Description
Review of the Smartxchoices 38 Inch Acoustic Guitar Bundle
This is a 38 inch scaled-down steel-string acoustic sold in pink as a starter bundle with a gig bag, strap, pitch pipe, spare string set and picks. It targets children, smaller-framed adults and anyone who wants a compact guitar for travel or casual playing rather than a full 41 inch dreadnought.
Pros & Cons
- The 38 inch size genuinely helps smaller players. A shorter body and reduced reach mean a child can wrap an arm around it and still get a hand round the neck, which is the single biggest barrier to a young beginner sticking with the instrument.
- The bundle covers the immediate essentials. A gig bag, strap, spare strings and picks are the items most likely to be needed in the first month, and having them included avoids extra ordering.
- A slim maple neck with a rosewood fretboard is a sensible pairing. Maple is stiff enough to stay straight and rosewood gives a smoother surface for sliding chords than a hard lacquered board would.
- Steel strings prepare the player for a full-size guitar. Learning chord shapes and pressure on steel translates directly to a standard acoustic later, which nylon does not do quite as cleanly.
- The tonewoods are never actually named. Body, back and top are all recorded simply as “wood”. No species is given anywhere, so there is no way to know whether the top is spruce, basswood or something else, and no way to predict how it will sound or age.
- The specification table lists a tremolo bridge on an acoustic guitar. Acoustic guitars do not have tremolo bridges. This is a data error carried over from an electric guitar template and should be read as a fixed acoustic bridge.
- A pickup configuration of “S” is also listed. Nothing in the description mentions a pickup, and this is presented as an acoustic instrument. The specification and the description disagree, and the description is the more credible of the two.
- The 38 inch figure is total length, not scale length. It appears in the table as “scale length”, which would be an impossible measurement. The real vibrating string length is not published, so string tension cannot be predicted.
- No tuner is included despite the tuning advice. The listing devotes a whole bullet to how hard tuning is for beginners and recommends a phone app, yet supplies only a pitch pipe.
Detailed Product Description
The construction is described as all-wood with a glossy finish, with the seller claiming a smooth satin effect maximises resonance. The absence of any named species is the main gap. On guitars in this bracket the top is usually a laminate, meaning thin layers glued together rather than one solid sheet, which is more durable and less responsive. The solid top and laminate comparison explains why that difference matters more than almost any other on an acoustic.
The neck is maple and described as slim. On a small-bodied guitar a slim neck is the correct choice, because short fingers need to reach across the fingerboard without stretching the palm. The fretboard is rosewood, an open-pored timber that feels warm and slightly oily and takes fingerboard oil well.
Strings are alloy steel, the standard budget acoustic string. Alloy steel is bright and a little harsh compared with phosphor bronze, and it dulls faster. Replacing them with a light phosphor bronze set is the cheapest single improvement available on this guitar.
The bridge is fixed in practice, whatever the table says, with the string ends held by bridge pins under the saddle. There is no truss rod mentioned, which is common at this size and price; without one the neck relief cannot be adjusted, so an out-of-shape neck cannot easily be corrected later.
What Comes with the Product
The listing states the box contains the guitar, a gig bag, a shoulder strap, a pitch pipe, an extra set of strings and a guitar pick. The seller notes the small accessory boxes are packed inside the guitar carton and should be checked on arrival.
Not included: a clip-on tuner, a capo, a guitar stand, a cleaning cloth, or any lesson material. The pitch pipe supplied is a reference tone device, not a tuner, and is considerably harder to use accurately than a clip-on unit. A basic clip-on tuner is the first thing to add.
Who It Suits
This suits a child of roughly school age, a smaller teenager, or an adult who wants an inexpensive guitar to leave at a holiday home or take camping. It also suits a parent testing whether a child’s interest is real before spending more.
It suits less well an adult with large hands, who will find the reduced body cramped, or anyone who wants a guitar to grow into over several years. A player who cannot tolerate steel string tension on their fingertips should consider a nylon-strung instrument instead. Other options sit in kids and junior guitars and acoustic guitars.
How to Maintain
Keep it away from radiators, car boots and direct sunlight. Small laminated guitars tolerate humidity swings better than solid-top instruments, but heat still warps necks and lifts bridges.
Wipe the strings after playing to slow corrosion, and wipe the glossy finish with a dry soft cloth only. Loosen the strings slightly if the guitar is going into storage for months. Check the bridge and the neck joint occasionally for any gap opening up, since these are the two places a budget acoustic fails first.
Tips and Recommendations
Retune every single time it is picked up for the first fortnight. New strings stretch, and the listing itself warns that repeated tuning over a day or two is normal before the pitch settles.
Do not over-tighten while tuning up. Going sharp past pitch on a light-build guitar is the usual way a beginner snaps a string or pulls a bridge. Tune up to the note slowly from below. Fitting a fresh set of light phosphor bronze strings, and a clip-on tuner, will change the experience more than anything else. If the guitar is being bought for a child, check the sizing advice in the guitar size guide for children before ordering.
Warranty & Support Information
The listing states a one year warranty. No detail is given about what it covers or how a claim is made, and no separate warranty is stated for the bundled accessories.
Product FAQ
Does it have a pickup? The description does not mention one and presents this as an acoustic guitar. The specification table lists a pickup configuration of “S”, which conflicts with that and appears to be a data error.
What wood is it made from? The listing only says “wood”. No species is given for the top, back or sides anywhere in the published data.
Is 38 inches the scale length? No. That is the overall length of the guitar. The actual scale length is not published.
What are comparable small acoustics? Similar sizes include the Smartxchoices 38 inch kids kit, the YMC 38 inch starter kit and the Lankro 38 inch beginner kit.
