Customer Reviews

Guitar For Dummies Acoustic Guitar Starter Pack (Guitar, Book, Audio CD, Gig Bag)

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Having little to no knowledge about guitars, I did some basic research on guitar packages before deciding to purchase this set. I'm older and wasn't sure if I really wanted to go through the work to learn the guitar, but I did want to try, so I was looking for a nice "all in one" package to get me started without spending lots of money.

This set arrived promptly, was well packaged (the guitar was well padded by styrofoam and cardboard) and exactly as advertised. The book is much smaller than I was expecting based on the "...for dummies" series, but it seemed do-able. Although I had to put in 4 stars for the overall package, I'll briefly review each piece of the set for better clarity.

Guitar bag - 1 star, functional to keep the dust off the guitar.
Electronic tuner - 4 stars, works easily but the batteries were difficult to load without seeming to have broken the unit.
Book - 3 stars, an ok book & CD to start with, but very little depth.
Guitar - 4 stars, sounds good but a little tough for the beginner.
Picks - nice...

Some of the things I've learned about the guitar over the last few months: The strings sit somewhat high above the frets so it takes quite a bit of pressure to push them down. The strings that came with the guitar were most likely "ultra light" so moving to "light" was a bit of surprise, it made fretting the strings even harder. The pick guard is showing wear as is the fretboard under the strings nearest the nut. The guitar sounds good, but I wish I had gotten one with strings closer to the frets.

I also wish the pack had included a guitar strap and a better instruction set, but for the price, I feel it was a really good deal. I'm a guitar noob so my opinion is that of one who is completely new to the guitar.

I bought my Kona guitar two weeks ago, after researching the company on the web.

It's just the right size for me, and stays in tune pretty well - very little adjustment on the keys.

I like the digital tuner that's included in the kit. It's much easier than using a pitch pipe.

I would suggest getting a hard case, though. The gig bag isn't padded.

I just recieved this product, but honestly, I can tell it's a very good kit already. It wasn't what I was expecting but it serves it's purpose. I was contemplating buying the Austin Bazaar 38" Black Cutaway Guitar with Carrying Bag and Accessories for only $40 but after reading the negative reviews, I decided against it. Plus, it's obvious they just want to get rid of them and make quick cash instead of actually selling a quality product. I mean, I'd rather pay a little more (I paid $94 on Amazon) for a QUALITY guitar than 40 dollars for something that will fall apart in a few weeks. The guitar itself is VERY nice - very good quality, beautiful wood and professional looking. It's obvious Kona knows guitars. The only downside is that it doesn't come with extra strings, a stand or a strap, but really that's not going to cost more than $20 to buy. Plus, the book is great - funny, simple and the pictures are very helpful, and the CD helps too. So take your pick - if your really serious about playing, than pay a little more for a quality product.

I was planning to get started on learning guitar for quiet some time now. Having no prior background in playing guitar, it was a little confusing for me to understand where to start. I definitely didn't want to invest too much or no something that was inferior in quality.
After reading the reviews and also having same faith in the 'dummies brand', I went ahead with this starter kit. I have been using it for ~2months now. I'm highly pleased with the product.
The whole kit is very nicely packaged. The guitar is beautiful and has a very nice feel. The cover, as many reviewers have said is probably not the best you can get. But it does the job for me. It is good enough to protect the guitar from the dust and that's all I care. I don't plan to travel with the guitar so the cover really is to store the guitar in the house and it is good enough for that. Also, the whole kit comes in a very nice box. I have kept th ebox to use it for storage when I don't plan to play the guitar for long time!

The book is good and got me started immediately. The tuner I found little difficult to figure out, but that I believe now was because I didn't understand the guitar string naming etc. I went online and there are many videos that will help you in figuring out how to use the tuner. Once you understand how it use it, it seems very obvious and pretty easy to use.

Now, after working with the book for couple weeks, I realized that just the book won't be enough. You need somebody telling you the fine points and also you need some visual reference to understand how to play the instrument right. I looked around for guitar classes. They are pretty expensive! Just the beginner classes (6 sessions) were > 150$. I would have still enrolled in one of them, but then I found this great online website that has video guitar lessons (beginner, intermediate and beyond). The cost of enrolling was 1/3rd the cost of just the beginner guitar classes. I won't name the website here but I do recommend you look around online and see if that option works for you. I have been having a great time as I can view the lessons any time I want, in my own house and as many times as I want! Plus, it hardly costed me anything.

The guitar has been playing nicely and I have no complains at all! I think it was an excellent buy.
The only thing that I realized later wasn't perfect is that the guitar doesn't have one hook for connecting the guitar strap. So, if you want to play the guitar standing up, you can't do it with this guitar. But I believe by the time I'm ready to really play the guitar standing up, I would have invested in a more expensive one. Till then, this guitar will do just fine.

I am the target audience for this set: I don't know anything about playing the guitar, but would like to learn. I've had this for a few days and am entirely happy with it. The guitar - well, I have nothing to compare it with, but it's physically attractive, feels good in my hands, and makes a lovely sound when I twang a string. I don't know enough about guitars to be a fair judge, but there's nothing obvious about it to make it inferior to the guitars of my friends who play, and in fact I like it better than some I've seen. The book and CD are simple enough for me to follow, and the digital tuner is simple to use. I've successfully tuned the guitar and learned how to play an E chord, so I'm feeling satisfied and accomplished. Everything arrived in excellent condition and ready to use, and I didn't have to go buy anything else in order to get started.

So, I wanted to take up the guitar.
I saw this all-in-one package at a reasonable price.
I got it as a gift.

I ordered a few of the "Recommended Accessories" by Amazon.
I got a stand and a guitar strap.
The stand displays the guitar beautifully.

The guitar strap...
This instrument only came with one hook on the base of the guitar.
There is no second hook to attach the other side of the strap.

It appears that when Kona Guitars had China make their products for them, they forgot to add an inspection for quality control. I like the guitar so I am not shipping it back. I haven't used the tuner supplied because my Mac has a built in tuner in the Garage Band program. So far, I have learned quite a few cords and I am having fun with it. I just wish it had a hook for my shoulder strap. no strap hook = minus a star.

I recieved the item damaged. It had been dropped, and the head of the guitar had popped out of the box. Obviously, the guitar was very out-of-tune. Other than that the guitar is beautiful.

The gig bag is thin, and really only useful for keeping the dust of the instrument instead of protecting it. The book is the best part of this package. It is simple and easy to understand for the absolute beginner. I'm not entirely convinced the guitar is the best quality. But for the price you can't really go too wrong. The sound is a bit tinny, but overall not too bad. I'd buy this if you're looking for an affordable starting guitar and don't want to break the bank.

Traditionally a 5th anniversay gift is wood so I decided to get my husband a guitar starter kit nothing too fancy and I'm glad I chose Guitar for Dummies. It was a hit! The product was delivered in one piece, on time, and without any issues. This is a great starter guitar for my husband and he plays it everyday. Looks like my gift won this year =).

From Round Rock, TX - Julia

This is a good buy for beginners. Pros: All-in-one package, tuner is good. Cons: This guitar is a little hard to learn with. The fret boards are really hard and playing chords are a bit difficult.

I got the package as a gift and it is as expected. Easy to follow instructions in the book with a cd to help you along. If you are new to playing the guitar this is a nice set up. I had a little trouble with the electronic tuner and am still not sure if its working properly, but I was able to tune the guitar between using the cd and the tuner. I've been playing almost everyday since getting the guitar and am starting to develop callauses on my three left hand fingers as noted in the book. I've been told by a guitar player that once I've played this Kona guitar awhile I should be able to play any guitar, so its a good one to learn on. The strings are a little high off the neck, but once you get used to it, other guitars will be seem easy, plus it builds up the muscles in your stringing fingers. I would highly recommend this guitar for beginners.