TechGearLab

The Jasmine S35 Acoustic was a very close runner-up to the Fender for Best Overall Kit. Both of these instrument kits include a stellar bundle of accessories and instructional DVDs, while the Jasmine kit has the bonus of a music book as well. We liked the Jasmine for its softer strings that make for smooth playing and are easier on your hands &#40;and thus more gratifying for new players&#41;. It's also a great-looking guitar that produced the loudest, boomiest sound of the bunch with a lovely, lasting resonance.
We found the pale wood, black trimmings, and matte finish on the Jasmine to be less aesthetically exciting than the wooden details and warmer, polished look of the Fender. We also found the sound to be slightly less balanced and a little more bass-heavy. However, it's worth keeping in mind that sound is very subjective, and this boomy tone might be what you like most about the Jasmine. This guitar's intonation across the fretboard was also not perfect, but it still sounded great for this price point.

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The Fender FA-125 was the most fun to play and felt inspiring right out of the box. This beautiful and lightweight guitar has a full and balanced sound, providing the cleanest articulation out of the entire test fleet. This means you can hear every single string with great clarity as you strum chords or fingerpick. This guitar comes with a padded gig bag, a rarity amongst beginner kits, and it also includes a lot of great accessories. Although the production quality isn't the highest, the video on the instructional DVD was thorough, easy to follow, and full of really helpful information for anyone new to the guitar. This budget guitar will stand up to the test of time for your learning years.
Even though we liked this guitar the best out of all of those we tested, it is still a budget buy for the instrument market, and it does have a couple of potential drawbacks. Some minor "fret buzz" on the lower strings suggested that it may still need to go in for a setup at a guitar shop. The intonation was pretty good but not perfect, meaning that even when in tune, not all the pitches on the fretboard will be perfectly accurate. We liked it for its even balance between low and higher-pitched sounds, but it may lack character to someone with a more discerning ear. Even though we appreciated that the gig bag came padded, it doesn't include and storage pockets for accessories. Also, it may not be the best choice for a small child's first guitar, as this full-size instrument's steel strings will be a challenge for small hands.

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