Amazon Basics Guitar? Unboxing and Review
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- Опубликовано: 29 янв 2021
- You've seen our previous video, in which Chris McKee is confronted with a near-death experience while tuning the first Amazon guitar. From comically oversized guitar picks, to audible creaking and cracking while setting up, Amazon was in dire need of an improvement to their affordable acoustic guitar option. Today, Chris is unboxing the new Amazon Basics acoustic guitar-- is it an upgrade? Is it worth it? Check out the video and let us know what you think!
20:55 - Playing demos
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I’m just gonna wait until Harbor Freight starts selling guitars ...
LOL
Hahaha
@unplugged 92 Strap-Ons are way too expensive tho...
🤣🤣🤣. It will look like a Martin D-45., just like the ones they sell on Wish!!! The disappointing thing, is it won’t sound like one
😭😭
As my guitar gently creaks🎶🎶
Is it bad that I sang this comment outloud?
Quality comment
While?
Brilliant 😂😂👏👏
Hahahahaha this is genius
I have quit just automatically going to Amazon to buy stuff. Their takeover of everything is alarming.
Our local businesses need us more than ever. It's not easy to kick the Amazon habit, but I have!
This comment needs to go to the top and on every video with Amazon products. My opinion is not a reflection on what I think of this video, Alamo Music videos are always highly informative.
Brainless consumerism feeding into huge monopolies like amazon is so short sighted. I hope you guys spread what you spread here to as many people as you can. EVERYONE(except for Bezos' wallet) will thank you
i mean its just a generic guitar that they slapped their name on
The truth is Amazon is not the best price on many brand name items anymore. Truth be told it cost more money to deliver to each customers destination then to deliver to stores and have customers come to you. 30 years in transportation logistics makes that very clear. Amazon's only hope for long term dominance is to put everyone else out of business. Yes remote places still benefit from Amazon or Sears, or JC Penny for my Grandparents when they were alive.
My first guitar was a 3/4 size classical guitar that my uncle found in a dumper, one day i bought my own and gave that old poor guitar up to a workmate, today i heard his daughter asked if she could play it, and she has started practicing.
You never know, even a bad guitar can lead to something, they can live the strangest lives ^=^
That’s awesome
Wholesome
Yamaha or Orangewood. That Amazon guitar isn’t really worth anything if it turns people off learning guitar. The Yamaha sounds amazingly better.
I have an orangewood it is definitely comparable with the yamaha
@@notbrian5950 I have a Yamaha fg830. Beautiful guitar and sounds amazing (rosewood back and sides, but not solid).
I also have orangewood Oliver. Solid mahogany. Not much more than Amazon. Orangewood is awesome
i got the new dana mini from orangewood and she's a delight! for sure a good buy.
Yup. I used to have a Yamaha, which was great. I recently bought an Orangewood and I love it.
"Good news - it IS a guitar!" 😂
It is wonderful what is available to beginners today. My first guitar in 1964 was a used shocking blue colored Zimgar acoustic. The strings were so far from the neck they had to take a taxi to get close. My next “Upgrade” was a Harmony, kind of arch top with f holes again really hard to play. I finally got my first electric a couple of years later purchased in Alexander’s Dept. Store in Paramus, NJ I think it came with an amp for like 59.00 again a bear to play. I think these things made my will to play and my hands stronger. My point is that we just didn’t have the affordable choices with decent quality that are available today. Well in closing in 1969 I bought a Martin 18D new for 250.00 (which I still have and play) with case from Manny’s Music in NYC. PLAY ON!
People absolutely love those old Harmony archtops with f holes today 😂 it is so true that there are more “quality” affordable instruments today...just not this Amazon one lol
I started out on a nylon stringed Winston in 1968. Life was simpler then. Now all I have are a couple of stupid Martins. 🙄
Lucky you! I was born in the year you got your first guitar. When I went to school they forced us to learn the recorder and the glockenspiel. That did put me off playing music straight away until recently and now, about 50 years later, I started ukulele and now want to advance to guitar. I opted for a parlour guitar, as I can't really see myself as the female star-guitarist of a rock band anymore. My ukulele and guitar hero is a young girl called "Maya M" here on youtube. I'd love to be able to play like her some day :-)
Guitar is not my main instrument, but I have been a music educator for over 30 years. The one thing that I tell parents is to invest in an instrument of quality because it will make it easier for the student to enjoy what they are doing and continue learning the instrument. Chris, I agree with you regarding your analysis of the two guitars. If I were a guitar teacher, I would absolutely discourage the parent to buying the Amazon guitar and encourage them to purchase the Yamaha guitar just because of the sound that it produces. Also, you commented that it is easier to play and that is also an incredible bonus to someone who is learning an instrument. This was a very honest and interesting review and I appreciate all of the videos that you post regarding guitars.
It’s just like clothes. They’ll grow into them.
I don’t care what they say, this dude is HILARIOUS and clever. Hope to meet you and talk guitars one day with you Chris.
Finally someone stands up and say's how much cardboard Amazon uses.
I’m not into guitars and I just stumbled on this video. But I’m seriously surprised that I could hear the difference in those guitars through my cellphone speaker!
Ok do yourself or your kids a favor and don’t buy the Amazon! Well unless you want a decorative wall hanger. Wire it for a light thru the sound hole. Yamaha much better sound and you will be happier you spent the extra money 💰.
i mean as a decorative item....
Hey I have a Yamaha guitar and piano! They’re really the best along with Taylor guitars.
The Yamaha is way worth the extra price!
It's such a joy to spend ten minutes watching guys opening boxes, marvelous!
Chris, it's not a gig bag, it's a dust cover! LOL
10 minutes in and you’ve just got it out of the box.
Great review as always Chris, I really enjoy them.
Very fair review, which hints at a point I first heard years ago. Buy the best instrument you can afford. If $129 is your max, then get the Basics. But thanks to a golden age for guitar manufacturing, there are choices, and there are reviews -- in print and online. Alamo' s honest reviews speaks volumes for their integrity. As Chris points out, the guitar isn't total junk, it's just not all that good.
I'm also wary of online reviewers that receive manufacturers' gifts for an 'honest review." Some appear legit, while others are definite mere infomercials. Again, thanks Chris and Alamo for your truthfulness.
I started playing guitar on a old classical guitar that was in my attic, it had no truss rod, bad fret work, high action, the body was caving in, but yet I learned and I now play multiple instruments
Same here, cheers !
To be fair, lots of classical guitars don't have truss rods because nylon doesn't have as much tension as steel strings
ya but you didnt pay for it
Since I have a serious hatred for Amazon anyway, it would be a hard pass for me...
I know what you mean exactly.
Wait who?
Based
Needed to "tune in" for anticipated sarcasm subliminal or otherwise. Wasn't disappointed.
Chris is hilarious! Love this channel and his dry humor. Hope one day I get to visit y’all’s shop.
The expressions on Chris’s face when he was tuning was hilarious 😆
LOL I was just looking this up and couldn't find any good information! WOW thanks!
Just bought a guitar from you guys about a week ago! Love it!
Chris: I'm concerned for the guitar.
Guitar: Weep not for me, for I am finally at peace...the wind that shakes the mighty oak.
Like the guy in the music department at my local pawnshop once told me, never heard a bad Yamaha guitar, for reasonably priced guitars.
Proof that a good musician like Chris can make almost anything sound good. The Yamaha sounds much better and possibly has a better neck. My local store provides a guitar humidifier with each sale. Thanks for this video.
No possibly about it. Yamaha necks are superb, and you can see from Chris playing that the Yamaha is easier to play.
@@banjo1434 sorry really can't see that. Legally blind but playing acoustic guitar & fiddle for 49 years.
@@texhaines9957 I have the FS (om) version of that guitar. The neck is one of it's great strengths.
I started cracking up when he was tuning the high E, great video!
Great video!
agree generally that that amazon guitar isn't bad and probably better than what most of us played as our first instruments in the 20th century (lol) and agree that there are a lot of other affordable options that are good.. and also that really the value in a guitar--especially a first guitar--is whether or not it makes you want to play it. but there is a risk to that "for only 25% more, you can get..." logic, since that logic probably chains all the way up to $30,000 guitars lol.
They both sounded surprisingly good for the price to my amatuer ears.
I bought a used fg800 for $60.. added a bone nut and saddle, ebony bridge pins as well. After a little adjustment it rocks ! Total cost $150
Yep. I've rescued many lower end Yamaha guitars from the scrap pile. I attribute that to the fact that Yamaha used real solid woods and actually adopted a middle of the road Martin design for their Acoustic Steel string affordable guitars. Not to mention that Japanese craftsmanship being superior to Chinese craftsmanship. It has to do with supply and demand probably more than anything.
There is a case for store branded instruments,that's how the martin dreadnought got started.My early guitars were all laminated and the last one was the dreadnought shape which I played for thirty years before buying a real martin.The thing about all guitars is that they all have a different voice.The one you reviewed here sounds a hundred times better than the mail order stuff the majority of blues players were using back in the 1920's...............................
Thank you for this video Chris. It inspired me to practice, clearly a good guitarist can make even a crappy instrument sound fantastic.
😊 Great video, you must mention that you can buy a good used Yamaha FG700 for about $110 with a solid top. I have been playing for 30 years and own Yamaha acoustic guitars great for the money. 👍 Why even look at all these budget acoustic guitars when you can get a quality solid top guitar for that price range, do yourself a favor and buy a Yamaha FG700 or FG800 acoustic guitar.
Please do you know where I could buy said guitar for that value?
The Quality of Sound between these two is Night and Day.
I would buy the Amazon and use it as kindling to start a Campfire. Then you can sit around it with some friends and play a few tunes with the great value Yamaha.
2020 Epiphone inspired by Gibson review and comparison!
yeh hopes that coming and he compare vs Gibson hummingbird, j45
@@adrianhellstrom2927 we have to make it clear that it’s what we want
There are lots of them on RUclips from UK reviewers. I'd like to see them compared with the new Alvarez models.
@@banjo1434 not the point. I’ve watched a lot of those reviews. I want Alamo to do it because they do the best side by side comparisons when it comes to acoustic guitars in my opinion and I want to see their coverage of these new killer guitars.
Great video ! Good Information for people who do not know a thing about guitars . Entertaining if you know a bit about them .
It's not that bad, but for that price, you can get an Epiphone Pro-1 which is way better
Epiphone Pro-1 is an awesome 👌 guitar 🎸. I have one and like its bright chimney sound.
What I personally do is use Amazon to look for stuff and then go to the manufacturers website to order them directly, usually get free shipping too
That Yamaha is surprisingly good
You're telling me I never had to jump when I heard that ping- you're telling me that DOESN'T mean the strings gonna pop off and hit me in the face... good lord
Yamaha Guitars are so consistently good, why would you buy anything less? The tuners alone are the difference in cost.
I will say that Amazon Spruce top looks amazing.
I agree that the Yamaha is a better value. As great as Chris plays I could tell he was struggling a bit on the Amazon. And if Chris is struggling, how do you think it will go for a beginner? He sounds like a good amateur on the Amazon and sounds like a pro on the Yamaha. I wonder how this stacks up compared to the guitars sold by Monoprice.
Btw today it’s Game Stop, maybe next it will be Guitar Center lol..?
Glad for your interest in giving people a good start. The Yamaha FG800 would be a good starting guitar, IMHO. Thx!
I want to play again!😭 I quit when I was diagnosed with MS because they told me that I would lose the ability to use my hands and wouldn't be able to play, it's been over 12 years ago and I still have no problems with my hands. I sold my Fender Telecaster when they told me I had MS, wish I hadn't cause now I can't even afford the cheap Amazon guitar.
Chris pulls out his trusty six shooter, shoots level across the top of the box, shoots down one side of it and, then the other,reholsters and says "and that's how we open a box in Texas" as he pulls the box open and exclaims, " huh the tapes still a little warm" !!
I had the pleasure of seeing your first video with the blue thing. I call it a thing because it certainly wasn’t a guitar haha! Love these, they make me laugh man.
Love your feeds!
To answer your questions I’d never purchase a guitar via Amazon ( even though I do shop from them for miscellaneous items ) . I much rather purchase one from an actual person and know I’m helping our smaller businesses....
2 cents from your local peanut gallery.
Amazon has become a bad Craig's List. I won't even download music there anymore. Great review nonetheless.
hehe.... I have a FG800 I picked up this summer based on your vid. LOVE IT
Since y'all asked...
First, I'm glad to see these kind of reviews from people that have the professional "chops" to make an informed comparison. That said, I'd have much rather have seen a genuine "head to head" comparison with something like a Yamaha Gigmaker with a F325D (Yammie's laminated top entry-level dread) and a price difference of $30. Two nearly identical bundles, but you see exactly what the difference in price really gets you. It comes off as being a little less like you're trying to "upsell" a customer to make more of a profit. Of course, there are plenty of folks for whom the extra beans will mean the difference between getting a guitar and not getting a guitar; no shame in getting what you can afford. I'd still (and have) lean towards the Yamaha, simply because I've had people recommending their products to me for the past half century plus a few. 😉
As far as Amazon's rebranding stuff - on occasion I've bought their "house" brand items, and much like your local supermarket selling their own "house" brand items...sometimes it makes sense, other times not. In musical instruments I don't see it as being that much of an issue, simply because these products are luxury items. Your kids won't go hungry if you don't buy a guitar today. And, I suspect that Yamaha, Fender, etc. will keep right on selling their products at the same price points, because with luxury items quality tends to win out over time.
I love those reviews 👍. I remember your previous Amazon guitar review, the gigantic pick...😄
I guess for 60 bucks more it's better to get the Yamaha. But the Amazon ain't bad. Depends of people's budget.
Thanks Chris! 🎶🎶🎶
Agreed, in my opinion, the bigger issues is that the action is really bad. It was hard to play.
Again a video that is really useful for someone considering buying a lowpriced guitar. Good information, well explained and (imho) the only right conclusion.
And as I said before, with Chris, who doesn't need the loud tone or the bandana's you see so often in other clips. Not even a hairband... ;) 9:44 )
Chris you are a great presenter on YT
Comment of the year to the gentleman who suggested that the Texan should just shoot the Box open! 😂😂
Unboxing Starts at: 04:35
and Guitar at: 09:40
I've never owned a bad Yamaha guitar. And I've had 12 of them. Acoustic, classical, electric, and two guitaleles. I've bought them used and new--all were good players.
Not happy with yamaha, claimed small body guitar, get real, still very large
Nice review, Chris. Hard to beat a Yamaha at these price points.
The Yamaha clearly sounds better. My question is, did you use the included Amazon strings? Because cheap guitars usually come with trash strings. I'm not defending the Amazon box, just looking for apples to apples.
Speaking from experience, I wish I had owned better guitars throughout my life, especially when I was starting out as a kid. The logic was always that if you're a beginner or otherwise 'not a serious player' then any old guitar should do, in order for you to practice the basics. And to be sure, better a cheap guitar than nothing, especially if your budget is tight.
But on the whole, if you are serious about learning, I really think that getting the absolute best you can afford (and something you genuinely like), is the better long term investment. An instrument that sounds (and feels) good will inspire you to play, and an instrument that looks good will inspire you to take good care of it. This nurtures confidence within yourself and passion for your playing.
Having only ever had cheap, beat up old guitars growing up, I didn't take my playing seriously and so I never fulfilled my potential. I never saw myself as deserving of a 'proper' instrument, and never knew the difference that it could make until much later in life. If you've got a choice like the one presented in this video, spend the extra $60. You won't regret it.
That is so cool I live in San Antonio Texas too
Great video Chris! I’m curious: what part of the border are you from? Laredo? Eagle Pass? RGV? Del Río?
That fg 800 is a fantastic guitar. I have the tobacco burst fg800 and installed a bone nut and saddle with ebony pins. It’s almost as good sounding as my Taylor AD17e blacktop. However, that amazon guitar could sound worse. I’ve heard guitars that cost a little more sound a lot worse.
We bought an FG800 for my father-in-law. It is a really nice guitar for the money. We are living in a golden age of affordable but good guitars. Don’t waste your money on a cheap and frustrating “just ok” guitar, save up your pocket change every day for a few months and get a Yamaha or a Fender, or an entry level Taylor, that will last for 30 years and be nice to play.
Since you did this, I am curious if you have considered doing a review of any of the Orangewood guitars that seem to have popped up on RUclips lately?
Yes, I plan to.
@@AlamoMusic Cool, thanks!
Do yourself a favor and buy the FG-800. I'm so glad I bought that as my first guitar. I love it!
Me too
I have an FG830 (gorgeous!) and my nephew an FG800. Both sound out of this world great.
My word! It's kinda like comparing a rock to an apple... but then I love Yamaha guitars... Thanks for the video, Chris!
Cordoba also makes great first acoustics. I love my Nylon flamenco is was about 380
Hopefully mine survive as well, just recently i bought a takamine guitar gn51ce from amazon hopefully its been properly packed
Great review. I would spend a little more for the Yamaha.
I got my saddle filed down to lower Action. Sounds better than it did beforehand haha
please review the Orange Wood guitar.
The way I got an Amazon ad on this 😂😂
Oh man I bought my granddaughter the same guitar about two-and-a-half years ago. And I could tell you by experience it's made by clarry, and the tuner situation will get worse as time goes on. I spent about four hours setting it up 4 her that I dropping down the strings, and intonating it it'll last long enough for the youngster to learn how to play Cowboy chords. And like so many if they don't like it it goes in the closet. But the trainers is a really issue. I ended up giving her a old seagull Cedar that was really a nice guitar. Sometimes you get what you pay for and I should have known better but it'll do the job to learn on for a while
Orangewood guitars are a good place to look for a nice budget guitar. You can get an austen and many others starting around 200, nice quality for the price
Chris - I wonder if you’ve done a video on Mitchell (GC) guitars? I was recently impressed enough to purchase a Terra series T413CE and I am surprisingly giddy about this
You guys should review Harley Benton guitars. I just got the CLC-650SM-CE BK and I love it. I was at my local shop and played every Taylor and Martin in the 1-3 grand range and I actually prefer my HB over those and it only set me back $500.
Chris you make everything sound good, but the playability seemed difficult. I heard buzzing while you where playing. Thanks for the review.
For some reason I pictured a black strat style guitar with Amazon basics on the headstock lol
everything he said is true. Keep up the good work.
To be fair, the Yamaha 800. Range compete well with guitars at double their price. Yamaha also do a beginner guitar that would wipe the floor with that Amazon thing.
I actually really like how much brighter and louder the amazon guitar is than the yamaha, even though the yamaha sounds better in every other way.
Yep, that is the most guitar ive ever seen. Tons of guitar in it for sure. Definitely.
I bought a $300 Eastman PCH1 series GACE - Blown away by the quality and sound. I have not tried the Yamaha, but it looks good. For the home noodler, probably all you need.
You can find a like-new used Yamaha FG800 on Craigs List or Facebook Market Place for around $140 or even less. A lot of them will come with a nice gig bag, tuner, etc. If you live in an urban area you might not have to drive too far to pick one up.
So many of us started on cheap guitars and, with 20/20 hindsight, it is a mistake. For a beginner, there is a great temptation to “go cheap “ since you don’t know if time and desire will hold up, BUT it is very rare to find a cheap guitar that is set up well and it is rarely worth paying a good guitar tech to do that even if it is possible. Learning guitar is not easy under the best of circumstances and trying to learn on a poorly set up instrument with crappy tuners and a too-high action is a sure road to frustration.
Modern CAM technology has made even inexpensive (not cheap!) guitars light years better than years ago. Spending just a little extra will het you a guitar that will help you, not hinder you, to learn to play.
Find a reputable dealer, get some help, don’t waste your money!
GREAT JOB, Chris! I think that the answer to any "entry" acoustic guitar buyer is the Yamaha FG-800. It's worth the extra money and is an incredible value at under $250.
Really dont like my yamaha 820, hurts my arm
@@pikachumine6354 - How so, Lorraine? Do you have the full body (FG) or concert body (FS) version?
I made the mistake of buying a cheap guitar off Amazon for my son it started falling apart the 2 days after we got it luckily afrind had a hand me down Yamaha he wanted to learn the electric I told him he learned 3 songs on the acoustic I'd get a electric he did so I got a good electric fender stratocaster I played over 900 for it he was so happy
You think that was bad packaging?
I'd have been delighted if my Cordoba Fusion 12 CE had been packaged like that! It was in a box, kind of... Only one box, it's original box stating what was inside.
However that wasn't really necessary... had someone wanted to know what was inside, lifting one of the loose flaps of the single box would have been no problem! The guitar was not secured in any way and slid when the box was moved! I could actually see guitar before I even opened the box! Never again will I order a guitar shipped from Amazon!
The guitar itself was fine. It survived the trip, by the Grace of God, only! And much to my amazement! Never again will I order a guitar shipped from Amazon!
The first guitar I ordered was a half size Yamaha. It came well packaged and amazed me with it's sound. Better than I actually expected! Easy to play... good sound... I'm now loaning it to a friend, as a beginner guitar.
But my Cordoba came with it's box partially open... grrrr... Have I said, 'Never again will I order a guitar shipped from Amazon!'?
my style of playing and his are so alike its kind of crazy
I agree with you. save the money and buy the better guitar. but if u just can't then look for something used sometimes you can get a good deal that way.
Amazon Basics is a scourge overall. The way it works is that Amazon looks at all the resellers selling millions of different products on their site. They then identify the best selling products, go directly to these reseller's underlying factories, negotiate a price/widget at 50% less because of the sheer number of widgets they'll be buying as a huge company. Then they undercut all the resellers, even selling at a loss, until they drive them out of business, and then raise the prices above where the resellers previously were selling their product. They also go after sellers that directly manufacture their own products by stealing their Intellectual Property and having a factory in China manufacture the same product for 50% of the cost. Amazon Basic products have led to hundreds of thousands of indepependent companies failing. It's ok to buy on Amazon, just don't by any Basic products as every product put multiple companies and employees out of business and transferred those jobs and manufacturing wealth directly to China. Jeff Bezos pays millions of $$ each year to lobby (purchase) our Congress to let him get away with IP theft and Sherman Act violations...
The ping from the guitar string when tuning scares the daylights out of me because I thought that the string was about to break when I’m tuning it a lot. I had a fear that a guitar string would hit my face and I can’t imagine how painful it would have felt. Good to know that the ping is just only the string being caught in the nut.
Get your guitar to a Luthier to checkout and fix those types of problems. Money well spent.
i have a blue guitar my dad bought for me off amazon when i first started playing. The action is sky-high (even after adjusting the truss rod), and the strings that came with it felt like steel cables. As you could imagine, it was extremely difficult for me to play any chords clearly, it left my fingers aching a lot as well. It sucks how people dont understand their consequences for buying an instrument, especially for someone else, that fights back so much when you try to play it.
Truss rod isn’t for adjusting action.
The truss rod is for straightening the neck which in turn raises and lowers the action so yes the truss rod affects action.
@@bens3767 Adjusting the truss rod does have an effect on action, but it is not an adjustment you make _in order_ to affect action.
Well I have to tell you people my last guitar I bought at amazon LYX telecaster left handed all my eight guitars are made left handed anyway this telecaster I bought is great maple fretboard even has telecaster vintage bridge it has light ash body color great set up good action alot of fun to play very clear sound on the amp that guitar your reviewing is great I don't see nothing wrong with it yes sounds very nice yamaha is to exspensive and worth the money my telecaster was only 109 dollars
Shoot the box open and that thing would have gone up in value. I hear a Townes Van Zandt influence there in your wonderful playing.
I started out on the Yamaha. I would agree for the xtra money it is by far the better instrument.
If you sand down the saddle and put some quality strings on the amazon guitar, it will sound as good as the Yamaha.
I've owned that Yamaha and ended up giving it away because it didn't sound that great. I think it's luck with cheap guitars.
I'm waiting for the arrival of my very affordable Kapok in a week. You just gave me some hope, thanks ! 😎