Startone CG 851 1/2

I can't praise these guitars highly enough.

The build quality and finish is good and all of the proportions thomann are correct.

The nut is well finished and the height of the nut is correctly set so that pitch isn't altered when depressing the strings on the lower frets as with some cheap instruments.

The bridge height is set well so that the overall string height is correct.

The neck width is right for a 1/2 and the fanning on the strings means that they are correctly spaced under the right hand.

The sound is good from the 1/2 body and its size is both large enough for the depth of sound and small enough to be right for a smaller player.

Many instruments at this price range are no more than toys. This is a well finished instrument with a high-quality sound for the size of body.

Additionally, I have ordered over 20 of these guitars in 3/4 1/2 and 1/4 and they are consistent in quality and appearance which is important when ordering from another country as to send an instrument back with insurance costs nearly as much as the instrument itself. You need to trust Thomann's quality control and you can!

I hire guitars to pupils and the Thomann 1/2 Classic-Guitar Gigbag #237374 is excellent value and provides really good protection.

I bought this for my four year old son as a birthday present. For the price I was not expecting something amazing, and that was fine - it is a first guitar, something that I knew would be taking a few knocks along the way.

So I was pleasantly surprised to hear how good this guitar sounds. I do not have much experience with acoustic guitars ( I play bass ) but I like this enough that it makes me want to play it. The small body is perfect for my kid but not so small that it feels like a toy.

The Startone is a well built instrument for a great price. A neighbour had bought an acoustic guitar in a toy shop for her daughter and showed it to me - it was a horrible thing, basically formed chipboard. There were sharp bits of wood sticking out everywhere, and the tuners could barely turn. This guitar was nothing more than a decoration but was almost the same price as the Startone. I thoroughly recommend the Startone to anyone looking a beginner guitar to inspire them.

It is a 35 bucks 1/2 guitar and when I ordered it I was somewhat affraid of what I will actually get as it was a gift. And I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and looks of the guitar.

Ok, it looks really good. The first glance at the guitar did not reveal anything that would show its low price.
I was also affraid that the fretboard and frets will be sharper, but they are not. My girlfriend (150cm) to whom I have bought it has been playing it regularly and has no problems with scratches and all these annoying things some cheap guitars cause.

The sound is fine. Took it to a friend who is a long-term guitar player and he did find only a few things which could e really improved (e.g. the neck is not completely narrow, it was just slightly bend).

The only problem with in terms of function is with the tuning machines - they cannot keep the tune well and the guitar has to be re-tuned every 2-3 days. Maybe different strings would help but as it is the review of the product delivered, I should talk about the product which came in the box without any changes.

In terms easthetics I also have only one problem. The insides of the guitar really smell of glue. I would say that they REEK of glue. You cannot really smell if you just hold the guitar, but when you inspect closely you can really notice it.

Overall it is a great product for the value. You cannot get anything of this quality cheaper or even close to the price. If you are just a beginner or getting it for a beginner than I would not stop you from buying this one. At this price you can always upgrade without any remorse and use this just as a back-up guitar or a travel guitar.

The Startone CG 851 Classical Guitar is available in the folowing sizes; 4/4, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8
Its not available in 7/8 size.

I had all available sizes.
I thought they would look nice, all in a row, hanging on a wall.
But they didn’t. Because the 1/8 has of course a smaler scale length but it has a bigger body than the 1/4. All 5 together looked strange.
So I kept the 4/4, the ½ and the ¼.
Hanging on a wall in a row they look really nice and of course I really play all 3 sizes.
Also they have slightly different body shapes what you maybe cant see in the thomnann video. Also the colours are slightly different. Some are a light yellow-brown, some are darker and a more a light orange-brown. Some pictures on the thoman website show brown guitars, mine were not brown at all. I wouldn’t call them Light Brown, as in the description.


This one, the Startone CG-851 1/2 Classical Guitar, is of a “ok, quality” its playable, also by adults with big hands. Indeed its quite handy for me to play it on the couch or the balcony.

Its sound is nice, the laquer is a bit thick, action is ok 3.25 mm at the 12 fret. It holds the tuning well. I still have to find good strings for it.

for this price, its great (4 stars)

It’s a nice sounding handy beauty, get one yourself I recommend it.