Build Quality: | |
Hardware: | |
Electronics: | |
Sound: | |
Value: | |
Average: |
Pros:
- Stratocaster Imitation
- Basics Bundle
- Handcrafted
Cons:
- Easy to dent, scratch and break
- Neck Stability Issues
- Tuning Stability Issues
- String Buzz
- Beginner Exclusive
Out in the world of guitar bundles, there are many that will make you wonder why you haven’t picked one up yet. Whether it is the price that drives you to pick one up, or the quality of the make, you will end up wanting to buy one starter set or the other once you see it. The thing is, not all of the guitar bundles are worth buying. To avoid making bad consumer decisions, you have me. So let us take a closer look at the Pyle-Pro PEGKT15B and see whether this bundle is worth your consideration or not.
Body Quality
The first thing you will be looking at, when picking up a guitar like this, is the design, which is why we will discuss it first. The design is fairly simple and follows in the tradition of affordable guitars that have come out in the past thirty years. The guitar is designed after the incredibly popular and now famous Stratocaster design. The start is one of the world favorite designs and for a good reason – it is both beautiful and comfortable to use. It is impossible to hold the design against a guitar manufacturer of such a cheap guitar, so it will work fine for most players. The solid coloring combined with the pickguard give the instrument a versatile look that could work for metal, as much as rock and roll and jazz.
The body of the guitar is made out of paulownia hardwood. This wood is not seen on the guitar manufacturing market too often, making it feel like an obscure and unique tonewood. The reality is that the tonewood has many drawbacks for an electric guitar, with few advantages to truly balance the problems. The primary advantage of the tonewood is the fact that it is incredibly light. One of the lightest hardwoods on the market, in fact, making it so incredibly comfortable to play and hold. Another positive item about the tonewood is the fact that it is so cheap to work with. The tone effects of the guitar are also said to be exceptional, but I have a hard time hearing any tone effect beyond what the pickups provide. The biggest problem with the tonewood is the fact that the softness of it allows it to dent, scratch and break easily. So, if I were you, I’d be careful with this guitar.
The neck of the guitar is made out of maple. This hardwood is well known for its sturdiness. It is a tonewood well suited for high quality necks, adding great sturdiness to the instrument. The hardwood is also rather handsome to look at. The neck of the guitar is bolt on, which becomes a little bit of the problem because of the softness of paulownia. The fretboard of the guitar is made of rosewood.
Hardware
The bridge of the guitar is fixed, with a nice rise for good action. The guitar comes with a tremolo bar for all of your string bending needs. Though be careful – the string stability on this guitar is not that great.
The nut of the guitar is made of plastic. This material has a tendency to let the string buzz take over the sound slightly, which is annoying, but easily got around if you replace the nut.
The tuning machine on this guitar is made of chrome, and is on the not too good side. It has tuning stability issues and, combined with the string bending you are bound to do, will go out of tune faster than you can say “oh no!”.
Electronics
The guitar comes with a set of three single coil pickups. These stock pickups are not the best thing in the world, but they will do the trick most of the time. Unfortunately the fact that the nut lets string buzz go wild and the pickups are single coil means the sound suffers. The single coil pickups will eventually go flat, but any beginner with this guitar will have a long, good time with them before they do.
The guitar comes with a fairly simple control scheme, with a knob for volume, a knob for tone and a lever to change pickup configuration.
Pyle-Pro PEGKT15B Sound
The sound of the guitar is nothing special to talk about. The pickups of the guitar are single coil and thus have a warm, smooth feeling to them. The guitar does not have what it takes to play metal, but will be able to venture into rock and roll as a rhythm guitar. The sound is a little polluted with string buzz, but should be adequate for most beginners.
Conclusion
Overall, this is a perfect representation of a cheap bundle guitar. It covers most of the basics, allowing beginner players to be delighted while performing with the instrument. The bundle that comes with the guitar covers the basics of what you need to own the guitar. Not a guitar for people with advanced tastes, but will be adequate for beginners, initially.
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