The third guitar I purchased in my current collection of guitars was bought for a reason unlike any other prior (or since for that matter). I was looking for a guitar I could keep at work. An office guitar if you will. I considered purchasing an electric guitar for work, but ended up deciding against that for a couple of reasons.
- You don’t play an electric guitar unless you’re plugging it in to something that is capable of applying distortion to your sound*.
- If you’re going unplugged, an acoustic guitar is louder and therefore more annoying.
Seems logical right?
Another reason for the purchase of this particular guitar was budget. If I was going to leave this guitar at work for others to see, play, borrow and/or steal, then I had to be willing to part ways with it. I needed to be able to lose this guitar and not care about it. Knowing all of this, I did what any man in my shoes would do. I bought an acoustic guitar from ALDI.
If you’re unfamiliar with ALDI, let me summarise for you. ALDI is a discounted grocery store that often sells a lot more than just groceries at prices far lower than their grocery store counterparts (partially because you pack your own items at the point of sale). Once a year in March (where I live at least) they have a two page spread in their weekly catalogue dedicated to musical instruments. Every year I see acoustic guitars, electric guitars, violins, guitar pedals, small amplifiers and other similar items. Quite a few years ago I bought the C Giant acoustic guitar from such a catalogue for $60.
Cheap right? For the $60 I received the following.
- C Giant acoustic guitar
- Guitar strap
- plectrums
- Extra set of guitar strings
- How to play guitar book
- Soft gig case
Not too bad. Well I guess that depends on how the guitar sounds and what it’s made out of. Well I have no idea what it’s made out of. I do know the fretboard is cheap. It didn’t take long for the finish to wear out in areas of common use. I’ve got guitars with necks that have already seen a lot more guitar time that look considerably better. Also, I’m fairly sure a few of the machine heads are only held in place by the guitar strings. I’m not sure if some parts are brass or copper as well. Which ever is the softer metal … that’s what they seem to be.
At the end of the day though, the guitar actually plays and sounds OK. No, better than OK. It’s far from a good guitar, but it is also far from the worst guitar I’ve ever played/owned. Would I recommend an ALDI guitar to anybody? No. Do I regret my purchase? No. I went in there thinking I had nothing to lose. It’s now approximately 7 years later and I’m still playing this guitar. Because sometimes I like to remind myself that playing guitar is all about the experience. For me at least.
* This rule is a rule of my own. I do love the metal.
Thanks for the review! really helpful and well written
Thanks Louve. I appreciate the feedback (sorry it took so long to respond).
Being a guitar collector and player and a part-Tim’s Luther, I find that with some lowering of action, adding Martin strings, a compensated bone bridge saddle, and precision tuning, a humble C Giant acoustic can sound very decent, and play well for a learner or to be used as a back-up guitar for gigs etc. I bought a second-hand acoustic for £10…..bargain.
I should look into the nut and bridge. Changing those when I next restring could be a bit of fun (and an improvement at the same time). But you are right, they are a bargain.
I bought one too!!
I think it has a really nice tone to it and actually seems to be quite well made with decent materials.
The downside is (or sort of was) that the action was set far, far, far too high. This made it almost unplayable without risking cutting off your fingers. You see, I bought it as a reintro to playing the guitar and so my fingertips had gone soft. It was cheap enough for me to risk killing the guitar by playing about with lowering the action. Having done so, it’s a nice enough guitar. Like you, I would neither recommend it or condemn it. It’s worth the money, but it isn’t a guitar for beginners because the high action will deter newbies from learning. The pain is just too much.
Well said. If you know enough, you can make the C Giant work. Otherwise, there are probably better guitars out there for you.
I recently picked up a Concert Guitar of this brand from a pile of scrap. It had the neck loosened and some other issues with the height of the strings and some frets sticking out a bit. After all that was repaired and a set of decent strings put on to it this guitar can easily compete with way more expensive models. It is fun to use and sounds awesome. Definitely a keeper!
That is pretty cool. I wish I had the skills to repair the guitar I’d bought.