Description
Review of the GLARRY 39 Inch Full Size Electric Guitar with 20W Amp and Accessories Pack, Red
The Glarry 39 inch is a full size solid body electric guitar sold in red as a complete beginner package with a 20 watt practice amplifier and the hardware needed to plug in on the first day. It is aimed at someone who has never owned an electric guitar and wants a single purchase rather than a guitar, an amp and a cable bought separately.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- A published 25.5 inch scale length, the standard long scale. Any commonly sold electric string set will fit correctly and fret spacing will match what a teacher or a chord chart assumes.
- Everything needed to make a sound is in the box: amplifier, cable, strap, two picks, tremolo arm and a spanner tool for adjustments.
- A tremolo bridge with the arm supplied, so vibrato is available rather than being an upgrade to buy later.
- A gig bag is included, which covers carrying it to a lesson or a friend’s house without buying a case first.
- Full 39 inch size, so the instrument does not need replacing as soon as a player’s hands grow.
Cons
- The listing contradicts itself on the fretboard. The description says the fretboard is made of basswood, while the spec table says maple. Basswood is far too soft to serve as a fretboard, so maple is the plausible answer, but the two statements cannot both be true.
- One of the description bullets refers to carrying “your beloved bass guitar” in the supplied bag. This is a six string electric guitar, not a bass. That bullet appears to have been copied from a different product.
- The item weight is given as 19.06 pounds. A solid body electric guitar weighs roughly seven to nine pounds. That figure is the boxed kit including the amplifier, not the instrument.
- The pickup configuration is recorded only as S, meaning single coil, with no count. How many pickups are fitted, and whether there is a selector switch, is never stated anywhere in the data.
- No amplifier detail beyond the wattage. Whether it has gain, tone controls, a headphone socket or an auxiliary input is not published, and those are the features that decide whether it is usable in a shared house.
Detailed Product Description
The body is basswood, front and back. Basswood is light, soft and even grained, and it is the standard timber for affordable electric guitars because it is cheap and machines cleanly. Tonally it is neutral, with a slight scoop in the low mids, which is why it works well under distortion. Practically it dents if the guitar is knocked against a stand or a door frame, so the finish will collect marks.
The neck is maple, a stiff and stable choice, and the fretboard is listed as maple as well although the description disagrees. A maple board plays fast and bright but shows dirt, since it is usually sealed with a finish rather than left bare like rosewood.
The bridge is a tremolo, meaning the whole bridge assembly pivots and springs held in a rear cavity return it to pitch. This allows the arm to raise and lower pitch. It also means the guitar is more sensitive to string changes and needs more patience when tuning, because the springs and the strings pull against each other. Anyone new to a tremolo should expect the first string change to take longer than on a fixed bridge instrument.
Strings are described only as metal. At 25.5 inches, a light gauge nickel wound set is the usual factory fitting. The relationship between gauge, tension and how hard the strings feel is covered in the guide to guitar string gauge.
What Comes with the Product
- The 39 inch electric guitar in red
- A 20 watt amplifier
- A gig bag
- A shoulder strap
- Two plectrums
- A tremolo arm
- A connecting cable
- A spanner tool
Not included: a tuner, spare strings, a guitar stand or any lesson material. A clip on tuner is the first thing worth adding, since a tremolo equipped guitar drifts more than a fixed bridge one.
Who It Suits
This suits a complete beginner, a teenager in particular, who wants to find out whether electric guitar sticks before committing more money. It also suits a household buying a gift, because it needs nothing else to make a sound. A 20 watt amplifier is more than enough for a bedroom, and how much power is actually needed at home is covered in the guide to guitar amp wattage for home practice.
It suits less well a player who already owns an amplifier, since half the value of the package is the amp. It also suits less well someone who wants a specific pickup layout, because the data never states how many pickups are fitted. Comparable packages include the Glarry HSH tremolo electric, the ZENY 39 inch electric kit and the Smartxchoices 39 inch beginner kit. The wider range sits in electric guitars and beginner starter kits.
How to Maintain
Wipe the strings after every session. Sweat corrodes nickel wound strings quickly, and dull strings are usually mistaken for a dull guitar.
Unplug the cable from the guitar when the session ends and coil it loosely. Tight coiling and leaving the plug in are the two fastest ways to kill a cheap instrument cable.
Change strings one at a time on a tremolo guitar. Removing them all at once releases the spring tension and the bridge will shift, which means resetting the intonation.
Tips and Recommendations
Fit a fresh set of strings before judging the instrument. Factory strings on budget guitars are often months old by the time the box is opened.
Keep the tremolo arm loose in the socket rather than screwed down hard. Overtightening strips the thread, and a loose arm is easier to swing out of the way.
If the strings buzz or sit too high, a setup at a local shop costs far less than the guitar and will do more for playability than any other single change. The guide to guitar action and setup explains what to ask for.
Product FAQ
How heavy is the guitar?
Not stated. The 19.06 pound figure in the spec table is the packed weight of the whole kit including the amplifier.
Is the fretboard maple or basswood?
The spec table says maple and the description says basswood. Basswood is not used for fretboards, so maple is the plausible reading, but the listing does not resolve it.
How many pickups does it have?
The data only records a single coil configuration without a count. The number of pickups is not published.
