Yamaha Guitalele ukulele

justin
March 16, 2010

Rating: 10/10

I have bought a lot of musical instruments over the past 20 years but i would have to say that this is the best value for money i have ever owned.This is a lot of instrument for the money.I sat staring at it in wonder for the first couple of days thinking \"wow its genius, it\'s a normal classical headstock and a relatively normal classical neck stuck on to the body of a tenor uke, genius\". I restrung mine with a set of aquilas (high c) and then used some thin gauge martin wound a and d strings and it sounds ok compared to my other ukes ,some of which have cost me £500 plus. My only complaints would be that the sound board is thick ply so it loses a bit of resonance and one of my frets is not seated as well as it could be so i get the occasional grating but for £60 these thing are to be expected, and i\'m suprised of the high quality for the price but can generally expect a bargain from yamaha.

Nick Langley
February 13, 2010

Rating: 5/10

Though I put great store in personal reviews I\'m usually too lazy to add my own, but with the GL-1 I couldn\'t help myself. I\'ll get the bad news out of the way. It took 6 weeks to arrive, but that\'s Yamaha\'s fault not Dolphin\'s. I used to work for a large manufacturer once and I know how much customer\'s like Dolphin are messed around. The rest is all good news. This thing is brilliant! As a geeky technophile (\"Why do you NEED all this stuff just to play ONE guitar and why do you NEED so MANY guitars?\" to quote the good lady wife) with a music room room rammed to the rafters with recording stuff, electronic drum kit, digital piano, 5 guitars, 4 amps, outboard, blah blah blah, I absolutely adore this guitar. I\'ve got everything from a Tele and Strat to a Line 6 Variax 700, which is loaded with 25 modelled guitars, but I can\'t put this thing down!

I\'m a stay at home dad (apart from a part-time job studio engineering) and my 9-month-old daughter and I play this at least once a day. To me it makes music simple again. It\'s so small and light, you can take it anywhere with you and just play. In order to protect my ageing, fragile ego, my live rig includes a 15 unit rack, road trunk, just the 1 guitar now thanks to the Variax, and various other flightcases, having the GL-1 has reminded me what music is all about.

Chris Weeks
December 1, 2009

Rating: 8/10

I have been an avid acoustic guitarist for 10 years now and along the way have built up a nice collection of guitars, but there was one thing missing and with this little Guitarlele from Yamaha I think I may have found it.
First off I often write a lot of songs using a capo up above the 4th fret to suit my vocal range and this instrument seemed like a natural choice as it\\\'s essentially like having a miniture classical nylon stringed guitar with a capo on the 5th fret.
It\\\'s got a great sound, much better than I was expecting and is easy to play and suits the average to the pro player. It\\\'s a perfect little songwriting tool thanks to it\\\'s size, it\\\'s so easy to take with you and just pick up wherever you may be and jam out a tune or two.
Whilst I have no problem whatsoever with the sound of this guitarlele I have a couple of issues with the general finishing, therefore the 8/10.
There are some nasty little nicks on the fretboard which is generally quite poorly finished and the top/front of the body on mine came with little marks, scratches and varnish runs on, which look pretty ugly and leads me to believe that not much care and attention was lavished on the prodcution of the Guitarlele, but the sound and easy playability more than makes up for these cosmetic gripes.
I would recommend this to any lover of acoustic guitars, it may seem like a novelty at first, but it quickly becomes a very practical and useful studio/songwriting tool.
I love mine and am very happy with my purchase.

Robert Lee Price
November 12, 2009

Rating: 10/10

nice guitar. well made and arrived the very next day... so 10 stars.
this is the second time I have been asked to review it so I will. I wanted to change the strings so that it can be tuned like a conventional guitar rather than like a guitar at the 5th fret. I asked the good people at Dolphin if they had or could obtain a set of suitable strings. they said they would get back to me but didn\'t........ which is unfortunate. I also recieved the stunning advice of \"use ordinary strings, but cut them shorter \" ????. Anyway, I have found some LaBella FG114 strings from Germany and it sounds great.

john stanley
September 19, 2009

Rating: 10/10

I took the nylons off, lowered the bridge insert, and put on martin light steels. Its fantastic, sounds like a national guitar, all the resonance you could wish for. Lets you play anywhere and when you go back to full size it seems easier. good to sing to as g becomes d. i can\'t put mine down, its the best thing you can have for home or travelling.

Clive Wray
August 15, 2009

Rating: 8/10

I originally bought the Yamaha Guitalele as a travel guitar and to use to teach large mixed guitar and Ukulele ensembles. I also have used it for Wider Opportunities whole class (Primary aged pupils) instrumental tuition for Ukuleles.
It works great as an acoustic instrument and in the Ukulele environment it gives extra volume and bass with the addition of strings 5 & 6. It has a sweet tone and good natural projection. It generally plays like a classical guitar capo\\\'d at the fifth fret.
Its only downside is that it takes some turning up(pre-amping) to get the volume out of the pick up system when plugged in. I would recommend it to any one needing a Ukulele to teach with (providing 6 strings suits your needs)and as a travel guitar. It has good acoustic qualities and is well made.

richard woodcock
December 21, 2006

Rating: 8/10

This is a great little hybrid acoustic instrument - essentially it's a quarter-sized guitar with the bottom string tuned to A rather than E. It comes supplied with nylon strings - as usual with a new guitar, it's a good idea to replace these with a new set as soon as you can.

The short distance between the frets on the guitalele takes a little getting used to, and you might run out of room if you use your full arsenal of six-string chord shapes. You might find it easier to use fewer fingers and strings for your chords - this will instantly add dynamics to your playing. The bottom three strings sound like a guitar; the top three sound more like a ukelele. If you're careful with your fingering, and you use a bit of string damping with your right hand, you can coax some great mini-rock sounds out of this little beauty.

The Guitalele comes with a carry case (no padding, so be careful) and it's so small you can take it anywhere, whip it out and put on an impromptu show. It's really good fun - go and get one now. Better still, follow in George Harrison's footsteps and get two, then you can indulge in mini-jams where and whenever the opportunity arises - wonderful!