K
Nice guitar for the money, but don't expect miracles
I ordered this guitar based on the reviews on YouTube. Generally the people reviewing it are very impressed. I have to say I was surprised, but not impressed. But in all honesty I also have an Eastman acoustic and Eastmans just beats ALL acoustic guitars out there in terms of qc, playability and sound. Honest comparison could be Recording King. I've had a Recording King before and that one needed a lot more work as opposed to the HB in order to make it playable!
Truth be told: if you buy this guitar, just know it needs a bit of TLC.
1) the frets are not polished. This is an easy task you just use 0000 steel wool. Kudos to Thomann regarding the fret ends. These are nicely dressed, not sharp just a bit rough, but this you can solve this using the steel wool I just mentioned.
2) string height at 12th fret. There is a qc card which says 2.5mm at 6th string 12th fret. This wasn't the case, it was 3mm. The relief is good and the action at the first fret is about 0.6mm which is fine, especially since this is a short scale guitar (easier to fret).
I have to see if I'm going to sand the saddle down, there is a bit of saddle height you can work with, but it's not a lot. Maybe there are some shims underneath but I don't know yet.
3) the frets are pretty much even! I have a fret rocker and it didn't rock, only at the 14th fret or so. No one cares about that ;).
Overall it is a nice guitar for the money. If you know your way with setting up guitars yourself you can't go wrong. The price doesn't justify going to a luthier which is a shame really, but I do think that if you work a bit on this guitar you have an absolute belter. I'm not sure I will keep it though. I will decide within a week or so.
EDIT: So after 3 months of owning this guitar, I decided it needed a new owner. It still was amazing for the price but a parlor guitar isn't for me. I bought a harley benton st-90 in return :D
Truth be told: if you buy this guitar, just know it needs a bit of TLC.
1) the frets are not polished. This is an easy task you just use 0000 steel wool. Kudos to Thomann regarding the fret ends. These are nicely dressed, not sharp just a bit rough, but this you can solve this using the steel wool I just mentioned.
2) string height at 12th fret. There is a qc card which says 2.5mm at 6th string 12th fret. This wasn't the case, it was 3mm. The relief is good and the action at the first fret is about 0.6mm which is fine, especially since this is a short scale guitar (easier to fret).
I have to see if I'm going to sand the saddle down, there is a bit of saddle height you can work with, but it's not a lot. Maybe there are some shims underneath but I don't know yet.
3) the frets are pretty much even! I have a fret rocker and it didn't rock, only at the 14th fret or so. No one cares about that ;).
Overall it is a nice guitar for the money. If you know your way with setting up guitars yourself you can't go wrong. The price doesn't justify going to a luthier which is a shame really, but I do think that if you work a bit on this guitar you have an absolute belter. I'm not sure I will keep it though. I will decide within a week or so.
EDIT: So after 3 months of owning this guitar, I decided it needed a new owner. It still was amazing for the price but a parlor guitar isn't for me. I bought a harley benton st-90 in return :D
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B
Aangenaam verrast
Ik heb mijn "main guitar" boven in mijn studiootje staan, en ik wou er ook eentje beneden binnen handbereik. Voor die prijs kon ik het niet laten, en dus kocht ik hem. Ik moet zeggen dat ik aangenaam verrast was door de bouw en afwerking, niks op aan te merken. Leuke hals, die me heel goed ligt (beetje ouderwetse ergens tussen C en D vorm), 45mm topkam (dat is mijn eerste vereiste). De klank is wat aan de dunne kant, verwacht geen volle klank voor deze prijs, maar is zeker ook niet slecht te noemen. Vooral fingerpicking komt er goed uit, strummen is nogal "muddy". Al bij al een leuke aanwinst ten huize van, waar ik alvast niet met tegenzin op speel.
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J
Decent guitar for the price
Fairly good, it's cheap so keep that in mind. It sounds best down tuned a whole step. Fret board is probably the worst part of it. The tone is surprisingly good, and of course it's a great price.
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M
A good guitar for the money, but don't expect the 00 sound
The woods and build quality is very nice, even the laminate back is a three ply arrangement with a thick solid wood centre. The bone nut and saddle is nice quality and in intonation is good, as is the fretwork.
However, this guitar seems to put most of its energy into producing treble, despite the the all mahogany build and 12th fret join placing the bridge at the widest part of the top. These are all things that should add woody thump and warmth, but they just don't. It's very much voiced like a modern shimmery guitar, not just a lack of bass, but an overwhelming high end that gets overdriven unpleasantly the harder you play.
Zero 00 size woodyness and bark unfortunately.
Additionally, there was quite lot of poorly filled wood tear out around the inlays. My view is that dots would be fine on a cheap guitar, they're much easier to do well if you're going to rush the construction.
Lastly, although the nut height and spacing is good, the slots are too narrow and tuning is a pain, you turn the peg and get nothing until suddenly the string pulls through and by then youve overshot it. A small tweak could likely sort it, but given the other issues I opted to return the guitar.
However, this guitar seems to put most of its energy into producing treble, despite the the all mahogany build and 12th fret join placing the bridge at the widest part of the top. These are all things that should add woody thump and warmth, but they just don't. It's very much voiced like a modern shimmery guitar, not just a lack of bass, but an overwhelming high end that gets overdriven unpleasantly the harder you play.
Zero 00 size woodyness and bark unfortunately.
Additionally, there was quite lot of poorly filled wood tear out around the inlays. My view is that dots would be fine on a cheap guitar, they're much easier to do well if you're going to rush the construction.
Lastly, although the nut height and spacing is good, the slots are too narrow and tuning is a pain, you turn the peg and get nothing until suddenly the string pulls through and by then youve overshot it. A small tweak could likely sort it, but given the other issues I opted to return the guitar.
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