Ashton D-28CEQTBL Acoustic-Electric

This is an Australian built and owned guitar, made around early 2000. It has 22 frets and is a laminated top. The pickup is an Ashton brand EQ-505R, which has three way equaliser functions, volume know and battery checklight. It is standardly powered by a 9 volt battery.
The finish is beautiful, a translucent light-blue in the centre of the top bursting out to a deep-purple around the edges. The drednought shape is great for far-reaches. It has a thin neck for surprising playability with a slightly rounded fretboard. It is much more playable to me than a friends recent model Maton acoustic.

I play a lot of acoustic stuff and styles like blues, spanish and celtic and this guitar goes perfectly with that. The pickup sounds devine for the price and the maker, and i was sincerely surprised by that factor. It can handle a little gain, and is fairly well-behaved when clean and loud. I use an Ashton 40 watt amp and a Vadis quad box, and these compliment it well.
With the equaliser there is a great deal of variation in sound, you can get a sharp, bright sound, or with some adjustment get a beautiful full-bodied sound with the bass up fairly high. Keeping in mind that the sound coming out never crackles or distorts.
I think that it is a beautiful sounding guitar. Unplugged, it has so much character in the tone, and you can vary that a lot on its own. Plugged in, it sounds startling. A very rich tone.

The action is good. None of the strings rattle or buzz, but it is not too high. The pickup is good as well, no problems as of yet.
The only flaws were some of the painting on the edges of the neck were crooked (barely noticeable) and the soundhole design was of the same error. Except for the wood minutely splintering directly below the strings on the lip of the soundhole (from hand and plectrum) the entire guitar is totally together.

The guitar has withstood much live playing, recording, rehearsing and partying. It has actually surprised me quite a bit that it still sounds great. The hardware is excellent, durable to a T. The finish has come off on the lip of the soundhole and a little scratch on the body, but it takes a fair bit to scratch it off. I replaced the strap buttons with larger ones (previous bad experiences) so i can't say how they are, but the new ones hold fine. I use it at gigs regularly.

The warranty lasts for a year, i've had this for about three-quarters of a year. I havent dealt with the company personally, but it makes me feel better that if i did have to, they're here in Australia so it makes things easier.

I've been playing for about 3 years and my other guitar equipment includes a Yamaha classical, Samick les-paul with a Gibson 59 custom pickup in it, Ashton Ga-40 Amp, Vadis quad box.
if i were to destroy or lose this guitar, I would very seriously consider getting another. I love it. The sound is very satisfying, and playability is great: smooth and full of tone. When i bought it I compared it to an Ibanez, a Samick and a Maton (even though that was outta price range) and i liked this best.