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When you order this package, order some guitar strings as well. The strings that come with this package (one set already on the guitar and a spare set) are garbage. They will not hold a tune and will make the guitarist very unhappy. I bought a three-pack of D’Addario EXL 110-3D strings for under $15.00 (thank you, Amazon). You should, too. D’Addario makes great strings and they have fantastic customer service.
Either buy a clip-on electric tuner (I like Snarks but there are others as well) or download a good tuning app to your phone. There are lots of free tuner apps. The advantage of a clip-on tuner is that you can use it in a noisy room (or in a band), unlike an app on your phone. You can always buy a clip-on tuner later.
Plug in the cord to the guitar and the amp, turn on the amp, and make sure the amp works and the guitar switches all work. Don’t worry about how it sounds. You need to set up the guitar before it’s going to sound good.
Go to YouTube and find “Fender Strat Setup” by Yorel Zaid. This guitar is a copy of a Fender Strat. Watch it once or twice before following it. Assuming you’re doing this as cheaply as possible take a business card and mark it at 1/8” as you’ll be using that as a measurement for several things. If you don’t have a capo, you can use a finger for the steps where you need to put the capo on the first fret.
Before you start, also find Darrell Braun’s video on setting up a floating tremolo and watch that a couple of times.
First check the neck to make sure it is straight and has the right amount of relief per Yorel Zaid’s video. Mine was A-OK. Use the included truss rod Allen wrench if you need to adjust your truss rod, and only turn it 1/4 of a turn each time, let the guitar rest for ten minutes, test and keep adjusting as needed.
Here is what I did: put some painter’s blue tape behind the nut. This will protect the finish. Using the packaged strings that came with the guitar, loosen each string on the guitar enough to lift it out of its nut slot, then use your corresponding string from the package and rub it back and forth in the slot at a 45 degree angle so that the string “breaks” cleanly at the front of the nut. Look for a YouTube video if you don’t understand. Once this is done you can remove the blue tape.
Next, set up the tremolo as a floating trem. I used Darrell’s video for that, as I didn’t have a wood shim that Yorel uses. When you put on the trem arm you should not crank it in until it’s tight. It is designed to slide out of the way when playing. In order to stop it from slopping around there are two easy fixes. I like to take a spring from an old ballpoint pen and put the spring inside the hole where the trem arm screws in. The compressed spring will keep the trem arm where you want it. I saw a YouTube video where a guy wrapped the screw end of the trem arm with plumbers tape and I think that would work, too.
Now adjust the action using Yorel’s video. Use the tiny Allen wrench that came with the kit. A couple of the string guides on my guitar were lopsided, so take the time to adjust each side so that the string guide is level. Make sure each string is centered in its guide.
Now it’s time to set the intonation. Once again Yorel’s video is a great guide. Get it as close as you can and don’t panic if it isn’t perfect. In this case close enough is close enough. By the way, intonation is important so the guitar stays in tune as the player moves up and down the fretboard.
Here’s the fun stuff. Take off those cheap, nasty strings. While the strings are off remove the plastic protective film from the pick guard. Remove the plastic protective film from the backs of the tuners. Wipe the guitar down with a clean cloth.
Get your carnuba wax (assuming you wax your own car) not a cleaner wax, just straight carnuba wax, and wax the whole guitar. Let the wax dry for 15 minutes or so and buff it all off. The finish will look great.
Now get out your new D’Addario strings and string the guitar up. Watch Darrell’s video on how to “lock” the strings and follow his instructions.
It will take a day or two of playing for the strings to settle and hold their pitch perfectly. You can re-check your intonation at that time. Then wrap it up and put it under the tree (or put it next to the birthday cake, or however you’re gifting it).
There are lots of great guitar lessons on YouTube. Remarkably this package also comes with two free months of live on-line lessons. Take advantage of this!
This is a great package for a beginning guitarist. Find out if this is something you’re going to love and if it turns out it doesn’t stick you learned the lesson for under a hundred dollars.
Please take the time to set this up. I guarantee you the people who say this is junk did not set it up.
For a long-time guitarist (like myself) this is a great way to transition from acoustic to electric. The amp is loud enough to fill a bedroom, so it’s a perfect practice amp.
This is a fantastic value.
