Description
Review of the Ktaxon 39″ Electric Guitar with 20 Watt Amp Starter Kit (Matte Black)
This is a full-size solid body electric sold as a complete starter package with a 20 watt amplifier, a bag, a strap, a cable, a capo and a tremolo arm. It uses an H-S-H pickup layout on a paulownia body with a matte black finish, and is aimed at beginners who want everything in one delivery and a practice amp with more headroom than the usual 5 watt bundled unit.
The model code is EGuitar0404, listed from November 2023.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- A 20 watt amplifier is unusually generous in a bundle. Most starter kits ship a 5 watt unit that runs out of clean headroom immediately. Twenty watts is enough for a small room rehearsal and does not distort simply because the volume went past three.
- The amp takes headphones and an MP3 input. Headphone practice keeps a household on side, and the auxiliary input means the player can practise along with recordings through the same speaker.
- H-S-H with a 25.5 inch scale. The full standard scale means fret spacing and string tension match what teachers and tutorial videos assume, and the humbucker plus single coil arrangement covers both thick gain sounds and thinner clean ones.
- A capo is included. Rare in a bundle at this level and genuinely useful within the first month, since it lets a beginner play songs in awkward keys with the chord shapes they already know.
Cons
- The stated length does not match the stated size. The listing calls this a 39 inch guitar while the product dimensions read 38.2 by 11.8 by 1.65 inches. A 1.65 inch depth is also thin for a solid body. Treat the dimension field as approximate at best.
- The fingerboard material is stated two different ways. The specification table says Techwood, a composite, while the manufacturer description says a maple fingerboard. Those are not the same thing, they do not look the same, and the listing does not resolve which one arrives.
- No tuner and no spare strings in the kit. Both are needed in the first week. A capo is included but a tuner is not, which is the wrong way round for a beginner.
- Paulownia is a very light, very soft body wood. It keeps weight and cost down but dents easily, and strap button and jack plate screws can work loose in it over time.
- The 16.27 pound listed weight is the whole box. That figure covers guitar, amplifier and accessories together, so it says nothing about how heavy the guitar is on a strap. The guitar’s own weight is not published.
Detailed Product Description
The body is paulownia with a streamlined, contoured outline and a matte lacquer finish. Paulownia is one of the lightest commercial hardwoods, which makes for an easy instrument to hold but a soft one to look after. The matte finish shows fingerprints less than gloss and scuffs more easily.
The neck is maple. The fingerboard is where the listing contradicts itself, offering Techwood in the table and maple in the description. Scale length is 25.5 inches, the standard long scale, which means the fret positions and string tension match a conventional adult electric.
Electronics are two humbuckers with a single coil between them. Humbuckers use paired coils wired out of phase with each other to cancel mains hum, so they stay quiet at high gain; the middle single coil is brighter and thinner. That layout gives a wide spread of sounds from one instrument, which is why it is a common choice for a first guitar where the player has not settled on a style.
The bridge is a tremolo with a screw-in arm, and strings are nickel-plated steel. Nickel plating is the standard electric string material because it interacts predictably with magnetic pickups; bronze acoustic strings would not work here.
What Comes with the Product
The set contains the electric guitar, a 20 watt amplifier with headphone and MP3 support, a carrying bag, a shoulder strap, an upgraded cable, a guitar capo and a tremolo arm.
What is not included: no tuner, no picks, no spare strings, no stand, no cleaning cloth and no lesson material. There is also no statement about whether the amplifier runs on mains power or batteries, or what its speaker size is. Before ordering, budget for a clip-on tuner and a pack of picks; the beginner accessory checklist and what belongs in a starter bundle both cover the gaps.
Who It Suits
This suits an adult or older teenager starting from nothing who wants a full-scale instrument and an amplifier with enough power to be useful past the first month. The 20 watt amp is the reason to choose this over a cheaper kit, because it is the component most beginners replace first.
It suits less well a young child, since this is a full-size 39 inch instrument at standard scale. It also suits less well a player who already owns an amplifier, because the amp is most of what makes this bundle worth its price and buying it again adds nothing. Anyone who needs certainty about the fingerboard material before ordering should look elsewhere, since the listing does not settle it.
How to Maintain
Keep the tremolo springs matched to the string gauge. Changing to heavier strings without adding spring tension tilts the bridge forward and raises the action across the neck.
Handle a paulownia body carefully. Do not lean it against furniture and do not overtighten the strap button screws, which strip easily in soft wood. A padded stand or the supplied bag is the right place for it between sessions.
Wipe strings after every session and change them when they look dull rather than when they break. Check the neck relief a couple of times a year and after any large change in room humidity; action and setup explains the checks.
Tips and Recommendations
Use the headphone output for most practice. It keeps the household happy, it lets the amp be driven properly rather than kept at a whisper, and it removes the room from the equation while learning.
Set the tremolo flush against the body if the bar is not going to be used. That converts it into something close to a fixed bridge and removes the main source of tuning drift on budget instruments.
Product FAQ
Is the fingerboard maple or a composite? The listing says both. The specification table lists Techwood and the description says maple. The conflict is not resolved anywhere in the product data.
How powerful is the amplifier? Twenty watts, with headphone output and an MP3 input.
Does a tuner come with it? No. A capo, cable, strap, bag and tremolo arm are included, but no tuner and no spare strings.
How long is the guitar? The listing calls it 39 inches but the dimensions field reads 38.2 inches. The two figures disagree.
Comparable packages sit under beginner starter kits and electric guitars. Similar instruments include the Ktaxon 39 inch H-H solid body, the LyxPro 39 inch kit with 20W amp and the EASTROCK 39 inch starter package.
