All right, how much guitar can you get these days for ~$75? Quite a bit, as it turns out.
Pros:
- Ball end, nicely polished frets. The fret work on this guy is pretty nice, and the rounded over fret ends are very pleasing to the hand. No high frets when checked with a rocker.
- Well cut nut. This is usually a fail point for budget guitars, but this is very close, and certainly playable as is. Just needs tiny adjustments.
- Fit and Finish. I'm a sucker for 3TS with binding, so the body finish is right in my wheelhouse. The neck is very glossy, OK if that's your preference, I will knock the shine down with a gray Scotch Brite for a nicer feel. "Vintage" coloring on the neck, which means a fairly unconvincing light orange masquerading as amber. Not too obstreperous, though. Only issue I found was a slight depression on the lower horn that will be an easy drop fill with CA glue, although it is hardly noticeable as is. This is a very nice looking guitar.
- Pickups and Electronics. The humbucker is a little barky sounding, but OK overall. Coil split switch doesn't do much, but they never do. The P-90 is nice and snarly, mellows out nicely when rolling back the volume. Tone control actually changes the tone significantly, another common fail point on budget guitars.
- Nice accessory package. Spare strings, strap, cord, tuner, picks and a decent gig bag. And the strings don't turn your fingers black in 5 minutes like many of the Chinese imports.
Cons:
-Tuning machines. While they are by no means bad, they could be better. They are knock off Klusons, and could definitely hold tune a little better. And if you are going to knock off Klusons, then go whole hog and copy the split posts as well, so much more convenient for string changes.
- Top loading bridge. I know, I know, you've got to give up something to get the price down, and in this case they opted out of the much superior through hole design. String changes on a top-loader with these bent steel saddles can get frustrating, until you get a feel for how to pre-bend the string end. But this is a pretty minor complaint, just makes it a skoche less convenient when changing strings.
I'm very impressed by the guitar, not quite so impressed with the packing job by Amazon. GearIT uses the smaller triangle style shipping box, with some strips of closed cell foam around the most vulnerable impact points. And they work pretty well, as when it was packaged for shipment, they just chucked it into a huge box (honestly, big enough for at least 2 and maybe 3 of the guitars) and neglected to add any kind of internal packaging. When I pulled it in off the porch, the smaller box was banging around loose inside the larger box, and I thought "here we go." But somehow it made it through unscathed, so either Amazon knows what they're doing, or we got lucky, hmmm?
Look, at the end of the day, it's a budget guitar, but it's really a very nice budget guitar. You're getting a LOT for your money with one of these. I will keep an eye out for future GearIT styles, maybe they can swing a budget SG or ??? next time?
GearIT Electric Guitar (Premium Ash Tonewood) Thinline Semi-Hollow Body GTL-200 Shoreline, 39in Full-Size, P90 Pickup, Humbuc
4.2 | 241 ratings
Price: 100.98
Last update: 09-29-2024
About this item
Unique P90 + Humbucker Pickup Configuration: Tap into a broad selection of tones with a vintage-style P90 neck pickup and high-gain humbucker in the bridge position, including a coil split switch for even more possibilities.
Thinline Semi-Hollow Body Construction: GTL-200 is crafted from premium ash tonewood and features a semi-hollow body design that improves tone and resonance while reducing weight, ensuring comfort for extended practice sessions and performances.
Rounded Frets + Comfortable Neck: GTL-200 utilizes a genuine maple fretboard with rounded and polished frets for smooth playability. The slim neck is easy to navigate for both beginning guitarists and experienced professionals.
Coil Split Function with Push-Pull Knob: Experience the magic of coil splitting with the push-pull knob. Transition the chrome-covered bridge pickup from humbucker to single coil mode effortlessly, broadening your tonal options with a simple flick of the switch.
Gig bag + Accessories: GTL-200 comes with all the essential accessories, including a padded gig bag, guitar picks, guitar strap, instrument cable, electronic tuner, and extra strings.
Thinline Semi-Hollow Body Construction: GTL-200 is crafted from premium ash tonewood and features a semi-hollow body design that improves tone and resonance while reducing weight, ensuring comfort for extended practice sessions and performances.
Rounded Frets + Comfortable Neck: GTL-200 utilizes a genuine maple fretboard with rounded and polished frets for smooth playability. The slim neck is easy to navigate for both beginning guitarists and experienced professionals.
Coil Split Function with Push-Pull Knob: Experience the magic of coil splitting with the push-pull knob. Transition the chrome-covered bridge pickup from humbucker to single coil mode effortlessly, broadening your tonal options with a simple flick of the switch.
Gig bag + Accessories: GTL-200 comes with all the essential accessories, including a padded gig bag, guitar picks, guitar strap, instrument cable, electronic tuner, and extra strings.
Product information
Warranty & Support
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GEARit Electric Guitar (Premium Ash Tonewood) Thinline Semi-Hollow Body GTL-200 Shoreline, 39in Full-Size, P90 Pickup, Humbucker Coil Split - Sunburst
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Top reviews from the United States
MNDave
Exceptional value and easy on the eyes
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2024Glen
Ok for the price,but it needs work.
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2024
Glen
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2024
The knobs and switch are ok and the push/pull for the bridge humbucker works fine, there is a noticeable difference in tone split which is nice for this price. I replaced the top hat style switch with a round top.The pickups are just ok, I think the P90 neck pickup alone is the best of the configurations. The tuners don't hold tune very well but again, it's an inexpensive guitar. The nut is slightly off center but cut ok, I'm not going to replace it at this price. The neck and frets are fine,no fret sprout or high frets,it's got a aged shiny look so I took a Scotch Brite pad to the back of the neck and took some of the gloss off. The neck only needed a minor adjustment.The headstock has an odd shape to it.
The bridge and saddles are the weakest point on this guitar. It's a top loading bridge and if you've never had one before, restringing can be tricky. The intonation was way off and was difficult to get right. The saddles are really bad,l was finally got the saddles to a string height that's playable with no fret buzz. If I was going to replace anything,it would be the bridge and saddles.
The accessories are nothing special,the gig bag is more of a dust cover but again $81 for the whole deal.
After changing the strings and spending some time setting it up,it plays and sounds pretty good for an $81 guitar.If you can do simple set ups, if you're willing to spend some time on it and spend a few dollars to change the bridge and tuners, it could be a pretty nice guitar.
Updated 8/3/24. I decided to change the saddles and tuners and the difference was huge and immediately a drastic improvement. The rattling and fret buzz was eliminated after small adjustments to new saddles height and the intonation was so much quicker and easier. The problem is saddles, not the bridge plate itself. I put a set of Guyker locking tuners in and they hold tune really well,so much better than the orginals. I also put a small shim under the P-90 to level it out and raise it slightly. So for an extra $30, about $115 total cost,I have a guitar that looks and sounds great for the cost.
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AstorDC
Very Nicely Made at a Bargain Price
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2024