Esteban American Legacy

The finish of this Guitar is pretty. I don't care what anyone else says. The black shine makes it stick out among other guitars. The Dreadnought body gives a fairly loud sound acoustically. The Frets seem to be large... not sure... 20 frets. Laminated top if you hadn't guessed. The EQ works well to change from a bright to a warm tone when plugged in, but as far as volume goes... I turn my amp all the way up (i have a crate 60W) and i barely get any noise...

My style when I'm playing on my acoustic is just playing some chords and singing along around a campfire type of deal. If that's your style, this guitar will work just fine. It projects well and had a very nice sound for a cheap ...cheap... cheap... guitar. I'd stick to that... My favorite thing about this guitar is how tense the strings are. I suggest light or extra light (10's or 11's or so). The reason I like the tension is that using tunings like drop C# ...C... B... becomes as easy as buying thicker strings next time.

The action was fairly high when I got this guitar ( i bought it very slightly used off of my friend who never adjusted it except for taking off the strings). The frets seem a little sharp... I did cut my self once, but all I did was file the problem fret down. IF YOU BUY THIS GUITAR- THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO PLAY AROUND AND ADJUST/FIX IT UP TO HOW YOU WANT IT. This is one of those cheap guitars that can be played with a little. I ended up playing with the truss rod, and making my own bridge and modifying the nut. I've got it right where i want it and find no reason to buy any other more expensive guitar.

So far I haven't had problems. I was told that The bridge is glued poorly and needs to be re-glued after about a year. However... It didn't seem to be a problem on my particular model.

No need

Other than this guitar I also have a 1976 fender strat. I love that guitar to death; however sometimes i just gotta put it aside and pick up my Estaban. Honestly I only bought this guitar because my friend offered me a really good deal because he only wanted to play death metal and I offered to take it off his hands. If It was stolen i would be a little sad because of all the work i put into this guitar to make it my own. And now it really is MY GUITAR. You know what i mean. I wouldn't buy another one though... take that as you will.

I cant name the features on this guitar because there arent any. The tuners suck, I have to spend days tuning it when I put new strings on.
The bridge grooves are atrocious, the finish reaked of chemicals like another reviewer said; the paint job is supposed to look nice but looks like lipstick on a pig; the strings are impossible to bend on this guitar due to horrible tension caused by bad design. The fretboard is hard to play and almost gives me splinters.

The sound is baaaad. Theres none of that nice crisp acoustic tone here- with Martin strings on it, it still sounds dead with no life to it. Strumming first position chords is about all I can do with it now. The sound is as bright as a full eclipse of the sun. This guitar kills strings fast- within a week of putting new strings on, they sound like "plunk plunk". Not a good sound at all.

My Esteban was set up horribly. Within 3 months of owning it, the higher frets started becoming unplayable. First the frets around the 12th started dying, now its all the way from the 7th to the 13th, making this guitar unplayable. This guitar is made in China and it shows; its obviously made in some oppresive factory where the workers arent paid well or trained properly.
The binding on the neck looks like its made out of plastic...yech!!!

Not reliable at all. Im embarassed to play it in front of family or friends because of the sound and the dead frets. This Eseban guitar has no durability since it started breaking down after only 3 months of owning it, and I played it gently, having a suspicion that it wasnt made well to start with.
As reliable as a dead beat dad.

Whats the use in contacted HSN? They are trained to not give people their money back. As far as contacting the makers, I dont speak Chinese. And as far as contacting Esteban, he can take his Zorro costume and go leap off a roof! He talks about how great quality his guitars are on HSN and then you buy one and its crap.

On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd give it a -30.
Parents dont buy Esteban guitars for you kids, they wont want to learn on a smelly guitar that doesnt sound good and falls apart. Get a Taylor Baby or a Takamine; much better for not much more money.

To other Esteban owners, who wants to file a Class Action Lawsuit with me???
jsmith138@hotmail.com

Features include a neck that is not even squarely cut, cheap electronics, the cheapest plastic bridge pins ever made, tuners that don't hold a tune for even one minutes (not kidding...they won't last 60 seconds, literally), frets so high that you can't slide without chopping your fingertips up, and paint that has an strong chemical odor. Also, when I touch the paint and then touch skin, I start itching. It's made in China so I have no idea what's in it..who knows, could be anything.

The sound is decent, but that doens't matter since you can't play the guitar. The tone is fairly average.

The guitar is not "set up" at all. The bridge and saddle are total crap. The finish is pretty crappy. Looks like a trained monkey might have painted it on a bad day.

Who knows, maybe will last an eternity in it's crappy form. Maybe 2000 years from now someone will discover an Esteban guitar in a pristine and they will STILL not be able to play it.

I've been playing guitar for 18 years. This is worst guitar I've ever tried to play. My child's miniature First Act guitar from Wal Mart is better than this.

I rated it a 2 because it hasnt killed me yet...Laminated top i guess..Cheap electronics..I have no clue what kinda wood it is..someone tell me!

I made several modifiactions..strings,pins..ect....and it sounds better not good but better..The tone is flat and scratchy...almost silent unplugged...but never try to amp this guitar up.

The powerlines in my front yard are lower than the action on this guitar...but it was the first acoustic i owned ,,now i can play anything,since my hands become a rough and concrete...most everything on this guitar is flawed

I had played in for a year or more..so i dont know who long it will last...Anyone who plays this on stage doesn't deserve Fan or ticket sales.

I never had to call them..whats the use

I haven't been playin acoustics but about 2 years..but for the price you can buy a whole lot better..if it were stolen ..i would give the theif a reward for stealing it.Anyone who says that this guitar is better than a Martin or Washburn has lost it or has no musical talent..Check the headstock agian and make sure you didn't buy a Washburnt or Martian by mistake..and if you play it live DOOM on you.