that for sure. Same goes for the tuners. I'm pretty sure it has some high frets because it goes dead starting at the 10th fret, but some of that was back bow. I loosened the truss and got rid if it, but now when I sight down the neck the forward bow is pretty obvious. I don't notice the frets being sharp on the ends. It now plays plays pretty good after sitting long enough for the truss Rod to settle, but I may need to tighten it just a little to get rid of some of the forward bow. The neck has a very comfortable profile. The body is thinner than my American Teles, but it doesn't bother me – in fact it's lighter which I enjoy. The body is Poplar and that's fine by me. I may leave the back of the neck alone for now because it actually feels pretty good, aesthetics are certainly lacking, but the body makes up for that. I'm sure with a little patience and help from my friends I'll have a nice instrument. All the basics are there. As is, it's not all that great, but still better than my first electric guitar! -!an old Kalamazoo single pickup thing with a bolt on neck back in the mid sixties. Like the title says, this thing has potential. I probably couldn't buy a finished body for what I paid.Ronnie

I bought my black metallic Squier Bullet eight years ago when GC was having a Columbus Day sale. I was looking for a guitar to which I could permanently mount my Roland GR-33 guitar synth's GK2a pickup. Previously I had the pickup mounted on my '96 Strat, and I didn't like this fit because I couldn't close my Strat's case with the pickup installed. I have a gig bag for this Squier, and it fits fine in the bag with pickup installed. Anyway, about the guitar. Right out of the box, it played great, requiring only a minimal amount of action adjustment. I was surprised at how good the pickups sounded, it being a Bullet and all. But the humbucker sounds especially nice when playing the guitar through my Marshall. The neck pickup has a decent sound, but not quite up to the snuff of a good alnico pickup. Still, for what the guitar cost, I really can't complain. If I want to, at some later date, I can always change out the neck pickup to a better alnico model. One thing I especially like about this black Bullet is its looks. The photos here at GC don't show it off all that well, but the guitar body's finish is metallic and the pickguard is a heavy metal flake. It looks spectacular under the lights. And the black hardware does a great job of completing that black look. The Bullet's body is thinner than a typical Strat or Squier Affinity or Classic Vibe body. The result is a light weight guitar, but there is no sacrifice in tone.Michael

I would first like to begin with- I normally would be giving a 5 star rating of this unit/Squier, as I have typically never had problems prior to the recent/earlier this year upset regarding shipping containers/etc being paused/sitting in the ocean/etc, delaying container delivery. PLEASE READ ON FOR FULL EXPLANATION. Two imperative points- 1. The fret ends were so sharp, when I say it was not playable (both sides/neck in its entirety), I mean, it was not playable (THE DATE OF INSPECTION WAS EARLIER THIS YEAR, AND I IMMEDIATELY ASSOCIATED THE FRET ENDS PROBLEM BEING DUE TO THE SHIPS BEING DELAYED/SITTING IN THE OCEAN/ETC- It looked to me like maybe between March and July of this year, although, I couldn't quite make out the stamped month). As well, the serial # of the guitar, of course, was of this year/'22. I maintain/work on most all my guitars, and I normally would've tightened up the fret ends myself, however, there was a hairline crack on the red sparkle finish at the bass side neck joint (which i just couldn't accept, visually), as well as a small tooling gash along the top edge of the headstock. The replacement/reordered guitar arrives tomorrow. 2. THE NEWER UNITS (AS, ONCE AGAIN, THIS IS A 2022-BUILT UNIT) ARE TOP-MOUNT/STRING THROUGH THE BACK OF THE BRIDGE, NOT "STRING-THRU" as the description indicates (and, with Squier bridge mounting, these are 5-screw mount plates, which, if ever you want to upgrade your hardware, particularly, w/the bridge, you must find an aftermarket unit that is "string through the back", along w/the correct string spacing (with Squier, they're 54mm, typically), and you'll typically need to redrill given it's rare to find plates that have Squier mounting dimensions that provided string through the back holes. I'm upgrading to a Babicz, given the results found. Also, there are two string trees (the second being a tree for both the D and G strings), and it looks great, actually, with both. Overall, I was impressed with the finish, as it was nearly flawless (aside from the hairline finish crack mentioned previously). The fretwire/fretwork, felt great….I found maybe two or so "slight" dead spots, which weren't enough of a "ping", or string buzz to be of concern, or critiquing the fretwork negatively. Rather, I was impressed with the fretwork. As well, it's important to note that the mounting of the bridge, along with the neck positioning/etc, was spot-on. No misalignment of the bridge mount/etc (and the same goes for the nut spacing). I've always been impressed with what Fender/Squier/Jackson are putting out. The quality is typically quite high…as for this unit, the quality is high, but the results of the environmental dilemma with either being stuck in a container offshore, or, sitting in a facility for weeks/months/etc, have had quite the impact on this guitar. As an important example, I had purchased a Bullet Tele last year (the unit in Burst color offered here through MF), and it was/is flawless, and I completely upgraded every part. As I own approx'ly 53 guitars ranging primarily from ESP to Jackson (some of which in the better than $2K range), I love to take what's titled as a "beginner" guitar, and totally hotrod it with high end parts (such is the case w/this guitar). As mentioned above, I've reordered the guitar, as MusiciansFriend provided me a generous discount (without having to ask) to accommodate me. Upgrades- 1. Babicz Full Contact Tele "Ashtray" bridge Gold, 2. Genuine Fender Gold control plate, 3. Fender Infinity Gold strap locks, 4. Gold input jack Ferrule, 5. Custom built Gold Sparkle w/star cut-outs Tele pickguard, 6. Philadelphia Luthier Tools "Fat" neck plate/Gold w/gold neck mounting screws, 7. Earvana compensated nut (Ivory), 8. Philadelphia Luthier Tools Gold string trees, 9. Fender locking tuners, Gold, 10. EMG T-52 set (black), or, EMG T-set, Red., 11. EMG Gold Telecaster knobs. 12. Powder coated Red pickguard screws, 13. Gold pickup mounting screws. Beginner guitar?……no more (ha).Dave

Overall: I read some of these negative reviews and can't understand what they're talking about. This guitar is probably the best guitar for $200 I ever played , right out of the box it was setup perfectly. All I did was tune it , I've even got the same strings it came with. Which I normally change whenever I get a new guitar. The tuners are unbelievably tight , this guitar barely goes out of tune even if it has been sitting for weeks. Also I never attached the whammy bar , so I can't speak on that throwing it out of tune. Since I have over a dozen guitars I don't usually play it daily , but when I do it always makes me glad I purchased it. This is a very versatile guitar , I play mostly metal and this thing shreds. But I also play blues and it sounds just as good as my custom strat. I bought an Epiphone SG special in the same price range and let's just say the setup is night and day , the tuners absolutely sucked , "already replaced them" and the intonation was off. It was a mess , I've already put it on Craig's list and bought a G400 Pro instead , 10x better quality and setup , but I digress. I've got many high priced guitars but always go back to the GRX , the playability and neck feels so comfortable to play. The only thing I'm going to do eventually is throw in a Seymour Duncan humbucker and I'm definitely keeping this guitar. I don't know how Ibanez can sell this for $200 and keep the quality , but I'm certainly not going to complain. Whether you're a beginner or experienced this guitar delivers. Definitely will be purchasing another Ibanez down the road.Mike

Sound: Does not have the cleanest sound due to the picks. Putting the right pedals and effects in line and cranking up the distortion makes it an awesome beginner / intermediate metal guitar. Features: For the price the materials feel great. Ease of Use: It sounds great on my Fender Champion 20 or Positive Grid Spark amp. Not the cleanest tone but a great metal sound and extremely easy to play. Quality: It feels made well, especially in the $200 range. I feel like this is one I'll have for years and once I get better definitely see this is a good platform for future mods. Value: This guitar is excellent value and at this price an amazing guitar. Manufacturer Support: I have not dealt with Ibanez. The Wow Factor: I must admit the aesthetic. It's extremely hard to find good looking purple color-based guitars. If I could dream up what I want a guitar to look like this is it. It helps that its quality is awesome. Overall: I love this guitar. Purple is my favorite color and a hard one to find good guitars in. It looks great. It feels great and I have yet to find any significant issues with it. No problems with the frets or fret buzz. Action is easy and low. It sounds great with my Positive Grid Spark amp. The pickups sound great. The HSH setup is very versatile. Not the greatest with clean tones like my Stratocaster, but amazing with the right effects.Josh

There is plenty to like about this guitar, and I got it for the features I was looking for: locking tremelo, 24 frets, fast neck, 5 way pickup selector, and nice looks. My first impressions of the guitar was slight disappointment with how sloppy Ibanez was. The tops and bottoms of the frets needed to be beveled as they were pretty sharp, there was a noticeable nick on the fretboard, and there was a black smudge on the back of the neck. None of those was a huge deal. The main two issues I have with the guitar are that the middle pickup, the single coil, has such low output that the middle three positions are much quieter than the neck or bridge pickups alone. I do like the tone of the single coil in conjunction with the humbuckers, but those positions are somewhat useless considering how quiet they are, and I have ordered a humbucker to replace it. The single coil alone (middle position) has too much noise AND is too quiet. Not a big deal to replace a pickup, but why they are selling it this way, I'm not sure. The second issue is the volume control. Instead of a gradual swell, there is a sharp dropoff in volume at one point in the rotation of the dial, making it pretty much useless other than having it full on or all the way off. I am not sure if that is fixable, but if it is, I'll need to have that done as well. All that said, if the guitar had not arrived in such sloppy condition and the two problems were resolved, I'd give this guitar 5 stars.hickory spork

The Ibanez RG 450 or any of the RG's are with the exception of the factory p/u and electronic. capable of becoming one of the best performance guitars to own. The base Ibanez Floyd Rose system is fiddley but, after learning how to adjust/tune quickly becomes appreciated for holding tune no matter the severity of attacks you use with the tremolo. The Wizard(ll or lll ?) You would need to go to custom built to exceed the easy play and comfortable frets you will find on and RG. This recent RG450 I upgraded to equal the higher priced models by adding the De Marzio Tone Zone (B), Air Norton (N). And instead of going with the True Velvet. Added the Seymour Duncan Vintage Hot Stack for the middle position and added better electrics to even out the upgrades.. End result; This guitar plays and sound equal to guitars costing over $1,000.00!! Good bones! Yes this can be played well and many will find happiness with this as stock., and, will perform well against the competition dollar for dollar!ikeus

I used to own an '89 Ibanez VBK JEM that I regrettably sold to buy a gaming pc. I wanted to get a newer entry level RG so I could have a floyd,HSH superstrat in E standard. I've had this RG for long enough to know it's a keeper. This thing has the same feel and vibe of my old JEM! Minus the monkey grip and other features obviously. The neck feels fantastic and I only had to do very minor setup adjustments to my liking. I would have liked a rosewood or ebony fingerboard but of course this is the lower end model. The Jatoba feels good under the fingers, similar to rosewood but with a slightly lighter shade to it. Like most guitars you buy online mine came desperately needing some good oil and cleaning. The Jatoba fingerboard seems to require a bit more lubrication than rosewood. The neck binding is done well, not perfect but to a good standard. I do wish the trem was an Edge lo-pro… But again, this is the lower priced model. There is nothing wrong with the Edge tremolo, it stays in tune well with whammy bar abuse but it is one of the bulkier Original Floyd Rose style bridges. The stock Quantum pickups are among the best stock Ibanez pickups I've tried. They are hot but versatile. However I did swap them out with the classic Dimarzio Air Norton/Steves Special combo and a True Velvet middle. I do believe a higher end Ibanez will obviously sound better than this but for the price it really is hard to beat! Well done Ibanez and AMS!Nevin

I decided, after months of thought, to try my hand at guitar playing once again. At the age of 66, I'm not anticipating being on stage. I simply felt like fiddling around with a decent guitar at home; sort of as a hobby of sorts. After checking out numerous guitars and amps, I decided the Squire Bullet series was a good fit. I bought the Limited Edition in red sparkle. I also bought a Fender Champion 20 amp. The pros: A really nice looking guitar. No visible flaws. Nice slim neck, excellent for those looking for a great starter guitar, especially if your hands and fingers aren't big/huge. Could be a potential candidate for modification further down the line. Super pick ups for a guitar in this price range! Cons: One, some fret buzz on the 5th and 6th string. Not 100% sure though that this is caused by the guitar or my novice playing skills.Joe G.

This was my first guitar and I must say the feel is better than my American standard strat. It's very light, the Finnish is stunning and keeps in tune pretty well. Although there were a few minor flaws for one one of the screws running heads popped off. I was just playing and I popped off. Another thing the pickups are really really sensitive and playing through an amp will make it sound dirty. Also the frets will buzz a bit.Lastly some of the fret ends were minor lay sharp. This guitar is good but it had a "cheap" fell to it. I would only recomend this for beginnersColin

It's a cheap guitar. Don't kid yourself – this isn't some custom shop rarity. But: with the red metal flake finish and playing the ones in the inventory to find the best one, it's a bargain and a ton of fun. I've always wanted a red metal flake electric guitar, but that's not exactly everyones cup of tea. But this is the sort of axe that will dazzle the audience – it looks like a much more expensive guitar. It plays nicely enough after some time for basic setup. Just do your homework before you plunk down the cash.Rowdy

What you see (in my case) was a black Stratocaster knock-off and what I got was black Stratocaster knock. The quality is decent (downright great for the price). but of course, that means although the basic guitar is well mased the hardware and pickups are not of stellar quality. If you expected anything else you must be crazy. The guitar arrived in good shape … I put on new strings and straightened the neck, then checked the intonation which was good… This is an EXCELLECT beginner's electric guitar. I have been playing for 50 years and I bought this guitar to practice my guitar repair skills. I will pull all the frets and re-radius the neck then refret the guitar and perhaps replace the pickups. If you buy one of these, be sure have a luthier (guitar builder/repair person) set it up for you if you don't know how to do that for yourself. These are great low-end guitars but (like any other guitar) they do need a setup. I am old enough to remember all the bad ( as in almost unplayable) beginner's guitars from back in the day. Now with CNC machining the quality of the low-end guitar market has increased greatly and this guitar is the result. The beginner can now get a decent guitar at a decent price. This is one of the best guitars the low-end market segment has to offer. Rawk On!!!Thomas

Amazing shipping, Ordered 12/22, arrived 12/26, a SUNDAY, even in our historic supply chain crisis. If I'd known they'd be so fast, I'd have ordered a day or two sooner to have it here for the little ones on Christmas. Everything as expected, except not a trace of the blue burst shown on the website; just solid blue. Pretty color, seems well done, but lost a lot without the burst. The biggest problem is that the bridge (a 6-screw version) is mounted off-center towards the treble side. This means the bass strings are way in on the neck, and the treble strings are close to the edge. Also, they don't line up right with the pickups. (see photos). I hope that's not a problem, it'd be a real bear to fix, and given the automated production of a unit like this, a replacement would probably be the same. Neck has a satin finish, knobs all work smoothly, no scratchies, arranged as Volume, Neck Tone, Center Tone. The selector switch feels stiff but solid. Jack nut seems tight (always seems to be a weak point in electrics) but we'll see for how long. I like the block saddles. I doubt I'm going to gig with this one (I play upper-tier Strats mostly) but it seems like the perfect "bathroom guitar" or kids guitar, certainly better than the plywood crap I learned on. A great replacement for Squier Affinity that now costs $249 street. I wanted a guitar to tinker with, and I sure got one. New strings, tuners, pups… fun for me and the grandkids. I won't save money when it's all done, but the experience for me and them will be golden.New User

I bought this a little over a month ago, and I play it every day. I'm a beginning guitar player, and I'm happy with my purchase. The reviews I read prior to buying this varied: some said it was flawless, others found multiple problems. It appears that while it is an overall good value, the individual guitars may vary in quality. I haven't had a "set up" done on it yet, so I've been playing it just "out of the box" and I'm impressed with the sound and playability. Pros: Looks good. Sounds good. The little practice amp that came with it sounds very nice, and you're not gonna play a bar gig with it, but it's sufficient for practicing at home or even in a garage jam. It's built to upgrade over time, so you can easily customize it how you like. Cons (bearing in mind this is just "out of the box" with no setup): The frets are installed inconsistently. Some frets are flush to the edge of the fretboard, a few are a bit short of the edge, and others stick out past the edge, making it difficult and painful to slide your hands down the fretboard. (See the photo.) This doesn't seem to affect the sound. There's a light intonation issue on the higher strings: a perfectly tuned E on the open string gets to be a sharp E in the 12th fret (so it's about halfway between an E and an F), but this could probably be fixed with a proper set up. Very minor issue: the strap that comes with it is AWFUL. It's thin, it's itchy, it has no pick holders, and the slots to go into the buttons on the guitar don't lock well. Very minor issue: the gig bag is flimsy. Consistent with the reviews I read before buying this, it is definitely worth the money if you are a beginning guitar player or are looking to customize your own guitar over time. The sound is good out of the box and it's a great guitar that can grow with you as you grow as a musician. The quality of individual components (the finish, the frets, etc.) may vary a bit from item to item, which is to be expected at this price point.New User

I purchased this guitar when it was $95 off full price. So that kind of makes it a worthwhile purchase. Definitely not worth full price in my opinion. Poorly packed with insufficient padding in the box allowed two of the strings to be bent during shipping. I assume this happened during shipping. They wouldnt send bent strings right? Thankfully they provided back up strings… The nut is very poorly crafted. You can visibly see burrs and imperfections in the nut that cause the strings to ring out of tune on certain parts of the fret board even after tuning. The pick-up selector nob fell right off first time I adjusted it. I will have to glue it myself. When the notes do play out true the triple pick ups sound better than the Peavy beginner guitar I used to have– Which only had two pickups and came in a similar starter package but was about half the price as this guitar. I think if I research how to fix some of the issues I can make it playable. But this guitar is far from playable out of the box. Fairly poor quality control.Cody

I was looking forward to ordering this as my first guitar after taking some classes a couple years back. The shipping was remarkably fast–however, when the product arrived the amp was completely broken. Upon plugging the guitar into the amp and strumming, it would make a horrendous scratching, broken sound. Plucking strings has the exact same effect, and occasionally the amp will cut off after a second of playing. I've tried adjusting the dials, turning overdrive on and off, I even bought a new cord thinking that was the issue to no avail. To make matters worse I have called the customer support number multiple times asking if I could recieve a partial refund, or ship back the amp for a functioning replacement–every time I'm left on hold before the call disconnects, if I can even get through to begin with. The only reason this isn't a one star review is that the guitar itself works fine and looks beautiful! I wouldn't reccomend buying the full set if they don't bother to make sure one of the most essential parts is functioning before shipping however.James B.

I worked outside for my father for a good many weeks while the guitar was on sale, and when I got it, I had mixed emotions. After a few days, the gig bag started to rip and now theres a big hole in it. Its still usable, but it isnt really well made. Also the bag isnt really protective. Its more decorative. The strings on it and the other ones were both junk, my local guitar shop guy told me that himself, but strings are moderately priced, and most of the time they last a while, so thats not much of a deal. The amp is lower end, and the cable that plugs into the amp and the guitar started to show copper wire around 2 weeks after purchase. It still works, but it should have lasted longer. And the stand on the amp didnt hold up at all, the plastic on it broke and now it wont angle so the sound comes at your face. But other than that its a good purchase, i would just suggest to just buy the guitar alone, and buy the amp separately, instead of the kit, but that may get expensive, so check out those options and compare them to this product and decide for yourself. My local guitar shop guy told me that the guitar itself is great quality though, but there are more expensive guitars out there, its a great guitar to start out with. Another side note, not relating to the quality of the guitar, but for beginners, how to learn how to play it fast. I suggest buying Rocksmith 2014 with this for PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One and other game consoles. Although it is expensive, the cable that comes with it counts as $20 dollars of it, and it actually surprisingly works! I started playing the game in late june or early july this year and I learned pretty quickly, to the point where I am now thinking about combining lessons and the game together to speed up the learning process even faster. Now it wont turn you into Guns N Roses overnight, but its pretty effective.TheVanillaMiner

I purchased this guitar as an intermediate player. I had the tech at GC do a set up on it. It looks, sounds and plays great. The workmanship out of he box was very good. Very nice fret work, no sharp edges. Very happy with this guitar. Just keep in mind that to get its full capabilities it will likely need a set up but this is common with most any guitar you buy. I would definitely buy this guitar again.Michael

I have several Ibanez, some of them being slightly on the higher end of the mid-grade lines. I didn't need an inexpensive Ibanez, but the looks of this Gio caught my eye and I had been pining for it for awhile, but everyone was either out or on preorder. When I saw this marked as used and $40 less than the regular price, I jumped on it. I expected some cosmetic wear maybe, since it was used, but when it got here two days after I ordered it, it was still in the original wrapping with the plastic on the pickguard and pickups. I don't think it was ever touched. Everything was set up very well right out of the box. The pickups aren't great, but they aren't bad. The neck and fretboard feel fantastic and the blackout finish of it all is what really sold me. The body is polar, so it's a bit lighter and that makes it feel a bit cheap, but it scream and I'm really diggin it. Proaudiostar is 3/3 for me.Scott W

A great humbucker pickup guitar for beginners. Has great tone and feels smooth to play. Only issue was the action, which was too low when shipped and caused lots of buzzing. Had to increase it by quite a lot to get a good feel – a beginner might not know how to do this. Guitar looks amazing, makes me want to play whenever I look at it.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

These are Fender's best kept secret for quality entry level guitars. I've been playing guitar for nearly 40 years and I own many guitars. These are Alder (body) and Maple (neck) for durabilty and tried and true tone. The pickups sound surprisingly good and no noise in the electronics. Btw, these are great to mod. If you know what you're doing, you can take an used Squire Affinity, mod it, and turn it into a guitar that that plays and sounds as good as any thousand dollar guitar. Fun guitars…great priceaxe541

After after 30 + years and many many strats over the years some of my favorite guitars have been Squires. But I would stay away from the Affinity series. They are poorly made, The Product coming out of Indonesia is far superior. I bought a Package deal for 80.00 That had not ever been used. It included an Champ amp the Stratocaster ( unplayable other then for a REAL beginner ) Chord, Strap picks, cleaning supplies. I sold the guitar for 90.00 The amp crapped out after about 4 months which annoyed me .Great practice amp with a headphone jack for my apt. Just get a reg Squire not an affinity. each. They are great guitars All you need unless your a Pro BUT if you can get a 20 th anniversary its is one of my favorite practice guitars. I play it all the time.I,m just guessing but they may have used better wood and upgraded the pups or wired hotter or i just got a really good one. Good luck Keep Playing !hblock321

Squier Strats w/China maple neck is best neck/fretboard that plays and feels identical to my original vintage '59 Fender maple neck/fretboard. I change out the p/u's to Noiseless and its a player. Own 3 modified China maple neck/fretboard Squier strats (2 gold) and this black one. Fender would do well to duplicate these neck shapes/fretboards on their U.S. built strats.ro_rued

Please pay close attention to what you are purchasing because it is not what it seems. My daughter was so sad. The amplifier could fit in one of her handsMarcus

We now have 3 Sawtooth guitars. We are extremely pleased with all of them. We have an acoustic, electric, and now this beginner's electric guitar pack. Our youngest son won't put this guitar down. The black is a cool see through gloss. You can see the wood grain through the gloss finish. The guitar is of good quality. Much better than I thought it would be.The amp is portable, and can be used for headphones. Take note, that this is an amp that takes batteries (9 volt), or you can get an adapter for it. Comes with everything he needed to get started.Maximilian

Did not receive all items that was displayed with this package ( missing was Gig soft case bag ) one of the reasons why I chose this package, my grand son was disappointed. I will not recommend this item n I plan to counsel my account with Walmart cause i did not get what i payed for, enough is enough.Peggy

This guitar is a great value for me, here's what I like; Looks great (and headstock is beautiful) 24 fret (dot inlays, didn't want shark) Upper fret access couldn't be better. Tremolo bar Really dark fretboard (not ebony of course, but super nice) Dot inlays and side inlays are BRIGHT white, easy for me to see. Fingers slide up and down the fretboard with ease, which is not true of some of my other guitars, fingers tend to hang up on some, I could not ask for better frets. Cons/what I don't like: Set up was INCREDIBLY HORRIBLE, really omg, I don't know who was responsible, vendor/ibanez, hard to say, but the neck was BOWED like 1/8th of an inch or so , I mean ackk!! I thought I would need to send it back. The allen key that came with was a sloppy fit, too loose which could have stripped out the tension rod, so I found a tighter one in my tool bin, cranked the neck to about flat, then , NO MORE problems. The pickups seem to be muddy, definition in chording seems weak, single note lead playing is perfect, it's just 'chording' , my other guitars seem to have better clarity for chording, I haven't swapped out the pups yet, I have a set of SD Sat Night Specials, ready to try. I say seems, because, since I haven't chgd' pups yet, I don't know for sure the source/why it feels muddy. This is the only neg thing I would say about the guitar. I have some name brand guitars, and have owned hundreds, this is my main guitar right now, I love it !! Great value.riverstrat

These guitars do not come from Ibanez very well setup,but after i did a proper setup on this guitar wow it sounds and plays great. The finish on this guitar is much better than i expected. It has a little smaller body than i am used to but it is a full 24 fret. I would say for the price i got a very good deal and i am very happy with my new guitar… Thank you American Music Supply.Gary Grey

Please pay close attention to what you are purchasing because it is not what it seems. My daughter was so sad. The amplifier could fit in one of her handsMarcus

We now have 3 Sawtooth guitars. We are extremely pleased with all of them. We have an acoustic, electric, and now this beginner's electric guitar pack. Our youngest son won't put this guitar down. The black is a cool see through gloss. You can see the wood grain through the gloss finish. The guitar is of good quality. Much better than I thought it would be.The amp is portable, and can be used for headphones. Take note, that this is an amp that takes batteries (9 volt), or you can get an adapter for it. Comes with everything he needed to get started.Maximilian

Did not receive all items that was displayed with this package ( missing was Gig soft case bag ) one of the reasons why I chose this package, my grand son was disappointed. I will not recommend this item n I plan to counsel my account with Walmart cause i did not get what i payed for, enough is enough.Peggy

Great guitar for beginners. Looks better in your hand than in the photo. Quite loud acoustically (without amp). Came tuned with strings provided no extra fee. Delivery as stated next working day. Very satisfied overall.Dean

Received new guitar – fret buzz all over, bridge saddles were touching each other and causing vibration buzz. Originally, I raised action (still buzz) and then adjusted truss rod – still buzzing. Almost returned guitar due to bad buzz. (Utter frustration at this point) Tried one last thing: Loosened strings and started on low E string string (thickest string) – moved bridge saddles so not touching for all strings one by one ( string order E, A, D, G, B, E). Fret buzz or general buzz gone. Lowered string height first — still no buzz and then adjusted truss rod back to original position ( I added more relief originally but not necessary since neck bow was not problem) . Fret buzz still gone and now action is much lower and fast. Great guitar super light in weight – Have Vintage natural finish, finish has no gloss or very low gloss but looks great. Watch bridge saddles that our touching too much, mine had almost no space and jammed next to each other causing buzz or vibration. Watch for this problem on string changes, only need a tiny space.SolarEclipse

I really like everything about this AG75. I was pleasantly surprised. The pickups are very sensitive and responsive, over the full aural range, and with utmost clarity. The slim D neck and finely finished fretboard affords comfort with low and fast action! The overall body integrity is impressive with attention to detail. I have been playing it exclusively for three weeks, and like a good book, it's hard to put down! Makes hours of otherwise monotonous practice FUN and enjoyable again! Just a slight problem with "honking," but it was very easy to adjust it away with the pickup height adjusters. I prefer this over my other two Ibanez Artcore AF types, and they are fine as well. My highest recommendation, especially if you can buy it for under $500.00, total! Sounds and plays like a $2-Grand Gibson when set up and intonated properly.rgwhitlock

A light weight, fun to play guitar. Sounds great through my Spark amp.Responsive concentric control knobs. Sturdy tailpiece, easy to set intonation.Action was good out of the box.Harv

I've been playing a long time. When I was learning how to play back in the late 1970s, cheap guitars were, well . . . cheap. Things have changed since then, for a variety of reasons. Even so, I am shocked at how good this guitar is. The set-up was great out of the box and it plays like a dream. Intonation is perfect to my ears. The funny thing is that this guitar is based on one of those cheap guitars of the 1950s, and surpasses the original in just about every way. The designers tried to copy the original lipstick style pickups exactly and they sound great to me. I play into vintage-style tube amps, mostly clean with a slight overdriven edge, and the guitar has a wonderful vintage, single-coil sound. If you like that sound, I don't see how you can go wrong with this guitar. I'm used to paying well over 1K for quality guitars. This guitar has me rethinking that approach. And, oh yeah, it's so fun to play that I can't put it down!Lee

Just got my silverburst silvertone today UPS and on first inspection and after several hours playing it I am extremely impressed at the quality and sound of it. I have been playing guitar since 1990 and have a American stratocaster, Godin LG, several 20 year old Danelectro's etc and this silvertone is just as nice if not nicer than any of them. I highly recommend this Silvertone guitar it has a extremely fine clean tone and I even played some heavy metal with it and it ROCKS!!Jay

Father Christmas got this guitar for my 11yr old son this year and he hasn't put it down! He started teaching himself acoustic guitar a few months ago and has been absolutely fixated. He asked Father Christmas for an electric guitar and this is what turned up Christmas morning. He absolutely loves it. It's not too heavy and playing it through the amp sounds brilliant, much to our neighbours annoyance lolStaceywacey

The pickup selection was broken from the start. The price is good for a beginner’s first guitar, however if the pick ups are broken it’s going to create big problems for a new guitarist when finding their way around their guitar for the first time.Henry

This is a solid build guitar, perfect for beginners. Mine worked well right out of the box (after tuning, of course). The amplifier works well also, for what it is; a low-power practice amp. If you're looking for a way to start learning to play guitar without breaking the bank, this kit should work for you.CrashC

The guitar kit came in fairly quickly, but right away there was a problem. It came with five strings, with what was left of the sixth stuck in the guitar, the tuner was shattered, and the kit was missing the Allen wrenches and the picks. The box was loosely packed with no styrofoam or anything, with the guitar in the gig bag and the rest of the stuff thrown into the pocket besides the amp. Seems like it was either a rushed job, or all come boxed like that. The guitar plays alright once the strings were replaced, but it loses tuning pretty quick. Theres obvious signs of neglect such as body chips near the neck, and scratches on the pick guard. The finish on the guitar is pretty nice, and it feels alright in the hands. I wouldnt recommend if you expect everything to come as described in the picture though.jonaba4165

Great little set for beginners or even intermediates as you get the whole package. The tuner is very nice and works well. Everything to get started and the guitar itself feels very solid and has better than average settings for the sounds you'd want. The extra strings were fine but I'm adding a better quality set which I already had anyway. Either way you can't go wrong on this package. The amp has good settings and sounds nice. Overall a good buy.alsmith029

I love this Casino. I knew I wanted a P-90, and I really wanted a fully hollow body. I wanted to see if I could replicate a I've been agonizing over the purchase for months, looking for every possible solution, and was almost ready to pull the trigger on the Epi USA version, and after MUCH research, finally decided to go with the regular Epiphone. The construction, from everything I read, is excellent, and I knew that if necessary, I could always switch out the pups. Well, I can't say enough about how good this guitar is! I am extremely fussy on setups (I do setups on my own guitars and for other people) and this thing was ready to play right out of the box! I literally didn't touch a thing except to tune it up. I won't even have to dress the frets. I may touch them up just a bit (again, I'm really fussy) but they feel better than most guitars that cost three times as much. It is really beautiful. I love the vintage sunburst. The finish is flawless. Now for the important part – it plays like a dream. The neck profile is extremely comfortable. I can move up and down the neck as fluidly as on any guitar I own. And the sound! I was amazed at how present it is, even before plugging it in. I see this little sweetheart spending a lot of evenings on the couch with me. Soft enough not to overly bother my wife, but again – very present. Plugged in – well lets just say I won't be replacing these pups. It is exactly the sound I was hoping for. I'm no Grant Green, but I can certainly understand why he loved this guitar. Would I recommend it? Heck yeah! Country? Check. Classic rock? Check. Rockabilly, surf, blues and even jazz? Check, check, check, and check.Jess

Had the money to buy any guitar in the shop. Liked the looks of the SG, worn ebony with rosewood fingerboard and the Gibson speed knobs. Having only played guitars with 9.5 radius, I found the 14 radius was better for bar chords. The craftsmanship is excellent, can find no flaws the body or neck. The truss rod was out of adjustment, considerable back-bow. I fixed that, and set the action low. The intonation was spot on. Frets were polished with no sharp edges. I plan to upgrade the cheap electronics with new pots. As for the pickups, they sound ok. Since I use a modeling amp, not a big issue for me. The nut is a GraphTech synthetic bone. Nice touch for an inexpensive guitar, since i do not like changing them out…too much risk of damage. I have fender Strat and Tele, but have not put this down since purchasing it. Once I upgrade the electronics, this will be a very solid guitar.Jeff