works well

I bought this, but the cancelled the order when I saw a review where you could scrape off the headstock decal logo with your fingernail. The build and finish are really not good too.

I bought the tele model and it was great for the price so I bought the strat model and it was just as nice as the tele. I can't believe I got 2 brand new guitars for under $200 dollars. I thought they would be junk but surprisingly they look,feel and play very well.

What can you expect from an $80 guitar Well a lot more than I expected. I read the bad reviews on these cheap guitars and took the shot .Mine was pretty good, although it had cheese grader frets edges Yikes! Took care of that then nut was cut to high.Fixed that and did setup.New string's and etc.Now plays decent pickups are cheap not un -usable.Good base to start mods but not great out the box.Had no finish flaws or cracks, nothing misaligned. It is hard winter in Midwest think that's hard on instruments. Overall I like it and would buy another.

Let's start with electronics. Really not bad. I swapped the bridge humbucker as I always do. I chose to bypass the coil tap. The single coils aren't bad at all. The switch and pots are fine. No real gripes. The neck is absolutely flawless! Feels wonderful and the frets are great! I did need to file the edges but that was expected. The tuners and tremolo are just fine for my needs. After a good setup, it plays like a dream. For an 85 dollar guitar, I have zero complaints! Anyone with basic guitar knowledge will absolutely love turning this into a fine, gig worthy instrument. Very pleased

No wiring issues. Looks great I like the color. I like that the neck basically looks like roasted maple which is considered a premium feature.Shipped in just the one box and you see how the foam broke apart, but it was good enough to protect it I guess so that was lucky.Finish issues:Extra black paint around neck screw ferrulesCrack hopefully just in the paint by neck pocket.Chip in the clear coat around tuners.Bridge misaligned but good enough. See the distance between each side of the bridge and pickguard? Also you can tell by how the strings are spaced against the edge of the neck or to the center dots.The dealbreaker for me:Fret ends are all sharp. Not a single one is rounded off. This is a BIG deal for comfortability/playability. No one wants to play a guitar that cuts up their hand. Not that they've made me bleed or anything but they do rough up your hands. Also the neck is thicker than any electric guitar i've ever owned.

I understand the tough spot you’re in:. Junior has shown interest in learning to play guitar. Opening that door requires an investment—cash you’re willing to burn on his behalf—but you’ve also noticed that the average kid these days doesn’t have the attention span of a goldfish... so naturally, you hunt for the cheapest guitar you can find in case things don't work out.Well, here’ the opposite side of that coin: For a beginner with a true interest in guitar playing, someone who might actually have aptitude (or at least sufficient self-discipline to be willing to earn some finger calluses), a crummy instrument is almost worse than no instrument at all. A bad neck, bad action, and/or bad sound will discourage a budding guitarist right at the start of his journey.That brings me to the subject of this review: The GSTM-3 guitar from Grote. At an $85 buck price-point, this is a VERY affordable instrument. So affordable, that I was skeptical as to what that money really gets you. Is it guitar-iffic, or guit-errible? Well... let me give you the nickel tour.This is an ST-style electric guitar, with a basswood body and a maple neck. The guitar features three pickups (single-coil neck, single-coil mid, and hum-bucking bridge) with associated volume, tone, and tap controls. The guitar is fitted with a floating bridge and trem bar.The guitar arrived in a non-descript cardboard box. Given the way the mail services treat packages, I was both shocked and pleasantly surprised that everything arrived intact.This particular guitar is a kind of brown metal-flake. I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of this color and would surely have selected something different had Vine presented that option. On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with it—in terms of workmanship the finish is quite nice with no obvious flaws.The guitar comes pre-strung. String gauges range from 42 on the low “E” to 9 on top—not too different from the GHS “Custom Lights” I’m used to playing. The machine heads are nice, no binding, no significant backlash or slop. I know full-well these are budget tuners, but they have a nice feel, none-the-less.The guitar tuned up quickly, and after a bit of working/stretching the new strings, it settled down and held tune. I picked up the guitar a few days later and the tuning had drifted, but no more than could be accounted for further relaxation of the fresh strings.I plugged the guitar in. It played nicely—not stunningly great, but not so poorly that it discouraged me. The 22-fret neck is OK, the action was OK. I have other guitars with maple necks, so the “feel” was not at all alien to me.I was really impressed by the tone of this guitar. The three Grote pickups, three knobs, and three switches give you a lot of possible combinations. Get them dialed in just right and and this guitar can produce some fabulous sounds... as good as any instrument costing ten-times as much. Yes, this really surprised me.As I indicated, the bridge on this guitar is floating. A trem bar is included in the package, sleeved ina plastic bag along with a very-cheap-but-nice-afterthought patch cord. I’m not a whammy-bar player and so I didn’t bother to install the bar. I’m just happy the floating bridge seems reasonably stable.Negatives? Despite being new, the strings have a “crusty” feel to them... not unlike the feel of any guitar left unplayed or in storage for a long time. If you plan to gift this guitar (or even if you buy it for yourself) plan on purchasing a fresh set of strings to go with it.While I’m sure the fret-ends were properly dressed at the factory and left there smooth and flush, wood is a “living” material that responds to atmospheric conditions. The neck on my guitar seems to have shrunk ever-so-slightly (while the frets, of course, do not), leaving some ends to snag my fingers when I slide across them. When I next remove the strings, I will probably tape off the fretboard/neck and dress/polish the ends of the frets.The from-the-factory action is absolutely playable as-is, but I’ll probably tinker with the bridge a little bit and see if the action can’t be lowered. This, of course, is a personal preference.I’ve seen reviews of other budget Grotes and reviewers often mention an included gig-bag to store the guitar in. No bag was included in this deal. Plan on buying one.As a person who spent many years playing guitar in a semi-professional capacity, here is my take: The Grote GSTM-3 is not an instrument I’d ever chose as a “working” instrument, though at 85 bucks, I don’t think it pretends to be, and I don’t think working musicians are the intended customer.On the other hand, I do think this guitar delivers a lot more in terms of quality, playability, and tone than $85 dollars would seem to promise. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, they say, but in truth, sometimes you can get a deal on a sandwich... and often that’s good enough.As to this instrument’s suitability as a beginner's guitar, I think with fresh strings and a bit of adjustment it can an ideal first-instrument.