Crafter FE-27/N

Small jumbo body, beautiful spruce top, beautifuller (great word) south american rosewood back and sides, nice sound hole inlays, great vine inlay up the neck, gold tuners, fast neck, L.R. Baggs pickup (I know a guy who builds $6k guitars and puts this pickup in them) and intuitive pickup panel. BUY THIS GUITAR. BUY THIS GUITAR. BUY THIS GUITAR.

The rating of 10 is in comparison to the price paid; I have never played a guitar with better tone for the money. I play acoustic rock, (U2, Cake, and various bands you haven't heard of) christian worship music, and write my own rock music. I play this unplugged and plugged in, and this guitar sounds INCREDIBLE either way.

This guitar was set up VERY well; action is fast and low, but no buzzing; everything was lined up properly. This guitar is just a pleasure to hold and play.

Yes, I play this guitar live once a week, and it holds up great. I tend to play more aggressively live (I don't thrash around the stage, but I really enjoy my music!) and this guitar handles the beating very well. I don't ever gig without a backup because I break too many strings, and who wants to change strings on stage? ALWAYS have a backup. If there was such a thing as unbreakable strings that sound GREAT, I would use them, and in that case I would play this guitar without a backup. I've only had it a couple of months though, so I have to give it a 9 based on lack of experience.

No idea, it has some kind of lifetime warranty I think.

I've been playing for 15+ years (I stopped counting) and I own a Gibson Les Paul, a Martin acoustic/electric, an Alvarez acoustic/electric, a Martin 12-string, a baby Taylor, a Korg AX1200G, a Traynor YCV40, and this Crafter. I've been using the Martin acoustic/electric as my main guitar, and honestly, I wasn't planning on buying the Crafter. I have a friend that wanted to sell it to me, and he did the smartest thing he could have done: He loaned it to me for a couple weeks. The looks struck me right off, but I wasn't impressed initially with the tone or playability. I have since completely changed my mind; this is my favorite guitar. My poor Martin gets left in its case because this Crafter sounds INCREDIBLE plugged in or acousic, and is very easy to play and I know it sounds weird, but it loves to be held. Just trust me; you'll understand once you play one. I gave it a nine in this category because if you want to spend $2500 on a guitar, you can buy a better sounding guitar. But not for less than that.

made in 2002 in korea
21 frets
solid top
headway TP-S Pro pre amp with volume, treble, middle, bass,scoop,phase and mute.
under saddle piezo
solid spruce top ( looks like engleman) laminated rosewood back and sides, solid mahogoney neck, rosewood fingerboard with maple vine/flower inlay
gloss finished body and top with satin finish on the neck
cutaway med bodied acoustic 15 1/2 inches across the lower bout and 4 1/2 inches deep.
gold grover style quality tuners ( gotoh???) with pearl type kidney buttons.
beautiful smooth med depth neck, feels like and extension of your hand, 44mm wide at the nut.

I play both finger picking and flat pick guitar and this guitar has almost made my expensive ovation collectors series guitar redundent.
It has a lovely smooth yet suprisingly lively sound when finger picked and rings clear with almost bell like tones. it responds beautifully to different levels of attack and never seems to sound flat like some guitars do..with this guitar you can really hear the variance and nuance of both quiet and stronger picking ( i some times pick very softly with the fleshy tips of my finger then run into claw type picking with lots of hammer-ons and pull-offs)
with a flat pick the guitar sounds LOUD!! and i do mean loud!! it cuts through wonderfully with a deep yet not boomy tone that still sparkles at the top end without getting to "zingy" but if you hit it to hard it can sound slightly strident.
It take a bit of getting used to but you just dont need to spank this guitar as hard as you do others..you can relax your style a bit..
I have to admit i prefer the tones when finger picking but thats probably cos i dont use a pick that often. the guitar is a joy to mike up and i found i could get a great sound with just one condenser mike, with 2 mikes it just blew me away.
The onboard pre amp is fairly comprehensive for a guitar of this class and provides a refreshingly simple yet usable range of tones, I have to admit i prefer to mike up when possible but i have used the pre amp and using the phase and scoop controls you can get and almost dobro like sound from the guitar..the controls are wide ranging at the frequency points they need to be and offer a good deal of adjustment.
my only miss giving with the pre amp is that the gain control is not a pop up control therefore it rises slightly above the pre amp housing. batteries are easy to fit as the holder pops out when the catch is released allowing you to fit a new battery into the holder then slide it back into position ( an idiot could do it blindfold!!)
my only slight miss giving with the sound is that slightly strident tone when really hitting it with a flat pick

The set up on the guitar was fantastic..I know the previous owner had done nothing to it from new and with a clean up and a new set of strings it was perfect, i didnt have to adjust anything at all!!now this i find very rare on guitars these days..most new guitars requiring at least a pro set up if not more to make them properly playable ( gibson and fender you are the worst culprits!!)
the action is low but without one single hint of buzz and im running earthwood light gauge phosper bronze strings on it!!
the nut is well cut and once lubricated gave no problems with sticking at all, the tuners run smooth and true, the large kidney buttons making tunning an easy job.
the compensated saddle seems to be of good quality and as with all acoustics of this design intonation will never be perfect but its near enough to not worry.
All the inlays and bindings are properly fitted with a minimum of filler round the fingerboard inlay..the book matching is exemplary, and the finish on the top has been kept to as thin as is practical and appears to be cellulouse to my eyes ..
I cant really fault the guitar in this section apart from in one area, the splice used to fit the headstock doesnt run under the first 2 frets but up from the first fret towards the first tuners, there is nt any volute on the back of the neck so in my oppinion this leaves a potential weak spot, so as always if you have to lean your guitar against something, do so with it face towards the object you are leaning it against, this will minimise the likely hood of breaking the headstock off.

Oh yes this guitar wil withstand gigging fine as long as you store it in a good quality hard case, but i would fit strap locks to it if using on a strap on stage just to make sure ..there is only one strap button fitted and its an integral part of the output jack but its solid.
I would say you could depend on this guitar but i never gig without a backup anyway ..its sods law the first time i do something is going to go wrong in a big way.

I cant say i have had much experience dealing with the distributors in the uk..but going on dealings i have had with the main crafter company i would say it should be good.
the guitar has 12 months warranty in the uk

I have been playing guitar since i was 7 yrs old so its 39 yrs playing next month!! god im getting old!!Im an ex luthier who used to run my own shop repairing and building guitars.
i own this guitar, an ovation 1994 collectors series guitar, a vintage solid top 000 copy, a fender strat, gibson less paul, and budget bass guitar, korg AX1000g and behringher virtulizer pro multi effects, various stomp box's, a peavey bravo all tube combo, ross systems 802 desk and boss br864 digital 8 track recorder and various other odds and sods including studio condenser mics etc.
I wish i had found it sooner, i could have saved a lot of money!!
I would definatly buy this guitar or one of its stablemates again.
I love the neck and the feel of the guitar , when you pick it up it feels like you are wrapping your arm round a piece of wood costing in the #1 -2 grand bracket
I chose this guitar to give me some new tones and to act as a back up for my ovation..now its played more than my ovation
If this guitar had a solid back and sides it would be amazing..so please crafter knock me one up!!!
I have played a lot of guitars especially acoustics over the years and this guitar has really suprised me..im keeping my eyes peeled for other models on e bay as they are to good to turn down at the prices you can get them for..they are in my opinion one thats going to worth picking up in years to come.