Hohner Eclipse ECA800

Bought this guitar from a dealer on ebay a couple of months ago. I was hesitant about buying a guitar from a harmonica company,but after seeing and hearing this Eclipse ECA800 on their website,I was somewhat sold...especially for the price! This is an awsome looking and sounding guitar. It has a solid spruce cut-away top which is an amber burst...gold Gotoh tuners(great),a maple/mahogany neck which has a nice feel...the back is a round(ovation style)with woven alder wood...really looks great...it has a built in tuner with pre-amp...and it comes with a hard case.

This guitar sounds amazing! I've been playing guitar for 40 years and have played numerous different brands,but none had a sound like this one. It is rich and full unpluged...haven't pluged it up yet,so I can't comment on the electronics. The sound is like each string is in harmony with the other strings more than any acoustic guitar I've ever played....may be the echo sound holes.

This guitar was great out of the box...just turned on the built in tuner...it tuned right up and plays great! The finish is beautiful and I could find no flaws. The action might need to be lowered just a bit,but it's not bad.

I haven't had it long enough to give a review on how well it holds up...but from the way it looks and feels,I believe it is very well made.

I've been playing for 40 years and have owned a Martin, two Ovations,one Gibson,and several other brands. If this guitar were stolen I would definitely try to buy another one. I really love the sound and the look. Most round backs are a little hard to hold sitting,but this one has a special finish on the back to keep it from slipping. A great guitar !

Awesome... Sometimes I like being first. Finish on this is called Plum or plum burst. High gloss, very attractive color. Body style has a cutaway for access to the higher frets and it's a medium bowlback like another company. Tuners are sealed Gotohs with black keys. Aestetically nice and seem to hold well. Not certain what you'd call the neck scale since the fretboard ends with a scroll extending the higher strings, again, aestetically pleasing and useful to boot. Formfit case came with it. Recent craftsmanship but uncertain of the exact year. Highest strings have a 23rd fret. Solid Spruce top, built in tuner/4 band EQ. 5 piece mahogany and maple neck with a nitro finish, back is a woven alder.

I'll be playing in a tribute band and I record so it will fit what I'm doing nicely. Unplugged it actually has a pretty good sound for a thin bowlback. Plugged it has a nice rich sound especially with the onboard EQ. The only thing I would have liked was a phase switch. The other thing I don't like are these new bridges that are segmented. Makes it difficult to upgrade the pickup. I've seen these on Epi's also. Don't like it... no I don't. I feel the need to go get two more and keep them for when I wear what's thre out in 10 years.

Action is a bit high for me and this will go to my luthier who will set it up to perfection. I'm actually quite impressed with the finishand the feel of the guitar. You'd think that a plum colored guitar would look cheap but this is far from it. You can clearly see the woodgrain through the finish and the body is completely surrounded with abalone, the sound holes are uniquely cut in the face in an enlarging pattern of ovals ending with a smaller than usual center oval hole. Nice moon inlays on the bridge as well as an abalone Hohner logo and an eclipsing moon on the headstock. The back of the guitar is actually woven alder that looks like a basket but is apparently stronger than the other guys making this a solid wood back. Same sort of access port on the rear with a nice wood inlay. There is a sprayed set of pine trees on the lower bout on the side ( I haven't decided about that yet). I'm very impressed with the way this guitar looks. By the way, it has an ebony fretboard and an ebony bridge.

As far as I can tell, it will hold up. At this early stage I can't make a decision on this since I think every guitar is different until broken in. The Gotohs are nice, better than a LOT of tuners I've seen on Korean guitars. Finish looks nice and again, more even than a number of Korean guitars that I've encountered. I am becoming the Korean guitar king... truly out of neccessity rather than choice. I make due with what I have and can afford. The one strap button is under the neck and seems to somewhat ease the usual roll of a bowlback. I think I can depend on it, again, not certain at this early stage. An 8 only because of the early entry.

The way I figure it, Stevie Wonder played a Hohner Clavinet and the company has been around for a while, should be o.k. but again, haven't had the need to communicate with them. Hence the 8.

I've been playing for 35+ years. Numerous bands, new ones always coming and I've been through more equipment than anyone should. I saw this guitar in a little store in DE along with 5 others of the same model. I wish I'd looked at Ebay beforehand but I was in the middle of a state park camping or I would have talked the guy down a little further since I just found the same model on Ebay for $75.00 less from him. Not happy about that so he gets no promo. Wait to find one of these used and it will be a deal. I do have the ability to know a decent guitar when I see it and play it and this one was both. I absolutely love the looks of it and the sound will do well for what I'm doing studio and live. The guy had Parkers and Washburns also but the Parkers are UG-LEE and the Washburns too plain in my opinion and I just didn't desire to own either. I would undoubtedly replace this with something else since I tend to move up. It's lightweight, it's attractive and unique. The guy at the store said Hohner was under lawsuit and they're a limited run which to me, would make it one of the best kept secrets I've found. Definitely worth picking one up used.