AshthorpeFull-Size Cutaway Thinline Acoustic-Electric Guitar Package - Premium Tonewoods - Black

I'm an experienced guitarist with over 30 years of experience playing live and in the studio but took the last 6 years off and sold everything about 2 years ago. When I decided to start back up in Nov '24 and do some recording, I thought I'd start off with some inexpensive guitars and put some time into setting them up (setting the action, intonation, dressing the frets, etc). I picked up this guitar because the reviews seemed pretty good and honestly, the build quality of guitars these days are pretty good for the money so I wasn't too concerned.Out of the box this guitar needed minimal work to sound good unplugged. Just a little lemon juice on the fretboard and a new set of strings and minor filing/sanding to round out a few frets but otherwise this guitar was in excellent, playable condition. Plugged in, it's a bit lacking and sounds like a guitar that cost a few hundred, nothing great.I'm recording tracks using Logic Pro and Eventide Ultra Channel and Ultraverb to polish the sound but it still sounded a bit generic and sterile. I found a free IR loader plugin from STl Tones and a free Acoustic Guitar IR from Worshiptutorials for a Taylor 414Ce, 816 and Martin D-35 and now it's unbelievable. The IR Loader is stereo so I have one side to sound like a Taylor 816 and the other as a Martin D-35 and it's heaven with the reverb from Eventide.I plan to just use this guitar for recording and with the IR and other plugins, I'm very happy with the results, essentially getting a $3-4000 guitar sound from a $100 guitar. Does it feel like a Martin or Taylor? No, but if you're a good player who can do some minor guitar set up work, you can make this into a very easy to play guitar and with the plugins, you're 95% of the way there sound wise for 2-3% of the price. Does it look like a nice Martin/Taylor, no but I'm not interested in spending an extra $1000 for inlays, binding or a name on the headstock that doesn't affect the sound.From my experience over the years and having owned many of the top off the shelf and custom guitars and amps, gear and technology has improved dramatically just in the last 10 years and you can now get great equipment at a very low cost but the major manufacturers (and Artists) just wants everyone to think they need to spend $$$ to sound like the pros. A lot of that is "in" your hands but on the gear side, if you're creative, you can get a professional sound with beginner/intermediate gear. Don't get caught up with G.A.S., save your money, practice more and get creative and you'll be a better player, engineer and musician vs. being a high gear collector.

I have been a musician for most of my life, but mostly wind instruments. I have been wanting to learn how to play the guitar for years. I have an Ibanez acoustic that I have tried to learn on multiple times over the years, and while it is a pretty good guitar it is difficult to learn on. The action and string tension are both high, and the neck is pretty thick. I am over 50 years old, and it is going to take a while before I have the dexterity, and finger strength to really play that guitar well. I also have an electric guitar which is much easier to play due to the action, and neck thickness. So, I thought I would try to find an acoustic with similar features to the electric.I watch a few review videos about this guitar which were very good reviews. I saw one bad review that was around the action not being set as well as the reviewer would have liked, but that is definitely a topic for a much more advanced player than me.I also read the reviews here on Amazon where the saddle got pulled off, or the head stock breaking. This worried me some, but the good outweighed the bad so I thought I would give this guitar a try, and I am glad I did.To avoid the saddle / head stalk issues I tuned the guitar very slowly to prevent putting any unnecessary tension on the guitar. I didn't run into those issues.I have had this guitar for about 3 weeks now and there is no sign of breakage. I have been "hitting" the strings pretty hard as well.The neck is a little thinner, and the action is set great for a beginner. The B and high E strings (bottom two) may need a little adjustment on the action. I get a little more fret buzz on those two strings, but again I am a beginner, so I probably just need to "practice, practice, practice".There are some reviews out there that talk about the frets needing a little maintenance as they are a tiny bit wider than the finger board. I can feel this, so it is true. Right now, it isn't an issue for me, and if it becomes an issue then it is a pretty simple fix to sand them downFor a thin line guitar, the sound is still pretty full. A full body "dreadnought" style guitar is obviously going to sound better, but this guitar is much easier to play and learn on.I can't really speak to the electronics on this guitar yet. I really haven't used them, and don't know enough about them to give a good opinion. I don't want to steer anyone in the wrong direction by guessing.The one downside I have had so far is that the high E string broke while I was doing the initial tunning. Like I said, I tuned it really slowly. Tightened the strings some, let it sit for a while so the string could stretch, then rinse and repeat. The high E was probably still 2 or 3 steps too low, so nowhere near to where it should be, and it popped. The guitar came with an extra set of strings, so I just put a new one on. But it would have been nice to not have to replace a string before I even got a chance to play it :-)Bottom line, IMO, this is a fantastic guitar for a beginner, and for $100 it is a great deal.

Received this today, actually did not intend to order but non issue.Playable out of the box, will change the strings to D'Dddarios one the body has time to settle.I have played off and on for 30 plus years but my skill level is the Rythem guitar guy at best.If you have a nail file, any Fret Tang issues are irrelevantThis is a nice Garage/Mancave at $99.