Esteban Burswood Acoustic

It has...uh...strings. For about 15 minutes, anyways.
Some do come with fancy designs on them so... I'll give it a 3.

Not too bad if you can actually push the frets ALL they way down, I can only assume this because the open stings are okay sounding.

Here is where it ABSOLUTLEY fails.

Action- What action? Steve Urkel gets more action than this. If you can get the four people required to play a G chord, then it isn't TOO bad. Otherwise, you just slit your fingers. The blood is a nice touch to the finish.

Finish- The paint actually just rubbed off on my hands.

Would you seriously consider even trying to gig with this?

Uh...Cheap pawn shop on the bad side of town.

I got this just because I wanted a decorative guitar to play at campfire/party settings and I have to say this:
No, just no.
I wasted 25 bucks because the pawn shop owner didn't let me try it.

Ahhh, the smell of plywood and wood glue! The smell of this thing is almost overpowering! And it doesn't smell like rosewood or cedar! An all plywood dreadnaught with a severely warped neck and the finish of a junior high school industrial arts project! How do you top it? I have played some cheap guitars going back to the 1960s Kingstons and such. This is as bad, BUT, as warped as the neck is, it has better action then they did.

Amazingly, the sound is not that bad! It's not good; it sounds like a plywood guitar should; but the sound is OK for a beginner guitar.
I payed $35.00 for the entire kit; guitar, case, strap, tuner, picks, throw-away strings; all like new. I intended to use it as a "Nashville" high strung guitar, which I need occasionally, but not often, and for this it works fine. And if I drop a Tele on it and smash it.....so what?

He He Hah Hah..........it is what it is.

Good enough for my uses. It goes out of tune easily but I can live with that. It adds a Rolling Stones like feel to things.

He He Hah Hah!!!!!!!

I've been playing for 35 years. I own or have owned about everything, currently Fender, Gibson, Larrivee, Tacoma, LaPatrie, Breedlove etc.....oh...and my Esteban!
It is a cheap guitar but it is exactly what you'd expect and does exactly what I wanted, for $35.00. If you paid more than that, you got screwed. If it crumbled to dust tomorrow, which it might do, if the glue ever dries, I'd buy another, for $20.00 to $35.00....no more...and use it as a high strung guitar. For that, it's fine!It even records well!

The body of this particular guitar is made of only the finest dried goat manure, aged balsa wood, and shellac. It features strings made of particularly brittle barbed wire and components made of the cheapest (and therefore, most cost-effective) plastic available.

One interesting new feature: Insta-Brake technology. The Insta-Brake system guarantees that each and every component of this guitar will break within the first week of owning. This is a refreshing change of pace for people who are SICK AND TIRED of guitars that actually last a lifetime... they have to sit around and wait for their guitars to become old and unusable and sometimes that never happens.

The music I play is Experimental Noise. I deliberately try to create atonal and un-musical sound effects, much like John Cage when he dropped random objects on piano strings. The Esteban is perfect for me because when I strum the strings, it doesn't sound anything like music! Instead, you get a repulsive squawk, like someone smashing a ball-peen hammer on sheet metal.

I firmly believe that musicians should have to WORK when they play guitar. A guitar shouldn't make the act of playing EASY... no, it should be a painful and difficult chore so that you learn discipline. Nothing is handed to you.

For my money, the Esteban is perfect in this regard. The incredibly high action is positively agonizing. My fingers were hemorrhaging blood within mere seconds. NO aspect of this guitar is comfortable, from the body shape (which could best be described as "shaped like a diseased rhinoceros") to the frets (that gouged into my hands like needles).

In other words, this guitar will make you a tougher player! Thumbs up! (assuming you have any thumbs left after using this guitar)

Personally, I'm really tired of guitars that withstand years of reliable and durable live playing. Where's the fun in that?? I mean, if you have a reliable and dependable instrument that you can count on to deliver the same quality sound every night, it can get a bit boring. Talk about predictable.

The Esteban models are guaranteed by the manufacturer to be in a different tuning each and every time you pick it up. In fact, all Esteban guitars are purposely designed to be so unreliable you never know what will happen next. In one case, my new guitar changed itself to open G tuning mid-chord. In another case, the bridge spontaneously fell off. Another night, it exploded, starting a fire and killing four people.

Yes, I gig with it! It's a blast!

I called HSN to congratulate them on producing such a unique instrument. I was placed on hold for 3 1/2 hours, after which time, I was transferred to a Romanian brothel where I was verbally abused in an unspecified eastern European language for 30 minutes. I hung up, called back, and was lucky enough to speak to a customer service rep who actually spoke English.

Her name was Liz and although she knew nothing of guitars, she introduced me to several new swear words. She explained that whatever my opinion, I was wrong. I tried telling her that I had nothing but good things to say and she told me to cram it. She then began screaming and crying.

There is no warranty, but HSN will charge me $200 to return my guitar. This may sound like a raw deal, but I get to keep my autographed photo of Esteban! That's right, you can return the guitar and they never ask you to return the beautiful photo of Esteban's lovely face. THAT'S a policy I can agree with!

This guitar is simply a 10!!! The sound sets you apart as a musician and tells everyone listening that you don't NEED to be in tune to sound good. The action and playability are so painful you will become a stronger player (if you survive). Truly, it's impressive. I couldn't make a guitar like this if I tried.

A friend from work brought in the Esteban acoustic that he'd bought so that I could tune it for him. I was looking forward to checking out an actual Esteban. Esteban's claim that it sounded better than his $5000 Martin was quite a boast. Or was that just a cruel joke on his part? I was eager to see for myself...

What my friend brought was a standard dreadnaught acoustic guitar in a shiny shade of black. It was way out of tune. And so, I started to tune it up.

The Esteban was hard to tune up. I even had an electronic tuner with me, so that I could show my friend how to tune his guitar using his own tuner (you have to know how to tune the guitar, right!?)

The open position chords had good volume. It seemed useable in tone to me at first. However, chords at the third fret and above were totally out of tune. After working with the guitar for a moment, I was pretty sure that there were some big intonation problems...

Big intonation problem? That was an understatement. Well, first of all, the action was really high, but buzzed and fretted out at the 5th fret, and the string tension unsually tight, even taking the scale length and string gauge into consideration. My first consclusion was that the guitar would need a major set up. I could only hope that the guitar had a trussrod.

While I was playing around with the guitar further, I discovered a more serious problem. The neck was dramatically warped. It just dropped off into space! It was so bent up and warped that I could barely fret notes at and above the 6th fret. The neck had a definite upbow from the nut to the 5th fret (where it buzzed), then fell away in a dramatic backbow. Imagine a compound bow and arrow, all twisted and squiggly! The sight made me quite sad...

One other strange thing was that the neck looked like major parts of it had been chipped away and sanded into shape, then covered over with a thick stain. This was suprising in light of computer routing of necks these days in mass produced instruments. I hadn't seen a fretboard that looked this way since way back in the day when cheap guitars were terrible to behold.

I give Esteban and HSC here a 1 because I think that they're sales pitch is deceptive and manipulative to the point of being fraudulent.
He and HSN aren't just making a sales pitch, they're hustling people, blatantly so. I'm telling you, you can get a heck of a lot more guitar for $200 from other manufacturers than what I saw in the Esteban I played.

This was really dissapointing. Sounding low-fi, harsh and strident is one thing, but being completely unplayable above the 6th fret is horrible for a student guitar. And I'm not talking just really high action. It was FUBAR above the 6th fret.

Here's the rub. You might say that the Esteban I play-tested could still work as a strummer. And, that a lot of acoustics are hard to play in the upper registers. And, that most people don't play up there on an acoustic anyway. But I'd counter that this is the sort of guitar that discourages playing, and discourages a student, in fact anyone, from learning simple but neccesary techniques like barre chords, or learning the neck.

This guitar reminded me of the 'beginner' guitars they used to have 30+ years ago. I beseech thee, if you're willing to spend $200 bucks, or even $150 for an Esteban, please consider acoustics made by Yamaha, Ibanez, Fender, Epiphone, etc. You won't get a Martin D-18 for your money, but you can expect something that approaches playability much more than the Esteban I played.

The sad thing is that my friend was such an inexpereinced player that he had no idea that anything was really wrong with it. He'd heard that inexpensive acoustics sometimes had high action. Heck, he'd heard all acoustics had high action. It was too late to send this lemon back.

In conclusion, the Esteban was black, shiny, and pretty from about 5 feet away. Yet it played like a mangler of music in the hand though!

Be warned. You are rolling the dice here. From reading these reviews it seems that the quality control for these is horrible. Maybe a few serviceable ones get through?

Much like the KFC recipe no one can really be sure what this thing is made of. I asked the aliens if they knew on my last abduction but they didn't have a clue either.

Very Shamuish.

Similar to the Roy Rogers model I drug around when I was six. Flaws? Read the reviews.

I can testify that it's NOT indestructable or flame retardent.

?

Great stand for my Chia Pet collection.

Tried this one from a friend. This was a plywood and plastic beauty. I wanted to smash it but it was needed for the school guitar class's winter concert. My instrument broke every string and I had to borrow this turd.

Plywood top, made in China, dreadnought body, 20 frets.

It ruined the ensemble. Tinny, dissonant, buzzy, and sleazy. Whoever said it sounded better than his pre-war Martin D-45 is deaf or kidding.

Uneven frets, slippery tuners that made me lose tune in the middle of "Jingle Bells," and cheesy finish that didn't mask the plywood ratwood/sawdust construction.

This lasted the concert and broke. Afterwards it smashed easily. There was finish on my hands after I played.

The teacher told me not to play a piece of junk like the Esteban anymore, but understood since I told him the story (my strings broke and I didn't have time to restring). No, I'm not telling you what guitar I have.

The person who owned this guitar was glad to have it smashed.

All the bells and whistles. Reminds me of my White Falcon.

Sounds just a wee bit better than my pre-war d-45. What's not to like? Sounds even better through my Dumble.

One of the snowflake inlays appears to gleam a little less than the others otherwise no complaints here.

Mine came with vintage gold grovers and was signed by Pete Townsend. Nice touch!

I'm sure Estebalm is very easy to reach. If not HSN can probably hook you up. Right?

Plays alot like my DAngelico New Yorker and has the same crisp tone as my koa V. I like playing it through the supplied 10w amp and a metal zone.

Butta.....

it has 6 strings, 6 knob things and a hole... actaully you get more than one hole... great vlue

I work mostly in atonal music, and ths guitar is perfect. It is not only that it fantastic at not staygin in tune, but it has magic in how it shifts flat and sharp by me just playing an open E then a G on the e string, and when I play an open "E" string again... there it is a magical F sharp

The splints cause some bleeding that really adds some aesthetice to the plywood fretboard.

It still kind if looks like a guitar... Amazing

I called and the great E-man answered the phone himself and explaind how to superglue the fret.

I haven't picked up my pink Savon Drugs 4" scale length since getting this beauty.

Looks like black varnished plywood. Some decorating trim around the resonator hole and a pinstripe(?) down the center on back.Cheap 20 frets, made in china and not a whole lot else to it.

Very very bright, almost tinny. I think that this is supposed to be a spanish guitar but those usually have a more mellow sound to them.

Very high action. The guitar stayed in tune well enough but it isn't the highest quality. The finish looks like a very cheap varnish but what does one expect for $99 on late night tv?

This guitar was bought for a 14 year old beginner and has stood up very well to the abuse that she has given it over the last year and a half. No major breakage or scratches, in spite of how many times it has been dropped, kicked, had kool-aid spilled on it, etc... The tuning keys are still functional and respond as well as one would expect and it has kept its same average tone throughout all of its abuse. I don't think that I would push the durability too much though, the plywood does look kinda thin. There is a little buzz but for the price what does one expect?

None yet

As I mentioned before this was for a young beginner and was excellent for a starter guitar. We really didn't expect much from it for the price that we were getting it for. It has stood up well and has allowed her to progress beyond the basics and now we are considering a new, better guitar. If you are not expecting more than a cheap guitar that a starter can learn on you shouldn't be too dissappointed with this one. As a player myself I would not advise getting this for a second guitar or anything, but for a starter certainly. There has been some comment from some instructors on the difficulty of this instrument because of the incredibly high action, but little else is really.

i purchased this guitar for pennies on the dollar on E-bay, and was still cheated. Thi is not a guitar, it is an abominaation, better served as a cheese cutter or a crickett wickett. The top was warped, the frets were uneven and had burs on the ends which cut my fingers. We are loosing rainforests by the thousands of acres. I wonder how much of the bad wood ends up in these gas filled stools. Neck was warped to, I live in Minnesota so I will wait until January and use it for kindling in my fireplace. Shame on you Esteban(by the way Segovia didn't name you, Esteban is Steven in Spanish. H was simply calling you by your name, STEVE.

Ugh, My parrot was killed by a Racoon when I left it on the porch one hot summer night, the noise was awfull, and isac was dead before I could load that coon's ass with buckshot, which I dean and blew him to hell. Those final noises of sweet Issac were lovely compaared to the dead, Dead, DEAD DEAD sond of this , this, this Wood thing.

If you are trying to build strenth in your hands for Ro-sham-bo, or thgumb wretling, then this is your instrument, but if you are trying to play music you are out of luck. Action, you have got to be joking. Fit? some of the worst workmanship I have ever seen. And the finish, it wipes off on your hands (including the fretboard

I wouldn't know how it sounds live playing, because it sounds so dead.
The harware will last, if you put it in the recycle bin before you burn it. Then it can be recycled into something that actuall;y works.

wouldn't know , I boutg it used

I've been playing for 20 years, I thought that I cvould use this for a road guitar when I travel. No such luck. I suppose i could use it as a planter or a place to put my dog's dookie when I clean the yard.