Both a wonderful guitar and an oxymoron in its very design. Often frowned upon by many reveiwers, though due mostly to the fact that they are expecting something else. This is a solid-bodied guitar, that your string up with acoustic strings. Unplugged it has as much sound as an electric guitar, but this guitar was intended for an amp. As an added bonus, to most any long-time Dave Matthews fan, the Gibson counterpart of this guitar was his stage guitar for many years.
Price: Currently discontinued. Found for an average around $299 on eBay.
Features: 8/10
Solid-Bodied Acoustic
Peizo Pick-ups
Tone/Volume knobs
Mahogany Neck & Body
Maple Top
Sound: (8/10) - The sound of this guitar is truely amazing. Plugged into even a low-grade amp, acoustic or electric, this guitar shines. The sound is very strong and cuts through just about anything else. It comes through sounding better than most any other acoustic/electric I've ever heard plugged in, with zero feedback as well. Despite the guitar being classified as an acoustic, is has little more unplugged sound than an electric guitar. But then again, this guitar was made to be plugged in, why take it away from its purpose?
Quality: (9/10) - So far, so good. I have had zero problems with this guitar.
It always comes through with a great sound, and is clearly quite sturdy. It has some weight to it, but its all worth it. This guitar is a tank. I've already dropped it once or twice, though not on purpose mind you, and hardly a scratch in the finish was left. Truely a strudy guitar.
Reliability: (10/10) - I've played a number of Taylor, Martin, Gibson, and Fender guitars in my life. All of them were very nice, but I've stumbled across some that dropped out of tune rather easily, or the fretboards were not the easiest to move across. Perhaps I was stuck with faulty models, but not this guitar. Its barre-chord friendly, and I have yet to find a buzz in any chord that I've given two licks about. It has never dropped its sound or given me feeback and continues to play solidly well.
Overall: (9/10) - This is one of the better guitars I have ever come across. It is very easy to play, and despite being heavier than the average acoustic guitar, it is very easy to get used too. Aside from a second strap button missing, an easy fix, the guitar has little to no flaws I've seen. Some may find the tone/volume knobs too long, I thought the same at first, but I quickly grew past it and find it a convenience. They are much easier to grab on the fly.
