Going Headless for 369$ - Eart GW-1 Review & Strandberg Comparison
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- Reviewing the Eart GW-1 #headless #guitar and making a (kinda unnecessary) comparison to a Strandberg Original and a pretty standard Ibanez RG.
Some Notes:
1. I did not keep the guitar.
2. Maybe I will do some more tech demos and reviews, but it still won't be the focus. So maybe a sub could be interesting to you. Dunno, you decide ;)
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This is one the most honest and helpful review of the Eart GW-1 (2) 🙂
I have this guitar in black, I got it used and it plays great. I had to repair the threaded screw holes for the string clamp and I swapped the pickups and electronics. It's the only guitar I have that doesn't have a floyd rose tremolo. The bridge is called a 'Guyker W1003 headless' and is the thing I like the least about this guitar.
There should be a screw near the tremolo hole to adjust the fit. Mine is not hard to set the tremolo arm. hope it helps. About the tunning, Its near to imposible to do it with the tool they provide. I use a normal Hex wrench, that makes it much more easier.
EarT is extremely frustrating to me, because the trem model is completely unavailable here in the USA...you can buy the fixed bridge GW2 you can buy here all day long, but not the GW1 with a trem...regardlless, thanks for doing this video.
I guess you don't really miss out on the trem model tbh. Take a look at GOC guitars maybe. Gonna do a review of one of their guitars soon. They're kinda difficult to get (only sold in batches and by a few dealers) but they announced a trem model. Price is high compared to Eart, but well worth it if you ask me.
Where did you find the GW1? All I can find is GW2s.
Seems like this guitar is out of stock/EOL. They added the Pro series now though.
If you have some more money to spare, you might want to look at GOC guitars, way better in my opinion. Haven't seen one with trem though.
@@frankyfire-tech I got hold of factory where they produce Eart guitars and they told me they no longer make a headless with a tremolo.
That is the W1 model not the W2. I have the W2. Has the great fixed bridge which is great. Send that one back and have them send you the real W2. You will be happy.
You're absolutely right, that's the GW-1. Fixed it in tile and description. Thank you for pointing this out!
I still highly doubt that I would like the GW-2 with the fixed bridge. The hardware is bad, turning the tuners is hard and lacks precision, the pickups are still not adjustable (but that's a thing in more guitars as I figured out later, it's just that the initial setup is quite bad in this case) and what haven't mentioned in the video: They did not isolate the electronics. No isolation paint or metal foil in there, just bare wood. There are just so many minor issues that add up. The price is hot for a headless guitar, because there are not yet many competitors. But comparing it to my similarly priced Ibanez RG would be a clear decision towards the Ibanez.
But I just saw that they added a GW-2 Pro to the range of headless guitars and that one looks really interesting. It uses different hardware closer to what I know from other headless guitars. Would love to try this one and for 600$ it's definitely very attractive!
@@frankyfire-tech Most everyone gripes about the W1 bridge, but the opposite is true with the W2 bridge. Works better than any tuning system I have encountered. Stays in tune super well. Only thing I had to do was straighten the neck a tad with the truss rod wheel and it has the best low action. My favorite guitar and I have 20. ua-cam.com/video/UtU2g1AZS2I/v-deo.html
@@twowaymuir Nice review! You want to test mine? I actually refunded it, got the money back but they were unable to tell me where to send it back to. E-Mailed them 3 times afterwards and never got a response. That was sometime in January until March, I highly doubt that they are going to ask me to send it back at any time.
As I'm from germany too, it shouldn't be too difficult to ship it to you.
By the way: It's the guitar I like the second least of my 7 (counting in my bass and acoustic), only undercut by a 200$ ESP 7 string. Mainly due to the bridge, but also the general quality did not convince as much as it did in your case. I forgot to include pictures showing the frets. They are nicely rounded off at the ends, but not centered at all. They look like pre-cut (not a bad idea at all) and inserted. It works, but it does not make it feel like it has some super special stainless steel frets.
If you're interested in other headless guitars: I acquired a GOC Vajra recently which I will probably review too. Price tag is on a completely different level, but overall quality is as well. They are my go to brand for headless guitars right now. Spending twice as much for a Strandberg is not worth it in my opinion. So stay tuned if you're interested!
@@frankyfire-tech Frank, that wasn't my video just one I shared. I don't live in Germany, but in North Carolina U.S. The W2 I received last year is flawless and I am very happy with it so not in need of another guitar. I look forward to your video on the GOC Vajra.
GW2 all the way. Just compare the ratings on Amazon gw1 has one star. Very happy with my GW2 and play it constantly. I've already worn a shiny spot where I anchor my picking hand and I haven't had it that long. Yep pickup adjustment is not good. It's foam pads under pickups. I changed to active EMG pickups and just adjusted the size of the foam underneath.
Did you lubricate the tuning pegs at all?
No, haven't done that so far, but will test if it works for you. But I highly doubt that, because they turn easily when there's no string tension. I also would expect the manufacturer to do that right away. It also will not eliminate the problem that you will always detune your guitar a lot when just making small adjustments on the tuning peg.
@@frankyfire-tech I wouldn't put any expectations on a $50 Chinese bridge to be honest. I just bought one of the hardtails after watching your review, I'll let you know how it is.
@@dieselgoinham Hope it works well for you. Let me know how you like that one! :)
@@frankyfire-tech OK so after playing it for a few hours here's my thoughts.
Aesthetically everything was pretty solid. Routing looks good, no obvious flaws in the finish. The only knock is the pickups aren't mounted perfectly parallel. They're slightly canted.
As far as playability it was setup pretty well out of the box. 1.5mm on the bass side, 1.25mm on the treble. A little too much relief in the neck for me, a few turns of the truss rod and now we're at 1mm on bass and 0.75 on the treble. Out of the box setup didn't buzz at all, at this current height (which I acknowledge is quite low) I get a little buzz on the A but I don't have it fully dialed in yet. Fretwork is solid, and obviously the fret ends are perfect. Holds tune pretty well, but does have a little pitch shift.
3 way switch feels good, pots feel a little scratchy but function fine, I wouldn't really knock that. I can turn the bridge tuners by hand, not super easy but definetly doable.
The pickups sound absolutely awful with distortion. Clean they sound alright though.
Overall for $332 I'm pretty happy, and plays better than my MIM strat. But it sounds like ass.
@@dieselgoinham Sounds like very minor issues. I think I swapped the pickups in 50% of the guitars I own, which is why I think it is okay to include those bad pickups. Switch them and it will sound great. At least for the audience and your recordings the wood of the guitar doesn't matter.