As someone involved in field testing and demonstrations when the “Starter Guitar” was first introduced, I want to share my experience-based opinion. This review comes from time spent working with retailers and out of loyalty to Bud and John, without any compensation, ensuring an unbiased perspective on this instrument intended for beginners.
During the initial demonstrations, the starter guitar showed promise for its intended purpose. However, some minor issues became apparent through testing. One noticeable aspect was a slight hysteresis, likely due to the changer mechanism. While not severe, it was sonically detectable. Another point was tuning instability when static or at rest. The tuning tended to drift, leading to noticeable differences between playing a set and taking breaks. Frequent adjustments to the key head and occasional tweaks to pulls were necessary to maintain consistent tuning.
Beyond tuning, the guitar exhibited a somewhat mushy feel when pedals were engaged. Furthermore, its lightweight construction was noticeable. While subjective, it felt as though the guitar was almost bouncing around on stage during performance, lacking substantiality.
In terms of sound, the starter guitar was adequate. It was equipped with what I believe was a George L pickup, which contributed to an acceptable tonal quality for its category.
One peculiar observation was regarding the fret markings. It seemed that the fret markers were slightly misaligned towards the pickup end of the neck, particularly around the 17th fret and higher. While John considered it to be my imagination, I perceived a slight inaccuracy in their placement.
Overall, despite these points, the starter guitar presented itself as a reasonably competent instrument.
For comparison, I must mention my experience demoing a Stage One Zum. In my opinion, the Stage One Zum is a superior product. This is not to detract from John and Bud, who are good friends, and I would confidently use a Stage One in a performance setting. It’s an excellent guitar.
Nevertheless, considering its price point, the starter guitar is undoubtedly a sufficiently capable instrument for individuals beginning their guitar journey. It offers a level of quality that is suitable for learning and practicing without a significant financial investment.
- Bill
