Have you ever heard of a guitalele? Well, if you haven’t, you’re probably wondering what on earth it is. But the name should give you a clue. The guitalele is a hybrid instrument, the child of a marriage between a guitar and a ukulele. It belongs to the guitar family.
From appearance to function, the guitalele works like a guitar and a ukulele. This is a truly extraordinary string instrument loved by many musicians across the globe. With this instrument, you’ll be able to play the chords and scales of a guitar. However, it maintains the looks of a uke making it easier to handle.
For this article, we have made our research on the best guitalele brands in the market. So, for those interested in playing this instrument, you’re right on time for our review. Check it out.
Top 3 Best Guitalele To Buy Of 2023 Reviews
| Name | Body | Top | Neck | Scale | Strings | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Best Choice Yamaha GL Series GL1 TBS Guitalele  View Price | Body Meranti | Top Not specified | Neck Not specified | Scale 17 inches | Strings Nylon | Finish Tobacco sunburst |
Body Sapele | Top Not specified | Neck Rosewood | Scale 17 inches | Strings 3 metal strings, 3 nylon strings | Finish High gloss/Sapele edge | |
Also Great Donner DGL-1 28 Inch Guitalele  View Price | Body Mahogany | Top Spruce | Neck Not specified | Scale 17 inches | Strings Nylon | Finish Natural |
1 Yamaha GL Series GL1 TBS Guitalele
The Yamaha GL1 is widely praised across several etail and review platforms. It is currently one of the best guitaleles in the market. Plus, it’s from a trusted brand too. We all know that Yamaha is a dependable brand when it comes to quality musical instruments.
This guitalele comes in the shape and size of a baritone ukulele. So, it’s pretty compact, making it playable for all sizes of users. The scale is also 17 inches but it still plays like a guitar. And it is guaranteed to give you nothing but fun once you start to play this.
Now, the materials used for this guitalele is high quality – something we expect from Yamaha. Construction is also excellent too. In fact, the painstaking precision and eye for detail left us really impressed us.
This guitalele features a nice fretboard, full length too, which performs brilliantly with consistency and crisp intonation. It’s one of the things we love so much about the GL1. Its intonation is so clear and beautiful!
Now, this is a pretty loud instrument especially for something so small and so decently priced. And since we’re on the price turf, we’ve got to mention this. The cost of this guitalele is so “ridiculous”, it’s nearly a giveaway! Yamaha sure went a ways to make this within easy reach.
As for playability, you’d enjoy playing the Yamaha GL1. It’s easy to learn and play as well, and the lovely sound makes it worthwhile too.
Lastly, this guitalele comes with a nice carrying bag, compliments of Yamaha. It’s of a decent quality and will surely serve.
(4.5 / 5)- Easy to learn and play, even for kids.
- Attractive finish.
- Suitable for all kinds of music genres from rock to classical.
- Neck is a bit narrower than a guitar’s and so it might be a little too small for a person with large hands.
- These strings take a while to break in. You might want to consider getting better strings.
2 Hot Seal 28 Inch Creative Cute Mini Guitar
The Hot Seal 28 Inch Creative Cute Mini Guitar might not be so popular in guitalele circles. Nonetheless, it is a pretty good instrument that deserves some attention. Actually, this guitalele is great for kids.
This mini guitar is made from top quality wood materials. The body is made from Sapele while the neck is made from Rosewood. The craftsmanship here is also exceptional. Running your hands over the instrument, you can feel its smoothness which enhances the playability of the guitalele.
The choice of woods also impacts on sound. Sapele is a solid tonewood choice and gives this guitalele a warm and pleasing tone your kid will enjoy. We love the fact that this guitalele produces a full-bodied sound. Plus, it’s quite loud which gives it a fantastic performance.
Kids and beginners will enjoy playing this instrument very much. Professional guitar players can also use this as a spare when they need to do some practicing. So, as you can see, playability here is quite impressive.
Like we mentioned initially, the manufacturers only used high quality materials for this guitalele. So, when it comes to durability, this guitalele has that aspect on lockdown. However the kids knock this about, the guitalele would bounce back.
Plus, the high glossy finish, in addition to beautifying the guitalele, also enhances durability as well.
This comes with 6 strings as you’d expect – 3 of them are metal, while 3 are nylon. We don’t understand why the makers decided on this. But we suspect that you might have to change them out to truly enjoy this instrument.
For accessories, this guitalele comes with an exquisite purse and guitar picks. But we’re a bit confused about whether the purse an actual purse or just a different way of saying “carrying case”.
(4.2 / 5)- Decently priced.
- High quality, durable materials.
- Warm, lovely tone.
- Excellent guitalele choice for kids.
- Not exactly sure whether this comes with a carrying case or not.
3 Donner DGL-1 28 Inch Guitalele
Lastly, we move to a more popular guitar brand known as Donner. We’ll be reviewing its Donner DGL-1 28 Inch Guitalele – an excellent instrument worth considering. This shares some similarities with the Yamaha GL-1, like the strings for instance.
There are 6 strings on this guitalele just like on every standard guitalele. These strings are made from nylon and are pretty okay too.
Also, with its compact size (baritone ukulele size), this guitalele is comfortable to hold. Plus, it plays just like an actual guitar.
This guitalele is also quite portable which makes it convenient for travel. It’s also pretty attractive, so, you’ll be proud to whip this out anywhere. The 17 frets are beautifully marked at the 5th, 7th, 9th, and 12th positions. And this also adds to the beauty of this instrument.
We truly appreciate the craftsmanship Donner brings to the table on the DGL-1. Thanks to the quality construction, this instrument plays really well, lasts long, and produces a beautiful sound. It also gives the player a firm and comfortable grip.
One thing that truly sets this apart from the other guitaleles on our roundup today is the fact that it comes with several accessories. The accessories include a set of stings, polishing cloth, a clip on tuner (with battery), and a strap.
These accessories are pretty good quality and easy to use. So, altogether, Donner does it for us again. This is a great ukulele.
(3.6 / 5)- Great quality especially for the price.
- Great sound.
- Fantastic sustain.
- Comes with several good quality accessories.
- Be prepared to smoothen the frets with a file as they come a bit sharp.
Best Guitalele Buying Guide
Here’s our simple guide to understanding the guitalele. It should give you a better understanding of the guitalele as well as show you how to buy it. But first, what exactly is a guitalele?
What Is A Guitalele?
The guitalele is an interesting instrument which allows you to play guitar chords and scales on an instrument that looks like a ukulele.
The guitalele typically features 6 strings like your normal acoustic guitar. However, there’s a slight difference. You’d have to tune a guitalele to a 4th which is slightly higher than on the guitar. Besides that, both instruments are quite similar.
Now that you know what a guitalele really is, let’s find out why you should consider playing the guitalele.
Why You Should Consider Playing The Guitalele
If you’re looking to play the ukulele or guitar in future, a great place to start is the guitalele. For people who play the guitalele, making the transition to a guitar when the time comes is usually much easier. It also works for kids or any person at all who’s interested in playing a fun instrument.
How To Buy A Guitalele
Here are some factors to consider when in the market for a guitalele for you or your child. As you go through this guide, keep in mind that “expensive” does not always translate to “high quality”. And “cheap” is not always translate to a “value purchase”.
Now, here are our top consideration factors for getting a guitalele.
Which To Buy – New or Old?
We’d advise you to go for a new guitalele because it will pay you in the long run. For one, you’d most likely want to pass it on. And then again, guitaleles are not very strong instruments and may easily get damaged. For this reason, a new guitalele is advised.
Plus, guitaleles don’t even come expensive. So, why consider a used one?
Size
When it comes to instruments in general, size is always one factor you should consider. However, it’s quite different for a guitalele. You see, guitaleles come in only two sizes which are the 27 and the 28 inch guitaleles.
Guitaleles are generally smaller than your average guitar but also as large as a large sized uke. So, as you can see, when it comes to guitaleles, size isn’t something that should worry you much.
Strings
The kind of strings you get affects both playability and sound as you well know. Now, there are guitalele strings which you can get for a decent price. These strings typically tend to give your guitalele a real classic, guitalele sound
However, if you’d rather a high pitched sound, then you might want to consider getting traditional classic guitar strings. A good brand to consider is Aquila.
Conclusion
Our best guitalele for today goes to the Yamaha GL Series GL1 TBS Guitalele. It’s simply the best sounding guitalele on the market. It’s super easy to play, even for kids. And with its versatility, you’ll be able to play this with any genre of music.
Just don’t forget to change out the strings, and then this baby is golden! You’re sure gonna love it!