Fender DG-8 Acoustic

Solid spruce top (this may be updated, from reading the other reviews I saw one refer to it as laminated--I believe it is a DG8S now.) Dreadnought, Fender strings, gig bag, strap, tuner, DVD, picks, extra Fender strings. Guitar ia made in China. Back and sides are nato, I believe. Black pickguard. Rosewood fretboard (very flat finish), bridge. No front strap pin (string provided for headstock attachment).

Sounds pretty good. I have a cedar top Takamine and the sound is very different, brighter. I think the sound is pretty good for a cheap(er) guitar. Take away the extras, and this is probably a $150 guitar. And at that price, it is well worth it.

No flaws in finish, nice. Action was probably a bit low. That's fine till you start pounding, then you'll get a bit of buzzing. I'm thinking a slight truss rod adjustment will fix it. I like the action actually, I was suprised it was so low out of the box. Everything is good, tight, looks good. I may replace the bridge pins because they don't sit evenly. Stock strings were fine. I was going to get them off, but they sound decent. It came with Fender replacements, so I assume they are Fenders on the guitar. I will replace with D'Addarios.

I think this guitar will last a very long time. Seems built very well. It could serve as a backup with no problems. Besides, people see "Fender" and assume quality, and it is a pretty decent instrument.

No issues.

Been playing a bit over a year. I purchased this as a travel guitar (checked aircraft in hardcase). I have a Takamine GS330S as my main acoustic; a Hagstrom O78S as a "couch/casual" guitar/car travel guitar; a Paul Reed Smith PRS SE Custom through a Marshall Valvestate AVT20. The GC rep sold me on this. I know him and he wouldn't steer me wrong; it was more than I expected. Love that it's a Fender, think it may need an adjustment to raise the action, otherwise it's good. I looked at a cheap Epiphone & Yamaha; sales rep moved me away from those. It's nice to have a solid spruce top to go with my solid cedar topped Takamine. Nice contrast in tones.
Overall, this is a great first guitar, second guitar, or traveller.

Your Standard Fender DG-8 value pack model

I'm a beginner so as for music style it meets my requirements.
this model has a all around good sound.
that being said it can be bright and sometimes "twangy" when playing certain chords.

The action is very good out of the box. It is low and easy to play.
The guitar seemed to be in tune right out of the box. The shop that I got the guitar from dbl.checked the tuning for me to make sure it was in tune. The only thing I saw that I din't like was the strap button came out when I was puuting on the strap. had to glue it back on... but has no affect on sound

I haven't had this guitar for too long so durability and reliability still has to be thoroughly checked..but as it looks, it is looking pretty solid

no experience w/ them as of yet

Overall. I really like this guitar a lot. This is a very good guitar especially for beginners. The value package provides you w/ everything a beginner would need to start playing the guitar. For that alone and the money you save it's a big plus.
The sound quality is good for the type of guitar it is. it has a good full tone.

I bought this Guitar in a starter set that came with the Guitar, Gig Bag, Picks, Straps, Extra Strings etc. The Guitar has a spruce top and nato back and sides, a Rosewood fingerboard, and sealed tuners. Mine came in Sunburst, and it's a very pretty-looking guitar. The Guitar was made in China, and has 20 frets.

This Guitar has a great sound! It sounds great for all styles. This guitar provides a bright, full sound. However, there is one problem. The 10th and 11th frets make the same note. Other than this problem, it has a great sound.

This Guitar has a great finish. Everything was properly set up and ready to play when I bought it.

This is a well-built guitar. Not a scratch on it, even though I bump it into everything. One problem is that it had only one strap button, so I had to put another one in. A very dependable Guitar.

I've never had to deal with Customer Support. It came with a warranty.

I've been playing for over six months, and this was my first Guitar. If lost or stolen, I'd probably buy a better Guitar. Overall, it's a great Guitar to start on.

every one else said enough about where and how it was made. I paid $135

I personally like this guitar quite a lot. for the price it blows the crap out of any other in this price range. especially the takamine jasmines and ovations. personally i think ovations are the absolute worst guitars of all time and should never cost over 30 bucks. this guitar blows every ovation i have ever played away. i play it through a marshall AS80R and i think it does ok. get a feedback buster or this thing is a bitch, as are most dreadnoughts. I think it has a dark sound, sometimes a bit too bassy for my taste. This was my first guitar and is a fantastic guitar if you need to build finger strentgh. Use elixirs!!!!

the action is high. with a lowered nut and bridge, it is much more playable. that is what i did. i use a dean markley promag grand with this, they run about 100, but luckily i got mine for $60. They're pretty cool, I guess id buy another one. the machines/tuners are pieces of s***. i hate them. i put some gold ones from customshopparts on there and now the tone is better and buzzing is non-existent. definetly replace the machines! tuning pegs suck too, but there 3 bucks so who cares.

i beat the crap out of it and its in good shape considering ive had it for about 2 1/2 years. the finish is good, as with most laminates, it doesn't peel off unless you really get after it. I would not gig without a backup, I would use my taylor before this guitar.

i never messed with fender because im sure they have better things to do than work on a dg-8. if you get this guitar play around with it yourself, it builds valuable knowledge and lets you rip off other dummies who cant fix their own stuff.

I have a bunch of gear, I've been going for about 3 years now. I would not buy this guitar again, simply because it is a beginners guitar and i own an alvarez and taylor so what would be the point? this guitar has a fantastic, oustanding sound in its price range, also as i said earlier, you can beat the crap out of it and not worry about it. this is a very good purchase. i wish this thing had a fishman blender in it, but then again that would be about 2 times the cost of the guitar for the pickup, so why bother?

Bought this guitar as part of a value pack, which came with an electronic tuner, chord book, strap, gig bag, picks, and an extra set of strings. The guitar itself has a laminated spruce top and nato back/sides (laminated). Has 20 frets, which looked pretty well finished. Right out of the box this guitar looks fairly impressive. It has a high gloss finish which accents the wood and gives it almost a quilted look.

The sound of this guitar was less than impressive. I play alot of rythmic music, such as DMB. The tone is very "dead" sounding on some of the more complex rythims especially with less than new strings. The DG-8 isn't very loud either. When playing in a group I am usually drowned out by the other, higher quality guitars. However, with a nice new set of strings, it is possible to get a nice full, bright sound out of most open chords. But if you're lookin for a decent tone don't look at this guitar.

The finish of this guitar was basically flawless. Everything else on the guitar seemed to be built well, including the bridge and the fretboard. The neck is very hard, and sometimes painful to play. Often I would practice a song based around a quick moving riff on my DG-8 and never be able to do it quite right, and have a hand that felt like it was on fire. Then I would play a friends Ovation or Seagull and it would come out beautifully, with less effort than on my Fender.

This guitar is built very well. It seems very solid and the finish is durable enogh not to show all the abuse I've given it. The only problem is that the strap button (yeah, there's only one) fits very loosely and tends to fall out while playing, which has made way for some very embarrasing moments.

Never had to deal with customer support. Did come with a warranty, though.

I've been playing for almost two years now, and this was my first guitar. If it was lost or stolen I would definately buy a better one, which I'm thinking about doing anyway. If you're looking for a first guitar and don't have a huge budget, I would advise you check out a Seagull guitar, they're about $100 more but they're easy to play, loud as anything, and have an awesome tone.

2000 Fender DG-8 made in South Korea
The guitar I bought came with a gig bag, tuner, cord book, strap, strings, and picks. The price was really cheap and good for people on a budget like myself.

This is my first guitar and I have been playing on it for about a year now. I think the guitar sounds a little too twangy for my musical liking and I have noticed that the E string has a slight buzz. The guitar needs to be re-tuned about every week or after playing for more than 3 hours.

The action is way to high on this guitar. I find it much easier to play barre cords on my friends epiphone acoustic than this DG-8. When I recieved the guitar their was a small crack in the side but it doesnt seem to affect the sound. Like I said before, their is a slight buzz on the E string. I dislike the bronze fender strings that came with the guitar and I plan on replacing them soon.

The guitar does feel very soild. I have banged this guitar around and I still have yet to notice any blems or scratches (beside the crack in the side which was there when I recieved the guitar.) I really dont use the strap so I couldnt tell you if the botton is any good. I believe this is a good dependable guitar and excellent for begineers or people who dont have enough money to buy anything better.

I have not had to deal with them yet. The guitar came with a 3 year limited warrenty I think.

I think this is an excellent guitar for begineers. If it were stolen I would buy a better guitar. It has a decent sound for the cheap price. If you buy one I recomend you be able to try it first. I wish I had been able to play it before I bought it. A solid guitar for a begineer player.

Fender DG-8 Blk (Black)-
The body is all black looks really nice. The back,sides, and neck are made of Nato. Top is made of spruce (I think), but laminated not solid. The fretboard has 20 frets and is made of rosewood. The tuners are chromed and work fine. They are not high precision tuners(those cost about half the price of this guitar) , but they are doing a good job and the strings never go flat.

I got the guitar as witht a value package that included a gigbag (pretty simple and not cushioned),strap, electronic tuner (vey simple without a scale and it tells if the string is flat,tuned, or sharp), polish,picks, a chord book and an extra set of strings. I estimate the value of the extras around $60.00.

The sound of the guitar is bright compared to other expensive guitars (martin and taylors) but I like it that way. I changed the strings to D'Addario Xtra Light (also because I haven't played in while and I didn't want my fingers to hurt!) and the guitar sounds incredible with them. The sound is comparable to more upscale fenders.

I replaced the factory plastic saddle with bone saddle ($5 + sand paper) and the guitars now sounds even better.

The action of the guitar out of the box was excellent. For a guitar on this price range I was expecting to have to change the setup (specially after testing a Takamine G-240 that had the strings so high that left my fingers in pain after trying to make a D chord sound clear)The only change I made was that when I replaced the factory saddle with a bone saddle, I lowered it a little bit.

The finish of the guitar is all black and execellent. I haven't had to polished it yet.

This guitar looks solid, altough I haven't left gravity test if it is really well crafted. The strap button that comes with the guitar is plastic and looks pathetic and awfully bad. I'm going to replace it and install the other strap button as soon as I can take the guitar to the shop.

I haven't had any reasons to contactthem, so I don't have an opinion.
I would like to note that the guitar comes with a limited lifetime warranty.

On the bad site, Fender's website sucks. I tried to obtain more information about my guitar and I couldn't find any.

I would give this guitar a 9 rating based on the price I paid for it. I'm not sure if it because I got the gem of the assembly line, but this guitar great sounds great and the action out-of-the box was excellent. I got this guitar because in the store and they had a 30 day return policy, so I decided to take the guitar home for some extra testing in peace without the noise of the store and it passed. My final contenders were a takamine g240/330, and a washburn d10, but the sound of this guitars beats them all and for a lower price.

One piece of advice when buying a guitar (not only this model) is that test the guitar that you are really going to buy. By this I mean that don't test the guitar that the store have on display and then buy a guitar that is in a package without testing it. These guitars are come from an assembly line and not all of them come in the same shape and with the same quality

Made in Korea in 1999 or 2000(cant rember off hand.) It has 20,21 frets deppending on who you talk to. Laminated body, not a solid peice. Great Neck,w/frets nice and smooth on the edges so theres no cutting of my hand when I slide up and down the fret board.
The tunners are okay, I dont really have any problem w/them. They tune alittle sharp, so the strings never go flat if I haven't had much time to exercise her. I bought the standard DG-8 Package deal at a local dealer in town. More expensive then what Musician's Friend offers, but hey I got to take it home in the same day. The strap that came w/it sucks, but oh well cant say nothing it was free.

I love the sound of it. I had a hard time deciding between a nother Fender six string that was an acoustic/electric but it was used, alittle beat up, and my best friend has the same guitar so I knew that it was a great gutiar for my money, and I would continue to fall in love w/the sound after hours of playin'.
The set of Fender Bronze med.'s that came w/all of that package deal didn't sound great w/it. so I switched to using Martin strings. The sound good with it. The strings I have on now are the same strings that have been on it since last July. I've had to change the High e string however due to the fact that my stupid XXXXXXXXXXXXX Girlfriend messed w/my guitar.(she doens't know crap about guitars, but thinks she's a good guitarist, SHE SUCKS!!!!!) Any way back to the review.
umm I dont know what else to say other than its got a good sound. But there are better guitars out on the market thats for sure. For example the Epiphone Humming Bird sounds about 45-60% better than the DG-8. And I would give the DG-8 about a 81/2 on sound. I also like some of the sounds from Martin but there wayyyyyyyyyyy to much for my blood right now.

The guitar is not 100% in good condition as the day I bought it. But that happens. The finish is a Laminet type that looks great with the wood cause my top of the guitar from the maple looks quilted and thats pretty cool I think.
The action is tight. As you move down the fret board it of course gets easier to play, not like the one review I read about the DG-8. It is however hard for me to play barr chords, but I'm not that great at barr chords any how. The further down the better the barr chords are for me to play. From the 3rd fret up the strings are really low to the fret and should be raised, but I'm to lassy, and cheap to pay to have someone do it for me. I would however do it my self, but I know I would mess something up.

I have banged this guitar off of my electric, my other Fender 12 string acoustic and no scratches have appeared. once when the strap that came with the package came off and the guitar hit the gread on the head stock first. nothing happened, the strings didnt even go out of place. I have one big scratch on the back where the laminet came off alittle from where the clasp on my hard case rubbed acrossed.(that was all my faul, it was 4 a.m.)
Its a pretty tough guitar. my best friend has has his almost 3 years and the strap peg came out of his from the wood swellening up, and down so much, he stuck it back in and presto the wood swelled around the peg and its fine now. So if your some what of a clumsy person then this guitar is a good one to buy for that reason. I have also had rain get on it when I was out side playing and nothing ever happend, I dried it off and every thing was good to go.

I haven't had to deal with them so I WOULD SAY NO OPINION, OR A TEN SO FAR.

I've been playing for 2 years now. I own:
Epiphone Les Paul Special II, Fender JG-12CE Acoustic,Electric, Fender Frontman Reverb 15 watt practice amp., a Crate GFX212+ Combo amp.(it sucks, I want a knew one.), own a 3rd of a PA System, harmonicas', I have a Digitech 200 on the way to fix the Crate amp. problem. And I'm thinking about purchasing a Fender Strat, Tornado, or Cyclone, the reviews for the Tornado, and Cyclone are a problem.

If this guitar were stolen or lost yes I would buy it agian, I would probably cry if someone stole my babie. I've put many of long hours, sweat, and blood into this guitar.
I wish it had a preamp, and electric pickup in it. now I have to pay to have one put in. or buy a sound hole pickup.

Standard-sized dreadnought, made in Korea. All laminate/plywood body, with neck made of an unknown, wood-like material. Frets are rough. Nylon gig bag, tuner, and chord book included. Visually acceptable for an entry level guitar.

Due to poor playability (see below), sound is variable. For strumming first position, basic chords, guitar is fine. For anything more sophisticated, e.g., beyond third fret, forget about it.

Action is terrible. MOving away from the first fret, action gradually increases, making it difficult to fret. From top to bottom, action is also unbalanced (e.g., from high e to low E). Chords such as A7 and any other barre chords are extremely difficult, even for my teacher who has been playing for 30 years! Makes for a very frustrating learning experience.
No visible flaws noted, even after two years of abuse.

Guitar is built like a tank. It's been dropped and slapped around without a scratch. Gig bag is NOT padded, so a case is a must.

No dealing with Fender.

I'v eplayed this guitar for two years now. I also have a Sigma 12 string and Martin Backpacker. I've since removed the octave from the 12 string and used it as my main practice guitar, as it is much more frettable than the Fender. The Backpacker has an even better neck, but its shape is clumsy. The Backpacker does travel well, however.

Overall, for a starter guitar, the Fender DG8 is a poor first choice. The lack of overall playability makes for a frustrating time for student and teacher alike. I would recommend looking elsewhere for a starter guitar.

Good full sound, suits both rythm and lead adequately, especially after altering the action it is a lot easier to pick out lead breaks.

Action too high at first (easly remidies, shaves saddle & nut + altered neck arch)

Good finish, overall.

Overall a good guitar, the only flaw was the action height but once remidied excelent for the price. It is light well balanced which mkes it a little less of a chore to play.