Fretlight Standard Electric Guitar with Built-in LED Lighted Learning System, Red (FG-511RD)

I've been playing guitar for 28 years or so. I started playing in junior high and majored on the instrument in college. As an adult real-life got in the way and I set my days of serious play aside for far to long. I've reached a point where I want to get the old chops back and, of course, develop new ones. The trouble? That whole real-life thing...job, kids...responsibilities!! Going about getting my chops back the old fashioned way of hour after hour of uninterrupted practice simply isn't possible. I needed a different way...and in walked the Fretlight. Playing music isn't simply about reading notes...it's about patterns...the patterns that come about as the idioms of different genres. The Fretlight let's me pull up some music, sit back and watch the patterns unfold. What a great jumping off point!The utility of the instrument and companion software isn't limited to "educated" former players like me. I can only imagine how far I would have taken my abilities as a player if this had been available to me as a kid. No more looking from a book to the neck several times to try to get finger positions just right. No more wearing cassettes out trying to break down a single passage by ear.Several models of the Fretlight exist. I chose the least expensive version of the the 500 series because I simply needed it as a tool to enhance my practice time. That said it's a fine playing guitar that sounds pretty good despite having a single pick-up. I wouldn't gig with it, but only because I don't have to since I have my favorite gigging guitars.I only have two complaints about the guitar, neither of which are significant enough to warrant me knocking down the rating given it's intended usage. First, the built-in tuner is useless. Second, the bottom cutaway isn't deep enough to comfortably hit the higher frets.In summary, whether for someone starting out or a professional wanting to see the neck in a new and intriguing way, I suggest getting one to add to your guitar collection.

This is a very cheap Chinese made guitar. I know that Fretlight makes a point out of saying "All guitars need adjustment" but this one needs more than a few turns on the truss rod.Frankly if I had paid the usual price of $330 I would have given it one star but since I only paid $170 I will give it two. The reality is this guitar is so out of adjustment I honestly do not think an average buyer would know where to begin, it needs a full set up by a guitar tech and that will cost you about $40 or $50 or more. This will require truss rod adjustments as well as bridge adjustments for both height and intonation.It might even require fret dressing in the end.Selling guitars this badly set up is kind of counter to the whole idea that these guitars are aimed at beginners trying to learn. The action is so high they would quickly give up because it's almost impossible to play well.The concept is great but if the guitar has such poor play-ability out of the box you will still have the same 80% of new users give up.

So far so good .. !

Best way to learn. Great invention !Cons, wish the neck was solid wood and it is hard to set-up the action .

Love it!!

I totally expected set-up to be a hastle, and it was. I won't go into the details, but it took me a couple of hours just to get it playable... Again, I expected that, however, its now been 4 hours total, and I have still yet to see a single dot light-up on the guitar. The software installed, but it is UN-NAVIGATABLE, and there are no directions on how to use it. Most buttons go to dead links online. The other 2 CDs that came with the package will not run at all. Its says they have to be installed on the computer to run, but they will not install. NONE of the 3 CD/DVDs would autorun. I have a very modern, up-to-date computer, and nothing in this bundle is working. The fretlight website says you need to download various files from their website, but again, none of the links work! They say their are known problems and to "be patient." Seriously? How about creating a working product before you release it??? I'm pissed that I've wasted half of my day off on this. I am an experienced guitar player with over 35 years of playing. I don't want software to teach me how to play guitar, all I wanted was to light-up some scales so I could improve my own playing with arpeggios, partial chords, etc... How a company could develop a cool light-up fretboard and then make it so difficult to use and light-up to me is un-imaginable. I fully expected to [functionally] love this guitar, but at this moment, I hate it. I rarely write negative reviews, but I feel I owe it to other musicians to be forewarned. If I can get this guitar to do what I want it to do (which isn't asking that much), I may still end-up keeping it and using it. However, right now it is boggling my mind how hard it is to even know for sure whether or not it actually is even functional. I would like to see a real, quality guitar company make an affordable version of this that was more user friendly, and less disappointing Yuck...UPDATE: Update. I finally was able to download working software. Only to findout that none of the lights past the 5th fret are working! Ugghhhh....