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

What $100? Well, the first guitar I received had a defective neck. The fretwork was poor, and it was cracked along the top. Amazon promptly sent me a replacement. The second guitar is incredible. It has a nice, bright tonewood body, a roasted maple neck with a roasted maple fingerboard. The pros of this guitar are its very bright sound. It’s excellent for thicker strings, giving you that cutting vintage tone. The second neck I received is beautiful, smooth, straight, and plays fast. The electronics were fine; I didn’t need to touch them. It’s a great project guitar. The cons are that it might not be suitable for beginners because the neck is very thick. However, if you have larger hands, this is a great starter guitar. It played very well right out of the box. However, I wanted to use this professionally, so I made a few changes. I added Dopro locking tuners, Fender and Lace sensor pickups, and a Fender vintage tremolo. The fretwork was minimal, but it plays and sounds like a dream. few adjustments to the bridge and neck, and it’s as good as my professional guitars. It certainly has its own personality, different from any other guitar I own.

Wow, am very surprised how good this guitar is. I saw videos about the cheapest guitars on amazon saying they were very good but may need setup. This one was on sale for $87 and reviews were most pretty good but a few negative. I tried my luck and won. Out of the box the strings were all very loose. No big deal, it easily tuned up and stayed in tune for hours. There wasnt a single problem, no high action, fret buz, bowed neck, crappy tone or anything. I have 4 other electrics all like $200 guitars except an epiphone les paul like a $500 guitar. And this grote was sounding better than all. It practically played itself as I jammed for hours in amazement. Its very light and it looks beautiful. It has 2 switches and plenty knobs to adjust tone. The nice tone and staying in tune for hours was a great surprise. Cheap guitars may be a bit of gamble and some may get a dud, but i figured I’d ship it right back if it were. Time will tell if this guitar holds up but so far this is an amazing deal.

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.

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.

Quality guitar under $100?! This is a MFing awesome buy! The matte black color is bad ass! Roasted maple neck paint looks freaking clean AF! Tuners are surprisingly decent but that’s an easy upgrade. Stays in tune for the most part. Pulled the strings and polished/oiled the frets. Again surprisingly smooth and polished up good. It’s dry AF so I oiled her up. Adjusted the HSS to my liking. New strings. Lowered the action and she is GROWLING! She is super light and durable. A great buy for beginners to pro. A great axe to mod also!

Love it. Plays and sounds good as other guitars 5 times the price. Similar hardware as well. Lite weight body but still worth the money. Don’t question. Just buy one. Won’t regret it. Edit: it’s several inches shorter than full size. Still a nice guitar for smaller humans.