Esteban Burswood Acoustic

Ok i purchased an Esteban classical guitar off of the homeshopping network for like $139...personally I believe I got what I payed for... I have been playing guitar for quite a while and I know that some people say these are crap..but they arent if your a beginner it's a great guitar.. you can't expect a classical guitar for $139 to sound like a $3000 custom made guitar...personally I like the tone, sound, my guitar has a very nice finish on it.. and I rather enjoy playing it... I have had it for almost 2 years now I believe and havent had a problem with it...it came with the instructional video, softshell case, picks, and strap..Maybe ya'll got ripped off somewhere along the line but I know I didn't....I would recommend it for anyone who is looking to learn to play "Classical" guitar...but if your looking to play other types of music dont buy a classical guitar buy a steel string or an electric...classical is harder to learn... the frets are spaced further apart and the strings also.. the strings are nylon and you can't expect to get the greatest sound out of nylon without a mic'ed guitar...just thought i'd put my 2 cents in....I like this guitar...and I think for a classical, begginers guitar I got a bargain.

Sounds great

Finish is beautiful, fret spacing is a little wide....but it's a classical begginers guitar... almost every other classical begginers guitar I have picked up was the same way.

It's holding up really well. No problems... and no I wouldn't use it on a gig with no backup...its a beginners guitar...but in a pinch... if I were playing a classical set...i'd grab it.

didnt have to deal with the customer support area seeing as I had no problems.

Not bad at all for a beginners classical.

Purchased 1st one in May. Within 3 weeks the entire bridge fell apart and the strings were razor sharp causing finger cuts. After a battle with HSN Fulfilment Center they agreed to send out another. I waited several weeks and no guiter came so I again contacted HSN and discovered that the order to reship had never been placed. Well finally the 2nd one has arrived and is still in working order. I do think it is junk. the finish is very poor. YOu really do get what you pay for. I am sooo sorry that I didn't just go the thelocal music store and purchase the real thing.

Very difficult no impossible to keep in tune

Very poor finish

almost afraid to play it fearful it will fall apart just like the first one I had did.

very poor very hard to actually get through all the recorded messages to speak with a real person. I had to be VERY assertive to get any type of assistance.

Don't buy one of these!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Purchased Xmas '03 on the home Shopping Network for my son. He wanted to learn the guitar. Three months later the lower bridge broke apart. The local guitar center told me that it would cost more to fix than it would to replace. I was told to stay away from these guitars in the future as they are cheaply made. You can buy a more reliable one for the same price from your local music store and get a guarantee from them if they are a large chain or a reputable business.

Couldn't find the company on the internet.

Basically, it's a bottom of the barrel standard acoustic. It was bought for my 9 year old cousin from some shopping channel. He didn't even play guitar up until this point, and he knew this guitar sucked already. Tuners look to be made out of a medium grade tin foil. The finish on the neck and back might be coffee stained....I can't tell for sure.

Imagine running strings over a piece of cardboard, with a hole in it. Oh wait, that's basically what this guitar is. It is the most quiet acoustic guitar I have ever heard...literally.

In all truth, the guitar didn't look to be set up. The frets were average..not coming off the board, but definetly not crowned or anything resembling that. The wood...who knows what it is. They say it's spruce, but I have my doubts. There were a lot of dead spots and it was full of buzz. I guess with a ton of careful work...it might be semi playable....

I seriously would not leave this guitar in the sun for more than 10 minutes..it might fall apart. You laugh...but I am serious.

No opinion.

It's now sitting in the back of a closet.


IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A DECENT ACOUSTIC FOR A BEGINNER, RUN AWAY FROM THIS ONE! THERE ARE MANY GOOD DEALS TO BE HAD.

The cheaper Ibanez acoustics, Agile, Washburn...any of those will play like a Martin compared to this turd.

CONCERNING THE ESTEBAN ACOUSTIC GUITAR, THE ESTEBAN GUITAR IS ACTUALLY A FINE INSTRUMENT GIVEN THE PRICE THEY CHARGE. IF YOU WERE LOOKING FOR A SOUND AND AN ACTION OF A MARTIN OR A GUILD GUITAR ON A $100 TRAINING GUITAR YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED BUT YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR AND FOR WHAT YOU PAY FOR YOU GET A FINE TRAINING GUITAR. I HAVE BEEN PLAYING GUITAR FOR 35 YEARS+ AND I BOUGHT TWO OF THEM ONE FOR MY DAUGHTER AND ONE FOR ME JUST TO HAVE AROUND AND PLAY.

IT SUITES MY MUSIC STYLE WHICH IS FOLK/ROCK VERY NICELY. I USE IT WITH NO AMPLIFICATION. AND SEVERAL PEOPLE HAVE HEARD ME PLAY IT AND WERE VERY IMPRESSED WITH IT'S FULL SOUND. IT DOES NOT SOUND LIKE A $3000 MARTIN BUT IT FAR SURPASSED MY EXPECTATIONS FOR THE MONEY.

THE ACTION IS A LITTLE STIFF FOR AN EXPENSIVE GUITAR BUT THIS IS NOT AN EXPENSIVE GUITAR. IT IS ADVERTIZED AS A TRAINING GUITAR AND THAT IS WHAT IT IS. YET FOR THAT I ENJOY PLAYING THIS GUITAR JUST AS AN INSTRUMENT TO PICK UP AND FINGER PICK AWAY.

HERE IS WHERE THE GUITAR COULD USE SOME WORK. THE FINISH ON THE NECK DOES COME OFF WITH USAGE. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT COULD BE CORRECTED WITH A MINIMUM OF EXPENSE. AND IN MY OPINION NEEDS TO BE CORRECTED. STRAPS AND OPTIONAL HARD CASE ARE VERY GOOD. I BOUGHT A STAND AN ELECTRIC TUNER. GUITAR HARD SHELL CASE AND VIDEOS FOR $159

THEY WERE EXPTEMELY FRINDLY AND HELPFUL. THE FIRST GUITAR I BOUGHT HAD A BUZZ IN THE PLAYING OF THE UPPER FRETS. I HAD TO RETURN THE GUITAR AND HAD SOME PROBLEMS WITH GETTING A NEW ONE OUT IN A TIMELY MANNER. HOWEVER THE COMPANY TOOK RESPONSIBILITY AND MADE IT WORTH MY WHILE. FINALLY CREDITING ME FOR A 2ND GUITAR WHICH THEY SENT AT NO CHARGE! FULLY SATISFIED

I'VE BEEN PLAYING 35 YEARS. I OWN AN EPIPHONE 12 STRING ACOUSTIC. FROM THE 1970'S $400 THEN, VALUED TOTDAY AT $1000+ AND A FENDER STRATOCASTER VINTAGE 1880'S $1200+

This guitar should be looked at as a "training" guitar. Just as a baseball player swings 3 or 4 bats at once before stepping up to the plate this guitar will train you to play any guitar. At first the action seems to be impossible, but if you press hard enough and develop enough callouses from bloody fingers, etc. then eventually you CAN actually get this guitar to make a musical-like noise. My fingers ached like they have arthritis, but eventually I learned to ignore that once I actually heard a semi-musical note come out of this guitar. This guitar is entirely hand made! The fretboard is hand-painted and you can tell that the neck was hand-glued, also. The glistening mother of pearl detail and rosette are beautiful, but I needed to re-glue some of it once I got it due to the shipping. The neck seems to be straight, but it seems to be rather thick, like gripping a baseball bat. with strings. Again, this helps me to "warm-up" and train to play any guitar.

The tone of this guitar doesn't matter since you have to work really hard to get this guitar to make much noise at all without breaking your fingers, so the volume is self-limiting.

This guitar fits you fine if you hold it just like esteban does with your head resting on top of it and all hunched over on a stool. I haven't tried wearing a bolero hat while I play yet, but that may help. The guitar came set up and ready to play, I didn't even have to tune it, which is a good thing because the tuners had to be reglued also. The first thing I noticed when I opened the case for the first time was a smell that seemed to burn my eyes, but after I left the guitar out of the case for a couple weeks the odor is barely noticeable.

I think this guitar will last a long time as long as the glue holds out.

n/a

On a scale of 1 to 10 I give this a B+!

Made in China. I must have got a "good" one, with all the negative comments I see here. Finish seemed fine to me, although I am a beginner, and the infomerical is what finally got me to try to learn to play.

Came with the hard case, electronic tuner, strap, video, guitar stand, etc.

The video was not all that bad, I was able to play everything on it in a few weeks.

Sound seems fine to me, again I am a beginner, but the sound seems full.

I do agree with you guys that the action is too high, or the string tension is too high. Maybe better strings would help. I am having some trouble with that, but as someone said, if I can learn to play that way, everything else will be a piece of cake. The neck on mine is straight, as far as I can tell.

So far so good. Finish is holding up, and I DO NOT have to re-tune it every day, after a few days of the strings stretching, it settled down nicely. You guys must have either all got lemons, or else I am totally clueless. Will it withstand live playing and going out on gigs? Probably not, but it seems perfectly OK to learn on.

Have had it a month, we will have to see if it holds up. But no problems at all so far.

Did not need any support, as far as I am concerned, it was as advertised.

Good starter guitar, got me learning to play, which I have wanted to do for years. Sure, I will buy another one, I can afford an expensive one if I wanted to, but this allowed me to make sure I could do this before making the investment. If I can play this thing, I should do fine with something better. I did not feel ripped off at all by the infomercial.

I can't find any features worth talking about. Its a piece of junk. The strings are almost an inch above the fretboard, some of the frets came loose and fell off. It feels like balsa wood, I like to call it ratwood. The finish is crappy. It looks like a 3 year old assembled it.

Sound horrible, doesn't stay in tune at all.

Fit and finish stink. The neck is all warped and twisted. Esteban ought to be forced to play one of these crappy guitars at his next concert.

Not reliable at all.

Forget it, they just give you the runaround.

I've been playing for 35 years on and off, mostly for my own enjoyment. The Kent guitar I bought in 1967 for 10 dollars could run rings around this one. I put the thing in the gigbag, then took it out to sell at a garage sale and it was in pieces, the neck came off and all the glue came loose, it looked like a guitar kit when I opened, so I just threw the damn thing out. I went solely by that Esteban dude on HSN and thought it had to be a good guitar. This guy should be in jail.

I, like many others got ripped off with this Esteban signature guitar..a piece of junk...The neck went out of line within a few days of playing..the fret board looks to be painted and you can see some paint runs..I purchased it thru the Home Shopping Network and tried to return it...but it went beyond the 30 days and they would not accept it back...I wrote to the Esteban website but never got a response. I even called the company that manufactored the guitar (Ingenious Designs) and they would have nothing to do with it...!!stay away from this Guitar...they are still selling these on HSN...buyer beware!! A local dealer was kind enough to give me a $55.00 credit toward a new guitar which was a "Montana"...a very inexpensive guitar but plays great and has held up well...costs the same as I paid for the Esteban ($100.00)...some not so nice people are making a lot of money off the Esteban guitar from suckers like me & others...I also complained to HSN but Esteban is still selling his inferior guitars.

Terrible.......neck went out of line shortly after purchase.

Bad!,,,,paint runs...fret looks to be painted...no quality.

Terrible....sold for another guitar

Absolute terrible....none....company or HSN would not even acknowledge the problem with this inferior made guitar.

Would not buy another Esteban signature guitar ever!!!!

this so called guitar is a piece of crap that is not even worth 20.00
not 10.00 !!! beware!! not suitable for even a 7 yr old...
cannot believe this esteban dude endorses such CRAP!!
what a scoundral he is to lie!!!

esteban should a ashamed of himself!!
yes, he can play classical- no question about it but the junk he endorses for the benifit of getting money from hardworking folks
is disgraceful!! he's a sell - out - for money..
trust me please & don't even consider guitars associated to him
or guitars he associates himself with... just being as honest as possible here you guys...

pile of crap, piece of junk just plain disappointing.
cardboard guitar would actually be better than one of burswood
guitars esteban endorses on HSN.
what they're doing should be illegal, selling shit guitar
with esteban playing a $5.000 REAL guitar (classical)
i'm fairly sure they've hawked literally thousands of these.
i hope they get their asses sued off...

this thing isn't even worth anyones consideration. period!!!
yep- get a brand name guitar. even a $99.00 special has to be better than estabans fully endorsed pile of disappointment!!
ARE YA LISTENING H.S.N. - or how about you ESTEBAN you crook!!
dressed like ZORRO - but he's a ROBBER!!!
a T.V. ROBBER no better than a COMMON THIEF!!!!

ha go suck mud......somebody will think this is a prank
writing, it isn't... i cannot believe there aren't 100's
if not thousands of ripped off folks out there who bought one of
these so called guitars ESTEBAN pushes on H.S.N with the pretty chick who actually doesn't know dung about guitars, but helps
*MR. ESTEBAN.... can't understand why a great player such as ESTEBAN would even associate himself with such CRAP guitar as burswood
UNLESS OF COURSE IT IS MONEY...
i'd like to ask esteban if things are so bad that he MUST rip off the masses of folks who'd like a REAL guitar....he's sosad!!

i wish i were kiddin folks but this no shit!!
do not waste your money or disappointment will be your only gain