Fender GD47sce

I agree, this guitar is nice looking. The tortoise binding is a really nice touch. The rosewood has deep "chocolate" color and is really beautiful on mine. The last reviewer said his had a rosewood overlay on the headstock. Mine has a jet-black overlay, which, I don't believe is rosewood...in any case the overlay looks really classy next to the gold Grover tuners, and with it's mother-of-pearl Fender logo inlay on it. The Grovers are a big plus. So are the Fishman electronics, which sound great and have performed flawlessly. My research indicated that the nut and saddle are made of bone. I replaced both of those with Tusq, and in taking out the originals, a luthier confirmed that they are indeed bone. Which is a plus. The cutaway is fine and the guitar plays decent up past the 14th fret. The sides are laminated rosewood, which is one of the reasons this costs less than a thousand bucks. If you want solid wood, you usually have to pay for it. My only gripe in the "features" category is that Fender might have used a slightly better grade of spruce for the top, and the issue with this is not just a matter of looks (more on that in a moment). I almost rated this category an 8 for that reason.

Well, herein lies the guitar's only real downside. Kyle pretty much says it all in his review below. Absolutely, this box lacks in it's non-plugged in sound. There aren't many overtones going on, there's an inconsistancy in individual string volumes, and, most noticeably, it has really weak projection. I played this next to my buddy's 1970's era Fender F35 acoustic a couple months ago. The difference in projection was so striking that he said "wow, what's going on with your guitar's volume?" Granted, his has improved with age (plus those earlier Fenders were made in Japan), but I mean the GD47 really got it's ass kicked. And it gets it's ass thoroughly kicked next to my little entry-level Taylor Big Baby. I mentioned the top a minute ago, and my two halves are not well bookmarked. In addition, one of the halves appears to have some "bear claw" imperfections in it. It's solid Engelmann spruce, but definitely of the lower end of the AA variety. And I think it has a major affect on the sound. As I mentioned earlier, I replaced the nut and saddle with Tusq in hopes that it would improve things, but it did so only slightly. This is probably an indication that the stock bone pieces are probably pretty decent, but they can't make up for the lackluster wood quality (and maybe build) of the top. BUT...there's a light at the end of the tunnel. I also agree with the other reviewers that the GD47sce sounds quite nice plugged in. I'm gonna have to tip my hat to Fishman here. And in all fairness to the guitar itself, whatever shortcomings it has in the quality of it's top, and bracing, etc, none of these are bad enough that the plugged in sound can't easily overcome them. It does sound very good (I use a Carvin AG100D amp, and it's been a great amp).

Action and setup were fine straight from the gate. Very playable and good fretwork. No intonation issues prior to the saddle and nut change (and none after). The neck is just a wee bit thicker than I think it needs to be but maybe that's just me. The neck doesn't "sight" down to the saddle quite as good as my other guitars (Taylor, Garrison) and it's got a change in neck angle at the 14th fret, but none of this seems to affect the playability at all. I'd give it a "10" for the action. As far as the gloss finish, it's typical Korean: little flaws here and there but nothing even noticeable, really. The poor bookmatching of the two top halves is very noticeable though. One side is aging to a different color and sheen than the other, and it's gotten worse over time. Hence my "8" rating.

Built solid, no issues here. I don't need to say anything about the reliability of the Grovers. Fishman electronics are the bomb (not the highest-end bomb, but still bomb). The finish has held up well under lots of playing.

Never needed it.

I'm sure there are GD47sce's out there that (unplugged) sound better than the one I have, but I can say they would have to sound a WHOLE LOT better than mine to be decent. If you're considering getting one of these, my advice would be to look further. Check out some of the stuff coming from Canada. Have the person in the music store play the GD47 for you, along with other guitars, and I'll bet you will notice it's lack of projection and general lack of great sound. Again, this is all unplugged. For around 700 bucks you could certainly do worse. The key here is that you can certainly do better.

This is a beautiful guitar. It's got tortoise binding and a couple other areas, and abalone inlays and rosette. It's got a solid spruce top with a natural finish, rosewood laminate sides, a solid rosewood back, rosewood fingerboard and bridge, and a rosewood overlay on the headstock. The neck is Mahogany.
It's a dreadnought with a soft cutaway allowing easy access to the upper range of the fretboard - which has 20 frets.
It's got gold Grover Tuners and Fishman electronics, including a contact mic and a below saddle pickup. One of the adjustments on the EQ allows for some sort of mixing the pickups to adjust the sound.
This guitar was made in Korea.

I'm hoping that over time the sound will fill out some more. I haven't had this guitar all that long, and although I bought it used, it doesn't appear to have been used all that much. Acoustically it sounds pretty good through the mids and highs, but doesn't project the lower range. For example, if I'm playing an Em, the low E is almost completely lost. I do alot of finger picking and I'm not seeing alot of sustain or volume. I'm sure that as the guitar gets played more and more and the wood comes back to life this will improve.
Now - plugged in. I plugged this into my Hotrod Deluxe and I have to say I was very, very impressed with the sound. The bass that was lacking showed up, and overall the guitar has a warm and beautiful sound. I played around with the EQ a bit and I just couldn't find a setting that didn't sound great. I'm very happy with it.

As mentioned above, I bought the guitar used. I don't know if it was altered in any way by a previous owner. Since it appears to have received very little use, I'm going to assume it's pretty much as it left the factory. The action feels very good. I'm using Earthwood Rock and Blues strings on it - a little lighter than the factory strings and they seem to be a good match. The only area where fit/finish seem to be lacking is the binding on the neck just by the headstock on the low E side. It isn't perfectly aligned, but it's difficult to notice.

This guitar seems like a good solid guitar.
I hope it will last me many years.
I have a Fender Capistrano (California series) from the late 80's that has been my daily player since I bought it about 7 years ago. It's going into semi-retirement now that this guitar has moved in.
My experience with Fender acoustics (I have 3) has been that they're pretty well built and since I take care of my guitars, I expect the finish and hardware to last as long as I do, if not longer.

Bought it used.
Never dealt with Fender directly.

Overall, I really like this guitar. As it comes alive I'm certain I'm going to just like it more and more. I know Fender isn't very respected for their acoustic guitars, and I know there are better guitars out there - and probably better guitars for the money - although I got a pretty decent deal on this one. I just really like Fenders. I have a strat and a tele, as well as the Capistrano mentioned above. I also have the mostly novelty Electro Lounge guitar that was only made for a brief time. I thought it was a really cool design and after several years of trying to find one I tracked one down at a music store in Tulsa of all places. Yay! I have the Hot Rod Deluxe amp (no further discussion needed on that one), as well as an old Yamaha Fifty410 combo that sounds great clean and with my old Digitech RP100 in front of it. I have an old Ventura Bruno 12 string, a Morrell lap steel, and a custom, vintage BC Rich Eagle bass. For the bass I have an Ampeg B100R that rocks. For a small combo it's just incredible.
Back to this guitar - I have no regrets. If it were stolen or lost, I'd buy this again if I could find it in a price range I can afford. Let's just hope it stays in my house where it belongs, and if I ever do start playing little gigs that nobody will steal it.

I love this guitar. Look and finish is wonderful. Stays in tune with solid tuners. Fret board feels great. The pickup system installed is wonderful.

Full bodied deep tone you would expect from a guitar costing twice as much...plugged in, the same thing!!

Great.

Had it for 3-4 years..never had a problem at all. Somewhat heavy instrument.

Never needed it.

I play rythym in a church worship band and I use this guitar every Sunday for an hour and at weekly rehearsals. I would not trade this guitar in for the world.

Before buying this I tried everything from Taylors, Takamines, Ovations, Martins, Ibanezes and this beat them all in terms of bang for the buck. Unfortunately most big box music stores like Guitar Center or Sam Ash usually carry them, otherwise this may be one of the best selling acoustics out there. Really, its that good.

This guitar is very beautiful. It high gloss covers nice rosewood, mahogony, abalone, tortoise, and spruce. The gold grover tuners have always worked well. The guitar is made of a solid rosewood back, laminate rosewood sides, and a solid spruce top. The Fishmann electronics work well, but I usually have to adjust the eq to lower the highs.

The GD47sce is very beautiful but lacks in sound. Acoustically the sound is not so great. The guitar has hardly any projection and doesn't resonate at all. This guitar sounds the best when it is plugged in. I recently played another GD47sce at a guitar store and it also lacked sound quality. My friend has a Taylor 310ce and the Fender looks way better, but the Taylor wins with its sound.

The guitar came set up very well with no flaws.

This guitar is very reliable and durable if you are willing to put up with its sound. The harware is very solid, the finish is great, the strap buttons are very solid. I would use it on a gig without a backup.

I haven't had to deal with customer support.

I have been playing the guitar for eight years. I have owned a Samick, a Takamine, an epiphone, a Fender, a Washburn, an ibanez, and two seagulls. I wish I didn't buy this guitar for its looks. I would not buy this guitar again. Overall it's a nice looking, average sounding guitar. I would defintely pay $100 more and buy the Seagull Artist Cameo CW.