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Encore Ultimate Electric Guitar Pack

 

Encore Complete Electric Guitar Starter Pack reviewed by The Man in the Jar

This pack contains everything you need to start playing electric guitar. But we know quality and playability are also important considerations for any would-be guitar student, so we decided to open the box.  

The pack includes a Stratocaster-type guitar, a Kustom 10 watt amp, gigbag, guitar stand, electronic tuner, guitar lead, guitar strap, a tutorial video, a spare set of light gauge strings and a plectrum. The most important bit of this is, of course, the guitar.

Features of the Encore Electric Guitar

Tuners - Unbranded, covered type. Unsealed units like this tend to feel less smooth than sealed units but these tuners were easy to use and brought the guitar nicely into tune without any jumps or jolts.

Headstock - The guitar as a whole is obviously "inspired" by the Fender Stratocaster. The headstock is a kind of snubby cross between a Strat and a Telecaster which fits well with the overall vibe of the guitar. 

Nut - White plastic type set in a slot in the fingerboard, tidily finished.

Neck - Maple neck with a smooth "sanded" finish. There's a very slight chunkiness at the headstock end that will be a positive advantage for beginners starting to develop good playing technique. The neck as a whole is comfortable and very playable with a feeling of quality that belies the bargain basement price.  

Fretboard - Nice smooth rosewood board with pearloid dot markers, well finished and very playable.

Frets - Medium rounded with a nice profile that helps the beginner to develop accurate fretting skills.

Action - The guitar has a medium action straight from the box. There is certainly room for adjustment at the bridge but I'd tend to leave it where it is for a beginner, the slight resistance of a medium action encourages accurate fretting and develops left-hand strength.

Body - The specifications identify this as a laminate body, which is to be expected at this price point. However the grain that showed through the sunburst finish on the front of the model I tried was attractively even.
The body is the classic Stratocaster shape with all the ergonomic advantages of that design. It's a surprisingly heavy body for the cost and this means the guitar is well balanced as it sits on the strap, another important plus for the beginner. 

Bridge - This is a good quality floating vibrato (or tremolo) equipped bridge. There's a saddle for each string which is fully adjustable for action (height) and intonation (string length). The bridge is secured by and pivots on six screws across the leading edge. The vibrato arm is threaded and can be removed when not required.
A couple of notes on vibrato - If you are a beginner I suggest you remove the vibrato arm and put it in a safe place until you've learnt to play the guitar moderately well. Vibrato is a tricky technique to master and should be near to last on your list of things to learn. Once you start to use the vibrato arm in your playing remember to occasionally tighten the six screws that secure the bridge. The vibrato mechanism puts these screws under stress and they will begin to work loose over time.  

Pickups - Three single coil pickups in classic Stratocaster configuration.

Controls - One master volume, one tone for the middle pickup, one tone for the neck pickup and a five-way selector switch to choose bridge only, bridge + middle, middle only, middle + neck, neck only. 

Pickguard - Three- ply plastic in the distinctive Strat shape.

Strap-buttons - Medium size located in the top horn and the bottom of the body.

Output Jack - Set in the front of the body in a classic Strat dish fitting.

Finish - Finish is very good throughout and is excellent considering the price of the instrument.

 

The other main component in the pack is the Kustom KGA 10FX 10 watt practise amp. Impressively for its size this amp sports two channels serving the single input, one for Lead guitar, the other for Rhythm guitar with a push-button to switch between the two. Essentially the Rhythm channel is clean and has a single volume control. The Lead channel has a volume control and a Gain control. The Gain control adds overdrive or distortion to the guitar sound.

Both channels are served by an EQ section that has Low, Mid and High controls. It's worth noting that these controls are of the "roll-off" variety. That means that when they are fully on (fully clockwise) the signal from the guitar is unaltered. Moving the knobs in a counter clockwise direction begins the process of rolling off the specified frequencies.

The last control is an Effects Volume. The effect is a hybrid reverb/echo. Set this at zero to turn off the effect, turn clockwise to gradually add more of the effect.

The back-panel holds the main on/off switch together with sockets for an extension speaker, a line out (for a mixer or recording), a headphone socket and a CD/Tape input. Always remember to turn the volume on the amp to zero before you connect your headphones.      

 

Sound of the Encore Electric Guitar Pack

Pickups on guitars of this price range will never match the depth of tonality of their more expensive cousins. The standard single-coils on this model deliver a bright and clear sound without any noticeable hum or hiss. The selector makes the best of these pickups by offering the choice of five configurations from jangley bridge position to mellow neck position and all points in between.

Plugging into the Kustom amp reveals the true value of this starter package for the beginner guitarist. Using the clean channel I could get some really nice sounds that retained absolute definition allowing me to hear exactly what I was playing and how well I was playing it. But when practise is over it's time to punch in the Lead channel, crank the Gain and let rip. Even with the Encore's single coil pickups I could get some fun rock sounds out of the tiny Kustom.  

 

Overall Impressions of the Encore Electric Guitar Pack

This package offers a one-stop solution for anyone wishing to begin their journey into the world of the electric guitar. At £120 it represents amazing value. But it also delivers quality as well. The guitar will allow the beginner or novice to progress to a high standard before any thought of an upgrade becomes necessary. The amplifier is perfect for bedroom use and small-scale jamming and will remain so even after you've upgraded to a beefier unit.
I would not hesitate to recommend this package for young beginners, guitar students or people who just fancy having an axe around the house. It's a perfect Christmas present too!

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