Product: Norman B20 4T
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
05/28/2007
at
04:58am
by
Keith
Features
:
7
Standard Dreadnought with a non-gloss finish. (Gloss cost RM300 more). The fret spacing a bit small, I had some tough time adjusting my fingers to fit an A major. Comes with Fishman Classic 4T pickup that has a built-in tuner. Fishman pickup has an easy battery-changing mechanism, but the pickup itself wasn't installed neatly in it's socket. Not overly impressed with the features, but Norman is a no nonsense brand.
Sound
:
8
Sounds fantastic. I have a preference for spruce, and Norman did a great job with their wood. The guitar sounds great especially on the basses, the high notes don't really ring out well though. But the bass is just awesome, for the price I paid for it , it sounds great. Don't waste money on a Baby Taylor that doesn't even sound half as good. The higher notes as mentioned, don't really sound as bright as it should, this guitar is more a bass-centric guitar.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
7
The guitar setup was a bit high, and there was some strange noise coming out of the B string. I didn't like the factory strings and changed them to Elixirs, the noise was gone but I didn't like the Elixirs either. Now I've got Ernie Ball acoustics on them and it sounds a lot better.
Reliability/Durability
:
No Opinion
I think it'll last a long long time. Got it about 3 months ago, haven't gone a day without playing it. Can't really comment on it yet.
Customer Support
:
9
Haven't tried it, I did email them once before I purchased the guitar and they responded within the week. Pretty good stuff.
Overall Rating
:
8
The only question you should ask before buying this is should I get the Seagull, or Simon & Patrick instead. I chose the Norman cause I had a better contact with the dealer in Malaysia. Played the seagull and S&P, they were great guitars as well. The seagull looked nicer, but I wouldn't fork out the extra for it (plus I love spruce & it's hard to find a spruce top seagull here). The S&P was the cheapest and in my opinion had the best amp, but then again the finish wasn't as good as the norman and the norman had a better sound.
I tried the Yamahas as well, in this price range I wouldn't get a Yamaha. If you've got any of the Lasido brands I think they'd be better value for money. Don't waste your cash on Taylor, in this price range it's only Godin.
I actually regretted getting the pickup considering I hardly use it, if I didn't get the pickup the guitar would have been a complete steal. Got the TRIC case as well. All for around Rm2000.
If it were lost, probably consider it buying a new one or switch to the ST range from Norman. Seagull and S&P would definitely be in the running as well.
