Fender DG-22CE

Finish - High Gloss
Body Style - Cutaway Dreadnought
Made in Korea
Frets - 20
Top Bookmatched
Body and Neck - Tiger Maple with rosewood inlay neck (I think)

This is a great guitar. Not the one I learned on, but definately the one I go to when I just want to kick back and play or learn something. Like most other maple guitars, the bottom end is lacking, and I've tried to compensate with Martin strings, but I go back to the Elixir strings for the best overall sound. Sounds pretty good plugged in, but the battery powered amp goes to sleep too quick whe not played.

Guitar either came out of the box, or was set up from the store ready to play - I'm not sure, but it has a nice action and it holds tune excellent. the bookmatched top looks fabulous.

I've owned this guitar for over 10 years and it has never let me down. I Love it. There is one nick that I put in it shortly after purchasing it, but it still looks new. I've played solo in front of people with it and with folk groups and it sounds like it belongs in either setting

I wish it would have come with a Fender case, but other then that, I can't complain. For the price, it has delivered years and years of use and just keeps sounding warmer the more I play it.

Made in Korea. Hardware is top notch, gloss finish, medium guage frets, cutaway style, Fishman equalizer, built in tuner, neck is almost like an electric Fender, bubinga back & sides, appears to be a solid top.

I got this discontinued DG22CE out the Musician's Friend clearance center a few months ago. I had my eye on it for a while at a much higher price but by the time I had cash in hand to buy it they were sold out. I then researched other guitars in that price range but I really had my heart set on the DG22CE. When I called to order an Ibenez instead, I was told they had a couple of these Fenders in their C.C. at the above stated price. If it's used, it's hard to tell. I love this guitar, glad I snagged one at this amazing price. Definately the best sounding acoustic / electric I've ever owned. It's not a Taylor but it's close. Sounds great unplugged or plugged in. With 12-54's and brass bridge pins on it this baby has rich tone, deep bass & clear highs. I play it at gigs thru a Behringer AX1000 amp. Its cool in quiet acoustic settings too. In church I plug it into the sanctuary's sound system & it sounds great.

Out of the box it was nearly flawless. It required no set up at all. I just put heavier gauge strings on it with brass bridge pins (recommended...if you've never tried 'em, get'em, they really make a difference!) and used it immediately for gigs. It's beautiful to look at too. Mine's the natual bubinga style, really pretty. The Fishman pick up has a built in tuner, which is a major reason I bought this guitar. Extremely helpful when playing gigs & you have to tune up in a hurry between songs. Having said that, it does stay in tune quite well. Very nice action, very little fret buzz, very true intonation.

Here's the rub. After only 2 months the pickup went dead. I've had bad luck over the years with acoustic / electrics going haywire. Maybe it's just my magnetic personality or something! I had a Washburn that lasted 3 years, a Yamaha that lasted 2 years and now this Fender went dead in a couple of months. At least the Fender was still under warranty. The other guitar's service departments offered no help. I went to Fender's web site & found the nearest service center to me & sent it for repair via a local music store. I had it back in a week & it works just fine now. Will it continue to be OK? Who knows. But it's a Fishman so it probably will. I bought an extended warranty with the guitar so I'm covered for a few years.

So far customer support has been excellent. I haven't dealt directly with Fender, I guess the factory service center did. The only glitch in the entire episode was that I could not find the original reciept which was required for warranty service. A phone call to Musician's Friend solved this as they were nice enough to FAX me a duplicate which I FAXed to the service center. After that it was smooth sailing.

It's too bad Fender discontinued this model as overall it's an excellent instrument. There may be a few left overs still around and certainly used ones will available. I'd buy another one without hestation. I'd like to get a Taylor someday but till then this will do nicely. This is nothing about this guitar I do not like. I've been playing for nearly 40 years & I rate this guitar very highly. It rivals my treasured 32 year old Guild D25M (the one with the arched back)in tone. If you see one, grab it!

Made in Korea. Closeout model, I probably got one of the last one's offered on the web. 20 Frets. Cutaway allows for reaching/playing the high frets. Maple body. solid spruce top. Fishman Pickup with volume, bass, mid, treb, body(mid-sweep/tone). Rosewood fretboard. Classic Fender sunburst design. Back and sides have unique ripple effect in the wood. Laminated for a gorgeous shine. Gold-tuners. Came with truss rod wrench and replacement saddle.

Sounds great unplugged. Has much more low-end then my 12-string. Fishman pickup only emphasizes the great sound of this guitar. Sounds even better plugged in. I run it through my one and only guitar amp, the big 120W Crate (slightly blown from using distorted guitars and basses in the past) Not used to a guitar sounding that good right out of the box. Equilizer is simple to use and incredibly easy to adjust for the sound you want. I like the Dave Matthews type of melodic/bright sound. Plugs in a bit hard to the instrument cable, but once its in, it ain't gonna fall out.

Action was a tad high. Luckily it came with a saddle about 2/32nd's of an inch lower overall which helped a bit when I finally got frustrated with the the pain this thing was causing on my fingers. Equilizer and Fishman worked great out of the box. Tuners do their job well. The heavy gloss makes fingerprints show up on the slightest touch of the wood. This guitar shines as long as your buffing rag is near. Just rub it down after your extended practice sessions and its like brand new again.

I intend to use this guitar mainly for church events. I have been in a garage band for maybe 3 years. We meet on a very very rare basis, and usually for small periods of time. This guitar will be no where near that setting because its the one instrument I have that still looks perfect. I have bad luck with dropping/kicking/knocking/smacking/denting my instruments. So far this guitar only had a very small glue mark on the back which came out after several minutes of profuse rubbing. MY only fear is of a little child at church deciding to use it as a literal axe and trying to bang it into a wall. Other than that I think it should get through the normal wear and tear of a once a day pick up and play type guitar. Maybe eventually the laminated finish may wear away with pick marks and sweat, but nothing substantial. It seems solid.

Dealt with guitartrader.com on installing a strap button. Ended up going to a local shop for the installation. Seems to be working fine. Had hoped that a guitar of this quality would come with a strap button, but nonetheless it didn't cost much and wasn't that hard to get installed.

I've been playing (self-taught) for 4 years on guitars. I own an Ibanez RG-300, an OLP 4-string bass, Fender DG-16-12E 12-stringer, just sold my Yamaha CG-101 classical, and now this "Sunburster" in which I love. I would hunt down the person that even slightly knicked this beauty. Its the first guitar I've really ever thought I got a great deal on. Compared it to Martin's which sound a bit low in my opinion, Takamines, Yamahas, Ovations, Ibanez's. For a guitar under $500 I could not find one that looked as unique, solid, tone-brilliant, or included the Fishman pickup. I'd have to admit that at some point I'd sell my whole set-up and keep this guitar as my solid practice acoustic and play a dream-inspiring Taylor, Gibson, Larivee, or Santa Cruz as the primary guitar in the arsenal. However, this guitar, at this price, is the second best thing to a Taylor or other high-end luthier-built axe in my honest humble opinion.

This acoustic electric is simply beautiful. The cutaway is a great feature, and gives a nice look to the guitar. Gold tuners are a great addition! My guitar features a Fishman pickup, which sounds great.

This guitar sounds incredible. The Fishman pickup makes it sound great plugged in. Without an amp, the DG-22CE has a nice, fat and loud sound. I love it.

The action is a bit high, but not too bad. The finish is almost perfect. When I try looking for flaws, I can never find any. The connections of everything are perfect. This is a well made guitar. The only annoyance was in the tuners. The guitar was sitting on a rack at the Guitar Center, and it seemed like noone had touched it for a while. The gold tuners are slightly oxidized, but I'm sure I could probably fix that up.

I play this guitar only at home, and have never played it in public. I'm sure it could hold up during tours. This guitar is very sturdy and seems very strong. The finish is very thick and, I don't feel that it will wear off any time soon.

Never had any problems yet.

If I somehow lost this guitar, I would probably replace it with a very similar if not the same guitar. This guitar is the coolest looking thing in my house, and hopefully I won't be needing to replace it any time soon.

Same features everyone else has listed. The features I really like however, are the single cutaway body, electronics, and materials used(maple top and sides)

The sound from this $400 guitar is actually quite impressive. I have played a LOT of different acoustics and this is my favortie anywhere near this price range. The sound is even and clear, with great intonation on the strings. I dont get any string buzz and the action is good. Could be *slightly* lower, but I just need to get it set up where I want it.

First off, the finish is beautiful on these. Whether you get the transparent blue, sunburst or other, they look great. The neck is smooth and fast, and it plays just wonderfully. Like I said above, I would like *slightly* lower action, but thats just me.

No problems yet

Havent needed it ever, on my Tele either. Fenders rule.

This is a GREAT guitar for the money. As with most guitars made overseas, you MAY find one that plays/looks better than another of the same model. Try a few out if possible and pick the best DG22CE you can find. This is a great playing guitar and its very comfy as well. I love being able to comfortable play blues scale licks at the 12th fret and beyond with the single cut-away body. Fender has really produced a gem here ! Check one out for yourself before you buy ANYTHING else.

previous reviews give construction details. this is an absolutely beautiful looking guitar (mine is the natural finish), very nice sounding electronics, cutaway is great for those who play high on neck, and the wide, low neck/body joint is a major plus-unobtrusive when playing high notes.

i play bluesy/earthy/occasionally spacey rock-this guitar is becoming my instrument of choice. guitar can be bright on top end and bass-y on low- onboard equalizer is great-evens out the desired sound nicely. clean, the sound has a nice fender-ish thwack-just slightly snotty enough to give it a unique personality. responds well to using effects-i use onboard effects on my boss br-532 4 track and a few other stomp boxes-the eq is handy when using effects-again to get just the sound you want.

pickup sounded great out of the box-electronics, frets, wood, finish, etc, all excellent, however the action was way too high-had to sand down the bridge plastic to get a playable guitar. this is my second fender acoustic (my other is a beloved 12 string) and it had the same problem. after sanding down the bridge insert, action was great-no buzzing frets-even intonation across the neck-fender should take care to set up guitar action properly before leaving factory.

solid build, quality hardware (havent experienced the fading gold tuner problem noted by others), very dependable , intonation is perfect-stays in tune with hard strumming or fingerpicking.

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very satisfied with this guitar. attention fender-set up the guitars properly before leaving factory-action is too high . the sound, especially plugged-in is excellent, full, almost telecaster-ish thwack when played hard, nice and clean when strummed or fingerpicked, intonation is great, neck joint and cutaway facilitate playing high notes. and the look--beautiful.

The DG-22CE is a dreadnought type guitar with a single cutaway. Mine is a 1999 model with a beautiful translucent "Blue Burst" finish. Laminated flamed maple top, back and sides. The neck is also maple with a rosewood fingerboard and dot inlays. The bridge has a compensating type saddle. It also comes equipped with the Fishman Acoustic Matrix pickup system and onboard preamp with a VOLUME knob and a MID-FREQ control knob (for the 600 - 1.2k range), along with a 3-band EQ and battery check light. "Midas-touch" gold tuners included.

This is my long-term (4 year) evaluation of the DG-22CE. Although I admit my original review seems a tad bit overblown (see below), I still think the vast majority of players will be more than satisfied with the voicing and tone of the DG-22CE.

Some of the other reviewers seemed to go especially out of their way to point out the laminated nature of the maple used on the body, and I would normally agree that a solid body is better, but in the case of this guitar I think there are some definite pros and cons to this debate...

First of all, maple is usually a very bright tone wood, so I'd think an all-maple body would be intolerably bright. By laminating the body I believe Fender found a way to get the great look of figured maple without the aforementioned side effects. There is no doubt a trade-off when it comes to resonance; solid woods are best in most opinions (including my own), but if you use this guitar as intended (ie: amplified) then it is not as much of an issue. In fact, I love the way my DG22CE sounds plugged in. On the other hand, acoustically it is not nearly as loud as similar sized dreadnoughts, but I still love the tone none the less.

Also, there is much controversy over which is stronger; solid or laminant. I can't say for sure except that mine has held up extremely well so far.

Like any acoustic guitar, you really have to play it to see if you like it since the tone can vary from sample to sample. This is true with any brand and is just the nature of acoustic instruments. I can't count the number of time I played a supposedly solid body acoustic that sounded like crap!

Acoustically I give it a good all-around "8+" rating. It does lack output (when played unplugged) and perhaps a measurable amount of resonance, but is still very musical and professional sounding.

Electrically I give it an well-deserved "10"... in my humble opinion. I have been using it almost exclusively this way and am very pleased with the results.

I don't have an acoustic amp but had been using my Carvin X-60A tube amp, a PA system or (more recently) my little Squier Champ. The Squier is suppose to be my practice amp but I decided to try due to the fact that it is so much lighter and it actually sounds great (for smaller venues). I consider this to be the acid test for the DG22CE, heck, it manages to sound good through a Squier!

My DG22CE has held up extremely well considering all it's been through. Don't get me wrong, I don't purposely try to abuse it, but it is dinged and dented after playing hundreds of live events, both indoor and outdoors, in various temperature and weather conditions and it still performs perfectly!

Also, one of the other reviewers mentioned something about the gold flaking off the tuners. I'm not saying he's a dirty filthy liar ;) but mine are still holding up fine.

I have been a guitarist for over 23 years. I also own a Fender Tele, Fender 50's Reissue Strat, PRS Custom 24, Les Paul Studio, Fender Toronado, Epiphone Casino, and a Carvin DC200 (all electric guitars).

My main amps include a Mesa/Boogie Rect-O-Verb and a vintage '65 Ampeg SB-12 Portaflex, Carvin X-60A, Vox Pathfinder and Squier 15R Champ.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I just want to say that I love my DG22CE. A friend of mine got a crimson colored version and he loves his too. Both are very similar in tone and build quality.

As for those people who like to compare everything to high end Taylor's or Gibson models; I'm not disputing the fact that there are much better guitars out there. Sure, if you spent $1500-$3000 on a guitar then it had better sound great! But for around $500 I think most people will be more than happy with the DG-22CE.

My overall rating not only considers the price range, but also gives the DG-22CE the rating it deserves IMHO. Just remember to try it first!

1998/99, Korean made. Fishman pickup system. Natural finish, I believe it's a photo-flame but it looks nice. Gold tuners. Bound neck and body. I can't tell if the inlays around the sound hole and down the back are real or stickers, the "Fender" on the headstock is definitely a pearl colored sticker. Tortise pickguard.

Overall pretty good sound. Like everyone said, not real rich but clean enough to be pretty versatile when you run it though effects for recording. This is going to sound wierd but accoustically, when I play certain jazz chords like I could swear there is a distortion. It could be something vibrating. However, I hear nothing through an amp or while recording.

Typical Korean, not a masterpiece of craftsmanship but ok for the money. There is a slight rise at the 15th fret where the neck joins the body. I've been playing this guitar for 4 years and just now noticed it because another review mentioned it so I guess it's not that big of a deal. It has become obvious to me that paying brand name premiums for Fender, Gibson, PRS, etc. that are asian made does not make sense. For half the price you can get stuff like Samick, Michael Kelly, Jay Turser etc. and I think they all come out of the same factory.

It's stayed only at home but held up pretty well so far.

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I've basically been happy with it. As I said, unless I was dishing out the thousands it takes to buy a high quality american brand name guitar I will go with the off brands unless someone has a really great sale going on. The Koreans aren't quite up to where the Japanese were 10-12 years ago but their stuff is about 1/3 of the price in 1990 dollars, and it's scary how good some of it is. I have a $280 Epiphone Korean Les Paul I just bought and I swear to God, when I recently tried out a $3000 custom shop gold top at Mars it didn't feel nearly as good.

Don't know what year it was made. It looks like a solid top, but others say no! This is an all maple electric/acoustic natural flamed guitar with gold tuners. Rosewood fretboard. Hard shiny finish. Cutaway. It is definitely a looker. Many good comments on the looks. Fishman pickup with 3 band EQ and volume. It has a compensated saddle. Nut and saddle are plastic. This thing is beautiful.

Now it gets tricky. When I picked it up at the store it sounded great. As time went on I found it didn't suit a picking stlye when played acoustically. It just isn't made for that. It lacks loudness (maple top) and low end volume and tone. But when you plug it in all of that changes. Electrically the low end is good, but for a natural sound the highs and mids need to be controlled. It can be dialed in with the preamp controls to have a good balance and prescence. This guitar, like a Takamine, was made to be played through a PA because of the hard top. However it cost hundreds less than a Takamine, so why buy anything else? And it looks a lot better. However, it is definitely NOT for fingerpicking as an acoustic, and the neck should be wider if it were to accomodate finger styles.

I bought this guitar used so I won't detract with setup opinions. I adjusted the neck a little and when I tried to drop it to where it should be problems became apparent. There is a horrific rise where the neck joins the body after neck adjustments. Too late I started to inspect the frets. I found them all to be of varied height. Some were just not pressed in completely. Wow! What a surprise! That a guitar could be made this beautifully and minimize neck and fret setup is what I'm finding more and more with modern guitar manufacturing. Looks define it all anymore. Amazing. Dean Guitars do this. Looks great and play like a cigar box.

This guitar will not improve with age. Until the frets are reworked your fingers will be overworked and not able to complete a nights playing. I chose to have mine reworked to avoid having to buy a Takamine. The finish is tough enough but had one bad spot. You will also have to something about the rise at the body over time

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I been playing for 38 years. Most guitars i found are overrated. Martins, Taylors all have drawbacks and are overly expensive when compared dollarwise to SOME low end models. For instance, toomuch lows can throw off tonal balance. And Most High end makes pride themselves on their loud low end. Most of them also lose all low tone doing this and some are too loud. Tonal clarity and balance are as impotant as loudness. I've had $2000 guitars have one string be so loud as to prohibit playing. This guitar has its place but it is limited in it's application. If it was stolen I'd ask the thief not to give it back so I could use the insurance money for something else. For some styles this guitar will probably be fine.

Probably 2001 vinatge made in Korea with Fishman pickups and maple all over. The neck and the action are flawless and player-friendly.

I play pink floyd, cure, smiths inspired tunes and this guitar steps up brilliantly. I use Acoustic Epiphone Amp with Boss GT-3 effects. The sound is full and rich. The guitar's ability to deliver many variations of tones is impressive thanks to the Fishman system.

Setup was great. I made no adjustments. This guitar rocks out of the box.

Sturdy and beautiful. So beautiful actually even my guitar-hating wife fell in love with its looks.

Never dealt with them.

I have been playing for 10 years (hobby). I own 6 other guitars and each has role in life. This one is a guitar to make alternative/rock music and record. Very creamy, bassy tone and not loud when unplugged. Plug it and it comes to life with a crisp, rich, and sparkling tones. One hell of a guitar for the buck.