Crafter SA-TMVS

This Korean-made guitar is considered a hybrid:

LR-F Lipstick/Acoustic Hybrid Preamp w/
(1) Kent Armstrong Lipstick Pick-up
(2) L.R.Baggs Element Pick-up
(3) Blend fader on EQ allows player to mix acoustic and electric pickups

... very much in the spirit of the Taylor T5 at literally a fraction of the cost.

I've played blues, jazz, rock on this guitar and absolutely no complaints about the sound. Can't believe how versatile this baby is!!

The tiger maple body is absolutely stunning and properly bookmatched - definately a work of art. The electronics work well and are easy to control. The neck is comfortable and the action is just right for me.

I haven't taken this guitar out of the house but it looks solid as a rock and I know a musician who has gigged with it as his main axe (because he can switch back and forth from acoutic/electric instantaneously) for the past year and it's still in good shape...if that tells you anything.

Haven't had to deal with them.

I've been playing for six years and along with this Crafter, I also own a Taylor 314, Hagstrom Swede, and Simon and Patrick Woodland Cedar. I absolutely love the versatility of this axe! I've tested out a couple of Taylor T5 's at a local guitar shop and in my opinion, the Crafter can deliver 90% of the sound of the T5. Considering that the TMSV costs about a quarter of the price of a comparable T5, this Crafter is an unbelievable value

-Sunburst tiger maple top.
-Solid back and sides (not sure whether its mahogany, rosewood or nato)
-Lr baggs element pick up
-Kent armstrong lipstick pick up
-Mahogany neck
-Rosewood fretboard
Its a good guitar but it dosent come with a case

It suits my style perfectly( jazz/rock/soul/classical) because it sounds like a good acoustic and a good electric and you can blend the two sounds. It sounds just like any other decent taylor/yamaha/ovation when you use the acoustic pickup and it makes a decent rock/jazz/blues sound when you use the electric pickup. You really cant complain no matter what type of guitarist you are, though its slightly louder than an electric guitar it not as loud as acoustic and it not nearly loud enough to use as an acoustic.

The top wasnt perfectly book matched but it still looks jaw droppingly beatiful. They should of charged over ??1000 for it.
It plays like an acoustic with a very low action. Very comfortable.

100% rock solid and reliable.
It says in tune 4 ages and will last for a very long time.

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A great guitar at a riduculously low price. Just buy it.

Make: Crafter.

Model: SA-TMVS.
TMVS = tiger maple vintage sunburst.

Place of manufacture: Korea.

Year: introduced 2006. Mine ... ?

Purchased: Music Theme, Singapore.
Sales@musictheme.com.sg, www.musictheme.com.sg
3 Coleman Street
#B1-12 Peninsula Shopping Centre
Singaprore 179804
$600SGD + gig bag (not supplied).

Finish: Vintage sunburst.

Body: Tiger maple slimline arched top body design. Acoustic sound chamber (neck appears to run all-through). Solid wood body. Split S sound hole. Single cutaway.

Indian rosewood bridge. Nylon saddle.

Book-matched tiger maple top. Not stated whether it is a solid top or not?

Neck: Mahogany neck. 21 Frets. Set neck. Tiger maple headstock overlay with transfers for decorations (name and decorative pattern). Scale length 25 ?????. Dovetail neck joint. My guitar's neck joint wasn't quite straight!

Dual-action truss rod, with truss rod cover on headstock.

Indian rosewood fingerboard. Mother of pearl Crafter dot position marks. Decorative 12th fret marker.

Slim frets (material unknown).

Deluxe chrome tuners (18:1 gear ratio).

Nylon nut. Width at the nut is 1 11/16".

Electrics: LR-F Lipstick / Acoustic Hybrid Preamp with:
(1) Kent Armstrong lipstick neck pick-up.
(2) L.R.Baggs element (piezo) bridge pick-up.
(3) Blend fader on EQ allows player to mix acoustic and electric pickups. In-built volume switch. In-built treble, middle and bass faders. Battery low warning lamp.

Mute and phase switches included in the pre-amp. Not 100% sure what the phase switch is for, seeing as there is no humbucker to 'coil-cut' (like an Ibanez AR300)?

2 adjustment screws in the back to adjust height / tilt of the lipstick pickup.

Jack plug is on the side of the lower bout.

Other details:

Gloss finish.

Body and neck are bound in white nylon.

String gauge: .011, .014, .021, .028, .038, .049.

Hardware includes chrome strap studs.

Very much a copy of the up-market Taylor T5. The T5's split S f-foles are 'voiced', not sure if these are, but assume so.

CRAFTER DELUXE HARD CASE FOR SA GUITARS is available aftermarket. I found this at http://www.gearhounds.com/

Rated 8, because you can still tell it's a mass produced guitar, but surprisingly fantastic for the price.

Very decent. Very little background hum / noise. Bridge pickup is definitely snappy / quacky as mentioned.

Versatile set up.

I feel the sound is somewhat 'tight' ... if that makes sense. Not as resonant or toneful as my Ibanez GB10 ... but hey?

Action = damn good. Very easy to play. Not really a guitar for big bends and hard rock (slim frets), but I don't think it was made for that anyway. Nice for jazz IMO.

Finish is very nice and smooth. Easy to play neck. Bookmatched tiger maple top changes colour / shimmers in the light as you move the guitar = a nice effect!

I get slight binding in one of my tuners, but it stays in tune nicely, so it doesn't bug me. The nylon nut seems to be low friction, so there is no binding with the strings.

There is no intonation adjustments, but the intonation seems good. With lighter gauge strings the g-string rattled, so I have stuck with the 11-49s.

Rated 8, as it is not up to the quality of an instrument like my GB10.

Only had it a few months, but I reckon it will be bullet proof. I travel the World with it, and so far it has handled the bumps perfectly.

Bloody great value for the money I paid for it!

Versatile and rock-solid construction.

Still not a prized gem, but I would replace it if it got stolen / smashed to bits!

Guy below covers this, Lr Baggs at Bridge Kent Armstrong Lipstick at neck. This combination is incredibly versatile.

When I bought it it was between an Epi Casino (lovely guitar) and this. This just covered so much more ground. I play regularly through a guitar amp and now more regularly through a P.A
What struck me was how natural the sound was, just so sweet and toneful. Its a case of it is what you make it, your fingers decide the sound. I like it best on the clean channel of my Laney VC30 (vox copy) it has sort of an acoustic edge mixed in with Dot Neck pup (funny cos thats the exact set up) which keeps the sound lively and not too bassy. Its definitely an acceptable substitute for and acoustic texture in the mix.
Through the p.a it does a pretty good job of an acoustic, though I'm not much of an acoustic expert when it comes to tone but it does sound nice.
It copes suprisingly well with overdrive too I discovered the other day, pumping out a mean bluesy solo tone.
Overall it'll do - Rock, pop, blues, acoustic and jazz (very nice tone for that I just can't play much to test it out) comfortably. Its really versatile.

Set up well, feels nice to play. My only bug is that with 11s on, strings rattle quite easily when you start to dig in.
Flame top is nice some figure, but not bookmatched perfectly.

Seems hardy enough, the only pain in the arse is the eq's battery powered.

Never had to deal with them

Been playing 6 years, though I do know what good tone is. This is a very nice guitar, and it covers so much ground sound-wise too. Would buy another one if stolen. Can be had for ??330 online which is Mexi Strat territory, and it offers so much more in terms of quality and tone.

This gloss finished guitar has a Vintage Sunburst finish on a beautiful archtopped Tiger Maple top wit F-holes(they don't specify if it's Solid or Laminate). It has a slimline cut-away body style with a chambered one-piece back and sides made of mahogany or sapele with a mahogany neck. It's scale length is 25 1/2" and the width at the nut is 1 11/16" the neck joins the body with a dovetail joint. All hardware is chrome and the guitar is equipped with active electronics (Volume, Mute, Bass, Mid, Treble & battery warning), including a blender that blends the tone of the L.R. Baggs Element Piezo pickup with those of the Kent Armstrong Lipstick pickup.

I bought this guitar to use amplified as an acoustic and as an electric and something in between. I had looked at the Taylor T5s prior to buying this and was thrilled with the sounds of that guitar. Unfortunately, the price was beyond my reach as I'm not a full-time pro or a well-off amateur. This guitar looks a lot like the T5 and behaves similarly although I would say probably not quite as well in the acoustic department. Unplugged, it has the volume of a Gibson ES335- not loud enough for performance, but loud enough for quiet practice. It has an under the saddle piezo (L.R. Baggs Element) which like all peizos has that brittle "quacky" sound. I have found using the Yamaha MagicStomp Acoustic effect pedal has cured that problem quite nicely- some real pleasing acoustic tone can be had with the combination of this guitar and the Magicstomp. The electric end is fine too, but limited (one Kent Armstrong lipstick pickup) but once again the effect pedal helps give this guitar some great sounds. Since it requires a little modification to help it's tone along, I'll give it an 8.

Beautiful fast neck, low action-equals the T5 on this account. I found the pickup to be setup quite good, no adjustment necessary. The guitar is beautifully finished and appointed - outrageous for a guitar a third of the price of the Taylor T5: once again I'd say it compares favorably. This guitar is virtually flawless, very well made and the hardware seems top notch.

I would use this guitar with confidence on a gig sans backup, it is very well built and it's made with quality parts.

Haven't had to deal with the company, not sure of their "track record". They do have a nice website.

I have been playing 30+ years. I primarily play Worship & Praise music. I presently own a Babciz Identity cutaway Dreadnaught, a Babicz Spider, a Garrison 12 String, a Washburn Nylon string and an Art and Lutherie Ami Parlor guitar. If lost or stolen I would definitely replace it. I love it's good looks, ease of playing and versitality. I compared it with the guitar they sought to emulate; the Taylor T5. I would say it compares favorably to the T5 except the Taylor's plugged in Acoustic tone comes through a little more naturally, but you can't beat the price of this guitar- even with a stompbox to improve the acoustic tone, you're still paying less than half the price of Taylor's cheapest T5.