Cliff D
Feb-22-2010, 6:59am
I'm thinking about buying one these: if anyone has experience of same their comments would be welcomed!
Cliff D
Mar-18-2010, 5:54pm
So here is the review. Funny thing how you can see a picture of something & overlook the obvious: I thought that this would be smaller than the usual guitar, but the body is bigger & deeper than some full sized acoustics. It came with a case included in the price £295 (GBP) which, interestingly, the promotional material did not specify - not that I am complaining!
Generally it looks well made & the finish is a thick, hard transparent laquer: I know of late there has been a trend towards minimal laquering, but a tough finish is a plus in my book. The neck is a little clubby & the strings are shade wide apart at the nut, & maybe at some point I will make changes here, but pro tem I can live with it. Frets are on the small & low side for my taste, but again adequate: they could have been polished a little more as there was some "scraping noise" during string bending, but it is playing in acceptably now.
But what of the sound, you ask? Well it is advertised as a "soft tone, good for both strumming & lead work" to which I thought, yea, yea, cover all the bases, eh? I am now less sceptical. Picked chords are delicious, & I still have not fitted phosphour bronze C & G stings. Overall action is a little high & again I may address this at some point.
The piezo & on board preamp produce a reasonably crisp sound & there is a notch filter (centred around 1,000 Hz, I believe) which can be engaged to help defeat feedback - I have yet to test this aspect. There is the usual problem which seems endemic to piezos: uneven string volume between strings, although using the onboard 4 band eq this can be minimised to acceptable levels.
I understand that this is a relatively new addition to the Ozark range & that it is selling well: This does not surprise me. The Ozark brand has possibly not had the greatest of reputations in the past, but this I submit is a good value for money instrument which appears well built, even if it does not have the greatest set up straight out of the box. Just don't expect a parlour sized instrument if you order one!