I have slight motor skills issues, which don't allow me to be very precise with movement in detailed stuff like playing guitar, using a pen to draw, cutting small stuff with scissors and so on, so I bought this guitar to have more space to maneuver my fingers. Since then I have been able to play much better. Having such a wide nut, it is much easier for me to play chords that are relatively more complex, need more dexterity or fast changes in songs. Also, and finger picking is a breeze.
The finish of the guitar, for the price, or even without that consideration, is fine, finish is maybe a little plasticky too tick and the figures of the wood are not as refined than my almost 3 times more expensive top of the line Cort guitar Gold A8, but this one it is ridiculously good for a small amount money, compared to crappy affordable guitars not many years ago.
By the way, I think, because some similarities with my Cort gold A8 on the finish and the construction, that this guitar is also made in a Cor-Tek factory. The Cort guitar is all solid, beautiful figures in the wood and has premium aesthetic details, still this cheaper one is a beautiful simpler piece. This one, in exchange for costing around a third of the Cort, has less decoration and no ebony fingerboard and not as good tuners. Still, I will sell the Cort and play this one as my main acoustic being so comfortable and letting me play better.
The different in sound quality is noticeable when playing both guitars back to back, but the expensive one has UV treatment to make it sound more like and old (which is good) broken down guitar, you can notice the harmonics and tasteful highs and lows, but I hope with time this guitar sound moves on that direction as it get's older and is played more.
Don't get me wrong, It is not bad at all, and very likely any regular person would not notice the subtle differences, or me myself wouldn't have noticed if I didn't have the quality guitar to compare back to back. Still, sound is much less complex, a trained ear will definitely notice.
There are things where they cut corners to make this guitar possible at this price, but if you are willing to invest a little more money, they are easily fixed for a total investment that is still very very affordable:
- Setup by a pro, I setup my electric guitars, but acoustics are a sport at another level if you need need to touch the bridge saddle. My guy did an awesome setup, leaving it with a much more lower action and adapting the setup to the thinner .010 strings, easier to play for my lack of fine motor skills. It did work perfectly fine as it came from Thomann, but now is even better and even easier to play. There were not dead spots out of the box.
- Tuners: They work fine, they keep tuning very good, very stable, but couple of them have play. Still, they are perfectly functional. I will change them, but only out of being picky, don't need to.
- Bridge pins, for those I would say it is almost a MUST. They work fine, but they are cheap plastic, so sound of the guitar raises to a whole new leven replacing those for bone pins which is such an small investment that it makes no sense not doing it. Around 15 eur the Harley Benton branded ones or you can find a 10 euro sets anywhere else on the web. I would stick to HB branded, they should be compatible with no issues and seem to be quality stuff.
The pickup is surprisingly good being so simple. Still, I invested in installing a fix L.R. Baggs sound hole magnetic pickup, which ironically costs as much as the guitar. The stock pickup gives you the regular piezo sound we are all used to, without needing an upgrade (if you are after that sound). I have both installed, so I can change according to the situation or song needs.
If you are after a sound hole magnetic pickup, go for the ussual suspects, L.R. Baggs or Fishman, the later being the brand that is already installed for the piezo.
If you are playing plugged in, specially with a band, the guitar will sound as good as any, subtleties on wood harmonics and complexity of sound is mostly lost once you go electric and through effects, although it is nice to play at home acoustically with a guitar that sounds expensive or even for recording, but being myself an amateur player, this guitar is perfectly fine, as I vote for playability first. What can I do with a quality sound if I can't play right? This one is much easier to play than the expensive beautiful one.
For the price, with eyes closed. I am also looking into the cheaper dreadnought model that also has the 48 mm nut Harley Benton Custom Line CLD-1048SCE NS. It also has good reviews and finish is natural satin, so I assume you can feel the wood a little more, some people find this as an indication of cheaper price, but I find it lovely in matters of feeling the wood more in my fingers. If I get that one, will keep only the stock pickup, more likely doing the other changes (pins, tuners, lighter strings and setup if needed).
