Keith Urban Player Guitar Set Review
• DVD's feature Urban teaching how to play his own songs
• Guitar of questionable durability and may need adjustments before using
User reviews of the DVD lessons are favorable, but some customers have claimed that the quality of the acoustic guitar is average. However, some consumers were able to significantly increase the guitar's quality by having it set up by a luthier or replacing minor components with higher quality pieces.
Reviews of Keith Urban’s Player Guitar Set, a package which includes an acoustic guitar, accessories, and 30 daily DVD lessons taught by Keith Urban.
Keith Urban Player Guitar Set
The Keith Urban Player Guitar Set is a 50-piece package which includes a hand-crafted acoustic guitar and DVD guitar lessons. Australian country music superstar and TV personality Keith Urban advertises the set through a website and a 30-minute Home Shopping Network (HSN) infomercial. Urban also custom-designed the package’s acoustic guitar and teaches the DVD lessons.
The “30 Songs in 30 Days” DVD lesson series that comes with the set intends to gradually teach the purchaser 30 songs (15 famous guitar songs and 15 Keith Urban songs) in a month’s time without over focusing on technical music theory. According to the video demo posted on the website, the lessons will take users “…from beginner to accomplished player” while providing the skills to subsequently learn thousands of other songs.
Playerbykeithurban.com is the official product website, and was registered in April of 2014. The website appears to be operated by HSN.
Cost and Availability
The Keith Urban Player Guitar Set is available to purchase on the product website.
There are two options to pay for the package:
- A single payment of $299.95
- 6 payments of $49.99 (total = $299.94)
In addition, there are three delivery options:
- Standard (4-6 weeks) = $19.99 (total = $319.94)
- Rush (7-10 days) = $39.90 (total = $339.85)
- Extreme Rush (3-5 days) = $49.90 (total = $349.85)
Customers have the choice of two different colors for the acoustic guitar, either “Rich Black” or “Brazilian Burst”.
Claims and Features
- Custom handmade acoustic guitar designed by Keith Urban
- Learn 30 songs in 30 days via 30 DVD lessons taught by Keith Urban
- Soft-shell acoustic guitar case
- Signature Guitar strap
- Spare set of acoustic guitar strings
- 8 custom-designed guitar picks
- Chord chart poster
- Guitar polishing cloth
- Allen key for adjusting truss rod
Keith Urban Player Guitar Set Reviews
In perusing user reviews of the Keith Urban Player Guitar Set on various websites and Youtube, the general consensus seems to be that the DVD lessons are very good, but the acoustic guitar is of mediocre quality. Perception regarding musical instrument quality can be very subjective, yet the the instruments in these packages are not generally considered to be high-end acoustic guitars. Some customers report that the quality of the guitar increased noticeably after they had it set up and adjusted by a local luthier (guitar technician) or upgraded minor components.
- After over 500 votes, readers here give it a 3.1 star rating.
- There are numerous additional comments at Waffles at Noon, along with its corresponding LockerDome page.
Alternatives
Respected brands like Fender, Alvarez, Yamaha, and Ibanez offer satisfactory starter acoustic guitars that can be purchased locally for approximately $200-$250. Shopping at a local musical instrument retailer also allows customers to try out guitars before purchasing them. In addition, there are many websites and YouTube videos offering virtual guitar lessons for free.
As a musician and guitarist of over 25 years, this writer is of the opinion that nothing beats a good face-to-face guitar teacher than can cater lessons to the individual desires, strengths, and weaknesses of students, but we applaud any person or program that can motivate people to pick up real instruments in an age when many would rather pick up a video game controller and play Guitar Hero instead.
Epic Conclusion
Keith Urban’s Player Guitar Set is a comprehensive package for fledgling musicians that features a series of 30 lesson DVDs and a handmade acoustic guitar. While user reviews of the DVD lessons are favorable, some patrons have claimed that the quality of the acoustic guitar is average. However, some consumers were able to significantly increase the guitar’s quality by having it set up by a luthier or replacing minor components with higher quality pieces.
This review has been updated since its original publication in February 2015.
If memory serves me, the infomercial notes a smaller fret board and different strings. The fret board to help those with smaller hands and the strings to help with fingertip soreness and blisters. Did this come up in any reviews or notes?
As a avid guitar player and teacher the low action and coatings it claimed on strings is a seller tactic sooner or later your gonna have get Ur fingers used to playing…strings only last week’s to months so your gonna be changing them often…if your fingers hurt after a time playing a steel string …u can get a cheap nylon string guitar with high action…good to have for beginners anyways …or go electric..good luck with your guitar journey
Just received my guitar today that I ordered. Packaging was great but when opened the soft guitar case to see the guitar inside, the headstock was broken off on the right side (high-e key side) from the tip to the nut. I heard a lot of negative reviews of damaged guitars upon arrival like replacements sent out were other people’s returns, but c’mon….can’t get it right by now?!
I have one piece of advice …. buy local. That way you can hold the guitar in your hands and give it a good look over before shelling out the money. Don’t try to learn from to play from CD’s. Find a local teacher. Use the CDs to supplement what you learn from a guitar teacher.