Total beginner, old guy (51 years) and just starting and I would give it 3.5 stars if I could. The guitar itself, from what little I know, looks great. But from watching videos and stuff while trying to learn I've noticed that this is indeed a cheap guitar set, but a few tweaks certainly made it more fun to play with and to use. It came with everything shown, the guitar, the tuner, the amplifier, the cord, the allen wrenches, the pics, the strings, the whammy bar, the gig bag and the strap. It was packaged well, and came when it was said it would come. One thing that upset me the most was that I paid 160.00 USD for this and within a week and a half it had dropped 20 bucks in price, but hey, what can you do, right?
This all being said, this is my take (as a major beginner) on each item:
1. Obviously, the strings are crap. I actually had read in the reviews that this guitar needed new strings in the reviews, but after three of them broke within the first two weeks, I got some NYXL strings and WOW!!! there is a MAJOR difference in tone and feel. My guitar actually stays in tune for several days! Negative - 2 stars for the strings
2. The picks, to me, weren't worth it at all - I got some thicker ones with grips and they work much better for me. They don't feel like they will break and Im not constantly fighting to keep them in the correct position. This is my opinion of course and may just be something stupid lol! 2 stars for me
3. The guitar strap isn't worth the weight it added to the package, which was very little. It won't stay in place and is uncomfortable. Do yourself a favor and just order a different one that looks cool. I got a Koolemon Black and Whit Grid Pattern strap that I LOVE for like 6 bucks. Stays on and isn't budging, plus its a bit longer and looks great! Negative -10 stars on the strap.
4. The Tuner works pretty well, but when used alongside a tuning app on my phone, it didn't exactly match up (The app is from Fender, and I used another one called Guitartuna). So, honestly, Im not really sure which one is more accurate. However, the tuner that comes with this set is small and pretty indiscreet so I like it. 4 stars on the tuner
5. Cord to the amplifier from the guitar is good. Fits very well in the connections and doesn't wiggle around. 5 stars
6. Extra strings are just more of the junk ones they sent already strung. Get rid of them and get a good set of strings and I promise you will enjoy this guitar so much more! Negative - 2 stars again
7. The gig bag is ok for keeping stuff off your guitar and to keep it from getting scratched up. However, I wouldn't trust it to carry the guitar from place to place. No padding at all, though the stuff it's made of feels pretty sturdy. I just want to get a new one with some padding. 3.5 stars for the bag
8. The amplifier - I live in a downstairs apartment and it;s the perfect size. Doesn't take up much space, and has more than enough loudness that I can bother the upstairs neighbors with, hahahahaha! It has an overdrive button, a gain dial, a bass dial, a treble dial and a volume dial. All feel like they fit well and move pretty well. You won't rock any concert halls with it, but you can entertain an audience in your house with it! No crackles, or squeals, or anything like that. Sounds really good for a tiny thing. Depending on what you want, 5 stars on the amplifier because its much better than I thought it would be.
9. The guitar itself. Body is clean with no scratches, dents or dings. The neck, to my untrained eye, looks very straight. Love the black on black color scheme this guitar has. The action (for those of you like me who are just learning is the distance of the strings from the frets) was pretty high. I tried adjusting them down, and think I got them kinda right, but some of the frets themselves need some work, I think. I believe a couple of them are too high. Technically, I think maybe the pickups are pretty cheap, but to my untrained ear, they sound pretty good. Maybe I'll get some new ones from Fender and see what happens. The volume and tone knobs are pretty tight on the posts and aren't bad. However, I do believe that maybe the 2 tone dials need to be replaced as they don't seem to affect the tone of the guitar much in the 1, 3 and 5 slider positions. Like I have to turn them WAY down to even hear a change on the 2nd and 4th positions of the slider, and I hear no change in the other positions. The slider(?) which has 5 selections seems good and solid, and they do change the way the guitar sounds. It has a tremolo and whammy bar which seemed really unnecessarily difficult to move, though I don't use it. Ive been thinking of changing the tremolo out but it seems ok - the intonation on this guitar is not way off (again for beginners like me - thats the sound the string makes with open strings tuned to E A D G B E and when played on the 12th fret should be E A D G B E and in tune as close as possible.) The tuning pegs - I think they're called machine something or other? - seem a little twitchy to me so maybe a new set are in order. Like when you are tuning it, you have to make sure your fingers aren't touching them or it will give you a false positive. Overall, I think with a little bit of work, this is a great guitar - not pro by any means, but it certainly has hooked me. Since I can't afford a start from Fender or Ibanez or wherever yet, this one will do and if I can add the pieces I need, maybe I can make it a superfrankenstrat over time, lol. I give the guitar a 4 star rating.
As others have said, this is a great guitar for a beginner, or possibly a more experienced player who wants to mess around with a cheap guitar and see what they can do with it. It certainly has hooked me, and I practice on it every day for about 30 minutes to an hour and a half - Ive learned 3 chords in the 3 weeks since I got it and use Rocksmith in between times. I wish they had blue, but eh, the black looks good! Now I just need to find a guitar tech and have them set it up right for me. So, get this guitar, get different strings and a strap and start playing!