GROTE Jazz Electric Guitar Hollow Body Chrome Hardware P90 pickup (RED)

I had heard really good things about this guitar on various guitar sites. When I saw it in the vintage sunburst finish, I couldn't resist. Literally the only problem with my guitar was the tuners not holding pitch. I got a set of Gotoh SG381-05P1 tuners for $40 and solved that problem.The P-90 is a great sounding pickup, the electronics are smooth and responsive. Fretwork is great, no high or scratchy frets, no sharp fret ends. I re-strung it with D'Addario Chrome flatwounds (.011 - .50). The only adjustment I had to make for intonation was the G string, because it's wound and the saddle needs to be closer to the nut. Every other string was spot on. I made a small adjustment to the truss rod for more neck relief and was able to lower the action quite a bit with no buzzing or fretting out.The only finish flaws are a little overspray around where the fretboard meets the body, and a small splash of clear coat on the end of the fretboard. Doesn't affect playability, and isn't visible from more than a couple of feet away. The binding is perfect, no gaps or bumps.I know not everyone has had the same experience, but for $200 I am blown away by this guitar. I was expecting to have to do some work on it, but aside from replacing the tuners, I didn't have to do anything other than a standard setup to get the guitar the way I wanted it (and I've replaced tuners on far more expensive guitars).The packaging is not very substantial, but it arrived intact without any damage (which amazes me).TL; DR--BUY IT!

For around $200 I think this is a fantastic value. The one I received did not require much in the way of setup. It features a floating bridge, so you’ll likely need to adjust the positioning for proper intonation. Fretwork was well done! My bridge came installed backwards, haha. I’ve had it a year or more and it’s very stable, holds its tune well, looks sharp, is super lightweight, and has enough acoustic volume to plunk around without an amp. I worked in musical instrument retail for 5 years as a salesperson/buyer and instruments in this price range can be a crapshoot … maybe a few out of every batch are just duds with various problems … a few are just okay …. And a few are really fantastic instruments for the price. But then, this also holds true for instruments costing ten times as much. I am tempted to buy a Grote 335-style guitar as well. But I already have more guitars than I need….*sigh*

I had been controlling myself and patiently watching reviews of this guitar on YouTube until I could no longer resist. No regrets! For just over $200 I feel this guitar is a great deal. The workmanship on the body is very good. Some buyers online complain about the fret work. Maybe I was lucky, but not One sharp fret end, and they were dressed so well and highly polished. Probably one the smoothest fretboards in my collection. Out of the box the action was perfect, just low enough but no buzz. The neck feels great! Some players may want to swap out the P90 pickup, personally I think it has a very nice tone. Im fine with it. As with all of my Chinese or Indonesian guitars I will definitely replace the tuners. They work fine but I prefer something smoother. I purchased the “antique sunburst”, and I’m glad I did. There’s a nice veneer underneath the finish and it has quite a pretty amber glow to it which the photos don’t represent. If you’re familiar with hollowbodies and those with trapeze tail pieces, you’ll appreciate the sustain on this thing. It may not be a thick guitar but it resonates well. Depending on your tone settings you can really dial in a sweet acoustic sound if you were recording or playing live. I’ve yet to run it through my pedalboard, (19 pedals so far), and it sounded great plugged straight into my tube amp, but I can’t wait to do just that and run it through its paces. As many others have stated, they look forward to playing this guitar, and I do too. If you’re a fan of this style of guitar, or P90s, and you don’t want to spend $500-1000, this is a great little guitar for the money. Highly recommend.

I had been longing for this style of guitar for a long time. Had a Epi Century RI years ago and it was nothing but problems and I ditched it. I saw sooooo many rave reviews for this guitar but couldn't believe a Chinese guitar could have the quality they were claiming. I have to say i'm blown away by the quality of this guitar, Ive been playing and collecting for 42 years, so i'm picky, very picky. The neck is thick but I like it, prob about 21mm at the first fret. The tuners are decent and better than expected, my guess is 14:1 ratio, but I'm be putting on Govers at some point but this are find for now. The nut is actually perfectly cut, and its NOT soft plastic, its very very well done for an import guitar, I expect I would have to change the nut but this is a pro nut. Frets are beautiful, they are level, crowned and polished really well, again I expected I would have to do fret work, nope, none to be done, even the fret ends were perfect. No idea what the fret board wood is, but it looks like rose wood, again no where do they state what kind of wood it is, the inlays are perfectly fitted, no gaps around the inlays, perfect job there too. The body finish is flawless, I can not find a single blemish any where. The pick up sounds fine, infact really good but its way too low for my taste so Ill put a spacer in there to raise it, personal taste not a problem. Will pull the mags on the pick up to see what they come stock with. Pots feel like dime size, not sure if 250k or 500k but i'm guessing 250. Mine also have binding around the F hole, which the pic doesn't show, agian all the the binding is perfect all over this guitar. Overall this is a amazing bang for your buck guitar. Highly recommend this guitar, I waited years to pull the trigger on one of these because I could not believe the hype, but the hype is for real.