Yamaha Acoustic Guitalele, GL1 – A Hybrid Between Guitar and Ukulele (70 cm) with 6 Strings (3 Nylon/3 Metal Wound, Commonly Known as a Nylon String Set) and Fitted Yamaha Gigbag – Black
Yamaha GL1 Ukulele… 100% fun!
Guitalele with a Bold Sound
The Yamaha GL1 is the perfect companion for travel enthusiasts and adventurous road-trippers. Small enough to throw over your shoulder, the classic ukulele sound is at your fingertips, wherever you are when inspiration hits.
The Yamaha GL1 delivers fantastic value, great sound, solid craftsmanship and the look and feel of a ukulele to guitarists of any age and ability.
The guitalele comes in a range of colours and includes a gig bag.
Product Features:
- Top: Spruce
- Back/Sides: Meranti
- Neck: Nato
- Fingerboard: Sonokeling, ¼ size (short 435mm scale length)
- Bridge: Sonokeling
- Finish: Clear Matte
- Overall length: 70cm
- Colours: Natural, Persimmon Brown, Tobacc o Brown and Black.
Meet your Other Half
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Guitalele with large performanceTonewoods are used throughout the construction to produce an impressive voice that belies its small size. Famed for its warm and balanced sound with even and clear response from both the highs and the lows – important for developing good technique right from the start. | Travel CompanionSuitable for players of all ages and playing levels, the neck is expertly scaled down and contoured for easy accurate playing. Soft comfortable feel from nylon strings can be tuned to higher A or standard E tuning with quality tuning gearing for simple, stable and reliable tuning. | Choose CraftsmanshipYamaha Guitars are world renowned for decades of innovative design and genuine craftsmanship of the highest quality. Select tonewoods and quality hardware deliver uncompromised tone and playability – whether it‘s a beginner or a professional model. |
Push Things Forward
Yamaha has designed guitars since 1966. Yet have we ever slowed down or been stuck in the past? Not a chance! Whether it’s entirely new models, or small changes and improvements – innovation makes Yamaha first in the world of guitars!
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| Guitar Type | Guitalele | Classical guitar | Classical guitar for children | Electric guitar | Western guitar |
| Level | Advanced and Intermediate | Beginner | Beginner | Beginner | Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced |
| Recommended Age | Aged 12+ | Aged 11+ | Ages 8-12 | Aged 11+ | Aged 12+ |
| Purpose | Fun | Practice Instrument | Practice Instrument | Entry-level for E-Guitars | Practice Instrument for Guitar Players |
| Strings | Nylon | Nylon (Comfortable Fit for Children) | Nylon (Comfortable Fit for Children) | Steel | Steel |
| Size | 1/4 | 4/4 | 3/4 | 4/4 | 4/4 |
| Neck Width | 47.5 mm | 52 mm | 48 mm | 41 mm | 43 mm |
| Colour | Natural, Black, Tobacc o Brown Sunburst, Persimmon Brown | Natural, Natural Matt, Black | Natural | Metallic Blue, Metallic Red, Black, Vintage White | Natural, Black, Tobacc o Brown Sunburst |
| Suitable for Hand Luggage | ✓ | – | – | – | – |
| Weight: | 998 g |
| Size: | Full Size |
| Dimensions: | 71 x 23 x 8 cm; 997.9 Grams |
| Model: | GL1BL |
| Colour: | Black |
| Colour: | Black |
| Origin: | Indonesia |
| Size: | Full Size |
Consiglio accordatura per guitalele adgcea perch cos si valorizza lo strumento. Rispetto alla accordatura di una chitarra normale , il guitalele si accorda alla quinta . In poche parole , per suonare un MI standard sul guitalele dovete mettere l’accordo SI. Se sul guitatele mettete un MI in realt state eseguendo un La , perch Mi la quinta di la. Per cui, per chi gi suona la chitarra, non deve imparare nuovi accordi . Nota negativa che per ora si scorda veramente facilmente. Io ho gi 4 ukulele e questo veramente non tiene per ora. Ho comprato corde aquila red series e spero che tengano meglio. Il suono comunque accattivante.
El instrumento hermoso y de buena calidad, la entrega de amazon horrible, groceseros y muy muy mediocres como siempre
This thing came quicky to me in Hawaii, and it is in perfect condition! Since it had nylon/classical type strings, it is going to take much longer for the strings to settle down and stop sretching. Way longer than my steel stringers. So, don’t write a review after a few days complaining about this. All classical style nylon string guitars do this! Pick it up,tune it, play it, and keep tuning it. The tuners on mine seem just fine. It is a total blast for me to play. It sounds great, especially for the small body size. It has very good volume and sustain too. A bit stingy on the fret markers, both on the fingerboard and side of the neck. If you have big fingers, some chording might be a bit crowded. It doesn’t have a truss rod. But, many classical guitars and many other guitaleles don’t have them either. I have yet to read a review, or watch a video review, where the owner had a neck warp. In short, I should have bought one of these long ago.
Buen sonido para el tamao de la caja. Estara bien que llevara roseta, sin ella parece que no est terminado. El principal problema es que los trastes son muy estrechos y si aadimos que las cuerdas estn ms tensadas que las de la guitarra slo los acordes al aire suenan bien, Nada nuevo, el instrumento es as. Pero cuando hay que hacer acordes con cejilla los dedos apenas caben y debido a la tensin de las cuerdas, se hace un poco difcil de ejecutar, as que he optado por la afinaci de la guitarra, y al aflojar las cuerdas, y con un poco de paciencia todo va saliendo ms o menos bien. Quedo satisfecho por la compra, pero a tener en cuenta que es un instrumento para pasar un buen rato y no como un instrumento nico, siempre es mejor una guitarra. Por el sonido que tiene, pacecido al del banjo, es muy apropiado para msica country cuyas canciones en su mayora tienen los acordes al aire y suenan muy bien. Jordi
I bought this for my 4.5 year old rather than a ‘toy’ guitar as I wanted something that actually worked and didn’t have any issues with strings loosening. My 4.5 year old loves it as well as my husband who will play it at any opportunity as it is kept out all the time. We did have one issue with the strings delaminating, which my husband said he’d never experienced before. The strings were like this as soon as the guitar arrived.
ot a ukulele, git six strings but with ukulele sound,perfect if you after that sound
What a great time I’ve had learning to play this instrument in lockdown. I’m a complete beginner, the size is perfect for me and I’m pleased with its looks and the sound it has. I have arthritic hands and have managed to cover most of the chords in my beginner book (purchased separately). So glad I purchased it.
This was bought as a present for me as I wanted a small travel guitar. Great fun, good for messing about on. May be a bit cramped for some, an A major chord is very tight!! Maybe a Cordoba Mini would be more suitable for those that want something a bit more serious for practice. Main gripe was the high action. Needed to loosen off the strings, remove the saddle and file quite a bit off the bottom to lower the action. Simple and quick to do though. Sounds good though, and it gets picked up a lot by all that play guitar, and always forces a smile!
I have a 7 years old daughter. I want her to do the guitar from an early age. For now I bought it for me and soon will be buying acoustic guitar so we can play together. The guitalele will be passed onto my daughter.The guitalele is same as guitar but is just a little version. I have played all the chords and plugging. It can be played perfectly. For Adult the chords could be hard to play due to the size. I can play it perfectly. Yamaha speaks with brand so the sound is perfect. It is handy to play and can be taken to any travel during camping or holiday weekend. Yes, it is little expensive compared to others but the brands do matter with quality finishing and beautiful sound from it.
Very impressed. The tuning and intonation is good. The overall playability is also good. I have myself played guitar for years and are an experienced musician. For the price you would expect many failings particularly with a small instrument. However the tone is lovely and as I have said in tune accross the neck. Of course for the small body amplitude is low but matches my tenor ukulele. The finish is nice and a great option for guitarist who have tried the ukulele bit miss the range of 6 strings.
When I first played this instrument after tuning it I was amazed at the sound quality at both end of the scale. The bass sound volume and quality was much more than I expected from a Ukulele sized body.
Unfortunately the neck was almost as narrow as my soprano Ukulele but with two extra strings squeezed on which made fingering difficult for someone who is 6 feet two inches tall. I can play the soprano Ukulele but the narrow spacing of the Guitalele strings beat me.
Because of this I had to return it to Amazon but this in no way reflects on the instrument which I would recommend it to anyone that can finger it and very well done Yamaha.
Perfect for holidays. Sound acceptable for that kind of use and very playable.
This is the second Yamaha GL1 I have bought.
Honestly, there’s a lot here for a guitarist or a ukulele player.
The tone is great, the treble strings sound as they should and you get a surprising amount of bass on the lower bass strings. The matt finish is also nice, it looks especially good on the sunburst model as you can see the real wood beneath the usual surface and it looks pretty good.
Good things:
Sounds great has a well-balanced tone and has a fast response to the string.
The fretwork is excellent and didn’t have any rough edges.
Binding on the edge of the guitar is a lovely touch, adds a real feeling of quality
The sunburst effect is great too, my good lady commented on how pretty it was.
The strings that come supplied are not terrible.
Bad Things
The action is a little high. But a few minutes with a file and concentration takes care of that. Just don’t take too much off!
The strings are close together. Bit of a no-brainer, but I have big hands, and its a squeeze. But that’s part of the challenge.
It’s not a loud instrument. To really make it yell you have to pick hard. But, good for conditioning the fingers.
All in, worth every penny and I would recommend it to everyone who wants to try something new.
I bought this with the aim of teaching a seven year old some basic chords. I realised my mistake as soon as I unboxed. It has a regular sized neck and isn’t the same as a junior size guitar.
Saying that, it’s a really good guitarlele. It’s well made and has a great sound. We will just have to persevere and do what we can, whilst her hands grow!
Great little guitar.good sound for its size.but it’s not loud so great for practise and play if you live in a flat.cuz however much you love your guitar playing your neighbor’s won’t be as enthusiastic if they can hear it all night long.tuned mine as a guitar eadgbe and sounds better than the recommended tuning.because the fretboard is only a foot long is great for hand eye coordination. But having said that the frets and strings are alot closer together so more Accurate finger work is needed.i also like the matte finish.very very happy with everything.fast delivery and well packed too.
I use these all the time for my work in schools and the community as they’re really easy to take on buses and trains (it’ll also fit in your hand luggage on a plane!) They’re well built and sound great. It also helps that the neck is a standard guitar width so you’re not thrown by where to put your fingers. Tuning is standard guitar but five frets higher. It’s surprisingly loud for such a small instrument. The included case isn’t going to protect it from much but is a useful inclusion. It’s also lots of fun. I’ve been playing these for years and love em!
I am retired and have been playing the guitar practically every day since I was eleven years old.
I decided to purchase the Yamaha Guitalele to give it a try. I have loved the little instruments ever since taking it out of the box. It is beside me on the settee always and it is played many times each day. It has come to the point where I now prefer to play the guitalele than my full size guitar. It’s so light and comfortable to play and can be quickly grabbed when there are adverts on the tv!.
I have had the guitalele for a few years now and would say that it is by far one of the best purchases I have ever made. Since buying the guitalele I have bought two different sizes of ukulele too, and very pleased with these also.
I wanted something that would allow me to get a uke-cum-banjo sound for some Irish folk songs. I didn’t want to learn a new instrument for this so I bought this. And it is perfect.
I can use all the guitar chord shapes (although obviously they’re a fourth up in pitch) so it was immediately playable and usable.
The quality is pretty good. It isn’t a high end instrument and that’s apparent, but it is better than I expected for the price. There are no dead frets or sharp fret ends and the intonation is pretty good for such a short scale.
The tuners are fine, though not brilliant, and the neck is very playable.
The only downside is the supplied strings. They are not great, but they are usable.
If you are looking for a great little instrument for a bit of fun or to add to your collection, you probably won’t regret getting one of these.
Excellent. I needed a small guitar for noodling about on when on holidays or away with work, any situation where lugging along one of my Ibanez electrics just wasn’t practical. I have owned a few small travel guitars in the past but they have all suffered from fairly terrible playability. Not so here. This little gem of an instrument plays beautifully, whether finger style or picked. The action is perfect. It has a full, singing tone. Highly, highly recommended, and cheap enough to not worry about too much when on your travels!
I highly recommend this instrument. It holds its tuning and stays in tune all the way up the neck and it has a very playable action and the strings aren’t too close together.
I bought this thinking it would be more like a toy than an instrument I could take seriously. However, I was pleasantly surprised with its tone and build quality. It has its own unique sound and once you get used to the frets size it’s awesome. Perfect for travelling and practicing those scales! If you love playing and don’t want to take your trusty full size on the road, then you can’t go wrong.
Super little instrument. Portable, playable and a nice tone (with surprising sustain). No negatives.
I was bought this Yamaha Guitalele by my wife as a travel guitar – and it has seen some mileage already, stuffed in my backpack and dragged round airports, buses, boats, you name it.
A lot of people have given it a 5 star but you need to be aware that this is no guitar equivalent of a Stradivarius. It is a cheap little guitar that is mass produced by Yamaha in Indonesia. That said, I really do like it and it has already provided me endless hours of fun playing it on our travels, when we are away from our home where I left my decent guitars.
I have pretty small hands and fingers so for me it plays pretty well at the top end of the neck, though bar chords further down are a bit tricky as the frets begin to get closer together. The sound is acceptable but not the greatest. I tune it A/D/G/C/E/A, which is the same as you get on a normally tuned guitar with a capo at the 5th fret. So, you just play normal guitar chord shapes, remembering that they will be in a different key. This tuning is basically the same as ukulele tuning (G/C/E/A but the ukulele as a ‘high’ G) so I simply use my electronic tuner set to ‘ukulele’ to tune the top 4 strings. The base A you can still tune with the tuner, which only leaves the 5th string to improvise a bit.
I did wear through the 4th string pretty quickly and it snapped after only about 4 weeks of playing. I have replaced the original strings with a set of decent D’Addario light classical nylon strings and these seem to be lasting better. Even though we are based in a very hot country where the temperature does vary quite a bit, I find the strings stay pretty much in tune.
So in summary, a decent little guitar that is ideal for travelling or just messing around on. It’s certainly not a toy and probably good enough for a little child to at least get started with learning guitar. It is not a major investment and so in my opinion you really can’t go wrong with it.
I was looking for something portable and not too precious so that I can take it on trips and to singers’ nights. I thought I would have to learn the ukelele but then I spied this. It is just the job. Cheap, small, decent tone, holds a fairly decent tuning, and you don’t have to learn a new instrument. Unexpected bonuses are that it is much easier to keep in little corners around the house eg beside the sofa and to strum and muck about with whilst reading, rearranging music etc or just loafing about. It is tuned to A which takes a bit getting used to but not a problem.
Its a great instrument to have sitting around – a little ‘situationally’ useful but you can’t go wrong for the price. I wouldn’t buy it as your only guitar if you are a complete beginner though – you will get used to (wrong) size and you will need to transpose chords (because of the tuning – remember all tutorials, books and videos are made for normal guitars!). If you have some basic theory under your belt and can write/arrange songs to work for it, then you can make good use out of it and its a no-brainer.
Amazing quality and a pretty amusing and handy instrument to play.
Very handy for when I’m travelling as a passenger on car journeys.
Just ordered it. But totally freaked out @ discovering this product with the help of a class musician. Reading the reviews. It is good that the product omes with a bag. There are not many bundles available along with this guitar. More updates after I receive my Guitalele.
As a guitarist of 45+ years with many quality guitars in my collection, I went looking for a travel guitar, but bought this instead. For the money, it is unbelievably good. It would be a great guitar for young beginners yet big hands like mine can still manage quite well. Like a uke, it gives its best tone when played over the sound hole, not so good nearer the bridge – but in my experience you won’t find anything better for this money.
Lovely instrument, got it for my son and he loves playing it. Arrived very quickly too.
I love this little baby guitar thing.Take it anywhere and practice you guitar chords and licks.Pick it strum it or whatever your style it will give you hours of fun.It plays well enough all the way up the neck and has a mellow tone.The good thing is its not too expensive compared to others on the market.
It looks and feels great! Although, it didn’t come tuned. I’m too scared to tune it because it feels like the strings will snap. It’s such a cute size! And the bag it comes with is sturdy and a great addition to the deal.
Very pleased with this item. It also arrived very quickly.
very cute but very useable instrument, i love looking at it as well as playing it! strings took a while to settle before they would hold their tune but thats the same for most stringed instruments. will probably change them very soon anyway. delievery was quick and item well packaged. great item for the price.
Well, I was wrong. This is a beautiful instrument.
The tuning lets you transition seamlessly from a uke because the highest 4 strings retain the usual soprano uke tuning. So you can immediately play familiar pieces while ignoring your two new strings. You’ll need to get used to the mellowness of the low-G, plus you now have a vastly increased range.
The tone of the instrument is much, much nicer than the uke. And I love my ukes. It’s more guitar-like, although the higher the note you’re playing, the more uke-like it sounds. But the two don’t sound the same, there’s no question the deeper body of the guilele makes for a rounder, sweeter tone.
The build quality of the instrument is great, it’s well finished, nice tidy fret edges, markers on the side of the neck as well as on the fret board so you know where you are. It feels solid with good quality fittings, is fitted with nice strings (nylon, with the lowest 3 wound, as you’d get with a classical guitar), and it’s a very attractive colour.
I love this thing. It’s 50. Buy one!
It’s not just a small guitar, It’s also a new instrument to experiment with. Everyone should own a guitalele.
I am really impressed by the sound of my Yamaha guitalele – good tone and sustain. It works as a tenor uke by using only GCEA with low G, and as a mini guitar when using all 6 strings. Saw a video about it, love the concept of a dual purpose ukulele and guitar and went for it. The canvas bag is solid and well made, but if you want a padded bag the guitalele will also fit into a tenor ukulele bag.
Dispatch and packing were perfect, the guitalele arrived needing some attention to make it play well. The factory set up ok, apart from the 3rd string which was not sitting in the nut slot as it was slightly too narrow.
The nut got re cut, the frets and fretboard needed a light polish and oiling and the bridge was for my tastes about 5mm too tall, a little time sanding it down soon sorted this.
Fixing this took about an hour and now I have a fantastic instrument that is hard to put down.
The GL1 offers fantastic value for money, I would always expect to do some set up work on a guitar, even ones that cost 10 times the price of the GL1.
Highly recommended.
Great feel, texture and noise. Perfectly formed and a nice package with its case. Would highly recommend this product to any age
Great little instrument at a good price. As with other reviewers the finish is slightly patchy in places e.g. you can feel the dried glue on the edges BUT at the price I wouldn’t expect perfection. Anyway, the important thing is that it plays well, holds tune and intonation and has a really nice sound. Very pleased I bought it. Five stars as overall its great value and very playable
As a previous guitar player now converted to the Ukulele, this is a great addition to my collection, a sort of halfway house between the two.
Nicely made and a bright sound.
Very happy at the price paid.
Good. Played a lot. Easy to just pick up and play. Small enough to just sit anywhere without worry. Fu
This is a great sounding baby guitar – very portable. Good value for money. Neat little instrument that plays well.
It feels pretty solidly built and well finished. Some people have complained about the action height (distance between the strings and the neck) but mine is very low which makes it very easy to play. The guy in the shop suggested it could be tuned to standard guitar tuning from new but this is not the case as the strings become too loose to play. As such it has its own ‘guitalele’ tuning, being ADGCEA (rather than traditional guitar EADGBE). Uke fans will recognise the GCEA there.
Essentially it is tuned as if playing a standard guitar with a capo on the 5th fret.
The tone is pretty good, and this can be cleaned up significantly with Aquila nylgut strings. I’m told there are suitable strings out there that will allow this to be tuned to normal guitar tuning (Baritone uke strings) but I have not tried this to confirm.
Technicalities aside this is hugely fun to play. I initially bought this as a novelty item but frequently pick it up instead of the full size guitar, plus being so small it is fantastically portable so it goes everywhere with me now!
Would I recommend this as a starter guitar or ukulele alternative? No.
Would I recommend it as an addition to either of the above? Very much yes! Small, fun, convenient, and well made.
Bit fiddly to tune up sometimes, intonation probably a bit out compared to my full sized guitars, but it just sounds lovely and begs to be played. Its the same as a normal guitar capped at the A fret 5.
Great to have a noodle in the living room and you don’t feel like your going to accidently knock someone’s teeth out with it! Not for fat fingers though and may have to keep nails short on fret hand ‘cus it’s a bit of a squeeze. Saves me having to use my big guitars which are all capped at fret 5.
Would not hesitate to get one for the kids if they show an interest. Much better than the cheap ukulele I bought one of them – that WAS a waste of time an money.