Crafter D-45/N

This is the 2005 Crafter D45/N acoustic guitar with no electronics with solid Engleman Spruce top and laminated Rosewood back and sides and 20 frets This guitar features the abalone tree of life/vine design of the fingerboard and the wood and abalone thorns inlay around the soundhole. Absolutely...cathedral-like! Virtually, everyone writes good reviews about their guitar, so I wasn't sure if I should trust the super reviews on similar Crafter guitars. I went ahead and bought the Dreadnaught D45/N with no electronics so I can add my own type of pickup later. This guitar is PHENOMENAL!!! I give this section a 10, not because it has a ton of features, but because it is and sounds exactly like what an excellent acoustic guitar should be!

Hands down POWERFUL SOUND. I fingerpick, strum, play rock and flamenco rythms, play scales and arpeggios, and this guitar suits all these different styles and techniques just fine. This guitar has sharp, clean, and punchy attacks of the high end Taylors and the deep, woody (but not muddy)sweetness of the fabled Martins. I am SO SURPRISED by the volume and tone of this guitar. The trebles are loud, crisp, and resonate forever, while the basses are very strong, deep (absolutely not dark and muddy or muffled), and punchy...you can feel and hear the woodiness in the sound...what a real acoustic guitar should sound like. I also have a Zager ZAD50CE, and the Crafter D45/N made me realize that the Zager is just a nice beginner's guitar with good playability to keep you hooked on playing acoustic guitar (a good thing, actually), but it definitely lacked the volume. The DIFFERENCE between the sounds of the Zager and the Crafter is like DAY AND NIGHT. The sound of this Crafter isn't just good, or "great for it's price," the sound IS HIGH END. If I've never seen or heard of this guitar before, and the local store put a price tag of $2000 or more on it and set it side by side with the Taylors and Martins, I WOULD BELIEVE THAT IT'S WORTH THAT MUCH! THE SOUND OF THE CRAFTER D45/N IS ON PAR WITH THE BEST, AND NOTHING LESS THAN THE BEST. Also a note, this guitar is still new (2005) and it's already a monster...imagine the sound when it's aged ten to twenty years from now!

Fit and Finish Perfect. The tree of life inlay on the fretboard is absolutely beautiful, as is the inlaid thorn design around the soundhole. Again, makes me think of cathedrals and stain glass artwork. The Grover tuners are a brownish, creamy pearl, and there's even indaid abalone dots on the bridge pins. The headstock also has Crafter's logo and wing designs inlaid with mother of pearl. HOLY BEAUTY TO MATCH ITS GODLIKE SOUND! The action is very low, and the neck feels so comfortable. Playability is just soooooo smooth and easy thanks to the guys at Oklahoma Vintage Guitars. (I still have to give playability to the Zager).

I had just received this guitar for less than three days. Everything feels solid about this guitar, but because it is too perfect, I'm afraid to put any kind of scratch on it. With that aside, I don't see why this guitar wouldn't be durable for live play or wouldn't be dependable. But I've only owned this guitar for three days now, so in all fairness, I will leave this category unscored.

No problems so far = no company contact. Lifetime Warranty.

Too bad the rating only goes up to 10. The price of the Crafter D45/N is... ridiculously cheap at half a grand. Yeah, it's great for us folks who don't have or don't want to spend a lot of money on the "perfect sounding guitar," but ridiculous nonetheless. I've been playing for about a decade and a half from classical to flamenco to easy listening (I play some Dan Fogelberg, John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot and Jim Croce, and others), to a bit of alternative. Yes, I'm in my early thirties, and they sure don't make music like they used to! The Crafter D45/N gives me that "ideal acoustic guitar sound" I've admired so much from the big stars. This guitar sounds like the high end Martins and Taylors (the lowers ends aren't very impressive, and sounds aren't very consistent from guitars of the same model). I would pick this Crafter over a Takamine anyday! Of all the Takamines I've tested, (I test everyone high end Takamine I see), only one (at Guitar Center) has ever impressed me. Other Takamines are certainly good, but for the price, never satisfying - a really exceptional Takamine is so hard to come by. Although an all around nice guitar, my Zager guitar was lacking acoustic thunder for playing and studio recording, I realized I needed a guitar that WILL give me the sound I want, so I started searching through ebay and used Harmony Central reviews as referrence. I really didn't want to spend anything close to a grand, so I settled for this Crafter. For half a grand, my options were actually limitless on ebay. Why I ended up with this Crafter...I don't know...maybe because it's beautiful and Oklahoma Vintage Guitar is giving me a 72 hours absolute satisfaction or refund guarantee. But after scrutinizing the sound and tone and being SOOOOOOO SATISFIED with what I hear, I'd be an idiot to return this guitar. For half a grand, you need not try or research any other guitar... GET YOURSELF A D45/N. A score of 10 here is really an understatement!