This review was very difficult to put together. Why: Because, I don't want to be a "weener/complainer", and I was disappointed, and surpriced that I needed to go "DIY".
Put Shortly: This is a cheap DIY-product from China.
And, I have kept the guitar, because it is for my kids, and they waited for it and love it.
I will get right to the details/why :
Tuning :
I needed to change the strings, in order to get it in tune.
That is: Tuning to the right pitch, with open string, was of-course very easy - but :
To make the tuning work 1 octave up, at the 12. fret (is neccesary, when you start to move and play down the fretboard) - was not possible, with the default strings (even after removing the springs and adjusting the stuff to the maximum).
Luckily, together with the guitar-order, I did buy a set of good strings (which was supposed to be a spare-set).
To adjust, I had to remove the spring (placed at the bottom) in order to prolong the "moving/active string-part" to the needed length - plus change the strings.
So, DIY = Replace strings, and Unscrew parts.
Plus: 6-10 extra Euros (for a set of usable strings).
Why did I choose these solutions: Advise/ Solution given by Thomans support-department (it would have been nice, if this info was given with the guitar: "remember to change strings to better ones, in order to make the guitar intonation possible").
Buzzing / Action :
Now I know: Electric Guitars need to be adjusted - the Trust-Rod need to be "fastened/loosend".
A bit of DIY, and courage - because the trust-rod (metal stick inside the fretboard) is hard to turn, and can break, which makes the guitar = Chinese land fill.
I think I was lucky, because the adjustment helped, and nothing broke.
Instructions had to be found at Youtube - the guitar comes with Zero instructions and advice.
By the way: Thomann told me, when I called them, that the guitar should work, because it was already adjusted - but, nobody can foresee the humidity/climate at the customer - and, on youtube proff's even advise one to wait some days, for the wood to "settle", before adjusting - vs. that I was told to try adjusting, directly when calling, just after receiving the guitar. I didn't find the last info, before AFTER making the adjustment, so, our guitar is probably not correctly adjusted / was probably adjusted too much (and our trust-rod could brake, because of this possible extra/unneeded tensions).
Tone-controls :
The tone-controls do alter the sound, and are not right calibrated. They consist of pot-meters with too high Resistors/Ohm-value, which makes their tone alteration happen in only around 15% of the rotation of the knob - whereas the rest "85% rotation" offers no tone unalteration (tone just stays "bright").
The pickups :
Of course they are cheap. But, for a beginner that also did buy a second-hand Roland Micro-Cube Amp with lots of Effects and Distortion-flawours, they work well.
They seem to be on the dark/closed side - which was expected.
The body / finish / look :
It look just perfect, and real, and our kids, love it - especially because of the pairing with the sound-versatile MicroCube-Amp.
It is shiny, has a wonderfull metallic reddish colour.
The Frets doesn't scratch (are well polished/rounded at the edges).
The "String-Tuning-Knobs" work fine. Some were loose, but they could luckily be tightened with a bit of DIY-skill.
All in All - if I could turn back time :
I would buy a more expensive guitar from start - and I would call/visit the shop and/or tryout the specific guitar - and ask about and maybe try to test in the shop, if intonation on the model could be fixed - before buying.
I did the opposite, and read the reviews - unfortunately nobody did mention this.
I hope, with this review, to give the needed details - to make people have a better chance to decide, whether they want to go through the DIY-stuff.
As it is, I consider the DIY to be more than just "tuning of the guitar" (I have tuned acoustic string instruments - with tuners and ears - but this was different, because of the Trust-Rod and springs-etc.).
