1981 Takamine EF341 Acoustic Guitar Review

Hi there!

I have been a fan of Takamine acoustic guitars for a long time, and think that the EF341SC models are pretty much the ne plus ultra of killer steel string acoustics as they are very well made and come with wonderful electronics packages. I am not alone in this, as John Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen both play this model on stage and they can play and/or endorse whatever instruments they want to, so there might be something to my feelings on this subject.

Takamine is a Japanese guitar maker that has been in business for over 50 years now. Don’t sniff at their products and say that imports are junk, because they build some fantastic instruments. Though they have built some solid-body electric guitars, they are best known for their acoustic and acoustic-electric steel string guitars. In 1978 they were one of the makers on the forefront of acoustic-electric guitar technology, and have been leader in pre-amplifier design and application ever since. Beside Bon Jovi and Springsteen, other notable Takamine users are Kenny Chesney and the late Glenn Frey. By the way, the company is named after Mount Takamine in the Gifu Prefecture of Japan.

Today we are going to look at an earlier version of the EF341SC, a 1981 EF341, which is very similar except there is no body cutaway or onboard tuner. It is an acoustic-electric dreadnought with a glossy black finish that covers up some very nice woods. It has a solid cedar top with scalloped X bracing and solid maple sides and back. The black finish contrasts nicely with the white 6-ply body binding and concentric rosette soundhole inlay. There is a single-ply black pickguard and a rosewood bridge with a bone saddle.

The body is pretty large, measuring almost 16 inches across the lower bout, and ranging from four to five inches thick. That big sound has to come from somewhere, you know.

The mahogany neck is a peach, and it is connected to the body with a dovetail joint. It has a 1.675-inch wide bone nut, and the cutaway allows access to all 20 of the frets. The bound rosewood fretboard has an 11.81-inch radius, and tasteful snowflake inlays. They call them snowflakes, anyway, but they look more like little plus signs to me. At the end are Takamine-branded chrome sealed-back tuners. They are probably made by Gotoh.

The EF341 came standard with a really neat onboard electronics package. It uses a Palathetic under-saddle pickup, and it has a control plate on the upper bout with a 3-band EQ, a volume control, and a battery check button. The 9-volt battery is also accessed through this panel. Using a conventional battery and having it so easy to get at is a true bonus, in my book.

Craftsmanship is top-notch, with just a bit of bridge lift after 36 years of service and no real issues. It is very easy to play, and it is comfortable enough for the longest gigs. The black finish is holding up well, which isn’t terribly easy with this color. These are very strong guitars, and I have seen them take a remarkable amount of abuse and still play and sound wonderful.

But the true magic is in how this Takamine sounds. Unplugged, it has a full and rich sound. It does not need any electronic trickery to make it work, as by its nature it is a great-sounding instrument. The cedar top and maple body combine to give it a sweet and mellow tone or a powerful jolt depending on how hard you lean into it.

Once you plug it in you will hear what these big-time performers like about these guitars. The preamp reproduces the instrument’s sound very accurately. It instills a sense of warmth for more casual playing, but when it is played hard it can really cut through the rest of the stuff going on in a loud mix. This versatility is essential for a performer that is using it in a rock environment, but that still wants to be able to ooze out a ballad every now and then. This is all really good stuff, and it works very well for recording too!

Compared to other used acoustic guitars on the market, you get a lot of performance for the money on this one. Really nice Takamine EF341 guitars sell for around $600 on Reverb and eBay, which is a lot less than a new EF341SC which go for around $1249. If you need a stage-capable acoustic, especially if your music is more rock-oriented, you really ought to give one a try – these are hard to beat!

Mahalo!

Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Don Scott – Slidin Sideways

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This CD review was originally published in the October 15, 2015 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

Don Scott – Slidin’ Sideways | Album Review

Self Release

www.donscottblues.com

10 tracks / 40:31

Minnesotan Don Scott has been playing the blues for five decades, and his current blend of roots and blues is unique as it brings the music down to its most basic levels. He has toured the world, both as a solo artist and with numerous bands that include the Dust Bowl Blues Band (a founding member!), Lazy Bill Lucas, Mighty Joe Young, and the magnificent Janiva Magness.

Over the years, Don has cut six CDs, the latest of which is Slidin' Sideways. This is a cool release with six originals, four covers and the bare minimum of instrumentation. Scott takes on the vocals and guitars, with pianist Raul Altamirano joining in on a few tracks. So, there are no drums, bass, keyboards, or harmonica to be found and because of this, these arrangements wind up with a raw roots mood and sound.

This ten-song set is bookended by live tracks that Scott and Altamirano recorded at Loot in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. This beach town is the perfect setting for Don's kind of blues, and he kicks off the album with the title track, an original instrumental. He cranks out five minutes of righteous slide work on his National guitar as Raul adds a bit of his best honkytonk. And the set finishes up with Willie Dixon's "Wang Dang Doodle" which gives Raul a bit more room to stretch his legs as Scott belts out the vocals.

The standout cut on Slidin' Sideways is "Some Other Day," a song about the plight of the modern soldier. Scott plays a heavy Spanish guitar under heart-wrenching lyrics of how much more we should be doing for those that have given so much of themselves to our country. This song is followed up by the jaunty "Blue Blake Rag," which is a jolting transition. Don does some amazing guitar work on this one over the steady beat provided by Raul's hammering left hand.

The roundup of covers is pretty cool, and they include cool stuff like Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson's "Kidney Stew," and Roosevelt Sykes' "Persimmon Pie" (how risqué!). But the coolest of these is Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys' "My Shoes Keep Walkin' Back to You," which has also been done very well by Ray Price, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Costello. This is heady company and Don Scott holds his own with just his hard-hitting guitar to back up his plaintive wails of loneliness.

You will find that all of the songs are neat, but there are a few production issues with noise and volume levels that mean this might not be the slickest CD that you have heard recently. Despite these nit-pickings, Slidin' Sideways is a fun album, and Don Scott has talent galore that translates into a wonderful live show. It would be a great idea to head over to his website to check his gig schedule, as he gets all over the country. There are gigs in six states from Arizona to New York on his schedule right now, and you can be sure that more will be added soon.

Dean Markley Artist Transducer Acoustic Pickup

Aloha!

It can be a daunting task to figure out how to modify your acoustic instrument (guitar, violin, etc.) so that you can plug it into an amp or the mixing board. Many of the options on the market are expensive, and a lot of them require modifications to you axe that might not be easy to undo. On easy way I have found to make this happen is the Dean Markley Artist Transducer acoustic pickup.

Surely you have heard of Dean Markley before, as this company has been selling strings since 1972, and in the years since they have branched out into picks, strings, cables, DI boxes, tuners, and pickups. Markley started making these pickups in 1980, and they have been one of their more popular products.

The Dean Markley artist transducer acoustic pickup has to be the easiest pickups on the market to install. When you take it out of the box, there is a small puck with an integrated cable that has a ¼-inch male connector on the end. There is a gooey adhesive on the puck, which allows you to stick it wherever you need to on the top of the instrument, and it can be easily removed and stuck on something else if you wish. As the adhesive is re-usable, the pickup can be pulled off the top pretty easily, so it is a good idea to route the cable so that your guitar strap supports it so that the adhesive portion does not support the entire weight of the cord. A strip of gaffer’s tape might come in handy here.

The pickup itself is housed in a maple wood housing and through use of a lead differential weight, the piezo reacts through compression rather than just bending like all other Piezo pickups. The sound is passable, but it does not really have the pass the full character of whatever you are plugging it into. It is a good idea to try it in different location on the top to reduce feedback and to try to get the best sound. At some point you will find a passable sound, and you should probably not spend much more time on this, as it will probably not get very much better. As Voltaire said, the better is the enemy of the good.

In practice, I have tried out the Artist Transducer on my Takamine EF341 guitar and on my Kala SMHS soprano ukulele, and the results were mixed. The Tak has an amazing onboard pre-amp that is very transparent, so the crispness of the sound comes through it beautifully. With the Markley, the basic sound comes through, but the sound is similar to most any lower-end acoustic. The uke is a different story, as its nylon strings do not punch through quite as well, so it does not matter that the output with the transducer is a bit muddier. The overall output is adequate, but it is not terribly loud due to the nature of its construction.

Overall, I think the Dean Markley Artist Transducer acoustic pickup is pretty cool, and is a simple and cheap way to electrify your instrument. It installs in seconds and only costs around $25 (with a 5-year warranty), so it is a great way to plug in your guitar, mandolin, violin, or whatever. You would be hard-pressed to find an easier way to get your instrument into the gig, Check one out for yourself and see what you think!

Mahalo!

NAMM 2017: Product Spotlight – Boveda 2-Way Humidity Control System

Aloha!

I am pretty sure that most guitarists know that humidity affects the way their instrument plays, and that long term exposure to environments that are too damp or too dry are detrimental to their axe. But how many actually do something about it? Lump me into that group too, I am just as guilty…

There have been desiccant packs and in-case humidifiers for years, but the user of these products has to know the what the actual humidity is to decide which solution to use, which can end up being a lot of work. The best solution would be a product that works to achieve the optimal humidity without a lot of user input, and it turns out that there is a product like this out there: the Boveda 2-Way Humidity Control system.

I thought the 2-Way Humidity Control system was pretty darned neat when I saw it last week as the NAMM show. Jason, Boveda’s VP of Operations, took the time to walk me through the details of the science and how it is applied, and I am now a believer in this technology.

This is an easy product to use, all you need to do is purchase the starter kit for $29.95, and you will be set within a few minutes. The kit includes four Boveda packs and two fabric holders. The packs are a paper-like material with a liquid in them, so they are kind of squishy. Put one or two of them in the fabric holders and hang them through the soundhole of your guitar or put them in the case and you are good to go -- nothing to soak, no hygrometer, and no drama. When it feels like the contents of the pack have dried out, it is time to replace it.

This sounds kind of magical, but there is legitimate science behind this product. There are a few scientific principles that state that a saturated solution of salt in water will maintain a constant level of relative humidity inside an enclosed chamber. You can vary the salts or type of salts to achieve different levels of relative humidity (for guitars 45% to 50%), put this solution into a bag with a semi-permeable membrane, and it will be able to maintain that lever of humidity inside a closed guitar case.

Thee are a few things to keep in mind, of course. The Boveda packs should last for 3 to 6 months, but if you have a wood case the first set will not last that long. The wood in the case can dry out, and it might need to be hydrated too. It is always a good idea to keep the case closed, even at gigs where you might leave it open, so it does not dry out again.

It is not possible to overdo things with the Boveda packs. The more you put in the case, the longer they will last. The science will not change, and they will continue to constantly adjust to the target relative humidity. It is a good idea to use the fabric holders that are provided in the starter kit, as they are soft and will help contain leaks should you happen to poke a hole in one of the packs. Also, keep in mind that Boveda sells these products with different target relative humidity levels for tobacco, food storage, and herbal medicines, so make sure you order the right stuff.

I think the Boveda 2-Way Humidity Control system is pretty slick, and it is cheap insurance to help prevent your instrument from cracking and warping. As I said, the starter pack is around $30, and you can buy 4-packs for $15.98. They supply this product to D’Addario too, so you might see them in their packaging at your local music store. For more details or to purchase online, go to bovedainc.com

Mahalo!

NAMM 2017: Your Heaven CloseUp Microphone System Review

Aloha!

Setting up a microphone and getting the warm, authentic sound for an acoustic instrument is a tricky business, whether you are doing it for live performance or in the studio. Dynamic microphones are cheap, but are not always very high fidelity, and good condenser microphones are really expensive; both of these options will also pick up every other sound in the room. Of course you might have a great pickup system installed in your instrument, but those do not come cheap either.

There is another option out there for you to consider: Your Heaven Audio’s CloseUp System. Your Heaven Audio is based in Providence, Rhode Island and its founders studied music and technology at Brown University where they came up with the idea for this project as well as the EzQ Drum System. After years of development (including a few new patents) these products are now on the market, with applications for acoustic guitar, and string quartet instruments (viola, violin and cello), with models for other string instruments are on the way (including a double bass model!).

With the CloseUp System kit you will get the EzQ processor (the aluminum box with all of the electronics in it), the transducer, a soundhole cover for acoustic guitars, if you want (or need) to use one, a USB cable, a mute pedal, a 110-volt power adapter, and a TRS to XLR cable, all packaged up neatly in a really nice case.

The EzQ processor is the heart and brains of the system, and it is powered via a 9-Volt battery (for approximatley 7 or 8 hours of battery life) or through the USB port. This USB port can also be used for output to a recording device, with the other output being a balanced ¼-inch out. Inputs include the XLR microphone input and a ¼ footswitch jack that can be used to mute the unit. Controls are simple, with just tone and gain knobs. This is a very user-friendly unit!

Installation is a breeze, and it can be done with no tools as the microphone clips on to the instrument with no tools needed. The longest part (5-10 mins) of the installation is setting the unit up with your computer to configure it to your specific instrument. It just takes a few minutes of playing the instrument and clicking icons on the screen and you are done. There are four presets in the unit, so you can have up to four of your instruments saved in memory, in case you want to switch the microphone attachment over to another guitar or violin.

Your Heaven gave a nice demo of the CloseUp System at the 2017 NAMM show and I came away impressed. They had a mid-level steel string acoustic on hand that was equipped with an LR Baggs undersaddle piezo and preamplifier, and it was set up for an A/B comparison. I was already familiar with the Baggs system, as I have owned and played instruments with it before. It is a pickup that is “just good enough” with kind of an edgy tone, and of course there was good outside noise isolation due to its design.

I was a bit skeptical about how well the CloseUp System would work at the show because the Your Heaven Audio booth was right in the middle of the drum hall, which is a crazy and noisy environment. But, with the soundhole cover in place there was no outside noise coming through the microphone. I was even more impressed with the tone of that was produced by the EzQ processor. The sound was very natural, with none of the brittleness that I find with onboard piezo systems, so the inherent warmth of the instrument was allowed to shine through. As an added bonus, because it does not rely on undersaddle transducers, the balance from string to string very even, so I did not have to adjust my playing style to get the guitar to sound right.

Overall, I think Your Heaven Audio’s CloseUp System is a winner when used with the acoustic guitar. I did not get a chance to hear it on a violin, but from their demo videos it appears that this technology crosses over very well to other string instruments. Pricing is around $350 for acoustic guitars, which is a good deal when you figure out how much it would cost to have a nice system installed in your guitar, not to mention that this system can be easily moved from instrument to instrument. For more details and ordering information, head over to www.yourheaven.net

Mahalo!

NAMM 2017: Taylor GS Mini Bass New Product Preview

At the 2017 Winter NAMM show I had the opportunity to check out the new GS Mini Bass from Taylor Guitars, and it is a neat piece of work! This was a surprising bit of news for me, because I had not heard that they were developing this product.

Taylor guitars are fantastic instruments, and they have untold numbers of devotees that will are huge fans of their products. Most Taylor guitars are built in their San Diego, California factory, but some of their lower-priced instruments are built just across the border in Tecate, Mexico. These include the 100 and 200 series instruments, as well as the Baby Taylor and the GS Mini models. So, this bass was built in Mexico.

One way to look at the GS Mini Bass is as a travel bass, and I think it will work well in this respect. It has a 23.5-inch scale (like the GS Mini guitars), so it is possible to make the instrument a lot shorter. Of course the bridge is placed more towards the center of the body when compared to an electric bass, but it is still a tidy package. Plus, it comes with a surprisingly sturdy padded soft case (Taylor calls it a “hard bag”).

Another way to look at the bass is as an instrument that would be comfortable for guitar players to transition to. I think it will work well for this too, thanks to its scale length and its very comfy Taylor-esque ergonomics. It is not such a stretch on those lower frets for those with smaller hands (bonus!). This would be a fine instrument for songwriting, studio work, or hacking around with friends.

So, let’s take a look at how this thing is put together!

The GS Mini Bass has a solid Sitka spruce top, mahogany top with . X braces to keep everything together while still allowing it to vibrate well. The back and sides are made with a sapele laminate, which ends up looking like mahogany to me. The body has a tasteful purfling, a simple rosette and a tortoise shell pickguard. The whole this has an even coating of matte-finish varnish.

The neck and heel are also made of sapele, and the fretboard is hewn from ebony, which is surprising on a guitar at this price point. The nut is also has the same 1 11/16 inches width as the GS guitar. There are 20 frets standard-sized Taylor frets, and you will find 14 of them free from the body. The headstock has a simple overlay with a screen printed logo, and sealed-back chrome tuners. They are unbranded, but seem to be good quality, and they hold tune well.

The craftsmanship is up to Taylor’s high standards, with an even finish and a truly terrific job with the fretwork. The Tusq nut and bridge are perfect, and the GS Mini Bass has a very comfortable action with the OEM strings. By the way these strings are a story all on their own, as they are custom light gauge strings that have a nylon core with a phosphor bronze wrap wire. Taylor says these strings were developed just for this bass, and no other strings should be used on it.

Unplugged, the sound is about what you would expect from a small-bodied acoustic bass. It sounds warm and pretty, and it is nicely balanced from string-to-string, but there is just not a ton of volume. Fortunately the GS Mini Bass comes with a good electronics package: the Taylor ES-B system. This is an under-saddle piezo transducer system, that uses an onboard preamp is powered by two CR 2032 batteries. Controls are basic, with volume and tone knobs, as well as a built-in tuner. It has a very clean and natural sound, and I really like the way it sounds when it is plugged in.

Pretty much, this bass does everything it is supposed to, and I think both guitar and bass players will find a lot to like about it, and not much of anything to gripe about.

The Taylor GS Mini Bass is supposed to go on sale in March, and it will have a list price of $918. That should put the street price around $700, and I think this will be a real winner for the company. When you see one, be sure to try it out as I think you will like it!

Mahalo!

Acoustic G10 Lead Series Guitar Amplifier Review

Aloha!

Acoustic brand amplifiers have been around since the late 1960s when Steve Marks and his dad founded the company from their shop on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. They made huge amps that were popular with major artists of the time, and have sort of plodded along since then, and they currently sell mostly low-end amps that are not a whole lot different than everything else on the market. Today we are looking at their G10 Lead Series amplifier, the smallest model in a new line-up that extends up to the G120 DSP (which is a 120-watt amp with four 12-inch speakers).

The Acoustic G10 is described by the company as being“ideal for solo practice or small band rehearsal.” I guess this is mostly true: it is fine for solo practice, and would work for a rehearsal – if you put a microphone in front of it and put it through a larger amplifier. This is a budget model 10-watt solid-state amp with an 8-inch speaker, so you just are not going to be able to move that much air and have it sound nice. Not that this is a bad unit, but you have to know your limitations.

This is a very portable unit, measuring 14’ by 7″ by 14″, and weighing just a touch over 14 pounds. The G10 is very simple to use, and it has two switchable channels that both sound pretty good. The lead channel provides volume and gain, and the rhythm channel has a volume control. They both share a 3-band EQ with a mid-range shift switch. Also on the control panel is a single input, the channel switch, a 1/8-inch aux input, and a 1/8-inch headphone out. This makes for a pretty awesome practice amp set-up. That is about it, except for the power switch on the front and the IEC power socket on the back. There is no footswitch or jack for channel switching, no effects, and no aux speaker out.

Build quality on this thing is good. The vinyl is neatly applied, and the wiring is tidy. The pots have a rather cheap feel to them, but this is not surprising as this is a cheap amp. There is a bit of hiss to it when it is on without the guitar being played, but it is not really noticeable once you start playing.

The sound of this Acoustic amp is pretty solid, too. The clean channel is warm sounding until you crank a lot of volume through it, then it breaks up in a really bad way. The lead channel has a very useable gain, and sounds really awesome with my Les Paul. This thing is more than good enough for the casual bedroom or garage player.

The Acoustic Lead Series G10 is a solid practice amplifier, and it is worth the money but I do recommend that you shop around a bit. The list price on these is $129.99 (really?) with a street price of $59.99, and I saw stacks of them at Guitar Center on Black Friday for $40. You are not really going to get a decent practice amp for much less than that…

Mahalo!

Taylor 214 Grand Auditorium Acoustic Guitar Review

Hiya!

When it comes to acoustic guitars I am pretty much a die-hard Martin and Takamine enthusiast, but I recently stumbled upon a lovely Taylor Grand Auditorium model 214 that really struck my fancy. This model was discontinued in 2013, though there are still similar things in their line-up.

In case you are not familiar with Taylor’s models (like me), the 214 is a mid-size acoustic (somewhere between a dreadnaught and the smaller Taylor Grand Concert) with no cutaway or electronics. It is a comfortable size, with the body measuring around 4 5/8”deep, 16” wide, and 20 long. This guitar has a normal scale length (25 ½ inches), so there should not be a lot of adjustment if you are switching from something else.

This guitar was built in Mexico (like all 2 series instruments) and the body is made from laminated rosewood, and the top is made from solid spruce with forward shifted braces. The top has a glossy finish and the back and sides have a smooth satin finish. The top and back are multi-ply bound with black and blindingly white plastic, and there is a faux tortoise shell pickguard.

This Taylor’s unbound neck has 20 frets, 14 of which are free from the body. The neck is sapele, sort of like mahogany, with an ebony fretboard (the bridge is ebony too). There is a very pretty Indian rosewood peghead overlay and a black plastic trussrod cover. The nut is 1 11/16” wide and it has a Nubone nut to match the compensated bridge saddle. The chrome-plated sealed tuners hold well, though I wish they were nickel, which looks so much classier. The neck also has a satin finish, felt broken in right out of the box.

The frets are still in wonderful shape and perfectly level, and the top is certainly gorgeous. It has a super-fast neck, and though I have heard that these guitars do their best for fingerstyle, it is a nice strummer, even when digging in. It is pretty loud, but it has an uncanny brightness and clarity. The top has a loose sound, and it is as sweet as can be with very good balance.

The Taylor Grand Auditorium 214 is well-made, attractive, a good player, and It sounds wonderful. Plus they are a good value! The 214 had a list price of $1068 and a street price of $700 when they were new and these guitars seem to sell for around $500 or $600 on the used market, which brings them well into the realm of us mortal men. Check one out for yourself and see what you think!

Mahalo!

Goya G-312 Acoustic Guitar Review

Hello!

Today we are going to look at something a little different today - a pretty cool budget acoustic guitar that I picked up from Craigslist. This is an early 1990s Goya G-312 6-string dreadnaught.

Goya guitars were an offshoot of Sweden’s Levin, and were an effort for the company to enter the US Market. Martin bought the Goya brand in 1976 and used it to produce budget instruments overseas. This was particularly important to them as around that time many Japanese companies were building guitars that looked just like theirs, and it was hurting their business. So, the Goya brand was Martin’s effort to fight back. Initial production was in Japan, and eventually was moved to Korea. Martin gave up on this experiment in 1996 and eventually sold the name to a food company. Goyas are generally good guitars, though they were not wildly successful.

The G-312 guitar that we are looking at today was probably built in Korea, though it is hard to get an exact date as there is no serial number and very little information about these instruments online. I am thinking it is from the early 1990s. The model name is a complete mystery, as this is pretty much a copy of the Martin D-18 dreadnaught and nothing seems to correspond to this. The “G” might stand for “guitar” or “Goya” or “good enough.” Who knows? As far as the “312,” that is anybody’s guess.

The triple-bound body has the traditional broad-shouldered shape, and there are 14 frets clear from the body. The top appears to be solid spruce, and the back and sides are mahogany, though I cannot tell if it is solid or a laminate. I am going with laminate until I figure out otherwise. The neck is mahogany with a rosewood overlay and a silkscreen inlaid logo that is fading, and the fretboard is rosewood too. The bridge is painted to look like ebony. Sad.

This guitar had been played regularly and was kept in a loving home, so it did not really need much attention when I got it. It has a good set-up and there are no repairs or unsightly damage to speak of.

It plays very well. The neck has a pleasantly rounded profile that is fairly slim and fast, and the tone is very rich and loud. The sounds is well balanced from string to string, though I think it would be nice to find a compensated bridge saddle as the intonation is just a touch off. Also, the sealed tuners are cheap and do not hold as well as I would like them to. But, it is certainly good enough for anything I will be doing with it, especially at the bargain basement price I paid for it.

I rarely see Goya guitars on the market as once players get their hands on them they do not let them go. Generally they are solid instruments, but it is a good idea to try before you buy (be careful with eBay), as I have run into a few clunkers and shoddy repairs. If you have one, post a comment below, I am curious what you think!

Mahalo!

La Patrie Etude Acoustic Guitar Review

Aloha!

Today we are looking at a nice La Patrie Etude model classical-style acoustic guitar that I picked up at my local flea market. La Patrie is an offshoot of the Godin family of guitars and their instruments are made in LaPatrie Quebec. I think Canada may have more luthiers than lumberjacks. Maybe. I have owned a few of their instruments in the past, and came away mostly impressed with what they have to offer.

When I first picked up this guitar, I was impressed by the sound and, and even more by the seller’s asking price, which was right about as low as you can for any new guitar, and it is certainly more playable than many entry level instruments. The condition was good with no cracks or repairs, no fret wear, and some scratches on the top from exuberant playing. It also came with a hard case, so it had to come home with me!

The Etude is a pleasant-looking guitar, with a solid cedar top, and wild cherry (play that funky music) back and sides, which is probably a laminate. The finish is sort of a semi-gloss lacquer, and the body has a simple binding around the top and back. It is not too big, measuring 11 inches at the upper bout, 15 inches at the lower bout, and it is around 4 inches deep. On the downside, the rosette looks a little cheap and the cedar top is very prone to scratching and dings, but it is what it is.

Mahogany is used for the neck, with a rosewood fretboard and headstock front laminate, and it appears to have the same satin finish as the body. There is a dual-action trussrod in the neck (gasp!), which allows for a little thinner profile, so it is more comfortable to me than other classical guitars, despite the standard 2-inch wide nut. 19 medium frets are sunk into the fretboard, and they are level with nice edges.

For this guitar, Godin specified black and gold lyre tuners that look kind of funny, but are of barely acceptable quality and hold kind of well. They also gave it first-rate Tusq (by Graphtech) synthetic bone nut and bridge saddles, and a rosewood bridge. Oh yes, and It is nice and light, weighing in at around 3 pounds, 9 ounces according to my scale. The seller threw in a hard case that is uglier than sin on the outside, but quite beautiful on the inside. Bonus!

So, in my opinion, this Etude is a nicely made guitar with no weak points thanks to its solid materials and good craftsmanship. It sounds good and plays well with a sweet and balanced tone. It is has of impressive volume when played hard, and has a nice low-end. It is pleasant to play, and would be a great first guitar, which was my intention when I bought it. I usually try to keep a few nice starter guitars around to loan or sell to friends that are looking to get into playing their own music.

When it come to purchasing a La Patrie Etude, used is the only way to go. MSRP on these is a $524, with a street price of about $399 (with no case), but they sell all day long on the used market for $100 to $150, often with a hard case. It is hard to go wrong for that kind of money - if you get the chance, try one out for yourself!

Mahalo!