Product: Landola D-855
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
03/12/2009
at
07:29am
by
Daniel McBrearty
Email: danielmcbrearty<at>gmail dot com
Features
:
9
Top: Solid Spruce
Back/Sides: Flamed Nordic-birch
Neck: Flamed Nordic-birch
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Bridge: Rosewood
Machinehead: Schaller, M6
Saddle: Bone
Nut: Bone
Body: Dreadnought, 4/4 size
Finish: Satin
It's just a really nice quality jumbo acoustic guitar. There is really nothing missing. Oh, one minor gripe. The combined jack/strap knob thingy only really takes one type of strap, I'd like to be able to use a locking strap but they don't quite fit. Don't really want to fit a second strap button at the base of the guitar.
This guitar is really the D-85 with pickup fitted - mine has the Fishman.
Sound
:
10
Excellent. I use heavy strings, had it properly set up to work with those, and replaced the saddle which had been mutilated by the previous owner. It sounds excellent - warm, clear, and well balanced. I play finger style with a fair amount of bass picking, and slap-damping with the fingers, plus some finger picking and bluesy style lead now and again. All of these work really. It also amplifies very well indeed, with the pickup. Intonation is spot on, and it holds its tuning fine. I also play dropped D and DADGAD sometimes, no probs.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
The top was slightly arched when I got it, and the action too high. The previous owner had tried to fix this by taking a hacksaw to the saddle (thankfully he had not damaged the body). Undeterred, I beat the price down a bit and made off with the booty :-)
It does seem that arching of the top can be a problem with Landola's, or so I hear. I'm happy that this one has responded so well to a little love and care ...
Now it has been properly set up, it feels great to play. Action is solid but not too hard, strings don't buzz. It looks real pretty too. What a babe!
Reliability/Durability
:
9
I gig with this weekly. It is solid. I would tour with it (I'd buy a chunky case of course), no worries. Manufacture is very solid. Slight worry is whether a bit more warping might happen with a lot of flying and so on .
Customer Support
:
9
I obtained a replacement saddle from Landola, took a while to get a response but when I did they were fine. Cost was very reasonable. Nice people to deal with, they obviously love their product, and with good reason.
Overall Rating
:
10
If I told you what I paid for this, I'd risk incurring too much jealousy. It's a very good guitar indeed, pro quality. Everyone that plays it comments on the sound and how solid it feels to play. It was a real find.
