Crafter GAE-30

I bought this guitar new for 550 euros in 2002. For a specification of used materials see the former review or the webpage of the Crafter company (I wouldn't know the kinds of woods used by name).
I's got a built-in piezo element with a volume, bass and treble control.
Changing the battery is quite a hassle because you have to reach IN the guitar and try to get it out of a clamp that's mounted there.

It's got a very clear sound, which is what I go for in a steel string acoustic. It lacks a bit of bass though, like more Crafter guitars seem to do. This one doesn't lack it as much as cheaper Crafter models I tried, but it's still there.
Using new strings helps a lot, though. I asked for new ones in the shop and playing it with new strings made me decide to buy it.
The piezo-element creates quite a lot of noise. For live-playing it works, but for recording it's a problem.

The guitar as a whole looks very nice, beautiful colours and appears to have been manufactured well and accurately.
Good tuning machines.
Although it's not a really heavy playing guitar I've played ones that played lighter. I tried correcting this by adjusting the truss rod, but that impaired the sound too much, so I reset it.

It seems to be a well-built guitar. I even fell over it once. That made a crack in the top but I was happy that nothing else broke.
I have used it live several times without any problems.
I did ad a strap button at the heel of the neck. It's something that often is left out on acoustic guitars, which I don't understand because it's awkward to play with one end of the strap attached to the end of the neck instead, in my opinion

I have been playing guitar for 30 years.

Other gear:
- Hopf Classical guitar
- Ibanez Musician 550
- Fender Stratocaster US
- Aria PE-175 'Herb Ellis'
- Line6 PodPro pre-amp

If it were lost or stolen I'd buy an acoustic with easier battery access and a bit deeper sound.
I love the way it looks and the clarity of its sound.
I compared it with a 1000 euro Alhambra which was better (but almost twice as expensive) and some Yamaha electro-acoustic guitars that were a bit smaller and therefore lacked depth of sound.

Produced in 2002 in Korea.
Engelmann solid top spruce.
Gloss finish.

I use this guitar for fingerpicking / blues.
Sometimes I combine it with a Laney GC 80 A (which is not the best at all - but it's allright).
The B-Band preamp is very nice (small in dimension but great in functionality).
Acoustic sound, however is better using strong strings. I actually use extra lights (da Vinci). These are ok but they are lacking basses a little bit.
Overall sound is very nice balanced. I own the guitar now for about 6/7 month an I've the feeling sound is getting better and better as time goes by.

Nice set-up.
I didn't have to fix anything except lowering string height (a matter of personal taste). Everything else is perfect.

Everything is very nice crafted and gives you the feeling it might last forever. But since I own this guitar since 6/7 month there is no experience to tell about.

Bought this guitar at beyer's music in Wattenscheid (Germany). The guy dealing with acoustic guitars is highly ok (I didn't like the guy dealing with electric guitars - but this is a matter of personal taste).

For this price, the guitar is a nice deal. If I had 2000 Euros to spend I would have chosen a Lowden O-25. But this is a completely different story.