I've been teaching myself guitar since 4 June 2019, and I've wanted a guitar that I could feel free to tear apart. My main guitar is too nice to subject to my rank beginner luthiery. It's also made from a heavy plank of mahogany, and I've wanted something that's physically lighter and more comfortable for long practice sessions.
After I got interested in basswood because of its lightness, I found the Glarry GST3 online. At the time it was under $60 postpaid, and the reviews on YouTube weren't half bad. At that price, I couldn't resist and bought one. It was also cheap enough that I could feel free to experiment if the urge to modify it struck.
The finish on the GST3 is pretty good. There are a few scratches in the pick guard. You can see some scuff marks in the body sanding. Overall, it looks good. For sixty bucks, I was prepared to accept anything that looked better than a rotten plank.
If there is finish on the neck, it is very light. I like that, for now at least. Once my hand begins to sweat, it has a tendency to stick to the glossy finish on the neck of my other guitar. This tendency is much less on the Glarry.
The neck is somewhat thicker, as in the distance between the fingerboard and the back of the neck, than on my other guitar. In fact, I'd say that the GST3's neck positively chunky. This is neither good nor bad, just a preference. After using both guitars for a while, I believe I like the thinner neck better, but others will differ.
The hardware appears to be pot metal. For the price, I didn't expect anything else. It serves well enough.
The frets are nicely rounded over. There is nothing sticking up to cut your hand. I checked for high spots with the edge of a credit card, and I found nothing obvious.
The fingerboard is said to be rosewood. I wonder if it is real rosewood or engineered "rosewood." It arrived desiccated, and it soaked up a whole bunch of the F-One oil I applied to it. It looks much better now, but it's rougher to the fingers than the rosewood on my other guitar. Keep in mind that the other guitar cost several times the price of the GST3.
Out of the box, the action is set high. I learned something adjusting it. I've also played with the truss rod and the intonation. It was educational.
When I plug it into my little practice amp, a Peavey Rage 158, it sounds OK to me, but note that I lack educated ears. In any case, the GST3 is good enough to practice with.
The biggest problem with the guitar that I've noticed so far is the tuning keys that came with it. They were less than good. They had a tremendous amount of backlash, and they didn't at all turn smoothly. Tuning up was a real chore, so I replaced them and the plastic nut with much higher quality parts. In doing so, I slightly more than doubled the cost of the guitar, but it is now a much better instrument and still inexpensive.
This leads me to believe, in my inexpert opinion, that one of the uses for this guitar is as a project guitar. The assembled guitar is cheaper than a lot of kit guitars -- so cheap that if you accidentally destroy it, you won't feel broken up -- and it's never going to be a collector's item. You can modify it as much as you want.
In short, the guitar is a tremendous value. I wanted something that is lighter to put in long practice sessions with and that I feel free to take apart and fiddle with. It completely serves both of those functions.
This guitar exceeded all expectations. It has no noticeable construction or finish flaws. The setup is good right out of the box. Using a strobe tuner the intonation was nearly dead on. Tuning machines are smooth. Stays in tune better than a lot of other entry level instruments. Pickups are weak but adequate. Neck is unfinished but is nicely done and has a good profile. These are great for beginners as is. I purchased one as a project based on the many review videos. A little fret finishing work, change to a loaded pickguard with better pots and Alnico pickups, throw on some good strings then set it up to Strat specs. I am looking forward to both the upgrade project and to having a nice player when it's done.
