I’m really happy that you promoted this guitar as something a veteran guitarist could play with! That’s exactly what I’m going to do with it!! I appreciate you not trying to tell beginners that it’s the guitar for them!
I love the green and black look on the body, and the plain wood look of the neck. I'm looking hard at this as a project guitar. May just get this and replace the pickups and tuners. Hope the negative neck profile is not on all of them. That'd be a deal breaker for me if I can't get the action nice and low.
I'm a luthier in training, and I've been buying these to practice. Afterward I'm donating them to a local mental health hospital, because they do music training and stuff. They come in playable, in my opinion, but nowhere near perfect.
Honestly, if you heard this guitar in this video play any of those riffs in a song on the radio, nobody would ever say, "Oh, that sounds like a cheap guitar!" ... To me, unless a guitar is complete, 100% intentionally deformed garbage, a good amp and effects pedals will pretty much fix everything.
For $60 it's a heck of a guitar! I purchased 2 guitars from Glarry after watching a demo by another You Tuber, The Trogly's guitar show. I purchased their warlock type guitar and I purchased a bass from them. I did not care for the warlock type,it is a very small bodied guitar and just not my thing. I was going to keep it for one of my grandkids if they decided to get into guitars I figured it would be a good beginner. At Christmas time though I came across a woman wanting to buy her grand son a guitar so I sold her my $60 Glarry for $100!! Now before anyone jumps on me lol, I also included a Peavey Rage 15 watt amp! I still have and play the bass, yes I had to some setup on it, I also had to put in a new output jack. Glarry offered to send me anew bass but since I had an output jack just lying around I told them I would just swap them out. They told me if I had any issues after that they would still send me another bass. So far I have had no issues with it. It's a good bass, not equal to some $1,000 bass for sure but hey, I only paid like $70 for it!! So IMO I give the Glarry a thumbs up!! I even considered buying a couple of their guitars and then just moding them up with higher quality pups and controls and making a custom guitar myself. You can't even buy a decent kit guitar for $60!!
@@aceneto9386 - yeah see when I first ordered mine I just looked at the photo rather quickly and "thought" it looked similar to a warlock. But it looks more like a tree thingy lol. It's a cool design,just not what I thought it was. I don't really like those small bodied guitars like that which is the reason I sold it. Well, to be 100% honest, the MAIN reason I saw it is that I was selling several other guitars at the time, I had several Les Paul's and an SG I was trying to sell for around the $700 area. A woman wanting to get one for her grandson did not have that much money that close to Christmas so I was going to sell her another Les Paul type but I saw the Glarry and I mentioned it to her and she wanted it. He still plays it and loves it which I am glad about!
Picked up the unbranded version couple months ago just to tinker on. Leveled the frets, crowned, polished all that happy stuff. Got really bad fret sprout after a couple weeks hanging in my rec room. easy enough to fix. Plays just fine. Pickups are ultra weak. Sounds awesome with fuzz but will likely give it a few modest upgrades and call it a day. $60 dollar guitar in the 80's would have been a harmony with frets falling out. Just insane they can even build for this cost, not to mention shipping.
If you want a low-priced "Strat" or "Tele" that does not require nearly as much prep work as this one does (or Firefly for that matter)..BUY AN SX OR A HADEAN. Sometimes you do not even need to make any tweaks on the SXs. SX's sell for around $140-$200,
Playing with that neck pocket angle can be very instructive for those ladies and gentlemen of the stringed instrument persuasion among us in learning the application of geometrical opposite over hypotenuse fiddly-faddle etc. Then when you're finished with the triangles you can always fiddle with your nuts until it tunes up nicely. Great playing Lucas you make $60 sound golden.
Good video. I bought one of these on ebay myself, just to find out what you can get for 60 bucks. Mine was green, too. But it's so dark, it almost looks black. I had to shim the neck to get a good setup as well, with a strip cut off the end of a credit card. The neck is thick, but nice. It only needed a little filing on the ends of the frets. I don't like that under the pickguard, the body is routed wide open between the pickups. That costs some tone, weight, and sustain that the guitar needed badly. The pickups are very weak, compared to my other 20 or so guitars. What made the absolute biggest difference in sound and playability was throwing away the crappy strings that came on it and putting on a new set of Ernie Ball Regular Slinky.
Before replacing the pickups you tape off the housing with masking tape on the sides, you don't want the liquid to come out around the holes. seal the six holes from leaking with putty and turn the pickup upside down and pour urethane and hardener or resin and hardener and that will kill the noise to a good extent. I call this potting the pickup, but you have to wait until it's completely dry, say 3 days or more.
Due to your video I ordered a burning fire Glarry guitar, since I've been upgrading all my guitars and teching them out, I couldn't resist this company's price. Thank you. I'd never heard of them before. Can't wait to set it up and trade out various components.
If you go looking for a Glarry Strat clone today you will find that the oh so lovely Fender shaped head stock is gone, replaced by a generic looking mess. I got one while they were available. This was my first modding guitar, dressed the frets and fret-board, changed the tuners, nut, pick guard, pickups, all wiring, put in a blender circuit, Switchcraft output jack etc. Got my feet wet without spending more than $200 and the result is very playable and sounds nice.
As far as the neck goes, a simple neck Shim is a very easy fix for this negative angle of the neck mention at 5:10. if you were to Slap in some decent pickups and do some basic fretwork on that guitar, I Promise you it will outperform many of the guitars on the $500 plus level. I have purchased and worked on many many guitars and I have to say for the money..........this guitar is HANDS DOWN the best value you can find anywhere. Also Having A Fender shaped Headstock is a Gem. This neck alone could sell for $40.. , Yes this guitar out of the Box is not really suitable for a very beginner Player. But If you were to RUclips all the things I suggested you need to do to it, or pay your local Guitar shop about $100, It would probably become your favorite Axe, ................just my 2 cents..........
Lucas, I'm new to your Channel but I very much respect your comments concerning this guitar. That being said, I've been playing bass for over 40 years and I have spent a lot of money on the purchase of bass guitars that needed work done to them in the initial stages. For $60 I think I'm going to purchase about five of those guitars and set them up professionally and hang on to them because I truly believe with all the great reviews fat these guitars could possibly one day rival The Squire JV guitars. What I mean by that is for the money it will be an exceptional deal and they will be something will go up in value as they become more rare. Thank you for your review and your honesty and I did subscribe to your Channel.
One of each is my goal. I am thinking of purchasing the blue snare drum with stand. 59.99 and a violin with case and everything for 39.99. I bought this guitar he's demoing but in blue. It should be here in a couple days. I havent played in decades and never had a proper lesson, but this go around I'm doing it starting with the basics and online lessons. I really want play comfortably numb. I know that sounds rediculous to you experienced players but It doesnt take much to make me happy.
@@bigimskiweisenheimer8325 , it's not ridiculous at all. You sound very passionate and music is passion. I say go for it as deep as you want to go and whatever you do enjoy it. If there's anything I can do to help just ask. I have a RUclips channel with many videos that might help so go for it
It's $76 now I just bought one the same color to try. I am planning to do some mods on mine also. I love finding these cheap guitars and seeing what they are like and trying to make them better without spending much more.
I declined Glarry's offer to review one of their guitars mainly because my channel isn't really about reviews. But if I HAD done it, my review would have been like yours (only without the great guitar playing!) :-) Very fair review and I think your recommendation that it's a great guitar to learn to modify / set up etc is an excellent point.
Something to add: If you're a recording artist and want a guitar for sound options AND if you have a good microphone preamp to make the guitar quieter with more clean gain, then this is a steal because you can edit and add stuff in post, like amps, to make it sound great and get a ton of modeled guitar tones with the variety of knock off clones they create. That's the value I see in these guitars.
Nice playing and content on your channel. I was thinking about getting a lefty but not sure if glarry makes one, but there are other cheapy Lefty's on eBay and putting some Planet tone Soul Serenade humbuckers in it which I have on order just to see how it would sound with a 25.5 inch scale neck and some high-quality pots. I'm hoping those pickups give me some Dickey Betts tone. You could always unbolt that neck and throw a little shim up in front. I know it's not ideal but when you get a cheapy like that it's fun to work on. Keep up the great work buddy.
I'm seriously considering getting one of these for exactly the application you mention. Beginning to do mods and not having to worry about damaging my nice guitars. As you mention, you can't even buy a body and neck for that price.
I like it! Of coarse, I have been playing guitars for over fifty years. I could fix that. It has a wonderfull finish. I'm wondering if I could get a Bass like that... Awesome!
Quick observation: the models with the maple fretboards have a much thicker neck profile than those with rosewood fretboards. I have a rosewood Glarry and the neck is similar to a modern Strat. The neck on the one with the maple fretboard is closer to that of a Fender Mustang.
I bought the burning fire guitar they have it had none of the issues he mentioned and i moddified it with cheap amazon ymc pickups and 500k pots and its the best sounding guitar i have now. I will say the only issues i had with it was the switch was crap is why i replaced all the electronics at one time with a cheap kit. But its great now. My version is a bit small bodied but it makes it easy to carry around. Its full scale guitar but just small body. Im considering getting the strat style too because i love mine.
Back when I was a builder I couldn't even get wholesale name brand whammy bridges for the price of that entire guitar. When I used to hang around music stores and played Strats straight from the factory they were still cheese cutters and that seemed to be an industry tool for getting you to go to the music store repair dude for a setup if you didn't know how to do it yourself. My first personal guitar literally came out of the county dump so the axe you're playing really wasn't too bad for beginners because I've been listening to a lot of popular bands on stage without autotune on their voices and apparently no sense of intonation of instruments so pretty much that fiddle is ready to go out of the box for even those with record contracts.
I just ordered one of these- same color- on eBay a few days ago. The pic when I ordered it showed this same headstock, now it's different. In fact, all the places I looked on-line are showing the different headstock. Guess Fender caught up with 'em...
I replaced the bridge with a Fender Mexico Strat bridge, decked it. Tightened the claw. lowered the string height. I then tightened the tuner screws and gave it a fresh set of strings. It plays amazing afterwards. But...see the shit you have to go through to make it playable? It's not worth it
First off, good review and I agree with you. I consider it a project guitar. Glarry has a very good customer service and product for the money. I ordered one on a Thursday night, was delivered the following Saturday. Glarry must be listening to reviews about action being too high because my strings were practically lying on the frets after tuning. In fact the nut was cut so deep on the high e I could not get the note to ring, just rattled on the first fret. If I fretted the first fret it rang out clear. I replaced the nut with a bone nut I had instead of building up the slot. This is my second day with it and so far just replaced the nut, fine sanded the neck (was a little rough) replaced strings and set up. I have plenty of spare parts such as pick ups, saddles, machine heads and pots I may install later, for now I’ll just enjoy playing it a few more days.
I’m gonna get me one to learn how to do some of the tech stuff. My friend who taught me how to play does this stuff all the time so it would be a perfect project for us to do. Also nice choice with the green, that’s what I’m got to get!
Shawn hey I just got mine and I’d be very interested in what your modification plans were. I think the first thing I’m going to do is change the pickups but I’ve never messed with single coil before so I’m just trying to get as much information as possible. Also the action on mine isn’t high so I don’t need a neck shim. How about you?
I got back into music because of Glarry. I hadn't played guitar in over 20 years since I didn't have money to get anything good. I would have had to spend $300 on a decent used guitar for this performance. I didn't know cheap guitars today would be this good. Thanks to reviewers like you, I'm finally learning again
I got a tele clone from Glarry as soon as it came in I took the tuners off and put a set of Fender locking tuners I found on Reverb for a good deal. I got lucky with my neck. I did dress the frets some just ok nocked the burrs off the frets were a little sharp for my liking. The pickups in mine need wax potted. I might give that a go. I'm thinking about picking up the same model you have when I'm done modding the Tele
So, when are we going to get to see the, after mods, finished product? You made it sound pretty good out of the box - can't wait to hear what she sounds like after mods.
I bought one on eBay withy eBay bucks cost me $10.54. I watch videos on how to improve or modify or whatever. So I'm going to start with one of these and with a $300 budget build something that will complete with a Fender custom shop guitar. I plan on keeping the neck, body, pick guard and some of the tremolo. The one I got is black, it may stay that way. But the neck will need some aged clear. I don't like clean new maple.
I bought the lefty version and I think this guitar looks sick. That green color really made me pull the trigger. It cost me $69 bones with free shipping. Can't wait to get my hands on this tomorrow actually. LoL
Chuckle at the negative neck angle part. On one of the kits I put together, I fitted the pocket like a planemaker (which is what I do more of than guitar building), no shims, perfect action, but the body is paulownia like that one probably is, and over the last year, it's developed a little bit of the same and i need to refit it or fit an insert into the neck pocket and under the first pickup or so - of something harder, like rosewood. Same thought on the tuners on all of those guitars and kits - they're pretty nasty, even if the bar magnet pickups are passable. With replaced tuners, a locked down tremolo and leveled and polished frets, though, the cheapies are really nice to play.
The issue with this one was interesting. After I took the neck off, I could see what happened at the factory. They let finish pool up in the neck pocket and then someone just chiseled it away, but they went too deep and dug out the pocket. It could be fixed with filler or something, but that's too much for a beginner IMO. I will say though, the other guitars Glarry sent me were much better so that was probably just a lemon.
I'm a little late to the party and have some questions re this Strat...what is the neck profile compared to a Squier? Is it a Modern C? I'm after something relatively skinny. If you have a caliper, what's the neck thickness at the 1st fret (most Squiers are 18-20mm)? FYI...Glarry is introducing a line of Teles come Fall. Ask to review one in Shell Pink with a maple fingerboard. I'll buy thru you if this happens. That's how we roll. Thanx, Lucas!
buy a Fender bridge and springs and deck the bridge and screw the claw and then change the strings. Tighten the tuners on the screws and shim the neck.....
Not as big of a fan of this as I am the les paul DC with the p-rails. Glarry must've sent these guitars around to everyone. I'm an amateur builder, so I'm aware of thing such as $26 machine made necks and such, and $65 guitars or kits, and that amazes to some extent. The fact that there's enough extra money to send these across a wide swath of youtube is really something. By the way, I'm a huge fan of the ibanez musician - my first "real" guitar as a kid, recently got a couple of loaded pickguards with prails in them. It took way longer than it should've for me to figure out that when I was on a jones to replace my musician, I saw one of your earlier videos, and then when I was on a jones for the prails, i saw a more recent video, never realizing that it was the same person in both.
Mine arrived today and the bridge is crap. One of the saddles is cockeyed because one of the screws is totally stripped out. That said, the guitar is actually pretty decent otherwise, the tuning machines are pretty bad, electronics, not so hot. The neck is a fairly chunky piece of wood but it's okay. I think mine, other than the saddle might be better than Lucas' unit. No neck action problem. Hopefully you will show us the upgrades you do. I'm looking forward to modding mine and not having to worry if I destroy something...
I’m an intermediate guitarist I am thinking about buying one of these and the practice amp because I am strapped on cash. Would it be feasible to buy this ? I have played over 15 years i have gotten by before with cheap squier guitars but I would like to check this out it sounds great as you play with a few caveats. The low E string is out of tune as you said. But with some simple set up work this would be avoidable. Would you say to buy or pass ?
Sawtooth Strat is a much better guitar. More money than a Glarry Strat but worth it. I have 4 Sawtooth Strats. The only I did in each was new budget pickups. I also have 2 Glarry Strats and both needed pickups and a tusq nut and both needed a new G or B tuner key. Same one bad on both. Both took many hours to set up, 1 needed the whole fretboard leveled, crowned
Anyone notice the position of the low E tuner in the headstock compared to the others? Would that affect much? Still an interesting buy for a project for sure.
Someone might tell you to use a shim, and that is _half_ right. The problem here is that the neck _pocket_ is not only a negative angle, but also uneven. You would need to level the pocket to it's lowest current point, then use the correct size and angle shim to correctly seat the neck. It's not a terribly complicated job, but you need to know exactly what you're doing and be very patient and careful. In my opinion, the guitar is so cheap and poorly made that it isn't worth the time. You'd be better served to just buy a body you like from somewhere like Guitar Fetish or even a parted out MIM Strat body. The hardware is junk too, so you'd want to replace it anyway.
Truth is, mass-producing a strat or a tele is not difficult... It would be a different story if it was a set neck guitar ( then again...) but I'm completely blown away by what you can find these days for such little cash... As someone who's been fixing guitars since 1978 it would indeed be a cool project... I know that, at the very least, I would have to level the frets, change the nut, tuners... And then probably upgrade a bunch of things... But even with the cost of new parts given the super low price it would still be cheap... Jeez...At this price what can possibly go wrong 😄😄😄 ???
Nice looking Strat. Surprised the back is not black. Usually they are at that price. Needs some TLC and you got a good daily player. Then the mods start lol
Just curious if the neck pocket dimensions are the same specs as a standard strat, and what the routing for the pups is like. And jeebus, that neck tilt is not cool, perhaps it's a flaw with that guitar only? I don't like shimming anything!
Quality Control is obviously not something Glarry is spending money on. Sounds like it is a crapshoot when ordering one of these in terms of how many problems you will have to deal with in order to bring it up to a playable level.
I just got the glarry bass guitar 2 days ago and I am so impressed with it! $75! Unbelievable. I wish u would look directly into the camera more when u play!😕
Does anyone with these know if the pick guards are the same size as a fender. Im looking at one i want to change the pick guard to a different color on but no idea how to find a perfect fit
From my experience the replacement pickguards available fit a 22 fret Strat without having to trim by the neck. 21 fret Strat the pickguard will need trimming. The mounting holes may not all line up but no big deal.
I actually really like that color..... for $60 you can either buy a ticket to a Nickelback concert and maybe have one if you're lucky maybe two drinks or.... that guitar, I know which one I would choose! 🎸
So, it's not a good beginner guitar cause it needs a set up? What guitar doesn't? Love the reactions of some of you guys when you can't really figure out what to pick on.
This one needed more than just a regular set up. It had a pretty severe negative neck angle from having finish chiseled out of the neck pocket. Taking the neck off to level and shim the neck pocket is more than a beginner should have to do.
HELLO, I BOUGHT 2 OF THESE A WHITE STRAT AND A SUNBURST STRAT, FOR $60 BUCKS YOU CANT GO WRONG, IF YOU KNOW HOW TO WORK ON GUITARS, PROPER SETUP, I SET MINE UP, AND THEY PLAY WELL , I GIG WITH MINE, IF IT GET BROKEN, OR SOMEONE STEALS IT , SO WHAT GET ANOTHER ONE, ROCK ON, COUSIN FIGEL
THANKS FOR THE REVIEW. I HAVE THE EXACT SAME GLARRY GST EXCEPT THE HEAD STOCK IS A DIFFERENT DESIGN THAN THE NORMAL "FOOT" FENDER DESIGN. I HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH THE NECK. IT DOES NOT HAVE THAT ANGLE PROBLEM. I THINK THAT THIER QC IS BETTER NOW THAN POSSIABLY BEFORE. BETWEEN MAR. 6 AND THE FIRST WEEK IN SEPT. 2019. THATS ONLY 6 MONTHS BETWEEN YOURS AND MINE. CONCLUSION GLARRY MUSIC IS CONSTANTLY IMPROVING THIER GUITARS. THIS IS NOT JUST A "BEGINERS GUITAR"!!!
@@QS-si3cq so sorry, I use all caps when it over rides my settings. I have set it to be large text but sometimes it does not work. so the only way I can see it is if I use caps. I am not yelling. I have really bad eye sight and use caps to see what I am writing. You are not the first person to bring this to my attention and I am sure you won't be the last. What I don't understand is why do People care, caps or not? If I were yelling my words would be like Fuck, shit asshole etc....take care … Mick
A Strat type neck & body for $60 is a bargain for builders & tinkerers ! To be fair most beginners guitars are usually crap and could easily put off a young player by awful fret work , terrible action, useless tuners & bad intonation. These things are basically guitar shaped toys , but I look forward to seeing how this project turns out 😉👍
Very good review and you took the words out of my mouth. I feel that at the price points these guitars sell at, that it goes against what a beginner needs. It's not a problem for a pro guitarist to compensate for the crappy guitar's quality but a beginner can't do this so he needs almost a perfect guitar to learn on from the start. So I don't understand the thinking behind buying a cheap guitar. All cheap guitars require fixing, that's why they're cheap. Quality control takes time and time cost money, hence the guitar will cost more. However like you've said, you can't beat the body and neck wood for sixty bucks. They should be targeting all these cheap guitars at luthiers or just sell the body and neck woods without any hardware as we luthiers will change the hardware anyways.
Ok you got me Subscribed ☺ What about making a video on how to set up a cheap guitar for beginners using simple tools. Then a cheapo guitar like this can be made usable for someone with little money.
At the time they sent me this one to demo, it was listed on the website as Basswood. They may have changed it since, or it might have just been incorrect!
At the price level, they often get that wrong. I ordered a kit of this quality level from cozart last year, and they called it "swamp ash", but it's paulownia in mine, too.
@@LucasFowler i looked it up its still says bass wood, i build on the side for hobby, and i started my builds on paulowenia for practice, it has nice figure but is so damn light, bass wood almost never has figure and has meat to it, its denser and if it is figured its cost is up there with koa and other exotic woods.love the channel bro, just discovered you thanks for the vids.
Great Bargain. This will be sold out and/or prices raised very soon. Good vid, Lucas! Oh btw- you sure neck is unfinished? Looks like non-glossy sanding sealer to me.
customdrumfinishes sure, as a player’s instrument...but if you’re looking to practice doing guitar work or mods, it’s hard to get a neck and body for $60
That sounds just like authentic Strat. Also I heard that some of these Chinese guitars quality is better than original Febders and Gibson’s made in the 50s and 60s due to advancement in manufacturing technologies.
These are impressive for the money, assuming you get one that is not defective. That being said, they are NOT as good as Fenders or Gibsons from any era. They can be made into something pretty cool but they are still cheap guitars at the core.
I’m really happy that you promoted this guitar as something a veteran guitarist could play with! That’s exactly what I’m going to do with it!! I appreciate you not trying to tell beginners that it’s the guitar for them!
I love the green and black look on the body, and the plain wood look of the neck. I'm looking hard at this as a project guitar. May just get this and replace the pickups and tuners. Hope the negative neck profile is not on all of them. That'd be a deal breaker for me if I can't get the action nice and low.
The negative neck angle is on mine as well.too late its heavily modded
Same here. I really like that finish too.
A shim closest to the body will do the trick.
I just want a light weight body, I have an expensive strat neck and will get a loaded pickguard. Light bodies are hard to find
I'm a luthier in training, and I've been buying these to practice. Afterward I'm donating them to a local mental health hospital, because they do music training and stuff. They come in playable, in my opinion, but nowhere near perfect.
Honestly, if you heard this guitar in this video play any of those riffs in a song on the radio, nobody would ever say, "Oh, that sounds like a cheap guitar!" ... To me, unless a guitar is complete, 100% intentionally deformed garbage, a good amp and effects pedals will pretty much fix everything.
For $60 it's a heck of a guitar!
I purchased 2 guitars from Glarry after watching a demo by another You Tuber, The Trogly's guitar show. I purchased their warlock type guitar and I purchased a bass from them.
I did not care for the warlock type,it is a very small bodied guitar and just not my thing. I was going to keep it for one of my grandkids if they decided to get into guitars I figured it would be a good beginner. At Christmas time though I came across a woman wanting to buy her grand son a guitar so I sold her my $60 Glarry for $100!! Now before anyone jumps on me lol, I also included a Peavey Rage 15 watt amp!
I still have and play the bass, yes I had to some setup on it, I also had to put in a new output jack. Glarry offered to send me anew bass but since I had an output jack just lying around I told them I would just swap them out. They told me if I had any issues after that they would still send me another bass. So far I have had no issues with it. It's a good bass, not equal to some $1,000 bass for sure but hey, I only paid like $70 for it!! So IMO I give the Glarry a thumbs up!! I even considered buying a couple of their guitars and then just moding them up with higher quality pups and controls and making a custom guitar myself. You can't even buy a decent kit guitar for $60!!
Thats what i did with mine. I have the same glarry ur talking about its modeled after a esp guitar i believe def not a warlock tho. I love mine.
@@aceneto9386 - yeah see when I first ordered mine I just looked at the photo rather quickly and "thought" it looked similar to a warlock. But it looks more like a tree thingy lol. It's a cool design,just not what I thought it was. I don't really like those small bodied guitars like that which is the reason I sold it. Well, to be 100% honest, the MAIN reason I saw it is that I was selling several other guitars at the time, I had several Les Paul's and an SG I was trying to sell for around the $700 area. A woman wanting to get one for her grandson did not have that much money that close to Christmas so I was going to sell her another Les Paul type but I saw the Glarry and I mentioned it to her and she wanted it. He still plays it and loves it which I am glad about!
@@alabamahebrew
They should call it "the groot"
Picked up the unbranded version couple months ago just to tinker on. Leveled the frets, crowned, polished all that happy stuff. Got really bad fret sprout after a couple weeks hanging in my rec room. easy enough to fix. Plays just fine. Pickups are ultra weak. Sounds awesome with fuzz but will likely give it a few modest upgrades and call it a day. $60 dollar guitar in the 80's would have been a harmony with frets falling out. Just insane they can even build for this cost, not to mention shipping.
I really like the finish and color, and the headstock, and I could set it up no problem. Could be a fun little guitar.
If you want a low-priced "Strat" or "Tele" that does not require nearly as much prep work as this one does (or Firefly for that matter)..BUY AN SX OR A HADEAN. Sometimes you do not even need to make any tweaks on the SXs. SX's sell for around $140-$200,
Playing with that neck pocket angle can be very instructive for those ladies and gentlemen of the stringed instrument persuasion among us in learning the application of geometrical opposite over hypotenuse fiddly-faddle etc.
Then when you're finished with the triangles you can always fiddle with your nuts until it tunes up nicely.
Great playing Lucas you make $60 sound golden.
LOL!! You just hurt my head!! :)
Good video. I bought one of these on ebay myself, just to find out what you can get for 60 bucks. Mine was green, too. But it's so dark, it almost looks black. I had to shim the neck to get a good setup as well, with a strip cut off the end of a credit card. The neck is thick, but nice. It only needed a little filing on the ends of the frets. I don't like that under the pickguard, the body is routed wide open between the pickups. That costs some tone, weight, and sustain that the guitar needed badly. The pickups are very weak, compared to my other 20 or so guitars. What made the absolute biggest difference in sound and playability was throwing away the crappy strings that came on it and putting on a new set of Ernie Ball Regular Slinky.
Anyone know if the neck pocket on the Glarry strat's are standard Fender size? Thinking about putting a squier neck on a Glarry body.
Before replacing the pickups you tape off the housing with masking tape on the sides, you don't want the liquid to come out around the holes. seal the six holes from leaking with putty and turn the pickup upside down and pour urethane and hardener or resin and hardener and that will kill the noise to a good extent. I call this potting the pickup, but you have to wait until it's completely dry, say 3 days or more.
Due to your video I ordered a burning fire Glarry guitar, since I've been upgrading all my guitars and teching them out, I couldn't resist this company's price. Thank you. I'd never heard of them before. Can't wait to set it up and trade out various components.
If you go looking for a Glarry Strat clone today you will find that the oh so lovely Fender shaped head stock is gone, replaced by a generic looking mess. I got one while they were available. This was my first modding guitar, dressed the frets and fret-board, changed the tuners, nut, pick guard, pickups, all wiring, put in a blender circuit, Switchcraft output jack etc. Got my feet wet without spending more than $200 and the result is very playable and sounds nice.
As far as the neck goes, a simple neck Shim is a very easy fix for this negative angle of the neck mention at 5:10. if you were to Slap in some decent pickups and do some basic fretwork on that guitar, I Promise you it will outperform many of the guitars on the $500 plus level. I have purchased and worked on many many guitars and I have to say for the money..........this guitar is HANDS DOWN the best value you can find anywhere. Also Having A Fender shaped Headstock is a Gem. This neck alone could sell for $40.. , Yes this guitar out of the Box is not really suitable for a very beginner Player. But If you were to RUclips all the things I suggested you need to do to it, or pay your local Guitar shop about $100, It would probably become your favorite Axe, ................just my 2 cents..........
Lucas, I'm new to your Channel but I very much respect your comments concerning this guitar. That being said, I've been playing bass for over 40 years and I have spent a lot of money on the purchase of bass guitars that needed work done to them in the initial stages. For $60 I think I'm going to purchase about five of those guitars and set them up professionally and hang on to them because I truly believe with all the great reviews fat these guitars could possibly one day rival The Squire JV guitars. What I mean by that is for the money it will be an exceptional deal and they will be something will go up in value as they become more rare. Thank you for your review and your honesty and I did subscribe to your Channel.
One of each is my goal. I am thinking of purchasing the blue snare drum with stand. 59.99 and a violin with case and everything for 39.99. I bought this guitar he's demoing but in blue. It should be here in a couple days. I havent played in decades and never had a proper lesson, but this go around I'm doing it starting with the basics and online lessons. I really want play comfortably numb. I know that sounds rediculous to you experienced players but It doesnt take much to make me happy.
@@bigimskiweisenheimer8325 , it's not ridiculous at all. You sound very passionate and music is passion. I say go for it as deep as you want to go and whatever you do enjoy it. If there's anything I can do to help just ask. I have a RUclips channel with many videos that might help so go for it
It's $76 now I just bought one the same color to try. I am planning to do some mods on mine also. I love finding these cheap guitars and seeing what they are like and trying to make them better without spending much more.
Is the neck angle due to the neck or body neck pocket?
I declined Glarry's offer to review one of their guitars mainly because my channel isn't really about reviews. But if I HAD done it, my review would have been like yours (only without the great guitar playing!) :-) Very fair review and I think your recommendation that it's a great guitar to learn to modify / set up etc is an excellent point.
Something to add: If you're a recording artist and want a guitar for sound options AND if you have a good microphone preamp to make the guitar quieter with more clean gain, then this is a steal because you can edit and add stuff in post, like amps, to make it sound great and get a ton of modeled guitar tones with the variety of knock off clones they create. That's the value I see in these guitars.
Thanks the detailed demo. Is that noisy with hum? Did it come electronically grounded or have to do grounding ? Thanks
Nice playing and content on your channel. I was thinking about getting a lefty but not sure if glarry makes one, but there are other cheapy Lefty's on eBay and putting some Planet tone Soul Serenade humbuckers in it which I have on order just to see how it would sound with a 25.5 inch scale neck and some high-quality pots. I'm hoping those pickups give me some Dickey Betts tone. You could always unbolt that neck and throw a little shim up in front. I know it's not ideal but when you get a cheapy like that it's fun to work on. Keep up the great work buddy.
I got one off eBay haven't played it yet I got mine for 88 bucks 😎
I'm seriously considering getting one of these for exactly the application you mention. Beginning to do mods and not having to worry about damaging my nice guitars. As you mention, you can't even buy a body and neck for that price.
I like it! Of coarse, I have been playing guitars for over fifty years. I could fix that. It has a wonderfull finish. I'm wondering if I could get a Bass like that... Awesome!
Quick observation: the models with the maple fretboards have a much thicker neck profile than those with rosewood fretboards. I have a rosewood Glarry and the neck is similar to a modern Strat. The neck on the one with the maple fretboard is closer to that of a Fender Mustang.
I can't wait to see your future build videos as you Mod this guitar! I'm thinking of buying one myself, to follow along and learn with you!
I bought the burning fire guitar they have it had none of the issues he mentioned and i moddified it with cheap amazon ymc pickups and 500k pots and its the best sounding guitar i have now. I will say the only issues i had with it was the switch was crap is why i replaced all the electronics at one time with a cheap kit. But its great now. My version is a bit small bodied but it makes it easy to carry around. Its full scale guitar but just small body. Im considering getting the strat style too because i love mine.
Back when I was a builder I couldn't even get wholesale name brand whammy bridges for the price of that entire guitar. When I used to hang around music stores and played Strats straight from the factory they were still cheese cutters and that seemed to be an industry tool for getting you to go to the music store repair dude for a setup if you didn't know how to do it yourself. My first personal guitar literally came out of the county dump so the axe you're playing really wasn't too bad for beginners because I've been listening to a lot of popular bands on stage without autotune on their voices and apparently no sense of intonation of instruments so pretty much that fiddle is ready to go out of the box for even those with record contracts.
I just ordered one of these- same color- on eBay a few days ago. The pic when I ordered it showed this same headstock, now it's different. In fact, all the places I looked on-line are showing the different headstock. Guess Fender caught up with 'em...
I replaced the bridge with a Fender Mexico Strat bridge, decked it. Tightened the claw. lowered the string height. I then tightened the tuner screws and gave it a fresh set of strings. It plays amazing afterwards. But...see the shit you have to go through to make it playable? It's not worth it
Sounds like a Strat. For $60 I think I could fashion a neck shim.
You could put a coin under the neck between the two inner neck screws next to the body. That's easy and it only costs one cent. LOL!!!
@@rockicon it works! Thanks.
First off, good review and I agree with you. I consider it a project guitar. Glarry has a very good customer service and product for the money. I ordered one on a Thursday night, was delivered the following Saturday. Glarry must be listening to reviews about action being too high because my strings were practically lying on the frets after tuning. In fact the nut was cut so deep on the high e I could not get the note to ring, just rattled on the first fret. If I fretted the first fret it rang out clear. I replaced the nut with a bone nut I had instead of building up the slot. This is my second day with it and so far just replaced the nut, fine sanded the neck (was a little rough) replaced strings and set up. I have plenty of spare parts such as pick ups, saddles, machine heads and pots I may install later, for now I’ll just enjoy playing it a few more days.
I’m gonna get me one to learn how to do some of the tech stuff. My friend who taught me how to play does this stuff all the time so it would be a perfect project for us to do. Also nice choice with the green, that’s what I’m got to get!
I got the blueburst. It is actually pretty nice to look at. But it will need some work.
Shawn hey I just got mine and I’d be very interested in what your modification plans were. I think the first thing I’m going to do is change the pickups but I’ve never messed with single coil before so I’m just trying to get as much information as possible. Also the action on mine isn’t high so I don’t need a neck shim. How about you?
Is that a Pelham blue Firebird? Don't recall seeing that before....
I got back into music because of Glarry. I hadn't played guitar in over 20 years since I didn't have money to get anything good. I would have had to spend $300 on a decent used guitar for this performance. I didn't know cheap guitars today would be this good. Thanks to reviewers like you, I'm finally learning again
I got a tele clone from Glarry as soon as it came in I took the tuners off and put a set of Fender locking tuners I found on Reverb for a good deal. I got lucky with my neck. I did dress the frets some just ok nocked the burrs off the frets were a little sharp for my liking. The pickups in mine need wax potted. I might give that a go. I'm thinking about picking up the same model you have when I'm done modding the Tele
I just bought this exact guitar. Did you mod/fix the neck? Is there a video?
Interesting .
Since I have a conversion square neck w/ good tuners that's waiting for a donor strat body w/ pickups , I'll give these a look .
So, when are we going to get to see the, after mods, finished product? You made it sound pretty good out of the box - can't wait to hear what she sounds like after mods.
I bought one on eBay withy eBay bucks cost me $10.54. I watch videos on how to improve or modify or whatever. So I'm going to start with one of these and with a $300 budget build something that will complete with a Fender custom shop guitar. I plan on keeping the neck, body, pick guard and some of the tremolo. The one I got is black, it may stay that way. But the neck will need some aged clear. I don't like clean new maple.
I bought the lefty version and I think this guitar looks sick. That green color really made me pull the trigger. It cost me $69 bones with free shipping. Can't wait to get my hands on this tomorrow actually. LoL
Chuckle at the negative neck angle part. On one of the kits I put together, I fitted the pocket like a planemaker (which is what I do more of than guitar building), no shims, perfect action, but the body is paulownia like that one probably is, and over the last year, it's developed a little bit of the same and i need to refit it or fit an insert into the neck pocket and under the first pickup or so - of something harder, like rosewood.
Same thought on the tuners on all of those guitars and kits - they're pretty nasty, even if the bar magnet pickups are passable. With replaced tuners, a locked down tremolo and leveled and polished frets, though, the cheapies are really nice to play.
The issue with this one was interesting. After I took the neck off, I could see what happened at the factory. They let finish pool up in the neck pocket and then someone just chiseled it away, but they went too deep and dug out the pocket. It could be fixed with filler or something, but that's too much for a beginner IMO. I will say though, the other guitars Glarry sent me were much better so that was probably just a lemon.
I'm a little late to the party and have some questions re this Strat...what is the neck profile compared to a Squier? Is it a Modern C? I'm after something relatively skinny. If you have a caliper, what's the neck thickness at the 1st fret (most Squiers are 18-20mm)?
FYI...Glarry is introducing a line of Teles come Fall. Ask to review one in Shell Pink with a maple fingerboard. I'll buy thru you if this happens. That's how we roll. Thanx, Lucas!
Lucas, what size shim do you think would correct the negative angle on that guitar ( i bought one yesterday, LoL)? Thanks
buy a Fender bridge and springs and deck the bridge and screw the claw and then change the strings. Tighten the tuners on the screws and shim the neck.....
Not as big of a fan of this as I am the les paul DC with the p-rails.
Glarry must've sent these guitars around to everyone. I'm an amateur builder, so I'm aware of thing such as $26 machine made necks and such, and $65 guitars or kits, and that amazes to some extent. The fact that there's enough extra money to send these across a wide swath of youtube is really something.
By the way, I'm a huge fan of the ibanez musician - my first "real" guitar as a kid, recently got a couple of loaded pickguards with prails in them. It took way longer than it should've for me to figure out that when I was on a jones to replace my musician, I saw one of your earlier videos, and then when I was on a jones for the prails, i saw a more recent video, never realizing that it was the same person in both.
The guitar looks sweet,that green is cool. Awsome studio Man😎
Mine arrived today and the bridge is crap. One of the saddles is cockeyed because one of the screws is totally stripped out. That said, the guitar is actually pretty decent otherwise, the tuning machines are pretty bad, electronics, not so hot. The neck is a fairly chunky piece of wood but it's okay. I think mine, other than the saddle might be better than Lucas' unit. No neck action problem. Hopefully you will show us the upgrades you do. I'm looking forward to modding mine and not having to worry if I destroy something...
I’m an intermediate guitarist I am thinking about buying one of these and the practice amp because I am strapped on cash. Would it be feasible to buy this ? I have played over 15 years i have gotten by before with cheap squier guitars but I would like to check this out it sounds great as you play with a few caveats. The low E string is out of tune as you said. But with some simple set up work this would be avoidable. Would you say to buy or pass ?
Sawtooth Strat is a much better guitar. More money than a Glarry Strat but worth it. I have 4 Sawtooth Strats. The only I did in each was new budget pickups. I also have 2 Glarry Strats and both needed pickups and a tusq nut and both needed a new G or B tuner key. Same one bad on both. Both took many hours to set up, 1 needed the whole fretboard leveled, crowned
No I wouldn't buy another Glarry but I made them great daily players.
It's a nice looking guitar in the green and black.
Great value for someone just to dip a toe into guitar playing.
Thanks for posting.
Might be an interesting project option. How are these guitar routed?
Anyone notice the position of the low E tuner in the headstock compared to the others? Would that affect much? Still an interesting buy for a project for sure.
How would you suggest remedying that negative neck profile? I’d ultimately like to replace it with a MIM strat neck
Someone might tell you to use a shim, and that is _half_ right. The problem here is that the neck _pocket_ is not only a negative angle, but also uneven. You would need to level the pocket to it's lowest current point, then use the correct size and angle shim to correctly seat the neck. It's not a terribly complicated job, but you need to know exactly what you're doing and be very patient and careful. In my opinion, the guitar is so cheap and poorly made that it isn't worth the time. You'd be better served to just buy a body you like from somewhere like Guitar Fetish or even a parted out MIM Strat body. The hardware is junk too, so you'd want to replace it anyway.
Truth is, mass-producing a strat or a tele is not difficult...
It would be a different story if it was a set neck guitar ( then again...) but I'm completely blown away by what you can find these days for such little cash...
As someone who's been fixing guitars since 1978 it would indeed be a cool project...
I know that, at the very least, I would have to level the frets, change the nut, tuners...
And then probably upgrade a bunch of things...
But even with the cost of new parts given the super low price it would still be cheap...
Jeez...At this price what can possibly go wrong 😄😄😄 ???
great review, being a professional player, you should of set the guitar up, and also do a comparison?
Butch Should've or should have. "Should of" is not correct English.
Nice looking Strat. Surprised the back is not black. Usually they are at that price. Needs some TLC and you got a good daily player. Then the mods start lol
Just curious if the neck pocket dimensions are the same specs as a standard strat, and what the routing for the pups is like. And jeebus, that neck tilt is not cool, perhaps it's a flaw with that guitar only? I don't like shimming anything!
Man the fact that you ended that video with unchained, extra respect points!
Hey Lucas love your channel so where are you on your glarry mods? Love to see video of what happened. Rock on bro
"this is a pretty nice house, it is warm and does not leak, it will be good for a family to fix up" (burns down house)
Quality Control is obviously not something Glarry is spending money on. Sounds like it is a crapshoot when ordering one of these in terms of how many problems you will have to deal with in order to bring it up to a playable level.
I bought a Glarry hardshell case for $50 shipped. It's OK for the money.
Do they have anymore with that fender headstock?
You are spot on Lucas.60 bucks don't get you even a usable body.
Fender MIJ guitars are made from basswood. these guitars are great for customizing
I had same issues
I just got the glarry bass guitar 2 days ago and I am so impressed with it! $75! Unbelievable. I wish u would look directly into the camera more when u play!😕
It's a stray copy putting in a neck shim is no problem! Good pick ups nice body and neck !
Purchased exact same one. Had to send back. Pick guard and bridge was mounted crooked.
Love your honesty in this review.
I love a guitar to be infused with Asian sadness...
100% certified pure Chinese labor
With that said, should be a good blues guitar.
@4stringz hey, shut up!
4stringz lets play spot the 12 year old
action is high on that guitar but not heard that from others
Does anyone with these know if the pick guards are the same size as a fender. Im looking at one i want to change the pick guard to a different color on but no idea how to find a perfect fit
From my experience the replacement pickguards available fit a 22 fret Strat without having to trim by the neck. 21 fret Strat the pickguard will need trimming. The mounting holes may not all line up but no big deal.
It still sounds good in your hands! Wonder what it sounds like through a cheap amp.
well right at the negative neck angle comment is when I realized that's all I need to know
It's got a beautiful finish
Looks like every RUclipsr has gotten a Glarry. Now that's some aggressive marketing.
Yep, although they are so cheap that they can't be spending that much in reality :P
Did they use swimming pool routes?
Not full swimming pool, but definitely HSH.
@@LucasFowler thx
Oblivion sticker 3rd from the left 👍👍👍
I actually really like that color..... for $60 you can either buy a ticket to a Nickelback concert and maybe have one if you're lucky maybe two drinks or.... that guitar, I know which one I would choose! 🎸
The last Iron Maiden show I went to a beer was $13..... for a beer....
So, it's not a good beginner guitar cause it needs a set up? What guitar doesn't?
Love the reactions of some of you guys when you can't really figure out what to pick on.
This one needed more than just a regular set up. It had a pretty severe negative neck angle from having finish chiseled out of the neck pocket. Taking the neck off to level and shim the neck pocket is more than a beginner should have to do.
@@LucasFowler Even Gibson's need a set up out of the box.
HELLO, I BOUGHT 2 OF THESE A WHITE STRAT AND A SUNBURST STRAT, FOR $60 BUCKS YOU CANT GO WRONG, IF YOU KNOW HOW TO WORK ON GUITARS, PROPER SETUP, I SET MINE UP, AND THEY PLAY WELL , I GIG WITH MINE, IF IT GET BROKEN, OR SOMEONE STEALS IT , SO WHAT GET ANOTHER ONE, ROCK ON, COUSIN FIGEL
These would be perfect for evh tribute guitars for the Builder in mind
I just purchased one of these because of the color it is called Green ocean burst Gibson does there custom Les Paul's in the same stain
Nice! Any clue what the fretboard radius is? I can't find any info on Glarry's website.
How many frets?
22 frets. So far as I know, I think all of their strat copies have 22 frets.
THANKS FOR THE REVIEW. I HAVE THE EXACT SAME GLARRY GST EXCEPT THE HEAD STOCK IS A DIFFERENT DESIGN THAN THE NORMAL "FOOT" FENDER DESIGN. I HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH THE NECK. IT DOES NOT HAVE THAT ANGLE PROBLEM. I THINK THAT THIER QC IS BETTER NOW THAN POSSIABLY BEFORE. BETWEEN MAR. 6 AND THE FIRST WEEK IN SEPT. 2019. THATS ONLY 6 MONTHS BETWEEN YOURS AND MINE. CONCLUSION GLARRY MUSIC IS CONSTANTLY IMPROVING THIER GUITARS.
THIS IS NOT JUST A "BEGINERS GUITAR"!!!
Michael Brien Sorrell Why are you yelling?
@@QS-si3cq so sorry, I use all caps when it over rides my settings. I have set it to be large text but sometimes it does not work. so the only way I can see it is if I use caps. I am not yelling. I have really bad eye sight and use caps to see what I am writing. You are not the first person to bring this to my attention and I am sure you won't be the last. What I don't understand is why do People care, caps or not? If I were yelling my words would be like Fuck, shit asshole etc....take care … Mick
A Strat type neck & body for $60 is a bargain for builders & tinkerers ! To be fair most beginners guitars are usually crap and could easily put off a young player by awful fret work , terrible action, useless tuners & bad intonation. These things are basically guitar shaped toys , but I look forward to seeing how this project turns out 😉👍
Very good review and you took the words out of my mouth. I feel that at the price points these guitars sell at, that it goes against what a beginner needs. It's not a problem for a pro guitarist to compensate for the crappy guitar's quality but a beginner can't do this so he needs almost a perfect guitar to learn on from the start. So I don't understand the thinking behind buying a cheap guitar. All cheap guitars require fixing, that's why they're cheap. Quality control takes time and time cost money, hence the guitar will cost more. However like you've said, you can't beat the body and neck wood for sixty bucks. They should be targeting all these cheap guitars at luthiers or just sell the body and neck woods without any hardware as we luthiers will change the hardware anyways.
The bare neck is a much bigger problem long term ad left with no finish will get warped or at least dirty stained
Are you going to review your amps again I've been following your channel for a few months
Seems like a decent guitar especially for the price
Ok you got me Subscribed ☺ What about making a video on how to set up a cheap guitar for beginners using simple tools. Then a cheapo guitar like this can be made usable for someone with little money.
this is a guitar meant for adding better pickups better nut better bridge... Glarry gives you the basics. This is a mod guitar.
i ordered the same guitar the body isnt bass wood its palowena
At the time they sent me this one to demo, it was listed on the website as Basswood. They may have changed it since, or it might have just been incorrect!
At the price level, they often get that wrong. I ordered a kit of this quality level from cozart last year, and they called it "swamp ash", but it's paulownia in mine, too.
@@LucasFowler i looked it up its still says bass wood, i build on the side for hobby, and i started my builds on paulowenia for practice, it has nice figure but is so damn light, bass wood almost never has figure and has meat to it, its denser and if it is figured its cost is up there with koa and other exotic woods.love the channel bro, just discovered you thanks for the vids.
Be interesting to hear what Glarry thought of the review.
I believe they actually used this video on their website, so they are pretty open to constructive criticism.
I have a Glarry 20.00 Uke. With some work and new tuners it sounds like any Uke over 100.00.
That headstock definitely doesn't look "legal". Just went to their website as I watched this. The headstock is different now.
Yeah they definitely got a cease and desist order, I'm sure.
Great Bargain. This will be sold out and/or prices raised very soon. Good vid, Lucas! Oh btw- you sure neck is unfinished? Looks like non-glossy sanding sealer to me.
customdrumfinishes sure, as a player’s instrument...but if you’re looking to practice doing guitar work or mods, it’s hard to get a neck and body for $60
Could be a fun project
That sounds just like authentic Strat. Also I heard that some of these Chinese guitars quality is better than original Febders and Gibson’s made in the 50s and 60s due to advancement in manufacturing technologies.
These are impressive for the money, assuming you get one that is not defective. That being said, they are NOT as good as Fenders or Gibsons from any era. They can be made into something pretty cool but they are still cheap guitars at the core.
$60? That top looks way more expensive.
good review, brudda...good "strat" sound, might need some "doctoring up"
So you spend a bit of time to set it up. Big Deal. Why not for a Starter Guitar? Thanks for the Review.