Good Starter Electric Guitar For Sale (2024 Update)

besides the weird booming sound coming from the amp when strumming, and the guitar constantly being out of tune. i would suggest this to a friend when starting out. however if you have more prior experience, get a better guitar and amp than this one. other than that, the price is somewhat equal to the quality of the guitar.thao

…so I purchased this as an alternative to my acoustic guitar. The 1st thing I noticed is how light it was. The maple neck was a different feel and gave me more accessibility to the frets. Once I got the guitar in tune I was surprised how nice it sounds. The amp is not the best, but if you don't have one, you won't notice. Overall I like this guitar. Thank you Fender for making an affordable electric guitar. I would get this again for a beginner. As I progress, this guitar is pushing me to upgrade to another Fender. It's that good. I have a lot of fun with this G-tar.No name

I have always been pleasantly surprised at the quality of these cheaper Squier Affinity and other similarly priced Squier guitars. I have played Squiers for decades, including jazz basses, Teles, and of course this Stratocaster. It plays as well as a guitar can play. It looks absolutely gorgeous. It sounds like any much higher priced Strats and the humbucker is a great go-to for playing leads without having to have a pedal boost or having to go to the amp controls for boost. It set up as well as any Fender I have worked on and I have worked on quite a few over the years. I would not hesitate to use this guitar on any stage or in any studio production. The frets needed no top or side dressing and no leveling.bobvarns

The guitar kit arrived in perfect condition by FedEx and went together fine. My wife, the gift recipient, loves it. The guitar, being new, is taking a little while to stabilize on tuning but it's working out okay. The red color is nice. My wife's only complaint is that the little amplifier doesn't have "fuzz" settings, but I told her they will come when she learns how to play. Individual pieces of the kit can be upgraded in future as desired.Kenneth

Very surprised at the value and sound of the Pyle Pro Package. The guitar looks great with woodgrain coming through the sunburst finish. Frets are finished nicely and the fretboard feels great. I am most impressed with the amp as I have 2 others the same size (more popular names) and this one sounds the best by far. Only issue I had was a slight adjustment of the string supports (for smaller strings on Strat style head). They were slightly misaligned but it took only seconds to fix. The strap isnt great (prefer leather ends), but used rubber strap blocks as a precaution. Overall, very happy and cannot believe the value offered for slightly over 100 bucks!Steve

It's an itty bitty little thing. It's so lightweight it almost floats away! It was perfectly set up out of the box, it arrived with no damage. First, I tuned it. (It was close, whoever set it up musta tuned it before shipping). It's got very accurate tuning pegs, not like a Squier or Glarry, with slack in the pegs. Then I sat down and ran through some scales, and strummed some chords. It's got a fast playing neck. I can play faster on this guitar, than any I've tried, and I've played hundreds of guitars from an American Fender 52 reissue Telecaster, down to the terrible cheap electric guitars of the 1960s. Anyway, I finally got around to plugging into my Blackstar Fly 3 battery amp, and wow those Mitchell humbuckers are HOT! I love this little thing, it's going to be my main axe, and I'm going to order it a new hard shell case, so it stays looking great.The Volkswagen Cowboy

For the most part; this a pretty nice beginner's guitar. It has nice features that aren't usually found on cheaper guitars. I was very impressed with the body contours, pickup arrangement, sealed tuners, & string through body. I purchased this as a Christmas gift for my son. I paid a little extra for expedited shipping & it arrived less than 48hrs after I ordered it! Everything was great until I tuned up the guitar & found that the claims that "every guitar receives a stateside set up" are entirely false. The ends of the fret wire are extremely sharp; there's no way that I'd let a child attempt to play this without first filing down/ dressing the frets to avoid gouging your hands. It seems to stay in tune fairly well; which is rather surprising as the neck is NOT properly bolted to the guitar body. There is a relatively large gap between the neck & body- large enough to see daylight! The gap is likely due to common machine assembly w/ poor quality control. I'm somewhat excited to see how well this guitar will play after I disassemble the neck, drill the body holes 1/16" larger, file the frets, & reassemble w/ some higher quality strings. Even with the additional work that's necessary; it's still a rather nice guitar & definitely cheaper than a project guitar. Last time I checked; it was around $20 or so to have a guitar set up by a Luthier- so it still works out to be a decent buy if you bought it & paid to have it set up. I'm just rather disappointed that the only problem with the entire transaction is a very simple issue that could be avoided w/ a couple tweaks of the CNC machines spitting these out by the 100's…Jonathan

I am quite fond of short scale guitars, and I rate this one quite high on the list of must haves! Frets are adequately dress, it is quite light, finish (walnut satin) is excellent. Playability is quite good, intonation is spot on, even the pickups are ok, though I did change them out on mine, along with putting some shielding paint in the pickup and control cavities and swapping out the potentiometers (none of this was necessary, but you know how us guitarists can be!). The kind of music I like is 70s rock, 80s and 90s metal, I don't play clean much – always some grit coming outta the amp! I got this on sale, so it was well below $100. Not sure what else to say, but if you are on the fence about getting one of these, either for yourself or a young, aspiring rocker, just pull the trigger, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Main thing to keep in mind on this is playability and setup are very good for a guitar in its price point even at full price, maybe even twice the price. Is it perfect? No, but it doesn't need to be, just needs to be good and it is. Just get the darn thing. it's a fun guitar to play, looks and sounds good as well.Scott

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

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.

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 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 got this on sale and it's worth what I paid. Out of the box, it needed a setup including fret level, neck relief adjustment, action, intonation, nut, pickup height, etc. I needed to tighten almost every screw on the guitar as well. I setup the trem to float and I'm surprised how well it stays in tune. Also, the fretboard is the driest wood I've ever seen! I don't think it's rosewood, but even after oiling it's really dry feeling. I hope this will cure itself with heavy jamming. After all that, the guitar plays great! The humbucker is not bad at all. The single coils are not all that good, and the tone pot has some crud in there that I could not get rid of completely even spraying it with contact cleaner, but it's fine. I bought these for a couple of friends so we could have guitars tuned 1/2 step down to jam along with some different songs (van halen, guns n roses, 80's rock/metal). For this, the guitar will be just fine.Joe

The Rogue Rocketeer Electric Guitar is clearly a beginner / try it out type electric guitar. The accessories are okay, but you want to consider spending less on individual components and shop around – though you may pay more in total. The included amp wasn't anything to write home about and was a bit better than a travel amp. That said, if you are looking to give this as a gift to a kid who is not 75%+ committed to becoming a rock star you will probably save more with this bundle, but be prepared to replace the strap and amp. I found the design of the guitar to be decent, but it clearly looks and feels like it's price range. Compared to other cheap guitars at a similar price, it was on par. I was more impressed with the "Rogue RA-090 Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar" from the same company in feeling and value compared to the price during my demo review session. The build of this electric guitar was solid enough, so it looks like Rogue has quality controls in place and you will hopefully get a properly QAed and functioning guitar. Bottom line, if you are serious about getting into guitar I would recommend spending a bit more on different guitar and amp – but if you don't want to invest too much time researching, this bundle will give you a playable guitar which will be suitable to start on and you won't feel bad about passing this down or on to someone else when you upgrade. I am writing this review as part of a contest.EReviewer

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

It is close to being a 5/5 guitar for me. It plays very easily with the condition that the back of the neck feels a bit weird to me right now, I have only played it twice though so through playing this might very well go away. It's a maple neck and the back is non glossy which I like but the thin nitro coating they have sprayed it with feels a bit weird under the hand, it's not sticky in the slightest, it's just nothing like I am used to. Might just be me, and as always this should go away with playing. I like the colour and design of the guitar. I like the neck in general, I am not a metal player and thinner necks aint my thang but this neck is thin but also comfortable with it. The pickups are good, I have two Seymour Duncans in my only other *metal* guitar and I am not sure which set I prefer. This one has a JB in the bridge and a 59 in the neck. The 59 is well capable of Bluesy, rock and even Lead Tones. The bridge JB does Lead and can get clear clean tones especially if you roll some tone off on the guitar. I hear some people complain about the harshness or more like the bite of the JB but I think that's unfair. It's true this guitar does Blues, rock and metal well but for modern metal it is in the ballpark but not quite there. It's more suitied to 80's thrash metal than modern stuff and it does all rock well and you can do Blues with it in the neck position. So it's not an out and out metal guitar and so I like it better for that. It is versatile. I play Pink Floyd on it and it sings. Performs well with any type of rock and if you want Metallica early metal tones and onwards this does it really well. I am not much into modern metal anyway so I am not too bothered. I did Motorhead songs the other day and it kills it. The tuners are Jacksons sealed ones or whatever they are ,so not locking as far as I know but it stays in tune really well, maybe because of the floyd rose on it, which works really well. My first ever Floyd Rose guitar and it impresses me with how well it works and not as hard as you think when it comes to changing strings etc. Lastly the price is very good for what you get which is always a selling point for me.And what yiou get is a proper set of Seymour Duncans and a proper Floyd not the cheap ones you get in low budget offerings in a guitar that looks the part, the headstock alone is worth having it for! I got it for 600 quid. Complete no brainer.R O.

I had never played a 7-string guitar before but had been thinking about it for a while so I decided on this Dinky after seeing the price and reading the reviews. I didn't want to spend a ton of money since I didn't know if I would like the 7-string. After having it and playing it for a few days now, I must say that I'm quite impressed. Like so many of the other reviews say, it's set up pretty well right out of the box. I noticed that it is very lightweight compared to my Telecaster, which I really like. Some people mentioned some rough frets but I didn't notice that on mine; it feels really good. It took some getting used to the extra string but I'm really having fun exploring the new sounds I can get with an extended range. The pickups are decent for the price and I'm really happy with it. I may look at changing them out eventually but for now I'm happy with them. I agree with a lot of the other reviews that say that Jackson could easily charge twice as much for this guitar as they do. All in all, this guitar is excellent value for the price. If you're looking for an entry-level 7-string to noodle with and see if you will like it, you can't go wrong here.Madd Dogg

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

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

I went into my local guitar center yesterday and had close to 1k for a new guitar. I'm pulling off fenders and Epiphones off the wall that felt like they needed a lot of work done. I find this thing just chillin in a corner and the very first thing I do to every guitar is run my thumb and pointer finger along the neck to see if there is any sharp frets. It was smooth. Thought buzz would be bad. There was none. Thought tone would suck. Nope. Needless to say I went home with it. It does have a very few flaws. Pickup selector feels weak, tuners are so tight that they cause some sounds when moving them (stays in tune though), and pickups sound weak. What it is for $150 is a step above what Squier and Ibanez throws out in their budget price range. I can't wait to mod this thing. Despite a few flaws I'm giving it 5 stars due to it's price point.Matt

Overall: I wanted a new guitar because I primarily play Les Paul's and wanted something different. I found Kramer guitars and did some research and liked what I found but didn't want to throw a lot of money at a brand I've never played. I have played and owned B.C. Rich, Gibson, Fender, Washburn, Epiphone, and Ibanez guitars in the past and thought I found what I wanted to stick with. My Kramer Focus arrived today in the awesome purple finish. All I did was tune it up and check intonation and it was perfect. Very low action, smooth fast neck, no sharp fret edges even with the maple fretboard and a Michigan winter! The low humidity sometimes makes the frets stick out. The guitar is just awesome, it sounds good in all positions buy the middle and neck pickup are phenomenol, no buzz at all! The bridge pickup is good but I think it could be hotter so I may change that, the tuners aren't perfect but they'll definitely work, after an hour of playing and using the tremolo it holds tune very well. I highly recommend this guitar for any player, and I will definitely be entertaining the idea of purchasing more Kramer guitars from zZounds!Alex

I bought the black and gold edition of this guitar and I was pleasantly surprised when it sounded so good and looked absolutely stunning! My only problem with this guitar is that the pickups look a little tarnished or rusty but it doesn't affect the tone but other than that it's definitely worth the money.Angel

The les paul gt is a solid player, it sounds good for the price. Also the acoustic sound it produces is quite good, however, my frets are kind of worn out now, so it doesn't sound too good anymore. (I am not going to talk about the pros anymore, because there are plenty of reviews that focus on those). Now for the bad. The body of the guitar is incredibly flat and blocky. There is no tapering, or smoothing around the edges of the guitar. Because of this, when you are playing, the edge of the guitar is constantly jabbing your rib with its sharp edge. It also shows how poor the craftsmanship is on the guitar. I'd say that 99% of the guitar was made and assembled by robots. the guitar is also quite heavy adding to the discomfort. If your going to buy this guitar just be aware that the body is completely 2 dimensional with no concave or anything, also know that the guitar is rather heavy.nickname

As a hobby guitar player for 30+ years I was looking for an inexpensive LP style guitar with a tremolo. Something I could have fun with, not a wall hanger. Epiphone had the answer with this well built guitar. It's got the LP look with a set of pretty hot pickups which provide lots of snarl on command. The kill switch built into the tone control is a great idea and can be useful and fun to play with. The tremolo is pretty good and generally stays in tune well. Historically guitars in this price range have a reputation as being unfinished with poor fret work, poor nut work, etc. overall these days that's not true anymore and this guitar is a pretty good example of that…BobS67

Nice guitar. Same size as a les Paul. Not too much sustain which I'm sure is due to its light weight body construction. The cut off knob is a nice feature when using heavy distortion. It'll eliminate the need to switch off your pedal when there are pauses to avoid annoying feedback. Nice looking guitar but the flat black matte finish would really pop with a few coats of lacquer but I guess that's one of the steps, or lack of, that keep the cost sooo low. I'm pretty sure a few pounds of lacquer would help with the sustain. Maybe if I get bored I'll give it a try and post a new review.Ronald

Got the newer retro classic with 3 saddle bridge. Is a great value and equal to squier bullets for half the price. The newer indio needed a little work, but so did two squiers i have bought. The indio had rough fret ends and nut was a little tall. Sanded fret ends and sanded the bottom of the nut to reduce the height. Tuners are not smooth turning but stays in tune really well. Will remind again my squier bullets both needed much more work than this indio. Have sold both bullets and kept the indios. The indio plays great and is really slinky. I guess due to top load bridge. Indios are probably the best value out there.Travis

The guitar is surprisingly good considering the very low price. It did have one significant issue though that would make me hesitant to recommend it to a beginning guitar player. I'll start with the good stuff. The basic build of the guitar is very good. The finish is well done. The neck pocket is a good fit. The tuners are good. The nut was cut well. The included gig bag is similar to those I've seen selling in the $30-$50 range so it's a great value too. The electronics and pickups are the typical cheap and generic components that you find on guitars in the sub $200 price range. They aren't terrible though. The bridge design on mine is different than what was pictured. This doesn't matter to me but it does seem to vary. The bad thing on the guitar was the fret edges. I checked the level on the frets using a fret rocker and found them good but the edges were very rough. Since I do guitar tech work as a side gig, this was easy for me to fix but a beginning player might find this to be an issue.New User

This is a fantastic guitar for any beginner or someone who wants to see if a Telecaster is for them or to mod or even just to play. I've got Mexican and American Fenders and have had lower end Squiers. I'd say this guitar is the equal of the Bullet line but costs considerably less. The finish is flawless, electronics are fine, tuners are good and the neck is decent. The biggest problem I have with the guitar is the very small frets (not tall at all) and the sharpness of fret ends. The fretboard is listed as being rosewood but it's more likely what is called "engineered rosewood". It looks good and I like it but could be a little smoother. Buyers should note that Fender parts are not totally interchangeable. For instance, the neck plate is a different size so if you're planning to swap necks be aware. The pickguard holes and shape are not the same as Fender's, nor are the holes drilled appropriately for Fender's tuners. The ferrules fall out the back of the body when changing strings which is ridiculous and if you look in the holes you will notice that they are not drilled straight through the body. It appears the front and back of the body are actually two separate pieces of wood glued together with holes for strings drilled separately and they don't line up properly. That is unbelievably bad but you can still insert the strings so it doesn't negatively impact much. I would definitely buy this again and I'm even contemplating getting another.Steve

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

One of my strings on the guitar was broke. I told the company, they don't get back to you. Mad about that, after that don't even want the thing anywayDianna

1 month review with guitar being setup professionally: Great pickups and tone and overall good sounding guitar after a proper setup, gorgeous nitro finish and paintjob. Relic effects are beautiful. The nitro finish feels thin enough for you to eventually make your own marks from repeated playing – a perfect way to tell a story and give the guitar character. Worn in neck feels amazing to play and not sticky to touch. Worth noting that the Pure Vintage 59 pickups on these don't have a reverse-wound middle pick, so there will be hum including positions 2 and 4. If you are easily annoyed with single coil hum, these pickups might not be for you. Also worth noting that these pickups do sound a bit warmer than a stock Fender Player pickups. These respond so MUCH better to high gain type of playing, all while still sounding amazing on low-gain and clean playing. Despite the pros, there are still some areas are lacking and needs improvement. The guitar had razor sharp frets along the binding that could easily cut you, meanwhile I have a $700 MIM fender player didn't have this problem straight out of the box. It's crazy to think that $700 guitar went through better QA than a $1200 guitar, but whatever, the frets are bound to be polished and worked on anyway with your initial setup regardless. CME's shipping page policies say "Every guitar gets a full inspection, as well as basic setup." Guitar came with an inspection card that had overall playability specs checked but some of it was questionable. The guitar was not playable at all out of the box despite letting it acclimate for over a day before opening BUT that is a given considering it spent time in a delivery truck trunk in freezing winter. However, it was a bit bogus how they even checked off volume output when the pickups were NOWEHERE near the appropriate height out of the box and there was BARELY any audible output on the treble side of the guitar. I highly doubt weather and temperature fluctuation will make the pickup screws spin by themselves to the degree at which the pickups came out of the box. Secondly, the tremolo springs at the back also weren't ******* in the appropriate depth for a either a floating or flushed trem setup – it was just sort of in the middle of the cavity. Weather fluctuation from their shop and may have affected string tension, but I also don't think it would make the claw springs in the back unscrew themselves to the degree the guitar came. Makes me wonder how thorough the inspection was. These might not matter as much to some especially those who will get their new guitars setup anyway, but it's good to note that you may still need to budget for a setup if you aren't doing it yourself. Although there could've been improvements on Fender and CME's part that I don't think could be blamed on external factors such as weather and climate fluctuations, overall, I would still 100% recommend this guitar, and it's a gem. The guitar played well after a proper setup, so I'm happy with it now. The price may be too expensive for some considering it's not made in USA, but it must be considered that this is the cheapest proper nitro-finish guitar you will currently find. The next best thing are Fender custom shop, so this guitar is perfect for those looking to enjoy vintage style paint/nitro body finish, and vintage specs without paying custom shop prices. The appearances are just a plus, since they sound and play amazing after a proper set up.Carlos T.

I've been playing for a little while, I rehearse with my band once/twice a week so my guitars definitely get played quite a bit, I've preferred Stratocasters from an early age. The shape is legendary and the tone is versatile. I own Chinese, Japanese, U.S. and Mexican Strats. This one is very comparable to my American Professional Stratocaster, the neck profile, the weight and intonation. Electronics are great, single coils produce a sweet twangy clean tone and the humbucker roars really nice with the right amount of gain/distortion. Makes it a very comfortable instrument that plays as easy as mantequilla on a hot tortilla. Only issue, (hence the 'almost comparable to MIA strats comment in the headline) are the frets… They are a little bit on the sharp side, I'm guessing it comes down to a player's preference? A competent luthier can dress the fret ends and make this one a real player/main axe. Other than the sharp frets, everything else is pretty solid and straight, the vatos down in Ensenada MX do great work producing these!Benjamin

So my story goes like this, I flew into Portland Oregon for work and immediately drove from the airport to Guitar Center. Upon walking in, someone was shredding on a guitar and it went on for a good 10 minutes. The guitar he was playing was the Candy Red Burst Fender Stratocaster Player Series. After he was done, I grabbed it and saw why he played it so long. It felt just solid in the hands. The strings, fret board and neck were silky smooth; Super easy to glide up and down with no fret buzz. The pickups are all Fender Player Stratocaster series which I have had no issue with and perform great out of the box. Also, just holding the guitar is a treat in the hands. It's a beautiful guitar. The Candy Red Burst has a very high functioning coat that gives a deep black fade anyway you turn it. It also fit my bill for something to remember Oregon by since the guitar is a deep Rose Red and Portland is know as the City of Roses.The Pau Ferro fingerboard is also eye candy as it has black veins that run through the grain matching the black hardware of the guitar. Other then that, I have had this guitar for 5 months as of this review and absolutely love it. The guitar holds its tune very well I enjoy playing it every time. Wait, you still reading this? Go get one already!Allan

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