cheap Glarry giz101 335 copy/style guitar

Falstaff1960

Falstaff1960

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sk25

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Glarry is generally the best of the super-cheap guitar makers. They are a pretty big step up from the no-name guitars you can find at similar prices on amazon and other places*. I have several of them in different styles, and have had no real problems at all; all of them have been perfectly functional, and good mod platforms.

*I have a few of the no-name type guitars myself and have seen several owned by other people, and Glarry guitars are honestly, notably better and hold up better as well.
 
PhredE

PhredE

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The Grote 335 copy gets a fair amount of love by users here.
Not perfect, not the real thing, but plenty usable. Some folks have used it right out of the box with only minimal setup and no upgrades.

 
Falstaff1960

Falstaff1960

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We'll see how it goes. I ordered one in what they call Sunset, which is a standard sunburst. I'll let you know how it is when it gets here between this Friday and next Wednesday June 1st.

Added a pic of the model I ordered.
 

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Falstaff1960

Falstaff1960

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Well, it arrived today. Double boxed with gig bag, cable, a strap and a couple of picks. I do have to say the cable is one of the best cable I have ever gotten with a guitar. But I didn't pay $145 with tax for a cable. So my impressions.

Let me give you the bottom line up front. YMMV but, my advice is to save up a little more for a FF, HB or a Grote 335 copy. Take your pick, they all are going to be better than this. An alternate pick would be an IYV IJZ-300. It is a single cut away semi hollow guitar. I have one and it arrived flawless and needed no set-up.

The two major issues I have (and there are other issues) are the finish and the nut. The nut is cut too high. Now this is not a huge issue necessarily if you have the tools and know how to fix it yourself. I do but many do not and unless it's fixed it's not really playable for beginner, unless you bought it for slide. It's also a little too long for the neck width. On the plus side it is a bone nut. So you at least have something you can work with.

Construction in general aside from cosmetics is ok. I will say the center block is pretty rough looking.

The finish is a story all by itself. The back and sides and the back of the neck are painted black.If you have ever have had a black guitar (and who here hasn't?) you know that it is an unforgiving color for flaws. Much more so than white is. There are dimples, orange peel and ripples on the finish. There is even a spot by the nut on the top of the neck by the E tuner that looks like the finish was rubbed through while being polished. Speaking of polish, there is polish compound in a lot of the nooks and crannies of the guitar. There are also what look like bits a debris in the clear coat. The finish is also cloudy throughout the guitar and looks like it needed a few more passes at the buffing wheel, not that that would have resolved all of the issues I have already mentioned. At a distance though you really don't see a lots of these defects. Sitting on a stand across the room, it looks nice. The sunburst is well done.

The tuners are serviceable but will need to be replaced. The tune-o-matic needs to be replaced as well as there is a rattle in there I have not been able to locate.

The 3rd and the 12th frets are high, but only under the 5th and 6th strings. So a fret level would need to be done in the future. The fret ends...are fine. No sharp edges felt and while I see some tool marks, they are polished and not dull or funky like some Asian guitars can be.

Pots are the small dime sized typically seen in inexpensive guitars. The pickups work and sound ok.

Going back to my bottom line, as mentioned at the beginning of the review, if you have know how/experience and the needed tools you could probably make this a beater/playable instrument. But there is just too much needing to be fixed or replaced if you are a beginner. I may keep it and fix it as I have bins and boxes of any and all the parts needed to fix this this up. But if you must have a 335 style guitar (have wanted one since I started playing in the 70s and this makes my 4th) save your money a little longer and get one of the before mentioned inexpensive brands.

Who knows though. I may just have received a dud.

If you want pics, let me know and I will try to upload some.
 
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