Grote Electric Solid Body Guitar Modern-GST For Beginners (Surf Green)

What on earth? I do YouTube guitar reviews and recently reviewed a similar Grote HSS guitar (the Standard S) and even though that one needed some work, I love it. See the review on Scuttle Productions channel. I ordered this one in two colors, coma red and mocha (I think) and WOW. They arrived in two gigantic Amazon boxes with two small guitar boxes inside. One box was damaged and the interior styrofoam was busted. BUT, the guitars do not seem damaged as far as I can tell upon initial inspection. The necks are two different shades of roasted maple. One is sort of pale, yet dark and the other is very dark -- unlike the corresponding necks in the photos. But, I like them both and I like the variation. These have lesser features than the original Grote. These don't have stainless frets with rounded edges and the inlays are much simpler. The do not come with gig bags and the truss rod adjustment is in the headstock, as opposed to spoke wheels at the neck heel. That's OK, though. Both have absolutely gorgeous body finishes. The red is satin and the mocha is glossy, which I wasn't expecting based on the pictures. There are minor imperfections in the finishes, but more by feel, not really visible. The necks feel pretty good. They are not glossy, but are a bit rougher than I'd like. I might sand them with a fine grit, but I don't know if that would compromise the dark finish (stain vs. roasted?). The frets are polished quite well. I don't think I'll polish them. The ends are not sharp. I have not noticed any buzzing or high frets yet, but I haven't played them much. The action is good, probably 1.75 mm at the 12th on both and the bridges are set well. My original Grote needed a shim, badly, but these do not. The logo on the headstock is off the edge on one. There's not a simple fix for this. Check the video for my original for a very funny story about the logo on that one. The pickups are OK. I think they may be a downgrade from the original, but I haven't checked the specs closely. I would consider replacing the pickups and electronics eventually. But, I think a beginner would be completely happy with them. They function very well, but don't sound amazing. I usually replace strings on new guitars, but these ones feel new and acceptable. They'll be fine until I decide to change them. Overall, I think the value is amazing. The quality is impressive. I don't mind the lower specs, because this still beats just about every other option, even at a somewhat higher price point. They look absolutely fantastic and they feel good to play. They are light guitars, maybe 6 pounds. I am impressed. I'll publish a video in a few weeks or so. See the channel info above.

The five stars are for the neck, the fret work, the set up and the color. I would give the pick ups about three stars. But that’s to be expected on this lower price guitar. And the strings get one star. That’s the first thing I always change on a new guitar are the strings. I wanna say this is the best action set up I’ve gotten on any guitar I bought with the exception of my ESP. The action was set low just like I like it and the neck is perfect. The frets are all level with no fret sprout. Nothing snags on these frets. There is nothing really to not like about this guitar. The only negative thing for me is I was expecting the fretboard to be glossy, but it’s just satin finish. and from my research, I thought it was going to be a 12 inch radius but it’s more like 14. The tuners are OK. it’s a very nice looking guitar and it plays well. no gig bag. if I was a beginner and I could get this guitar set up the way this one is I would definitely get it for the first guitar. The neck and the fret work is much better than fender Squires. I know ,I own three. The pick ups are a little microphonic, but that’s no problem for me. I have amplifiers and gadgets where I can make it sound better than it is,fortunately. For $109 I would definitely recommend this for anyone that just wants a first guitar or an extra. it comes with the whammy bar and hex key. Also has a cord that is nothing to brag about. The tuners get about 3 1/2 stars

This guitar turned out to be very decent. Finish: excellent, flawless, I couldn't find a single scratch anywhere. The satin black finish is very beautiful and smooth, and the woods used in the neck are great. Electronics: for this price the pickups are ok, not microphonic, I would like them a bit hotter, but they are usable. The coil splitter for the humbucker works well and produces a nice tone, especially on the second position when combined with the middle pickup. Output Jack is good, pots do their job, although the tone could be more gradual. All of the pickups sound good in clean and overdriven sounds. Setup: it was good out of the box, I lowered the action a bit because that's how I like it, but it was playable upon arrival, intonated. Truss rod works fine. Frets could use some polishing Neck: something to be aware of, this neck is chunky, I measured 22.5mm at the first fret. I guess you could sand it down, but I don't have experience doing that, for now I'll leave it as is. The wood grain and color on the neck are very beautiful, very smooth to play. Fretwire is medium jumbo I think, that makes it comfy to bend strings, and gives plenty of material if fret leveling is required. No fret sprout at all. *The body size seems to be smaller than average strats, this guitar is very light which is good if you have back issues.

Had read some good things about Grote guitars so orderered this Pawlownia ST, when it went on sale $70, as I wanted to get a project guitar but also a guitar I can take to parties and gatherings without getting nervous. I unpacked it, let it stand till the following day and truly "I played it straight out of the box" However, that not to say there weren't a few things that needed improving. The neck had too much relief, but this is the same as all the guitars I have bought online, that were $200 plus, as they normally ship from Southern US to my Northern location. I quickly adjusted the truss rod and fixed this. I will also adjust the string heights at the bridge and intonate when I change strings. The fret ends were excellent, in fact I can see the edge of the neck sticking out further than the frets in places, suggesting they sanded the frets before installing on the neck? Different but hey, whatever they did worked well. Fit and finish were very good, only very minor blemishes, equal to my guitars 3 times the price. The deep grain pawlonia wood looks great through the translucent blue (with a hint of turquoise) hard finish, very attractive. The plastic nut is cut perfectly. I have not experienced this with some of the more expensive guitars. Tuners work, but tighten and losen as you turn them. Guitar need constant tuning , new tuners will be the first upgrade with new strings. Tremolo bar supplied but tremolo was screwed down tight, so no tremelo sounds until, claw, springs and tremolo adjusted. If this was your only guitar, pick ups would sound fine, however although adequate to make music they do not sound as good as the ones in my Squire Strat. More fun changing P U's. In conclusion, worth every penny, don't know how Grote do it at this price. Very light, don't worry about the Pawlonia, Fender makes the "Empress" Tele out of the same stuff, so really great for beginners and young axers. Will play out of the box to get you going but will benefit from a full set up. Down the road, with skills and experience improving, make it a project, make the guitar grow with you. Tons of fun, I am really enjoying mine!! Will probably buy more Grote guitars in the future.

OK, I returned this item so why a 3 START review? The guitar as a whole is surprisingly good for the $85.50 I paid. It looks good, sounds good, but had one major issue. A crack in the body at the neck join. This is not solid wood; it is a composite. It looks to me the slurry of wood-product they made, dried, expanded, and cracked. Also, the tuners were horrible, BUT for a sub-$100 guitar that's expected. If you think you'll get top-notch hardware on an $85 guitar, think again. This would have been a good mod platform. The pickups sounded really good. The humbucker is splitable and it sounded good. The paint was an awesome color. It looked cool. It played well. It had a nice medium neck and a beautiful fretboard. The frets were well done. It would have been a FIVE STAR if not for the body crack. Too bad. It is certainly worth a shot if you want a cheap, but good guitar or a great mod platform.

Compares well to my Squire Bullet Strat, both give the impression of being "cheap but plenty playable". Fit and finish are reasonable with nothing glaringly out of place. Fret ends actually finished a little more nicely than my Squire; slightly fatter neck profile than with slightly wider frets. Tuners feel weirdly inconsistent but seem to at least hold tune. Pots and switches are solid, pickups aren't half bad if nothing to write home about. Super lightweight but still has a nice, resonant strum to it. Not a bad deal at all for the price. To anyone planning on using this as a mod platform: it has H-S-H routing under the pickguard and replacing said pickguard is going to require a little tinkering. I used a "standard" 11 hole replacement off Amazon and about half the holes didn't line up at all so you'll need to drill some new ones in the body which isn't a big deal. There are also some extra holes drilled next to the pots to keep them from rotating. Finally, you're going to need a Dremel or something similar to carve the neck cutout a little bit deeper. I basically just laid the old pickguard over the new one and drilled/carved where necessary to make the neck cutout and control notches line up. Not a bad little project as long as you've got the tools to do it.

I maybe got lucky on this, but everything about deciding to buy this guitar has been fantastic. I realize that the Chinese and Indonesian guitars have QC issues at times, but I hit a grand slam with this purchase. First off, Amazon packed this so well that it arrived totally protected. There was an inner box around the guitar, and then this box was placed in a larger outer box with a tons of fluffed packing paper protecting the inner guitar box. This would have survived anything. But the outer box was not even dented, and the inner box was in perfect condition. Then, on opening the inner box, this guitar was perfect with no dents, scratches, or injury of any kind. The deep reddish wood grain body and tortoise pick guard are absolutely beautiful, and the roasted neck finishes it off with a look that is beyond fantastic. The total weight is light, and feels really great. After I did some minimal fret work (slight filing of some ends), and height adjustments, I couldn’t put this guitar down for 90 minutes. It not only looks awesome, it is a total joy to play. I’ve been around a while, and I played in the hay days of rock (1960s) in bars and clubs in the midwest USA. I believe that I have owned or played “all” the major guitar brands ever made, so I know what is out there. All I can say is that I love this guitar and I would have used this in my gigs with no hesitation “back in the day” if I had it then. The fact that this is available for under $300 is unbelievable.

Liked the thick neck and the light weight. Set up decently out of the box. I will change the strings first but the ones in it aren’t terrible. The pickups are a nice combination of tones. I would recommend this as a nice guitar for a good price. Would make a nice solid base for a mod. Grote is my new favorite brand.