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Pros:
- Beginner Friendly
- Comfortable Size
- Good Sound
Cons:
- Unstable Tuning
- String Buzz
The Stagg S300 ¾ Standard S electric guitar is one interesting beast. It has so many good qualities that when you realize how cheap it is, you start to get suspicious. I mean how honest can the manufacturer be if they are making a guitar this good for this cheap? Well, very honest if we judge by the actual quality of the guitar. Let’s take a closer look and see how good the guitar is.
Body Quality
The body of the S300 is rather fascinating. First and foremost the design picks up on the age-old tradition of the Fender Stratocaster body shape. I refer to it as a tradition because at this point, Fender Stratocaster is one of the most famous body shapes in the world. The Stagg even has a pickguard just like a fender Stratocaster. One thing about the body though – it is scaled down to ¾ of the usual electric guitar size. This allows the guitar to be lightweight and easily accessible even to children. It is an electric guitar, there is no significant effect on the actual sound of the guitar either.
The body is a solid piece of alder. This hardwood has been in use since the 1950s and was especially popular during the 1960s for electric guitars. With its beautiful grain pattern and color, it is no wonder the guitar manufacturer decide to showcase the actual wood, instead of painting it. It also allows the guitar a little more character in terms of giving strong resonance to the mids and the highs. Though this character tends to be more vintage because of the arm, but slightly duller tones as compared to woods that are much more popular today.
The neck of the guitar is Rosewood, a sturdy and beautiful material that, while a little heavy, is not weighing the guitar down at all. The neck is bolt-on, which is a usual thing for cheap guitars, no problems with alignment though! The fretboard is rosewood as well, creating a very nice, dark-colored contrast to the brighter body of the guitar, while being incredibly smooth and pleasant to play.
Hardware
Once upon a time in the guitar manufacturing industry, someone said, all chrome everything, and it has been so forever since. The same goes for this electric axe: all of its hardware is chrome finish.
The bridge of the guitar has a very nice addition of a tremolo bar. Frequent use of this might cause the guitar to go out of tune, but it is still nice to have the option of note bending when you want to.
The nut of the guitar is synthetic. The material used allows the guitar to retain a solid level of harmonics.
The tuners of the guitar are chrome, and are not the best. They tend to go out of tune rather frequently and might need to be tuned every other day. Something to be expected of the cheaper guitars on the market. The tuning machine is easy to replace though, so if you get bent out of shape by this slight annoyance, go ahead and do the thing.
Electronics
The guitar has three single-coil pickups arranged in a bridge, neck, and middle pattern. This allows the guitar to have a very nice and warm sound as well as versatility in the character of the sound, as you switch between the different pickup settings. While the pickups are not the best on the market, we can assume they are fine for any beginner who does not know any better. By the time a beginner will need a new set, they can either buy the upgrades or move on to a new guitar altogether.
The guitar also has several control knobs and switches, which is a very useful feature in terms of changing the way you sound and having fun with the guitar.
Stagg S300 Sound
The Stagg S300 ¾ Size Standard S electric guitar has a very nice sound, especially for a guitar as cheap as it is. The three single-coil pickups allow for a very warm, detailed sound fit for pop music and rock and roll. The alder body adds a nice fullness to the midtones and detail to the high tones. The guitar does suffer from certain amounts of string noise, as it usually happens with single coil guitars, but nothing that cannot be managed. Overall, the sound is rather warm, energetic and fun to produce.
Conclusion
The Stagg S300 ¾ size Standard s guitar is a great place for a beginner to pick up on an electric guitar career. It has everything a beginner will need, including a rather good sound. The ¾ quarter size is an added bonus, which will allow even children to pick the guitar up and play it until they’ve mastered it. Overall, definitely recommended to anyone just starting out.
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