Crafter SA-ARW

has a wonderful acoustic tone that can emulate a Martin, Taylor, ovation and Godin

has a sweet electric tone (lipstick) that sounds exactly like a thinline tele

B-E-A-U-tiful!!!!

I have the ARW model and it looks fantastic!

good acoustic "takamine" style setup

seems pretty sturdy, no wiggly parts, and seems REALLY solid

This guitar is absolutely amazing. I play worship stuff for my church and it is perfect for everything i need. No more bringing 3 guitars to church, this thing does it all! I never thought id find a guitar like this, but this instruent is PURE MAGIC!

I recently purchased the Crafter SA-ARW (Slimline Acoustic - Andes
Rosewood) hybrid guitar. It is essentially a Taylor T5 copy with a few minor differences and one major difference (the cost). It should be noted here that I didn't buy this guitar for the gimmick of having a hybrid. In my capacity as a worship leader, I can get a lot of different sounds without changing guitars.

This is a beautiful archtop guitar with solid maple back and sides. It also has it's own "f" holes, similar to but unique to the T5. It comes with a piezo pickup under the bridge and a lipstick pickup near the neck. It is powered by an LR Braggs preamp with bass, mid, and trebel controls as well as a mute and phase switch. Additionally, it has a slide fader that allows the player to control how much of each pickup goes into the mix. This fading option between pickups sets the Crafer (Korean company) is actually better than the five-way switch on the T5.

The finish is very nice but the neck finish is not "satiny" enough for me. The construction of the guitar was not only impressive to me but also to my luthier buddy. The width of the neck is more like an acoustic but it is not too chunky. Quite frankly, it is a strikingly beautiful guitar.

I am a worship leader that was looking to upgrade from my beater Fender without having to spend $1000 on a Taylor or Martin. I was looking for something that was simple and yet sounded great in our sound system. This guitar is doing exactly what I wanted. I have been able to dial in the sound I was looking for with the LR Braggs preamp and countour the sound on the fly to fit different situations. I took the advice from a previous HC review and I swapped out the stock strings and put super light acoustic strings on it and it really sounds like a nice acoustic.

When I want it to sound jazzy (similar to my father's Gibson ES 330) the lipstick pickup does a pretty good job of getting me there. The lipstick pickup is not as robust as I would have liked but remember, my main interest is a thinline with a good acoustic sound. I have toyed with the advice of another HC reviewer and set the pickup slider at about 60 acoustic and 40 lipstick to fatten up the sound but when I find myself getting lost in the mix and in need of a bright, yet tasteful, acoustic sound, I slide the fader to acounstic and I am able to find my place in the mix without overpowering other instruments.

As mentioned above, the action is more like an acoustic and the finish is nice but not "satiny" enough for me. It is better than I thought it would be as I play a worship set.

It is a little heavy for a slimline but it is much more comfortable than playing my dreadnought. I like the feel and balance and I'm used to playing with a heavy instrument because the bass is my main instrument and my American made J Bass is heavier.

My friend the luthier and I are both very impressed with the fit of the instrument. He checked it over and found no noticeable flaws. He was truly impressed. (He used to work for Alembic as a bass builder).

I really believe it will be durable because of how solidly it is built. I do wish it had some sort of pickguard. I may find a clear pickguard and add it. I don't beleive I'll need a backup in my worship setting.

Haven't needed customer support.

I have played guitar for 25 years along with playing bass and keyboards. I really like the sound and the look of this instrument. It looks and plays much nicer than the $450 price tag to get it. I played several guitars in the $500 to $1000 range (as well as the T5) and I am VERY happy with how this sounds and looks.

This guitar for the costs is second to none! It has a really good pick-up system LR Baggs with a blender slide to combine the "under saddle" with the lipstick tube pick up.....Very versitile! The construction is far better than I would have expected for a $750 new guitar. It is very nice. I bought this one "used" from Bob at Class Axe for $569 with a case...And love it!

It sounds beter than my other guitars plugged in. I have a Guild D50 and an Ovation and this smoke them both plugged in. Very easy to play. I can kick in my distortion channel for leads and back to clean with ZERO feedback....Try that with an Ovation. The blender slide is very good for getting the RIGHT sound depending on what you need for a specific song. On the far right setting ( without the pickup) it does get pretty bright and quacky so I tend to leave the blend slider in the center (or about).

Increadible for a guitar in this price range.....It is a beauty!

Not sure but looks solid and well made. I am not anticipating any issues. I treat ALL guitars with care.

I am not aware

Looks great, sounds better, very comfortable to play! I still cannot believe the value of this guitar. For the $$$ the best guitar I have and I have 10 guitars.

I will refrain from repeat posting concerning a list of features. Since I chose this guitar in reference to a T5, I agree that the blend control between the Baggs acoustic PU and the KA single coil is an amazing, useful feature.

Everything else about this guitar is shockingly high quality. Obviously Crafter is a company that deserves credit as being among the best in the business. The "Korean" origin initially turned me off; my prejudice has since been suspended.

This guitar sounds amazing. Bright and full, warm and articulate. The PU blend allows for versatility not found in the competition.

I do not use this guitar as a substitute for a solid body electric; I use this as a stand-alone semi acoustic and play it through a Fishman Loudbox 100.

This guitar was intonated perfectly from the factory. There are literally no flaws. Taylor quality.

Excellent so far. I play music full time for a living, mostly acoustic duo gigs. This guitar has supplanted my 1987 Taylor 510 and one of my Martins as my go-to signature sound guitar for acoustic outings. I do still use a high-actioned mahogany Martin exclusively for slide; this Crafter guitar cannot be considered a good slide guitar, by design.

?

Almost a 10. I am stunned. Really, a T5 may offer "psychological" value since it's a Taylor, but in terms of quality and sound, they are in the same league. I have owned my Taylor for almost 20 years and have been playing full time most of that time, and this Crafter is a special, value friendly find. I highly recommend this guitar.

Fantastic. Post just before this one has all the details about this guitar. Mine has the best book matched top of any guitar I've ever owned and I've owned many. This thing is absolutely gorgeous. Plays like a dream. Had it set up by my guitar tech and he raved. Said he has worked on many Taylors and this Crafter is superb. I own a Taylor acoustic 314ce and the quality is identical if not better. Couldn't afford a T5 and found this new through a dealer out of Virginia. Super deal on a super guitar. Does have a high gloss top and could be prone to pic marking and scratching but I put a clear protector on it like a custom pickguard and the thing looks marvelous. Particularly like the sliding adjustment for the pick ups. This thing sings in many different voicings.

I am basically an acoustic player - 36 years. But I play in a band as the only guitarist right now, so I was looking for something very versatile without switching guitars. We play high energy RnR and Classic rockers. This unit is exactly what I needed and was looking for. I have a couple of Strats and a LP, Tacoma and Taylor acoustics etc... couldn't see shelling out 2 grand for the T5 and glad I didn't. Nothing against Taylor, but this fits the bill just fine. You can dial in sooo many good sounds and tone. I'm loving it.

Bought this unit new. Crafter made this one right. Never owned a Crafter before but would certainly consider another. Guitar was set up OK from the factory but you should always have a tech set it up the way you like it. Right now it plays great. The book matched top is perfect and looks phenominal. NO flaws at all. I get great compliments all the time - not many people know of Crafter here in America but this guitar is very nice.

I use this guitar at least once a week to gig live. Always have a back up but this thing is very dependable and I feel it'll hold up just fine. Finish is very glossy and feels solid but it does mark easily, hardware is just fine and this thing holds tune very well. Strap buttons are slightly oversized and feel very solid. Many high quality components. Bought new with a case but the case is rather flimsy, so I put it in a TKL. I take care of my equipment and I have no worries this guitar will serve me well for a long time.

These are supposed to ship new with 2 saddles. One for electric strings and one for acoustic strings. Mine did not have the extra saddle and I didn't knmow which one came with it, so I emailed the importer of Crafter. This guy emailed me back the next day and then sent both the saddles within a day or so, at no charge. Above and beyond good service.

I've been playing for 36 years. Have had many good guitars and some stinkers. I like this particular guitar and would definately replace it if it were lost or stolen. I play thru an Ibanez FZ7 and a Marshall Supervibe into a Mesa Express 5:50 set on 5 watts and miked through our system. The Kent Armstrong pick sounds great thru the FZ7 and the LR Baggs element gives superb acoustic sound.

Hybrid acoustic electric. LR Baggs piezo bridge pickup, Kent Armstrong lipstick single coil pickup, through an acoustic/electric style preamp with volume, bass, mid, treble, blend (for pickup selection/blending), phase switch, and mute. Andes rosewood carved top, mahogany type solid wood body. For full description see Crafter???s web page http://www.crafterusa.com/gallery/sa_arw.php This guitar deserves to be in the electric section as much as the acoustic guitar user reviews. The only feature I would like, and none of the current hybrids offer without custom ordering, is a stereo output so the acoustic and electric pickups can be fully independent when desired.

I play in a worship band for church, contemporary worship/rock style music. I was looking of a guitar that could give acoustic sounds as well as electric without having to change guitars. I found a used SA-ARW on EBay and decided to take a chance on one sight unseen. (no dealers in my area) Wow, great guitar! Through an Art Tube MP Studio V3 direct to a PA the LR Baggs acoustic pickup sound very clear and bright with good depth. It will give about as good an acoustic sound as many $1,000 + A/Es. Running to Peavey Valveking 1-12 or Zinky Velvet 50 tube amps it has great jazz to rock sound, even to the edge of heavy rock/metal. Blending the two pickups to the amp provides a huge range of tone. Since both pickups run through the preamp the guitar has A LOT of gain. And, every guitar should come with bass/mid/treble controls. Amazing amount of sustain. I???ve had the guitar for several weeks and I am thrilled with the playability, and sound quality.

As I bought this used I cannot say how it was from the factory. I didn???t have to do anything to it. The previous owner had installed Elixer nano med electric strings, other wise everything was stock. The fit and finish is nearly flawless. Polished frets. Decent tuners. The neck is a little on the fat side, a very acoustic guitar feel to the neck. Ok by me as I have always been an acoustic player. My guitar tech pointed out very, very slight gaps at the corners of the bridge. He said with a fitted bridge on an arch top guitar this is a typical problem area, just keep an eye on it. Otherwise, he saw nothing that needed attention and was impressed with the overall build quality.

Durability? Only time will tell. But I have no reason to doubt this guitar won???t perform as well as its high dollar competition. Slightly oversized strap buttons are almost as good as strap locks. I did take my other acoustic to my first gig with this guitar just in to be safe. Never took my old guitar out of its case.

Don???t know. But the USA headquarters responded quickly to my email inquiry for dealers in my area.

First considered the Fender Power Tele, then the Taylor T5 and Babicz Octane came on the market. These were what I was looking for but not really in my price range, not without some long term planning. Then I stumbled across the Crafter SA series. Less than half the price of the competition and everything I could find had very good things to say about them. I???ve been playing off and on for over 35 years, mostly acoustic. (Am I really that old?) This guitar does exactly what I wanted, go from acoustic to electric without having to switch guitars, and it does it very well. I would replace this guitar in a heartbeat. As I said above, I would like to send the acoustic to the PA and the electric to an amp without coloring the acoustic sound. Can???t do that without some rewiring. But there is benefit to the blend control to give a range of sound otherwise unavailable. I run to a WOBO ABY TM switch with ???A??? to my Art Tube MP as a DI. The ???B??? side to a Peavey Valveking 112. Using the ???Y??? options gives a cool blend of both worlds.

Well I came across this guitar when I took back a TAKAMINE g SERIES TO A SHOP.I am an acoustic player but have bought a couple of Gibson copies and a very good Ferndes Strat copy but have to change guitars during the gig... but now with the Crafter is a a guitar fgor all seasons musically of course.
You can play nearly any styte with this .. from jazz to acoustic to lead breaks as it is a very shallow acoustic.. I am very pleased

Versatile guitar .. it seems to be able to cross the genre of music styles..
I read a review above and someone mentioned the action was a touch high.. well mine suffers slight buzz and is a little low.. but again I will change the strings to 10s but thing the strings are a mix of 9 and 10 by Deaggio I believe.

9 out of 10 for set up
Perfect finish

Live playing how well will it stand up to it ??.. I wonder and this is a main concern BUT i am so pleased with it I will either buy another and just keep it for recording and home use until the day comes hopefully in 5 years at least when I can say 'Its taken the strain of live gigging. My Takamine G series has lasted 4 years oif gigging 2 or 3 nights a week now suffers fret wear which I will sort out ,, but the Crafter is a mile better for its versatility.

No experience with Crafter and no info which is a shame

Playing for 25 years. Have goy loads of stuff whioch wont interest many people
BUT id say if you are looking for a freindly guitar to play .. its easy .. I got used to it in 10 minutes at a gig with no time to practice and its still wowing me, I havnt bought such a good guitar for years ands that it straight talk
I hope somone at least will read this and go for it ... but dont compare it to anything else .. its a small piece of many guitars but its simply thye best for vlue quality and playability.

Thinline hollow single cutaway acoustic/electric hybrid, 2006 model. Okay, its a T5 knockoff but I've never played the Taylor as I could never afford it anyway so I can't compare them.
Body is routed wood, not sure what type, with a rosewood top, clear-coat, made in Korea I believe. Mahogany neck (fairly fattish, like an acoustic). Body and neck are fully bound and fretboard is rosewood with medium frets.
Comes with a Kent Armstrong lipstick pickup in the neck position and a Baggs acoustic pickup under the bridge. The neck pickup is mounted to an interior block and can be adjusted with two screws on the back of the guitar. The bridge is a acoustic type rosewood bridge.
Electronics are a preamp for the pickups so you can blend the acoustic element and the lipstick pickup. Also has phase and mute buttons and an equalizer. Very flexible tones on a very unique guitar.

I play a little bit of everything. Not a pro but play a lot with friends and record at home. I wanted this to round out my collection and try something a little different. I own a strat, and Ibanez RG, and a Yamaha full acoustic, and this gives me some great inspirations with its flexibility and tones.
This guitar is not a jack of all trades but is a great addition to a collection and has unique features and voicings. So far I've gotten some great bright acoustic tones (nice for recording), ES335 sounds, and very mellow jazz tones from it and have only scratched the surface. This isn't going to give you perfect high end acoustic sounds and I would classify it as more electric than acoustic.

The build quality is very very good. Not a flaw anywhere and what is particularly impressive is that the frets are perfectly level and polished (Holy Sh**). Like me, I'm sure some of you have paid big $ for a guitar that had lousy fretwork from the factory. To find this on a guitar of this price is a huge bonus. The wood on the top is oustanding and this guitar is gorgeous.
Action is medium, about what you would expect on an acoustic guitar, but the first thing I did is change the strings, which sucked,to Elixir 11s and discovered under the saddle these little spacers...how cool. Took those out and the action is better but I wouldn't call it low. I would give it a ten if the action was a bit more comfortable.

The build quality feels very solid and the weight is nice with good balance. The body depth is about two inches and it is very comfortable to play. All the components are quality and I can't find a damn thing to even quibble about. Theres not even anything I would upgrade apart from maybe the saddle and nut, just to see what that would do, but thats it.

No clue. Crafter seems to be a big name in Europe. I usually research the daylights out of anything I buy but could find very little info/reviews/etc on this guitar, so I took a chance. I saw this guitar online, looked at the crafter site, and bought it through an online dealer in Canada, which gave me the heebies, but it turned out great. The value is so good I feel like I stole it.

I've been playing about ten years, mainly with friends and a few gigs here and there. I'm a guitar whore and have owned and sold a lot of them over the years. Some of the gems I keep. I will be hanging on to this one.
The huge pluses for me are the construction and the attention to detail (ie. the frets). Also the uniqueness of this instrument appealed to me. It's really got a striking look. You'll need to play alot with the pickup blending and the eq settings, but there are some extrememly complex and cool tones to be had.
In comparison to the big American brands, this is a massive value. My Ibanez RG is Korean made and that thing opened my eyes to how good foreign manufacturers are. Their quality control must be intense to turn out products like this. My $1000 strat needed fret work and a comprehensive set up out of the box and thats just BS.
The only thing that I would change is the neck shape and the action. This is completely subjective and if you're used to a Gibson neck size, you'll love this.
One last note, as I've gotten more into recording, I find that certain instruments sound good live but awesome recorded. I've been overdubbing some tracks of mine with the Crafter and they sound incredible. I wouldn't own this as my only guitar, but its a great compliment to any stable. Very very recommended.

Solid wood (Andean Rosewood and Mahogany), through and through, and the glossy finsh really complements the rich grain of the woods. The body is a thinline style, with a cutaway for reaching the 21st fret and a large lower bout, like an L5. Nice binding around the guitar, neck, and f-holes. The bridge is glued to the carved top, with a traditional acoustic saddle. Individual intonation can't be adjusted, but fortunately it plays as in tune in every key as you could hope for.

Two pickups: one piezo and one single coil magnetic. The L.R. Baggs undersaddle pickup produces very articulate and polished acoustic tone. No, it doesn't sound like a classic Martin miked up with vintage tube mics, but it does have a beautiful and very usable plugged-in tone when run direct. The Kent Armstrong lipstick magnetic pickup has a unique and "Chimey" tone. Very vintage, very cool. Being a single coil, it can be a bit noisy when plugged into a high gain amp. Both pickups are wired to an active blender/EQ.

The blender has 7 controls: MIX, LOW, MID, HIGH, PHASE, MUTE and VOLUME. The MUTE feature is a nice to have, but I personally don't use it as much as I do my dedicated volume pedal. The VOLUME knob allows for pretty high headroom; I run it at 10 o'clock to match the level of my other guitars. It is the other controls that really shape the tone, especially the the ability to alter the PHASE of the two PU's.

Sure, the T5 has similar sounds, and even an extra pickup. But frankly, I like the controls of the SA better. A pre-wired toggle switch (like the T5) is convenient, but I like the ability to make subtle changes on the fly with the faders... something I could not do with the T5. The Blender has more of a learning curve than a good ol' toggle, but still a very well-equipped axe.

The sound of this instrument is outstanding! Obviously, it is an homage to (read: copy of) the Taylor T-5 Series. Don't let this fool you; this guitar, in terms of value, sound, and playability can stand toe to toe with the T5 and in many way, surpass it... all for A LOT less money.

This guitar has a warm, clear, woody tone thanks to its semi-hallow construction. Even without being plugged in, it is resonant and focused. It's not loud enough to use as a pure acoustic, but it certainlly proves that quality Electric Guitars will sound good even before they are plugged in.

This guitar has marvelous tones. One one hand, I get a very rich and complex Jazz tone, not too dissimilar from that of Joe Pass (now if only I could PLAY like him). It has the big, harmonically sophisticated sound of an old Epiphone Emperor or Gibson L5, but with more transparency and a modern "polish" suitable for newer sounds. I LOVE this tone, which by the way, works great for Classical, too. That's right-- classical music on an electric guitar. Most electrics can't produce the pallette of tones needed for classical music, but I tried it on a whim one day, and was very surprised at how usable the tone was.

But I also can get bright electric tones thanks to the PHASE switch and BLEND controls. By upping the mids and changing the mix and phase of the pickups, I get sounds very similar to a P-90 equiped archtop. It has a smooth overdriven sound, especially into an AC-30. The active EQ allows for a wide variety of sounds, but nothing as bright as a Tele or Strat, or powerful like a Les Paul or SG-- and that is fine. This instrument has its own unique voice, and everyone who's heard it is blown away. Based on sound quality alone, this guitar is an out-of-this-world value

The SA-ARW is a beautiful instrument. It has a carved Andean Rosewood arched top with big, beautiful woodgrain and a flawless finish. And yes, it's solid wood... not laminate. The neck is round and medium-wide, like a great old Gibson neck-- VERY comfortable. The quality of construction is amazing; perfectly matched woods, no imperfections in the finish, no weak joints. Even the mother-of-pearl inlays are carefully set wihout flaws. I have seen this level of quality before, mainly on multi-thou$and dollar instruments by boutique companies and custom luthier-made pieces-- never on a guitar costing less than $1000. The laquer is well applied and the polish is perfect. It isn't as hynotically beautiful as a classic Nitro or Shellac, but it is bright and beautiful.

Playabilty is very, very good, as well. The neck is fitted with a double-action truss rod, so I count on the it staying very straight for years to come. The action was little high for my taste, but easily adapted by removing the under-saddle shims and tweaking the Truss Rod to my liking. I would have preferred a bit larger size of fret, but the medium frets play fine, and came crowned and polished straight from the factory. (Hooray!)

All the other details were top-shelf: tuning machines, nut, bridge, control and pickup mounts-- all perfect. This guitar was obvioulsy made with attention given to even the smallest of details.

This guitar feels very solid, and is definately meant to be played. It is made of quality materials, and constructed flawlessly. I have no doubt this guitar will last for years. If I keep treating it with care and giving it a good polish after every gig, it will keep looking good and playing great. The controls are solid and quiet. Very high tolerances in the joinery and hardware. No strange rattles or inconistencies.

My only gripe is that the frets need a little cosmetic looking after. No, they are not soft or assembled bad-- far from it. They came crowned and polished from the factory, but they don't like humidity, and can dull up very quick. This isn't a big deal, and if the rest of the guitar wasn't so beautifully constructed, the not-so-shiny frets would not stand out. Other than that, I see no problems.

The guitar comes with a warranty, but I cannot venture an opinion about this as I have yet to deal with the company.

Hybrid guitars are all the rage these days. I was very close to buying a T5 until I played the SA-ARW. Everything about this instrument shouted QUALITY! I could not justify paying $2500-plus for the Taylor after playing this sweet axe. Jazzers, especially, should look into this guitar, but anybody who appreciates the versatility of a Hybrid owes it to themselves to check out a Crafter before shelling down wads of your hard-earned moolah for a Taylor. And believe me, I think the T5 is a quality axe. It's made in America, whereas the Crafter is Korean made, and therein is the source of the price difference. If this guitar was American made, it would go for $2000, easily. For less than half that amount, you could get a REAL quality instrument that you would be proud to take on stage.

It lacks some of the "Glitter" of top-shelf axes, yes, but I encourage everybody to take another look at Crafter. They are making great products for a very fair price that working musicians can afford.