AOQIMITENJOY Electric Guitar for Beginners - Musical Instrument LED Lights, Perfect Birthday Gift for Boys and Girls HK-9080D

There's a strange dynamic between cheap/expensive instruments in relation to beginner/advanced musicians. The cheaper instruments almost always require some work to get them into a decent playing condition, while the expensive ones are (mostly) good to go out of the box. But...the beginner musician doesn't normally have the skills to DIY the work. It makes sense, but it just feels ironic. So what tends to happen is this: beginner gets a cheap instrument, it won't stay in tune or the action is too high, they may spend another $20-80 in supplies, maybe spend $100+ to get it professionally fixed up, and there's a good chance they end up getting frustrated at some point along that journey. That's when they quit. So my advice to any beginners out there is to take the time to learn to do this stuff yourself. I promise it's not that hard, and it'll only cost a fraction of the cost to pay someone else to do it. Plus, you'll be learning about how the instrument works, which may not seem important to a beginner, but it is. First rule is to ALWAYS get new strings. Doesn't matter if the guitar was $50 or $5,000. Strings are cheap. Get a few packs. Try different gauges. Maybe google to find out which gauge is best for the music you want to play. Get that, plus one a size larger and one smaller. Secondly, get a string action gauge. It's usually in the form of a metal card with measurement lines to show how high the strings should be from the fretboard. Can also use feeler gauges if you have them. The actual string gauge is probably in the $20 range. Read the instructions, Google, YouTube. Use your resources. Thirdly, most of the adjustments you'll make will either require a tiny screwdriver or Allen wrenches. Get a cheap set of hex wrenches if you can. You'll also need one to adjust the truss rod (which alters the bend or the "bow" of the guitar neck). Lastly, get yourself a capo and a variety of picks. Same as before, they're all pretty cheap. Neither of these are necessary, but the capo makes the adjustments much easier to do. Some optional things: a nice fretboard oil or something, which will make playing easier on your fingers. A tuner, though incidentally there are loads of free tuning apps. Ultimately, I highly recommend learning to tune by ear. A free piano app works well for that. And that's pretty much all. Including the time it took for me to read the instructions and watch a few YouTube videos, I had this thing in perfect condition in around an hour. It stays in tune, including all the way up the fretboard. The action is perfect. It feels great playing, and looks fantastic. In fact, I bet if you sanded off the LyxPro logo on the head stock and replaced it with Fender Telecaster, your guitar snob friends wouldn't even know the difference. "Man, nothing beats a Fender" they'd say, as they marvel over your sub-$100 guitar. Last note: I rarely ever plug this thing in. When I play out, it's usually either piano or drums. I can't say much about the pickups, but I will say that the few times I've plugged it in, it sure sounded like a tele to me. Keep in mind that pickups are also upgradeable. tl;dr - guitar is technically playable out of the box, though I recommend new strings, action and truss adjustments. Highly recommend learning these skills.