Fender charges $500 for it. Now you know why it's cheap. Why do you keep saying "What's $70" when it is an $80 guitar? I bought an EPI LP Special a couple of years ago from GC for $80 and gave it to my nephew because he wanted it; as far as I am concerned, cheap junk is junk.
@@alwaysopen7970 I actually bought one. I was looking at a kit to modify but saw this review and liked the blue burst. I got it in and dressed the frets. It's not good on a loud amp and not a gigging instrument. Plugged in to my Vox headphone jack it sounds killer. I'm still going to rip the guts out and slap expensive electronics in it. Something I like to do for fun. Might get a set of Pearly Gates and wire them to split. For now it's my tinker toy.
My youngest (late great great chick picker brother),And myself thought Les Pauls were heavy,EXPENSIVE,NO TONE,Wouldn't stay in tune,So they should be sold by the RICK!😁
That's why I invited fat friends around the camp fire. They burn longer. And did you know the hands are the most tasty? Please don't tell us horror stories.
ive had a glarry strat for 2 years now. and ive done some things to it (bridge pick up change, some hardware changed) to make it my own. i love it more than my fender strat. honestly bought it just so i could beat it around on stage but ive learned to just love he guitar with all these changes ive made to it.
I've got a GST and it's not a bad instrument, but it's not on the level of my Squier Affinity Strats or even my DIY Strat kit builds. I also have the Glarry GMF HH (Mustang copy) and it's definitely not on the level of my two Squier Mustangs, not even close.
Way to make up an argument. Most people I've seen are asking "what's the point?". A $60 guitar is going to be junk. You can't make a decent guitar for that even with Chinese slave labor. So why buy one? This race to the bottom when it comes to guitars is just weird to me. Why would you buy the very cheapest of anything unless you had no other choice? I mean hasn't the novelty of guitar reviewers reviewing dirt cheap Chinese guitars worn off for you guys yet? It's been done by by basically every reviewer on the interwebz at this point.
Jason Allen this will be a Christmas present for many kids this year. And they will be very grateful. Because it’s the nicest thing they have ever gotten . Hopefully a family friend can set it up for them for free. My first guitar was $50 piece of junk fivety years ago. That was actually a lot of money 50 years ago. And it was a lot worse than that Glarry. Now I have some very decent guitars and I still had to set some of them up. And I’m not telling anyone where I live. Lol. Merry Christmas everyone.
Ely Molloy I have a Gibson J29 that I can’t play because the strings are too high at the nut. Came this way from the factory. I have learned to do a lot of this stuff myself. Just leveled the frets and put a new nut on a brand new peavey jf-1. Lowered the strings and it plays and sounds fantastic. Someday I’ll get around to fixing the nut on that Gibson j29. Meanwhile I’m playing a used Alvarez masterworks that was perfect from the factory. Lol. It sucks paying good money and not being happy with the work for sure.
I'm eyeing this after I got a Chbson made for me last winter. The fuckin thing absolutely ROCKS so I'm pretty sure I could get one or two of these to kick some serious ass. One for E and one for the key of Keith.
It's really pretty incredible what you can get for so little money. When I started out as a kid in the mid to late 80s, I don't think you could even get a new electric guitar for $60-70...much less the $25-30 that the equivalent would have been back then when adjusting for inflation. My first new one was some Strat copy from Radio Shack that was around $130 (almost $300 in 2019 dollars, which will buy you a pretty nice guitar these days). It was terrible compared to a Glarry. I left it outside one night, it got rained on, and the particle board body swelled up like it had been stung by 1,000 bees. Totally ruined. You really don't even see plywood bodies anymore like you used to on a lot of cheap (and even midrange) imports from back then, but at least the plywood held up somewhat. Particle board was a whole other level of junk.
Travis Hemming agreed about the price and construction of new guitars. Back in the late 1970s and 1980s CNC Machining was rare, now with widespread use everyone benefits. I've also seen what happens when a particle board guitar body meets H2O, it ain't pretty.
@@tre4993 I will keep believing it while China keeps putting citizens in concentration camps, keeps manipulating currency, keeps flooding the West with cheap products while refusing to import Western products or do business without the govt owning half a business. Thanks for the reply though, “comrade”,
I actually bought one of these just to decorate a section of a wall that over the stairwell that comes up into my studio. But after your little demo I might actually play this thing. Thank you!
We are very, very spoiled today! Years ago you couldn't dream of a guitar like some of these knock offs with solid woods, maple necks, good fretwork, absolutely great pickups (no matter what the aftermarket advertisements say), etc. Some of these guitars - many of them actually, are every bit as good as any American made Fender or Gibson - people just refuse to see it. Plus, after you spend 2 grand on your dream guitar your psyche just will not allow you to justify any $100-400 guitar as being equal. Most of these guitars - the neck alone is worth the selling price! And nobody needs to get new tuners unless they're actually broken. The reason a guitar goes out of tune hasn't to do with the tuners in the greatest majority of the cases. Stringing, stretching and setting a tremolo is an art and once you learn it correctly you'll never go out of tune again. Of course I'm talking about electrics when I say these guitars are very good. Acoustic guitars are a lot tougher to get right. But these electric knock offs - you can get a real gem of a guitar for $100-400 with no need to change out anything. The brand names have most people literally brainwashed - it's the great power of commercial advertising. The psychology of advertising is intriguing - we are persuaded that the brand names are the untouchable best by deeply invasive psychological measures.
"Every bit as good as any American made Fender or Gibson? This is a statement made by someone that never owned an American made Guitar. You get what you been pay for.
Thank you! Guitars today are able to be built to such quality, even cheaply, because of technology. They are fine. Little bit of work. New tuners, nut. Call it a day and GO HAVE FUN PLAYING! WOOT!!!
@Far Stox I get that Far. A simple setup by a professional luthier will make just about any of them play pretty good. Still love my epiphone but it is no replacement for the Gibson. The Squire body is thinner and doesn’t sustain as well in most cases.
You really have to look at the process and determine if what you are looking at is actually worth it. A lot of Chinese manufacturers are clueing into the fact that specific parts of a guitar are what makes it a great instrument. Necks and fret dressing are two of the points that make a guitar worth it's money or not. You could have an amazing finish on a guitar that is exotic and bla, bla, bla, but at the end of the day, I will play a piece of unpainted plywood if it allows me to do what I need to do musically. Do Gibson and Fender make great instruments? Of course they do. Can I afford one? Of course not. This doesn't stop me from finding cheaper, and in many cases _better_ instruments at a fraction of the cost that any lay-person would have no idea of the difference when they listened to it, recorded or live.
Credit where it's due, especially since I was among the first to trash the sound of the other Glarry instruments - this one actually sounds passable both clean and driven AND it even sounds kind of like a tele! I wouldn't buy one for myself but for once I can understand why someone might. Thanks for posting these.
Yes but really its poor. Very poor. In the hands of a player with a good amp its passable but the hardware is cheap, the electronics (right here in the video) dodgy, the pickups bubble gum microphonic so you are paying $9 for the kit and $70 for a body and neck - because thats all thats worth keeping.... assuming the truss rod works. Throw all the crap away, add Switchcraft, Grover and PRS pups, sand it down and re-finish it, you will just about have a decent guitar. But then you could do that with a Firefly which have better bodies and necks. Including a nice 335 style hollow body with a set and glued neck... like a Gibson. Go to Amazon, get a Firefly. ruclips.net/video/LRauG5LfRv4/видео.html
@wildcatter63 - normally, the cheapest part of these types of guitar are the electronics including the pots and pickups (followed by the tuners, bridge and fret material), so I would be surprised if it sounded like a Tele at all. Having said that, putting anything through a half decent amp (including a ukulele with plastic strings) and a DAW can sound OK on RUclips. I think you would have to try one of these in a store to get a real feel for the tone. Not dissing Trogly's review at all, but my opinion is that these are a poor choice, even for a beginner. You really would be better getting a little more cash together and looking for a used Squire Bullet, Epiphone or Gretsch - there are lots of these about used as many people who start on guitar later drop off. I got my son a beautiful 2011 Fender Squire Jazz Bass for £75 (about $100) and it's fantastic, no repairs, tuning stable, pots and pickups fine. Pic: bit.ly/2nALVOU - we are using it for recording currently.
@@Spartanm333 Yeah, Ilive in the States and used Squiers are everywhere for $100 or less. I don't get the fascination with dirt cheap Chinese guitars. Just because something is cheap doesn't mean it's worth buying.
I do honestly like Glarry as a company. They have great customer service for any company, especially an overseas company that makes copies of existing guitars. They really are an exceptional company, surprisingly so.
The only Tele I own is my TE-52, added bone nut, Kluson locking tuners, a Wilkinson bridge w/ recessed brass saddles, and Graphtech TUSQ string trees, plays almost as good as most American Tele's I've played.
If you are like me and work on guitars, these chepos are pretty much a blank canvas. I am addicted to buying these things and hot rodding the crap out of them
I'd say the same. Get used Yamaha Pacifica 112 or Squier (maybe not the cheapest model from their range though) and you're set for first few years of your guitar journey.
@@pomaranc747 I really like the look of some Harley Benton's and they're so cheap for what they are but I hate the idea of buying a guitar before ever trying it, and I cent really fly to Germany to buy a guitar, even though its not that expensive from here in the UK. And I hear their quality control can be hit and miss, which is why there's so many "b-stock" guitars in the thomann site, they're all ones people returned. But it's so cheap it's not even that much of a risk to buy one. So I'm back and forth on it. I probably will get one one day as a project guitar, and chuck some seymour duncans into it or whatever. The telecaster with filtertron style pickups looks pretty tasty, I was gonna get a squier tele and heavily modify it to put in some of the seymour duncan filtertrons but if I jury got that guitar then all the routing and stuff is already done for me
When you watch beyond the most present cheering videos on the HBs, you might find videos that show HB quality, and certainly playability, tuning and intonation are not consistent.
I have bought 3 Glarry guitars over the last 6 months and for the money you get a very good deal, i take them and set them up for easy playing . I have bought squires that don"t come close to them for the difference in price.
Thanks for your honest opinion. You have to look at the price, you get what you pay for. For the price as a beginner guitar, wish they would have been around when I started 20 years ago.
I bought one of these to play in the very cold factory where we are building our prototype robot. It is bitterly cold in the mornings when I arrive and I sit between two portable heaters. It has been surprisingly fun to play on during spare moments. I keep a modest combo amp under the desk and a tube preamp to give me that tube sound I crave. I found the guitar to be surprisingly playable and the frets to be sufficiently polished and accurate. All in all it was worth the month and a good decision to invest for use in the office and on the factory floor, especially at 5am when the place is deserted and you can really crank up to 11. I call this guitar my "Glarry Garcia Tribute Guitar" and it has Tiger stickers on in
I won a zebra stripe Glarry, from Lucas Fowler's channel. I like it, it's not the best, but it sounds good for some things. Hoping to change the pickups, eventually.
these seem more geared for a first mod guitar than a first guitar. they're cheap enough you won't go nuts if you screw it up, but solid enough you have a great starting point. almost like the step before a kit guitar.
There are much better companies than Glarry for cheap guitars. I'm no shill. Harley Benton, Aiersi, to name a couple. Check out Eart for insane fretwork. Apparently they, cut, dress, and round the fret ends before installation. I have seen some videos where they say the frets are a c-hair short, but doesn't make a difference in playability. $400 gets you closer to $1000
@@lichkrieg4898 Two days ago I picked up an Aiersi Telecaster copy in a sort of caramel orange flame. It's a really nice looking guitar that had a bone-straight neck and what looked like level enough frets. I paid the guy $125 for it, took it home and removed the strings he had on it. I took a green scotch pad to the fret sprout and polished up the frets and maple fingerboard with the same. New strings and a break in and I literally cannot make this thing go out of tune. It has a slightly proud 22nd fret that needs it attitude adjusted, but other than that it's a $500 guitar in a $125 package. Really nice finish and binding work, and a solid neck joint.....no space whatsoever. Every morning I pick it up and it's barely a cent out of tune, even though I played the snot out of it the night before. I really am still in shock for what $125 got me. Aiersi. Apparently there's even better guitars for cheap out there.
I bought a GST model as a project, so I knew what to expect. Just sharing what I did: I put on a Goldtone Zeroglide nut which gave it more clear sustain; I got a new pickguard blank and bought a real Gibson P90 and harness, and put that in place of the three pickups. I essentially was making an LPjr in a Strat body. I cleaned up all the frets, steel wooled the unfinished neck, it's very smooth. I learned a trick, before doing any fret leveling, find the high ones and use your rubber fret hammer to pound on them, every one went down so I didn't have to do any fret leveling, and no damage to the neck. Great hack. The biggest problem was the tremolo bridge. I tried all the tricks. I put on some rolling bridge saddles (cheap). I also took the bridge off and counter sunk the underside of all the six holes, to give more room when using the trem. It made a difference. I ALSO bought six machine screws (stainless oval head) because they mimic the Fender screws of the 2 point trems. I then countersunk the topside of the trem bridge AND ground down the top-back of each of the six screw holes, so that when I dive bomb the heads of the screws get the most clearance. If they were flathead it would never be smooth and consistent. A lot of work for a cheap guitar, but it was fun. And it makes a difference, the trem goes back to pitch much better. One more thing, I had to grind down the length of the low E string saddle because I couldn't get it to intonate enough, that made it possible for the saddle to go backwards more to get correct intonation on the low E string. I also had to trim a little of the spring off. Gradually, with all these changes, and adjusting spring tension, I have gotten it to be much more consistent in tuning and intonation. I also put D'Addario Auto trim tuners on. Now it has the meat and scream of the Gibson P90 but also the Strat twang at the bridge, and much more power than a Strat single coil pu. the pots give me great variation, so it's my version of a Noventacaster but with a real Gibson P90. Hope this helps someone if they are modding out.
I bought a glarry P-bass and it was as i expected. It didn't get damaged at all, played fine for a first bass guitar and for the price you can't really complain
I have one of the P-Bass models. I found it in a pawn shop for $30. When I first saw it I picked it up, expecting it to play like a $30 guitar. I was totally shocked by how well it played. I handed it to my son who also plays, and he tried a few Rush licks on it. His only comment was "buy it". I have about a dozen basses around the house, including some American Fenders, and this has become my favorite.
I purchased a Glarry P Bass for $69 to leave at church for a practice bass. After a few adjustments, it played just fine. I got the bug to buy a fretless bass but I wasn't sure I would like one so I decided to convert the Glarry to fretless. After many hours of fret pulling, cutting, gluing and sanding, it turned out better than I expected. I did go a little overboard with a new roller bridge, bone nut, pots, pickguard and a set of Seymours. Do I now own an overprice Glarry...yes...but considering even the cost of an inexpensive factory fretless, I came out better plus it was a good learning experience. My total conversion investment (including the original bass purchase) is $230 plus a set of flat wounds.
I just bought this exact same guitar from Glarry. I had the same problem with the plastic being melted onto the neck pickup and I had to take the whole thing apart and use goo gone to clean it off.otherwise I was pretty impressed at how good it played out of the box. I guess I got a good one. And in the process of taking the pickguard off my e string broke in the exact same spot that yours did.I contacted them and they are sending me a new set of strings and in addition gave me a 5% off option on another guitar. Is the top-of-the-line quality? No. was I expecting that? No. Butt out of the box is a fun guitar to Noodle around with and the blue color was interesting to me. I will tell you this. Glarry's customer service is great. I told them if they ever make a Les Paul copy I will buy that for sure. I would definitely recommend it to somebody who wanted to learn and didn't want to spend a lot for a guitar.
I'm a luthier and almost any guitar ordered online (whether cheap Glarrys or midrange top brands) needs a set up upon arrival. They are coming from one climate, passing through others, and things shift upon destination. Fret ends are almost always sharp - one or two high frets - and having to reset the action at both ends is normal. Having said that, I did get the 604 rosewood back one and do a full luthier set up on it - and it was rather underwhelming. Lots of people swear by them - and even refinish them and make them look nice. I think there are better cheap guitars out there.
I've become a regular on your channel because of your review of these glarry guitars. You always explain it in a way that truly makes sense. Keep up the good work and I wish you well and all that you do.
Right?? When he said "wang bar," and then there was a jump cut with him laughing, I thought he was laughing because of a Freudian slip. I wasn't even thinking about the saddle not having a place for a... _AHEM..._ *_whammy_* bar.
I, too, have this perverse fascination with finding cheap guitars that actually ain't too bad. (Speakin' of which, I'd love to see your impression of the Xaviere from GFS.) I'll have to try a Glarry, just fer grins. Thanks Trogly!
$60-70 instrument, that actually plays, has to be worth it, right? The question is, what if you spend another $60-70 to improve that instrument, would it be better than a new $120-140 one out of the box? I think it might be... I have bought several guitars in the $500-700 range, and they all needed some fret work and the nut was always too high, and they required all the other neck and bridge adjustments. So you can't say these super cheap ones are bad, because they haven't been set up.
Assuming that the solder joints on the jack are okay, often times the only thing that you need to do to correct an intermittent jack is to bend the contacts slightly. Now it is also possible that the staking of the jack barrel over the solder tab is poor. I often solder the jack barrel to the solder tab on the jack as a preventative measure.
Great video. Here is my comment on the Glarry. I think it is fine FIRST guitar provided that you have it setup by a friend who knows how to do it correctly or you learn how to set up a guitar yourself. For someone who is starting out and has nothing, having a budge of $300 does not mean you can purchase a $300 guitar any more than if you have a budget of $1000 means you can simply purchase a $1000 guitar. When you are first starting out you're going to have to invest in some other equipment. 1)Even if you buy a starter pack, you'll still want to purchase several sets of strings and some single strings like the high E string because you'll want to replace the ones that come on your guitar, you're likely to break strings, especially the high E string practicing your bending. You'll also likely want to try different size strings. 8s might come on the guitar but you might find 9s better for you or maybe you want to see if 10s are easier for you to play. A couple of sets of strings in a couple of sizes plus a few single stings will cost you $30 or more. 2) You'll likely want a descent guitar stand so the guitar is out and ready to practice and you have a place to put it if you get interrupted. That's $20-$50 bucks. 3) You'll likely want to get a winding multi tool to make restringing the guitar a bit easier. There's another $15. 4) You'll likely want to get a big bag of picks in multiple thicknesses so you can play around and figure out what ones you prefer. Another $15. 5) You'll likely need to purchase an instrument cable since your guitar may not have one or it will be crap. Another $20. 6) You may want to purchase a descent strap since your guitar may not come with one or if it does it's likely to be uncomfortable. Another $15-$20. So, $85 to $120 for just ancillary items must also be part of your budget. Now think about amps for a moment. Sure you can purchase a $40 plugin or an $80 practice amp. But these don't typically have Reverb and eventually you'll want to spend $200 on a descent modeling amp and that $40 plugin or $80 practice amp will end up on eBay for 1/2 price. So, you might want to opt for a $200 amp to begin with rather than wait a couple of months and then purchase it. So, Practice Amp and ancillaries for $180 or Modeling amp and ancillaries for $300 means you have a lot less in your budget for your first guitar. And this all presumes that before you've spent any time trying to learn guitar that you know that you prefer a Stratocaster style over a Les Paul style over an Ibanez or some other style. So, what's my point? At about $100 for a kit from Glarry plus $100 for ancillaries you can start to figure all of this out. The crap amp that comes in the kit is just as useful as that $40 plug in as you can plug a set of headphones into it. And even if you decide that the Strat style Glarry isn't what you like it is at least good enough for you to take a few lessons (online or in person), learn a few cords, learn a few riffs and feel confident enough to walk into a real guitar store and try out various other guitars. Or you can take advantage of their 30 day return policy to try out something different. Either you will eventually purchase a better guitar or you'll quit playing. If you spend $100 on a Glarry and get $50 for it when you sell it on eBay then you've spent $50 on your first guitar. That's a whole lot better than spending $600 on a used MIM Fender and reselling it for $450. And if you have $1000 budget for a guitar I still wouldn't recommend trying to purchase $1000 guitar as your first one for the same reasons. Opt for a $400 guitar as your first guitar and put $200 in a modeling amp which will work with any guitar you purchase in the future. Add that $100 worth of ancillaries and your still at $700. But again, if you decide that $400 guitar isn't for you then you're still likely to sell it for $300 and your first guitar will only have cost you $100. Of course this is just my opinion. If you disagree and feel the need to say so, please do. I promise not to take it personally.
I bought the natural finish glary no name was on the headstock which I liked change the strings adjusted make sure everything was tight I love it more everyday
I ordered a $60 Glarry strat copy. I figured if it was playable at all, I’d be money ahead! Chinese guitars were always cheap, but they were garbage, too. I’ve heard nothing really bad about Glarry, especially for the price! The Chinese learned how to make a ridiculously inexpensive solid body guitar, that’s acceptable to even an experienced player. One guy even said he’d use one on stage! Thanks for your honest review.
Update: Maybe after they are properly set up, but the first one that came in had high action, my fingers were just bending strings, hitting them from the side. But the next one that came in looked high to me, but it plays fine! I’ll have to file the nut down on the first one.
It plays good and looks good. The tweaks it could use are perfect ways to fearlessly dip your toe into repair/tech. That makes it pretty perfect for a beginner - maybe pair it with “how to make your electric guitar play great” by Dan Erlewine.
I have purchased two Glarry guitars. One is a telecaster thin line with a f hole. It plays great. Love it. I have one of the stratocasters that I got for $65. Both guitars play well. I had to do some minor setup. These guitars are better than my first kay guitar I bought for $25 dollars with an amplifier back in 1978. I can't believe how great these guitars are for the money. I also own real fender telecasters and squires. If you can set it up properly, these guitars are a great value. I love the thick neck---I have huge hands! LOL
I got one the second they put 'em on the site, and I love mine. Got the trans yellow one. Obviously needed a setup but it plays great. Sounds pretty good for what I want, too. Really resonant and lightweight. Probably going to order a second one to keep at my practice space.
Who expects a great guitar for $70? I just bought a Mayones and had to raise the nut. I don't think I've ever had a guitar that was just perfect for ME. They all need at least a tweak.
Older video, but I'll toss in my two cents. Just got a Glarry Strat, and I was legitimately surprised at how good it was for the money. A bit of adjustment and setup, some minor imperfections, but it has a great blues sound when played clean on the bridge pickup, and is comfortable to play with a new set of 8 gauge strings.
I bought a red sparkle Squier tele last year for 129.00...pretty great out of the box...(I've since replaced everything with US parts)... its kinda great
Had a really bad glarry tele it looked nice but it had a warped neck and it wouldn't stay in tune . Had to return it . Just got the black and white Squire telecaster bullet .
Man I have gotten expensive guitars that needed that much setup. I don't think that's bed. Setup is a preference. Some like a high action and some don't. Worth it for the money I think.
Have bought name brand stuff with worse frets then Glarry.....primarily epiphone. I just have to shake my head. The tuners were not bad....if you stretch the strings it will stay in tune. Unlike the Epiphone which puts the worse tuners in the world on their cheap stuff (179.00)...the trapezoid nightmare. My neck/nut was the same....fingerboard was crooked in front of nut but just didn't cut the end of neck straight. Nut was installed correctly. Measured fine nut to bridge. After leveling the guitar it flat out played. Output jack the same as your's....bent like butter.....spend 4 bucks for an all parts one. After spending about 20.00 for better chinese pickups (alnico 5), pots, and bone nut it's one of my favorites. Flat out plays. Nothing wrong with slightly higher frets at #1 and lower as they go up the neck...the reverse won't play. That's medium frets at .090. Can be a pain leveling if they install them a bit uneven. May get them low...not much room for leveling.
I just got this same guitar yesterday. 9-21-2020. Same color also. The funny thing is, the E string on mine was also broke. Mine arrived in good condition. it works.
Everyone throwing off on these guitars,like they are playing for a touring band.Nothing wrong with these guitars to play around the house which is all most of us do anyways.Put your money in a good amp.
Yeah I don’t understand the purest/snobbery disdain from players. Having affordable niches within a market is a good thing. It just brings more people to the fold. People are like that with anything and everything. Example: I’m a 45 year old piano player that collects skateboards. Skateboarders are like that with inferior brands. Keyboard players are like that with certain acoustic piano brands and cheap beginner keyboards. And totally like that with imitation b3 sounds. The only question is, is it playable? Can you learn on it? Is it good enough for you to see if guitar playing is something you really want to stick with? After all these years, of being a piano/B3 guy, I’m thinking I want to learn how to bang power chords with distortion. If I bring home another expensive instrument or toy, my wife will totally flip her shit. So, yeah. That’s just what I’m looking for. I think I’ll give it a try.
I'm a Tele fan. I have a Glarry strat. I quit playing when my husband passed away in 2002, I just recently got the urge to play, it'll do for trying to remember how to play. Got their amp that was included, all for$149
I have their P bass too and I'm blown away at how good it is ! Good rating and reviews Austin ! :-)( Note : in reference to the whammy bar,I bought an Epiphone lap steel and it came with a truss rod wrench ! LOL ! )
Still better than the crap we had in the early 80s! Anything under £500 was garbage. I paid £300 for my left handed 1973 Fender Telecaster in 1988 all saved up from my milk round in the summer of 88.... Wish we had guitars like this then!
I have an 87 Fender Strat and was looking at this one for travel. I’ll pick it up for sure, I wouldn’t wanna ruin my 87 Strat and I wanna try a little tele!
I would actually buy one of these Glarry telecasters. I've always wanted a Tele and if I can get some similar tones to a real tele, I think it'd be fun.
This video is being sent out via mass email from Glarry to all their customers. I guess they don't mind the GT602 being called "utter trash." LOL I know you said it in the actual Trade Tuesday video, but maybe you should have mentioned again in this video that you specifically asked for a factory reject, and that's what you got. Honestly, I love Glarry. Well, I should say I love the Burning Fire body style. I bought a guitar and a bass version, both in the sunset paint job. I plan on buying the blue semi-hollow body in August. If they come out with any other really odd designs, maybe like the BC Rich Mockingbird (?), I'd buy those too.
I have a fretless Glarry bass and it's awesome, with new flatwound strings and some set-up. The only problem I ever had with it was with the EA-side pickup being unglued from the cover. Other than that I love it, it's great for the price
Ya know, it's really not that bad considering the price point. Decent enough for anyone starting out/casual players who want a budget guitar to play with.
I think Glarry, for the most part, could also be used as a backup guitar for a working gigster. If you're a working musician, hopefully you'll be able to swing some cash for a better instrument later on. But don't throw your Glarry away. That's a very nice finish and the tones are great. Stays in tune pretty good. And......doesn't anyone besides Epiphone make Les Paul copy anymore?? They were all over the place when I was a kid.
I just bought the GST strat from Glarry. I’m a beginner guitarist that likes to riff, goof around and learn how to read the fretboard. I bought a firefly semi-hollow FF338 which I got for $189. LOVE IT. But I want a strat style guitar as well. Can’t justify a Fender Mexican or American with my skill level, and didn’t want a Squier. I bought the strat in sky blue-never seen the color before-anywhere. It’s a $100. Even just have, upgrade and goof around with, it’s worth it. It’s playable and if my kids, nieces or nephews want to play a guitar, I’m not cringing over potential damage. The budget guitars in my day were the First Act POS they sold in Toys R Us. Would’ve killed to have these choices then!! It’s a $100. I think about how I’ve spent a $100 in the past on far worse crap than this. And it’s pretty
Just got a Glarry telecaster with no name on it and i can"t believe the workman ship the paint job is super great the frets were pretty damn good only took a little polish the frets with stile wool and the guitar plays really great. I bought a Firefly last month and i did not expect Glarry to beat it ., But they sure did.
I've got a metallic blue telecaster. I built it and was the only way I was going to get a metallic royal blue tele that was made decent. I went with an LP style toggle a Douglas Fir body (for folks that think its shitty wood the reason I chose it was to mimic the pine telecasters in the 50's but with a wood that is similar but more structural sound), and a maple neck and finger board. It's a good guitar and I like it a lot. The tele is the easiest guitar to make from scratch and get a decent result. The more you build guitars the better you get this was my 3rd one so I was happy with it. Good video. Looks decent for the price point.
I just ordered the blue strat with tortoise shell pick guard. Basically just want it so I can mess with setup. Just hoping for a decent finish and straight neck. I really like the finish variety on these. Considering it is the price of the cheapest kit guitar (a bag of unpainted guitar parts) I could find, this is a helluva price.
It's not bad for $80. I started on a $100 strat knockoff with a built in amp and speaker from toys r us 25 years ago. I would have killed for something that looked like this.
Do you think the intonation would be fixed if you replaced the neck with a proper 25.5 scale one? Do you know if the neck pocket is standard so that would work?
That's not damage, that's a Relicing Starter Pack®.
Hell yeah 😎
Fender charges $500 for it. Now you know why it's cheap.
Why do you keep saying "What's $70" when it is an $80 guitar? I bought an EPI LP Special a couple of years ago from GC for $80 and gave it to my nephew because he wanted it; as far as I am concerned, cheap junk is junk.
@@alwaysopen7970 I actually bought one. I was looking at a kit to modify but saw this review and liked the blue burst. I got it in and dressed the frets. It's not good on a loud amp and not a gigging instrument. Plugged in to my Vox headphone jack it sounds killer. I'm still going to rip the guts out and slap expensive electronics in it. Something I like to do for fun. Might get a set of Pearly Gates and wire them to split. For now it's my tinker toy.
glarry guitars: an honest review
they exist
they are cheap
thats it
its 60 dollars what did you expect?
I see you on RUclips comments alot
Great "campfire guitar". You play it around the campfire and when you run low on fire wood, you toss this in.
And use the truss rod for roasting marshmallows.
My youngest (late great great chick picker brother),And myself thought Les Pauls were heavy,EXPENSIVE,NO TONE,Wouldn't stay in tune,So they should be sold by the RICK!😁
Expensive campfire wood
That's why I invited fat friends around the camp fire. They burn longer. And did you know the hands are the most tasty? Please don't tell us horror stories.
It's not that bad sheesh
ive had a glarry strat for 2 years now. and ive done some things to it (bridge pick up change, some hardware changed) to make it my own. i love it more than my fender strat. honestly bought it just so i could beat it around on stage but ive learned to just love he guitar with all these changes ive made to it.
I've got a GST and it's not a bad instrument, but it's not on the level of my Squier Affinity Strats or even my DIY Strat kit builds. I also have the Glarry GMF HH (Mustang copy) and it's definitely not on the level of my two Squier Mustangs, not even close.
*pays $60 for a guitar*
People: 'HOW DARE IT NOT PLAY LIKE A $1000 FENDER!'
*GRRRRR ANGER*
I'd put a Fender neck on that thing.
Way to make up an argument. Most people I've seen are asking "what's the point?". A $60 guitar is going to be junk. You can't make a decent guitar for that even with Chinese slave labor.
So why buy one? This race to the bottom when it comes to guitars is just weird to me. Why would you buy the very cheapest of anything unless you had no other choice?
I mean hasn't the novelty of guitar reviewers reviewing dirt cheap Chinese guitars worn off for you guys yet? It's been done by by basically every reviewer on the interwebz at this point.
Jason Allen this will be a Christmas present for many kids this year. And they will be very grateful. Because it’s the nicest thing they have ever gotten . Hopefully a family friend can set it up for them for free. My first guitar was $50 piece of junk fivety years ago. That was actually a lot of money 50 years ago. And it was a lot worse than that Glarry. Now I have some very decent guitars and I still had to set some of them up. And I’m not telling anyone where I live. Lol. Merry Christmas everyone.
lol i have a 1000 dollar fender and after complete setup on both, my 125 dollar ibanez plays better.
Ely Molloy I have a Gibson J29 that I can’t play because the strings are too high at the nut. Came this way from the factory. I have learned to do a lot of this stuff myself. Just leveled the frets and put a new nut on a brand new peavey jf-1. Lowered the strings and it plays and sounds fantastic. Someday I’ll get around to fixing the nut on that Gibson j29. Meanwhile I’m playing a used Alvarez masterworks that was perfect from the factory. Lol. It sucks paying good money and not being happy with the work for sure.
“Les Paul guys like Telecasters”. So true. We also like having an SG in the rack as well.
J Yuke LP, SG, V, 335 and an explorer pls, no need to bring fenders into it :) (oh, and a J45)
J45 my best friend. LP my wife.
I'm eyeing this after I got a Chbson made for me last winter. The fuckin thing absolutely ROCKS so I'm pretty sure I could get one or two of these to kick some serious ass. One for E and one for the key of Keith.
"We"? Speak for yourself. I like Teles but not a fan of SGs.
For sg guys it's a srat or 2
It's really pretty incredible what you can get for so little money. When I started out as a kid in the mid to late 80s, I don't think you could even get a new electric guitar for $60-70...much less the $25-30 that the equivalent would have been back then when adjusting for inflation. My first new one was some Strat copy from Radio Shack that was around $130 (almost $300 in 2019 dollars, which will buy you a pretty nice guitar these days). It was terrible compared to a Glarry. I left it outside one night, it got rained on, and the particle board body swelled up like it had been stung by 1,000 bees. Totally ruined. You really don't even see plywood bodies anymore like you used to on a lot of cheap (and even midrange) imports from back then, but at least the plywood held up somewhat. Particle board was a whole other level of junk.
Travis Hemming agreed about the price and construction of new guitars. Back in the late 1970s and 1980s CNC Machining was rare, now with widespread use everyone benefits.
I've also seen what happens when a particle board guitar body meets H2O, it ain't pretty.
Yeah, access to Chinese slave labor sure is "incredible".
@@Vichedges Keep believing that propaganda while your American wage is stagnated and China’s wages is growing every year
@@tre4993 I will keep believing it while China keeps putting citizens in concentration camps, keeps manipulating currency, keeps flooding the West with cheap products while refusing to import Western products or do business without the govt owning half a business.
Thanks for the reply though, “comrade”,
I think the true lesson is dont leave a guitar in the rain but hey...who am i?
I always enjoy your Glarry reviews. Good guitars for the price, I think, and I appreciate how you're honest about quality control. Great job!
I actually bought one of these just to decorate a section of a wall that over the stairwell that comes up into my studio. But after your little demo I might actually play this thing. Thank you!
We are very, very spoiled today! Years ago you couldn't dream of a guitar like some of these knock offs with solid woods, maple necks, good fretwork, absolutely great pickups (no matter what the aftermarket advertisements say), etc. Some of these guitars - many of them actually, are every bit as good as any American made Fender or Gibson - people just refuse to see it. Plus, after you spend 2 grand on your dream guitar your psyche just will not allow you to justify any $100-400 guitar as being equal. Most of these guitars - the neck alone is worth the selling price! And nobody needs to get new tuners unless they're actually broken. The reason a guitar goes out of tune hasn't to do with the tuners in the greatest majority of the cases. Stringing, stretching and setting a tremolo is an art and once you learn it correctly you'll never go out of tune again. Of course I'm talking about electrics when I say these guitars are very good. Acoustic guitars are a lot tougher to get right. But these electric knock offs - you can get a real gem of a guitar for $100-400 with no need to change out anything. The brand names have most people literally brainwashed - it's the great power of commercial advertising. The psychology of advertising is intriguing - we are persuaded that the brand names are the untouchable best by deeply invasive psychological measures.
"Every bit as good as any American made Fender or Gibson? This is a statement made by someone that never owned an American made Guitar. You get what you been pay for.
Thank you! Guitars today are able to be built to such quality, even cheaply, because of technology. They are fine. Little bit of work. New tuners, nut. Call it a day and GO HAVE FUN PLAYING! WOOT!!!
@Far Stox I get that Far. A simple setup by a professional luthier will make just about any of them play pretty good. Still love my epiphone but it is no replacement for the Gibson. The Squire body is thinner and doesn’t sustain as well in most cases.
You really have to look at the process and determine if what you are looking at is actually worth it. A lot of Chinese manufacturers are clueing into the fact that specific parts of a guitar are what makes it a great instrument. Necks and fret dressing are two of the points that make a guitar worth it's money or not.
You could have an amazing finish on a guitar that is exotic and bla, bla, bla, but at the end of the day, I will play a piece of unpainted plywood if it allows me to do what I need to do musically. Do Gibson and Fender make great instruments? Of course they do. Can I afford one? Of course not. This doesn't stop me from finding cheaper, and in many cases _better_ instruments at a fraction of the cost that any lay-person would have no idea of the difference when they listened to it, recorded or live.
Glarry truly make a much better than any American 🎸 guitar companies custom shop.
Credit where it's due, especially since I was among the first to trash the sound of the other Glarry instruments - this one actually sounds passable both clean and driven AND it even sounds kind of like a tele! I wouldn't buy one for myself but for once I can understand why someone might. Thanks for posting these.
Yes but really its poor. Very poor. In the hands of a player with a good amp its passable but the hardware is cheap, the electronics (right here in the video) dodgy, the pickups bubble gum microphonic so you are paying $9 for the kit and $70 for a body and neck - because thats all thats worth keeping.... assuming the truss rod works. Throw all the crap away, add Switchcraft, Grover and PRS pups, sand it down and re-finish it, you will just about have a decent guitar. But then you could do that with a Firefly which have better bodies and necks. Including a nice 335 style hollow body with a set and glued neck... like a Gibson. Go to Amazon, get a Firefly. ruclips.net/video/LRauG5LfRv4/видео.html
@wildcatter63 - normally, the cheapest part of these types of guitar are the electronics including the pots and pickups (followed by the tuners, bridge and fret material), so I would be surprised if it sounded like a Tele at all. Having said that, putting anything through a half decent amp (including a ukulele with plastic strings) and a DAW can sound OK on RUclips. I think you would have to try one of these in a store to get a real feel for the tone. Not dissing Trogly's review at all, but my opinion is that these are a poor choice, even for a beginner. You really would be better getting a little more cash together and looking for a used Squire Bullet, Epiphone or Gretsch - there are lots of these about used as many people who start on guitar later drop off. I got my son a beautiful 2011 Fender Squire Jazz Bass for £75 (about $100) and it's fantastic, no repairs, tuning stable, pots and pickups fine. Pic: bit.ly/2nALVOU - we are using it for recording currently.
@@Spartanm333 Yeah, Ilive in the States and used Squiers are everywhere for $100 or less.
I don't get the fascination with dirt cheap Chinese guitars. Just because something is cheap doesn't mean it's worth buying.
This thing sounds like someone was running a humbucker through one of those pedals that mimic guitar tones, and was set to tele.
Maybe you could use the whang bar to wangjangle the intonation around ;)
I do honestly like Glarry as a company. They have great customer service for any company, especially an overseas company that makes copies of existing guitars. They really are an exceptional company, surprisingly so.
We all started somewhere. What a great instrument for such low cost. Wow !
For Fender Friday, I’d love to see you review a Harley Benton S or T style model. They get rave reviews for the price.
The only Tele I own is my TE-52, added bone nut, Kluson locking tuners, a Wilkinson bridge w/ recessed brass saddles, and Graphtech TUSQ string trees, plays almost as good as most American Tele's I've played.
Agreed. And every Harley Benton guitar gets setup and quality control checked in house at Thomann in Germany.
Says the HB shill
If you are going to do a harley benton do a SC 450 plus
Maybe try the mustang one
To spice things up lol
If you are like me and work on guitars, these chepos are pretty much a blank canvas. I am addicted to buying these things and hot rodding the crap out of them
Please elaborate. I'm curious.
m woo he means putting expensive strings, nice pickups, better hardware etc.
Turbo charger, nitrous, and some meaty tires
I'd just save enough to buy a Squier or Yamaha...
I'd say the same. Get used Yamaha Pacifica 112 or Squier (maybe not the cheapest model from their range though) and you're set for first few years of your guitar journey.
Or get Harley Benton, they are the best option if you are looking for very low budget new guitar IMO.
@@pomaranc747 I really like the look of some Harley Benton's and they're so cheap for what they are but I hate the idea of buying a guitar before ever trying it, and I cent really fly to Germany to buy a guitar, even though its not that expensive from here in the UK. And I hear their quality control can be hit and miss, which is why there's so many "b-stock" guitars in the thomann site, they're all ones people returned. But it's so cheap it's not even that much of a risk to buy one. So I'm back and forth on it. I probably will get one one day as a project guitar, and chuck some seymour duncans into it or whatever. The telecaster with filtertron style pickups looks pretty tasty, I was gonna get a squier tele and heavily modify it to put in some of the seymour duncan filtertrons but if I jury got that guitar then all the routing and stuff is already done for me
When you watch beyond the most present cheering videos on the HBs, you might find videos that show HB quality, and certainly playability, tuning and intonation are not consistent.
@@fritsvanzanten3573 We are talking sub 100€ brand new guitars, for that kind of money good luck finding anything better or more consistent than that.
Ya know, the doggone thing is pretty, less expensive than a painting and when I get tired of lookin' at it, I can play it.
It would be pretty cool if they could rip off the Mustang next
Review the Stevie Ray Vaughan signature strat
I have bought 3 Glarry guitars over the last 6 months and for the money you get a very good deal, i take them and set them up for easy playing . I have bought squires that don"t come close to them for the difference in price.
Thanks for your honest opinion. You have to look at the price, you get what you pay for. For the price as a beginner guitar, wish they would have been around when I started 20 years ago.
I like how they make it easy to file back the headstock edges back to the nice fender rounded edges.
I bought one of these to play in the very cold factory where we are building our prototype robot. It is bitterly cold in the mornings when I arrive and I sit between two portable heaters. It has been surprisingly fun to play on during spare moments. I keep a modest combo amp under the desk and a tube preamp to give me that tube sound I crave. I found the guitar to be surprisingly playable and the frets to be sufficiently polished and accurate. All in all it was worth the month and a good decision to invest for use in the office and on the factory floor, especially at 5am when the place is deserted and you can really crank up to 11. I call this guitar my "Glarry Garcia Tribute Guitar" and it has Tiger stickers on in
I won a zebra stripe Glarry, from Lucas Fowler's channel. I like it, it's not the best, but it sounds good for some things. Hoping to change the pickups, eventually.
Fast-forward to this year, and we have a lot of people reviewing Glarry, like Darrel Braun and Knowyourgear. Glen and Larry must be rly happy.
these seem more geared for a first mod guitar than a first guitar. they're cheap enough you won't go nuts if you screw it up, but solid enough you have a great starting point. almost like the step before a kit guitar.
I was think the same thing. They should be called Skeleton guitars.
There are much better companies than Glarry for cheap guitars. I'm no shill. Harley Benton, Aiersi, to name a couple. Check out Eart for insane fretwork. Apparently they, cut, dress, and round the fret ends before installation. I have seen some videos where they say the frets are a c-hair short, but doesn't make a difference in playability. $400 gets you closer to $1000
There are much better cheaper guitars, but these are better for people who wanna learn how to dress frets and more serious Luther stuff.
@@lichkrieg4898 Two days ago I picked up an Aiersi Telecaster copy in a sort of caramel orange flame. It's a really nice looking guitar that had a bone-straight neck and what looked like level enough frets.
I paid the guy $125 for it, took it home and removed the strings he had on it. I took a green scotch pad to the fret sprout and polished up the frets and maple fingerboard with the same. New strings and a break in and I literally cannot make this thing go out of tune. It has a slightly proud 22nd fret that needs it attitude adjusted, but other than that it's a $500 guitar in a $125 package. Really nice finish and binding work, and a solid neck joint.....no space whatsoever. Every morning I pick it up and it's barely a cent out of tune, even though I played the snot out of it the night before. I really am still in shock for what $125 got me.
Aiersi. Apparently there's even better guitars for cheap out there.
@@minkorrh I'll have to check that out, I need a nice Tele body for a baritone I'm trying to part together.
I bought a GST model as a project, so I knew what to expect. Just sharing what I did: I put on a Goldtone Zeroglide nut which gave it more clear sustain; I got a new pickguard blank and bought a real Gibson P90 and harness, and put that in place of the three pickups. I essentially was making an LPjr in a Strat body. I cleaned up all the frets, steel wooled the unfinished neck, it's very smooth. I learned a trick, before doing any fret leveling, find the high ones and use your rubber fret hammer to pound on them, every one went down so I didn't have to do any fret leveling, and no damage to the neck. Great hack. The biggest problem was the tremolo bridge. I tried all the tricks. I put on some rolling bridge saddles (cheap). I also took the bridge off and counter sunk the underside of all the six holes, to give more room when using the trem. It made a difference. I ALSO bought six machine screws (stainless oval head) because they mimic the Fender screws of the 2 point trems. I then countersunk the topside of the trem bridge AND ground down the top-back of each of the six screw holes, so that when I dive bomb the heads of the screws get the most clearance. If they were flathead it would never be smooth and consistent. A lot of work for a cheap guitar, but it was fun. And it makes a difference, the trem goes back to pitch much better. One more thing, I had to grind down the length of the low E string saddle because I couldn't get it to intonate enough, that made it possible for the saddle to go backwards more to get correct intonation on the low E string. I also had to trim a little of the spring off. Gradually, with all these changes, and adjusting spring tension, I have gotten it to be much more consistent in tuning and intonation. I also put D'Addario Auto trim tuners on. Now it has the meat and scream of the Gibson P90 but also the Strat twang at the bridge, and much more power than a Strat single coil pu. the pots give me great variation, so it's my version of a Noventacaster but with a real Gibson P90. Hope this helps someone if they are modding out.
This is a great review, Austin. Thanks for taking one for the team
Thanks for the neck spec measurements. I don't know why so many reviewers don't provide these.
Having a blue Fender Strat, this blue Tele will look great hanging next to it as wall art!
I bought a glarry P-bass and it was as i expected. It didn't get damaged at all, played fine for a first bass guitar and for the price you can't really complain
I have one of the P-Bass models. I found it in a pawn shop for $30. When I first saw it I picked it up, expecting it to play like a $30 guitar. I was totally shocked by how well it played. I handed it to my son who also plays, and he tried a few Rush licks on it. His only comment was "buy it". I have about a dozen basses around the house, including some American Fenders, and this has become my favorite.
I purchased a Glarry P Bass for $69 to leave at church for a practice bass. After a few adjustments, it played just fine. I got the bug to buy a fretless bass but I wasn't sure I would like one so I decided to convert the Glarry to fretless. After many hours of fret pulling, cutting, gluing and sanding, it turned out better than I expected. I did go a little overboard with a new roller bridge, bone nut, pots, pickguard and a set of Seymours. Do I now own an overprice Glarry...yes...but considering even the cost of an inexpensive factory fretless, I came out better plus it was a good learning experience. My total conversion investment (including the original bass purchase) is $230 plus a set of flat wounds.
I just bought this exact same guitar from Glarry. I had the same problem with the plastic being melted onto the neck pickup and I had to take the whole thing apart and use goo gone to clean it off.otherwise I was pretty impressed at how good it played out of the box. I guess I got a good one. And in the process of taking the pickguard off my e string broke in the exact same spot that yours did.I contacted them and they are sending me a new set of strings and in addition gave me a 5% off option on another guitar. Is the top-of-the-line quality? No. was I expecting that? No. Butt out of the box is a fun guitar to Noodle around with and the blue color was interesting to me. I will tell you this. Glarry's customer service is great. I told them if they ever make a Les Paul copy I will buy that for sure. I would definitely recommend it to somebody who wanted to learn and didn't want to spend a lot for a guitar.
Put high end pickup n material .. it will sound the same as ur high end guitar .. its just a business ... and im Freaking Very Sure of it .. .🤘
Just a little adjusting works ..thats all
I'm a luthier and almost any guitar ordered online (whether cheap Glarrys or midrange top brands) needs a set up upon arrival. They are coming from one climate, passing through others, and things shift upon destination. Fret ends are almost always sharp - one or two high frets - and having to reset the action at both ends is normal. Having said that, I did get the 604 rosewood back one and do a full luthier set up on it - and it was rather underwhelming. Lots of people swear by them - and even refinish them and make them look nice. I think there are better cheap guitars out there.
I've become a regular on your channel because of your review of these glarry guitars. You always explain it in a way that truly makes sense. Keep up the good work and I wish you well and all that you do.
Wang bar?..really? never heard them called that before
Twang
Right?? When he said "wang bar," and then there was a jump cut with him laughing, I thought he was laughing because of a Freudian slip. I wasn't even thinking about the saddle not having a place for a... _AHEM..._ *_whammy_* bar.
that's how we called it back in late 80s
Standard slang nomenclature to me🤷🏻♂️
I, too, have this perverse fascination with finding cheap guitars that actually ain't too bad. (Speakin' of which, I'd love to see your impression of the Xaviere from GFS.) I'll have to try a Glarry, just fer grins. Thanks Trogly!
The Circle of Tone RUclips channel did a review of the Glarry bass, and he loves it. He uses it in half his videos now.
$60-70 instrument, that actually plays, has to be worth it, right? The question is, what if you spend another $60-70 to improve that instrument, would it be better than a new $120-140 one out of the box? I think it might be... I have bought several guitars in the $500-700 range, and they all needed some fret work and the nut was always too high, and they required all the other neck and bridge adjustments. So you can't say these super cheap ones are bad, because they haven't been set up.
Trogly says “where else are you going to see a lot of blue teles”
Me looks at wall in room with three blue teles
Me too
Assuming that the solder joints on the jack are okay, often times the only thing that you need to do to correct an intermittent jack is to bend the contacts slightly. Now it is also possible that the staking of the jack barrel over the solder tab is poor. I often solder the jack barrel to the solder tab on the jack as a preventative measure.
Great video. Here is my comment on the Glarry. I think it is fine FIRST guitar provided that you have it setup by a friend who knows how to do it correctly or you learn how to set up a guitar yourself. For someone who is starting out and has nothing, having a budge of $300 does not mean you can purchase a $300 guitar any more than if you have a budget of $1000 means you can simply purchase a $1000 guitar.
When you are first starting out you're going to have to invest in some other equipment.
1)Even if you buy a starter pack, you'll still want to purchase several sets of strings and some single strings like the high E string because you'll want to replace the ones that come on your guitar, you're likely to break strings, especially the high E string practicing your bending. You'll also likely want to try different size strings. 8s might come on the guitar but you might find 9s better for you or maybe you want to see if 10s are easier for you to play. A couple of sets of strings in a couple of sizes plus a few single stings will cost you $30 or more.
2) You'll likely want a descent guitar stand so the guitar is out and ready to practice and you have a place to put it if you get interrupted. That's $20-$50 bucks.
3) You'll likely want to get a winding multi tool to make restringing the guitar a bit easier. There's another $15.
4) You'll likely want to get a big bag of picks in multiple thicknesses so you can play around and figure out what ones you prefer. Another $15.
5) You'll likely need to purchase an instrument cable since your guitar may not have one or it will be crap. Another $20.
6) You may want to purchase a descent strap since your guitar may not come with one or if it does it's likely to be uncomfortable. Another $15-$20.
So, $85 to $120 for just ancillary items must also be part of your budget.
Now think about amps for a moment. Sure you can purchase a $40 plugin or an $80 practice amp. But these don't typically have Reverb and eventually you'll want to spend $200 on a descent modeling amp and that $40 plugin or $80 practice amp will end up on eBay for 1/2 price. So, you might want to opt for a $200 amp to begin with rather than wait a couple of months and then purchase it.
So, Practice Amp and ancillaries for $180 or Modeling amp and ancillaries for $300 means you have a lot less in your budget for your first guitar.
And this all presumes that before you've spent any time trying to learn guitar that you know that you prefer a Stratocaster style over a Les Paul style over an Ibanez or some other style.
So, what's my point? At about $100 for a kit from Glarry plus $100 for ancillaries you can start to figure all of this out. The crap amp that comes in the kit is just as useful as that $40 plug in as you can plug a set of headphones into it.
And even if you decide that the Strat style Glarry isn't what you like it is at least good enough for you to take a few lessons (online or in person), learn a few cords, learn a few riffs and feel confident enough to walk into a real guitar store and try out various other guitars. Or you can take advantage of their 30 day return policy to try out something different.
Either you will eventually purchase a better guitar or you'll quit playing. If you spend $100 on a Glarry and get $50 for it when you sell it on eBay then you've spent $50 on your first guitar. That's a whole lot better than spending $600 on a used MIM Fender and reselling it for $450. And if you have $1000 budget for a guitar I still wouldn't recommend trying to purchase $1000 guitar as your first one for the same reasons. Opt for a $400 guitar as your first guitar and put $200 in a modeling amp which will work with any guitar you purchase in the future. Add that $100 worth of ancillaries and your still at $700. But again, if you decide that $400 guitar isn't for you then you're still likely to sell it for $300 and your first guitar will only have cost you $100.
Of course this is just my opinion. If you disagree and feel the need to say so, please do. I promise not to take it personally.
i look forward to getting a Glarry guitar.
I can get the strats at about $55 dollars shipped. In nearly 2021...........amazing
For a $70 guitar.... it sounds just as good as your standard $140 guitar!! LOL!! Thanks for the review.
I bought the natural finish glary no name was on the headstock which I liked change the strings adjusted make sure everything was tight I love it more everyday
I bought a Glarry bass and then sold my Rickenbacker. It plays great!
The body and hardware, pickguard are worth the $70. Find some used pickups and maybe a neck and you could have a custom tele for cheap
I ordered a $60 Glarry strat copy. I figured if it was playable at all, I’d be money ahead! Chinese guitars were always cheap, but they were garbage, too. I’ve heard nothing really bad about Glarry, especially for the price! The Chinese learned how to make a ridiculously inexpensive solid body guitar, that’s acceptable to even an experienced player. One guy even said he’d use one on stage! Thanks for your honest review.
Update: Maybe after they are properly set up, but the first one that came in had high action, my fingers were just bending strings, hitting them from the side. But the next one that came in looked high to me, but it plays fine! I’ll have to file the nut down on the first one.
It plays good and looks good. The tweaks it could use are perfect ways to fearlessly dip your toe into repair/tech. That makes it pretty perfect for a beginner - maybe pair it with “how to make your electric guitar play great” by Dan Erlewine.
I have purchased two Glarry guitars. One is a telecaster thin line with a f hole. It plays great. Love it. I have one of the stratocasters that I got for $65. Both guitars play well. I had to do some minor setup. These guitars are better than my first kay guitar I bought for $25 dollars with an amplifier back in 1978. I can't believe how great these guitars are for the money. I also own real fender telecasters and squires. If you can set it up properly, these guitars are a great value. I love the thick neck---I have huge hands! LOL
I got one the second they put 'em on the site, and I love mine. Got the trans yellow one. Obviously needed a setup but it plays great. Sounds pretty good for what I want, too. Really resonant and lightweight. Probably going to order a second one to keep at my practice space.
Buying a few of these later this week. Should be fun modding them.
Who expects a great guitar for $70? I just bought a Mayones and had to raise the nut. I don't think I've ever had a guitar that was just perfect for ME. They all need at least a tweak.
Older video, but I'll toss in my two cents. Just got a Glarry Strat, and I was legitimately surprised at how good it was for the money. A bit of adjustment and setup, some minor imperfections, but it has a great blues sound when played clean on the bridge pickup, and is comfortable to play with a new set of 8 gauge strings.
Ill add that I had the same issues with my output jack, though it wasn't hard to get it running properly.
I bought a red sparkle Squier tele last year for 129.00...pretty great out of the box...(I've since replaced everything with US parts)... its kinda great
Had a really bad glarry tele it looked nice but it had a warped neck and it wouldn't stay in tune . Had to return it . Just got the black and white Squire telecaster bullet .
Man I have gotten expensive guitars that needed that much setup. I don't think that's bed. Setup is a preference. Some like a high action and some don't. Worth it for the money I think.
Have bought name brand stuff with worse frets then Glarry.....primarily epiphone. I just have to shake my head. The tuners were not bad....if you stretch the strings it will stay in tune. Unlike the Epiphone which puts the worse tuners in the world on their cheap stuff (179.00)...the trapezoid nightmare.
My neck/nut was the same....fingerboard was crooked in front of nut but just didn't cut the end of neck straight. Nut was installed correctly. Measured fine nut to bridge. After leveling the guitar it flat out played. Output jack the same as your's....bent like butter.....spend 4 bucks for an all parts one.
After spending about 20.00 for better chinese pickups (alnico 5), pots, and bone nut it's one of my favorites. Flat out plays. Nothing wrong with slightly higher frets at #1 and lower as they go up the neck...the reverse won't play. That's medium frets at .090. Can be a pain leveling if they install them a bit uneven. May get them low...not much room for leveling.
This was the exact guitar that gave me the idea for the finish on my custom guitar that I'm working on
I just got this same guitar yesterday. 9-21-2020. Same color also. The funny thing is, the E string on mine was also broke. Mine arrived in good condition. it works.
Everyone throwing off on these guitars,like they are playing for a touring band.Nothing wrong with these guitars to play around the house which is all most of us do anyways.Put your money in a good amp.
Theres everyone wrong with glarry there straight up ripping of fender and maybe ibanez plus the guitars dont sound that great
Yeah I don’t understand the purest/snobbery disdain from players. Having affordable niches within a market is a good thing. It just brings more people to the fold. People are like that with anything and everything.
Example: I’m a 45 year old piano player that collects skateboards. Skateboarders are like that with inferior brands. Keyboard players are like that with certain acoustic piano brands and cheap beginner keyboards. And totally like that with imitation b3 sounds.
The only question is, is it playable? Can you learn on it? Is it good enough for you to see if guitar playing is something you really want to stick with?
After all these years, of being a piano/B3 guy, I’m thinking I want to learn how to bang power chords with distortion. If I bring home another expensive instrument or toy, my wife will totally flip her shit. So, yeah. That’s just what I’m looking for. I think I’ll give it a try.
Loving the new logo
I'm a Tele fan. I have a Glarry strat. I quit playing when my husband passed away in 2002, I just recently got the urge to play, it'll do for trying to remember how to play. Got their amp that was included, all for$149
I have their P bass too and I'm blown away at how good it is ! Good rating and reviews Austin ! :-)( Note : in reference to the whammy bar,I bought an Epiphone lap steel and it came with a truss rod wrench ! LOL ! )
Still better than the crap we had in the early 80s! Anything under £500 was garbage. I paid £300 for my left handed 1973 Fender Telecaster in 1988 all saved up from my milk round in the summer of 88.... Wish we had guitars like this then!
I have an 87 Fender Strat and was looking at this one for travel. I’ll pick it up for sure, I wouldn’t wanna ruin my 87 Strat and I wanna try a little tele!
These guitars are better than what I learned to play on. Would recommend to anyone just starting out on a tight budget.
I would love to work with Glarry
I would actually buy one of these Glarry telecasters. I've always wanted a Tele and if I can get some similar tones to a real tele, I think it'd be fun.
I love that tele
This video is being sent out via mass email from Glarry to all their customers. I guess they don't mind the GT602 being called "utter trash." LOL I know you said it in the actual Trade Tuesday video, but maybe you should have mentioned again in this video that you specifically asked for a factory reject, and that's what you got. Honestly, I love Glarry. Well, I should say I love the Burning Fire body style. I bought a guitar and a bass version, both in the sunset paint job. I plan on buying the blue semi-hollow body in August. If they come out with any other really odd designs, maybe like the BC Rich Mockingbird (?), I'd buy those too.
The only thing I like about the Telecaster is that blue color.
Could take the body and put better pick ups bridge nut tuners and strings on it
Anderson bryan I wonder if you could swap a fender neck onto it
Sounds good I thank I might buy one soon at Christmas
16:07
I have a fretless Glarry bass and it's awesome, with new flatwound strings and some set-up. The only problem I ever had with it was with the EA-side pickup being unglued from the cover. Other than that I love it, it's great for the price
So Glarry electric the Fender styles would make for great punk style guitars.
Ya know, it's really not that bad considering the price point. Decent enough for anyone starting out/casual players who want a budget guitar to play with.
I think Glarry, for the most part, could also be used as a backup guitar for a working gigster. If you're a working musician, hopefully you'll be able to swing some cash for a better instrument later on. But don't throw your Glarry away. That's a very nice finish and the tones are great. Stays in tune pretty good. And......doesn't anyone besides Epiphone make Les Paul copy anymore?? They were all over the place when I was a kid.
I'm loving the Relicing on this Tele, that's how they're supposed to be, right?
Also, just gotta wait for the flying V
I just bought the GST strat from Glarry. I’m a beginner guitarist that likes to riff, goof around and learn how to read the fretboard. I bought a firefly semi-hollow FF338 which I got for $189. LOVE IT. But I want a strat style guitar as well. Can’t justify a Fender Mexican or American with my skill level, and didn’t want a Squier. I bought the strat in sky blue-never seen the color before-anywhere. It’s a $100. Even just have, upgrade and goof around with, it’s worth it. It’s playable and if my kids, nieces or nephews want to play a guitar, I’m not cringing over potential damage. The budget guitars in my day were the First Act POS they sold in Toys R Us. Would’ve killed to have these choices then!! It’s a $100. I think about how I’ve spent a $100 in the past on far worse crap than this. And it’s pretty
Just got a Glarry telecaster with no name on it and i can"t believe the workman ship the paint job is super great the frets were pretty damn good only took a little polish the frets with stile wool and the guitar plays really great. I bought a Firefly last month and i did not expect Glarry to beat it ., But they sure did.
Was that the jack being faulty, or cheap cable?
The pickups sound hot. Great for artificial harmonics and other cool tricks
I've got a metallic blue telecaster. I built it and was the only way I was going to get a metallic royal blue tele that was made decent. I went with an LP style toggle a Douglas Fir body (for folks that think its shitty wood the reason I chose it was to mimic the pine telecasters in the 50's but with a wood that is similar but more structural sound), and a maple neck and finger board. It's a good guitar and I like it a lot.
The tele is the easiest guitar to make from scratch and get a decent result. The more you build guitars the better you get this was my 3rd one so I was happy with it.
Good video. Looks decent for the price point.
I just ordered the blue strat with tortoise shell pick guard. Basically just want it so I can mess with setup. Just hoping for a decent finish and straight neck. I really like the finish variety on these. Considering it is the price of the cheapest kit guitar (a bag of unpainted guitar parts) I could find, this is a helluva price.
Your critical of Epiphone must less Glarry. I have expensive guitars but I bought the semi-hollow guitar and I like it!
This is my first guitar. I got the blue one. Came with the Amp and some picks. It sounds like a guitar.
Pretty color
It's not bad for $80. I started on a $100 strat knockoff with a built in amp and speaker from toys r us 25 years ago.
I would have killed for something that looked like this.
Awesome!
Love your honesty Austin, thanks! Pam
can you please do a modding video on the glarry tele?
Can you post tab for what you played?
Can you jump up and down and sing hallelujah
I hope one day they’ll come out with a glarry custom shop
The watermelon guitar is by far the best one. 🤘🤘🙃
Good enuff for a preteen to learn if they want to pursue guitars more or not. To "test the waters" so to speak.
Nope if you are a beginner you want good guitar. If you buy shit you will not want to play more. This is shit.
Just from what I can hear over my computer speakers, I like this better than the Squier -- sounds better, much more distinction between the pickups.
Do you think the intonation would be fixed if you replaced the neck with a proper 25.5 scale one? Do you know if the neck pocket is standard so that would work?
Not bad,not bad at all.I will be ordering a couple to take a look at.Thanks for your opinion.