Seagull Artist Flame Maple Cutaway

I bought it roughly 3 months ago and had it set up by the guitar shop (a worthy investment, but the guitar was already fantastic before the set up). Flame maple sides and top, three-piece maple back. Tusq nut, abolone inlay, and a gorgeous soft finish. Pickups (the best part) are an under-saddle piezo pickups and an "electret" microphone on a boom pointing at the underside of the strings. The two mics are controlled by treble, bass, and volume on the side panel; there is also a phase control that lets you control how much sound is coming from each transducer. I prefer to keep that in the middle for best results, but there is a distinct timbre change when going from one extreme to the other, similar to a the 5-way switch on a good strat. The finish, while I don't know much about it, looks absolutely gorgeous and pictures just don't do it justice. When you look up close you can really see the fine grain patterns. The included accessories are just the case, which is actually quite weird looking. It seems to do an ok job but I have two issues with it: when I close the case I have to make sure to pull the top toward me or the edge of the case might hit the guitar. And there seems to be a bit of a gap inside the case once it's closed because when I'm walking I can occasionally feel the guitar wobbling around inside. But hey, the case was included so I'm not complaining.

This is mostly why I wrote this review. I want to stress to everyone out there how absolutely FANTASTIC this guitar sounds. I am a young player but I know my stuff when it comes to great tone. I play a variety of music but in particular I love the blues rock stylings of Joe Bonamassa. Essentially when looking for a guitar I had his acoustic tone in the back of my head and this guitar just nails it. It sounds better than $3,000 Larrivee's and Martin's that I've played. Of course, I have heard that Seagull guitars aren't known for their consistancy, so I would not recommend buying this guitar unless you can play it first. Not all guitars are created equal.

But back to the sound quality. Based on my previous knowledge of acoustics, I picked up this guitar not expecting much - I assumed the bass would be severely lacking because of the flame maple wood choice. Boy was I wrong. Sure, the bass may not be quite as much as a rosewood jumbo acoustic, but it sounds damn near perfect to me. The treble and mids are very well balanced as well and the best way I can describe the tone is almost glassy and chimey but with some good "chunk" to it. You can go from classical suites to phat blues licks instantly. And then the real fun begins....

Let me stress that if you get a chance to try out one of these guitars, you absolutely MUST plug it in to an acoustic amp, PA, monitor, or even a guitar amp if that's all there is in the store. I guarantee you will be sold instantly. It's hands down the best guitar I have ever played once you plug it in. Suddenly that little bit of bass that might have been lacking before is back in spades and you've got a fantastic thump. It sounds excellent for blues, rock, and even country, bluegrass, jazz, classical...well, pretty much anything! Another thing I like about the electronics is how discreet they are. On the bottom of the guitar the jack is located in the neckstrap plug and there is a small black cover that you can take off to replace the 9V battery. On the top/side panel above the sound hole you have your controls, but they are very small. They're not to small to adjust if need be, but they blend in well enough that you don't feel like you're playing an electric guitar. It's very prestigious and elegant, in my opinion.

So I guess all I have to say is just STOP READING THIS and go out and play this guitar! Seriously, even if you decide you like something else better, you just have to experience this to believe it. But I bet you want to know what it sounds like right now right? Well luckily I recorded a song just for that purpose! The following soundclick is me playing a cover of Joe Bonamassa's Woke Up Dreamin' with nothing but this guitar plugged into my tube guitar amp and recorded straight into the computer. Judge for yourself how great it sounds!

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=208869&songID=3087381

Stock there was a little too much string buzz for my taste, but that's mostly because I am a hard, fast strummer, as you will have noticed if you listened to my demo above. ;) But after I had it set up the fret buzz is virtually nonexistant. It has a very nice action that I believe to be just the right height. It's low, but also high enough that you can really dig into the strings without worrying. There were absolutely no uneven frets or dead spots anywhere on the neck - trust me, I thoroughly tested it before buying, as you should! The wood grains were professionally matched and the build quality is just excellent.

The only thing that might worry me about this guitar is the finish, but that is the same with any nice acoustic. I have a feeling (although I don't know for a fact yet since I take good care of it) that it will ding really easily if I bump it against something. I am extremely careful with it but at the same time I bet a few dings would just give it character. Overall I would say this guitar is very reliable and it has held up at several gigs perfectly.

N/A I haven't had to deal with them at all so I wouldn't know

I have been playing 6 years now and I own several electrics, all top quality, including 1 that I built myself as a replica of Stevie Ray Vaughan's Number One strat. I also have an old Fender DG acoustic. Basically I'm here to tell you not to underestimate this guitar, and if you're looking at these reviews in the first place it isn't by accident. Don't trust me on this one. Try it out for yourself and listen to what your gut has to say - it's usually right.

Mine is an '04 Cameo CW. I bought my first Seagull in '99, an A6 Cedar and a matching A12 shortly after. The cameo came with tthe Quantum II electronics, outstanding. I really like the suttle details of the inlay work on the neck and the gold hardware. I didn't get a case with it but I had an Alverez case that fit it perfectly. Recently aquired an SA6 that I am just as satisfied with. Have been completely satisfied with all my Seagull guitars.

The Cameo, having the solid spruce top and flame maple sides,(from wath I've read) should have had a brighter sound, but mine had the warmest tones that I have heard in years, like it had been aging for 15 or 20 years. I play around people with $3000 Taylors and $3000 Takamines all the time and without a doubt, this Seagull acoustically holds its own. When you plug it into a soundboard, it gets even better.

I have had no problem with anything. Well built instruments.

All my seagull have done well live but definately need feeback busters, or soundhole covers. The cameo is very hot with the mic. My new SA6 has no soundhole and has done beautifully at live venues. The older models only draw back was the placement of the battery. You have to go through the soundhole to replace it. That has been my only gripe. the new models have battery compartments that are easily accessible.

Called to ask the best way to remove the pickguard and hey were very helpful.

I've been playing for 35 years and have played all the major brands on the market. As far as acoustic guitars, I also have a Takamine Sante Fe classical, an Alvarez Regent(belonged to my Dad), a Big Baby Taylor and of course my Seagulls, S12 and I recently purchaced an SA6, the solid acoustic which I highly recommend as well.

i believe it is a 2004 or 2003 either way it now called the camio.
22 frets, solid top and back,no elec. never needed/wanted elect.acoust., maple back and sides spruce tob mahogany neck, flame back and sides, transparent finish,cutaway, rosewood fretboard, typical wider than normal seagull neck great strung spacing,got a airline safe case w/ it. i bought where i work so i got a deal but it would go for about $850 us in the store

i have been playing for 10 years now, started when i was nine. this is by far the most guitar i have. it sounds great and it is a comfort to know it will only get better. its my first acoustic and i would put it against my dads 73 gibson sj-deluxe (like a j-45) anyday but it is a completely different sound.

it was shipped all the way down from canada so the action wasn't the best when i got it but easy to fix when working at musical inst. store. it was a factory second but thats only a small finish blem. everything else is perfect.

i would take it giging anytime. i think it is always needed to have a back up but everything is solid on it. i have been selling seagulls for a while and have nothing but good things to say about them. if you see a used one i suggest you grab it because they dont come around a lot.

dealt with company and they are great but that is from a distributor point of view. only bad thing about them is you have to make your order for the whole year and we always run out.

i bought this guitar planning on having it forever and being able to pass it down to someone for them to enjoy. i think it will last and if i never buy another guitar again this will more than make- do

Canadian "hand made" guitar (as much as anything is hand made from a non custom luthier). Solid spruce top, solid flame maple back (3 piece), flame maple sides, flame maple headstock, dreadnought cutaway. LR Baggs Micro EQ pickup, rosewood fingerboard and bridge.
Case is not included, I bought am Alvarez solid case, that fits very well - just a small pad at the bridge pin.

Sound is outstanding. I've played any number of guitars over the past years, looking for one to add to my '79 Adamas and '74 Ovation legend. Until now, nothing had even matched the Adamas (to my ears). This did it straight off the bat, Different sound to the Adamas, much brighter, without being harsh; excellent sustain. Good for finger picking as well as strumming.
I play with a 12 piece Worship band doing a mix of quiet through to straight ahead rock. The first gig I played with the band, 2 of the others came up right at the end, and said "that guitar sounds awesome!".
I'm playing through a number of effects (Marshall chorus, Boss tremolo, MXR Phase 90, Snarling Dogs Overdrive (adds bite to the trem)), into a Crate 125D Acoustic amp with reverb on.
I'm still trying to contain one piece of feedback, bottom A# with capo in 1st fret, but that's not really the guitars fault.

I haven't found any flaws yet with the finish, but I must admit, I haven't gone over it inch by inch with a magnifying glass. This is a beautiful looking instrument, abalone and MoP seagull inlay on headstock, MoP seagull inlay at 12th fret, microdot markers for rest of frets, no pickguard giving a very clean look, and letting all the beauty of the wood show, The back and sides are lovely, especially the 3 piece back.
I'm not sure yet if the action is quite to my taste. It feels a little high, but I'll give it a couple of months to see if I get used to it

I can see no reason why this should not last. I'm not gigging every night and bouncing it in and out of a track, but it will get regular use and seems solid

I've been playing for more than 30yrs (boy, where does the time go?!).My current set of instruments includes the Adamas and Ovation, an Alvarez-Yairi 12 string, a Carvin TL60 electric and a Kramer 3000 electric. 3 sets of effects boards small( Visuall sound volume, Marshall chorus, Boss trem, Snarling Dogs o/drive, MXR phaser), large (Morley vol/wah, Tube screamer o'drive, Boss Blues driver, Boss trem, Guyatone flanger, mxr phaser, Danelectro delay, Boss chorus) and Behringer V-Amp.
I would definitely replace it if I lost/damaged it. Love the look and the sound. I've played and compared to Taylor, Lowden, Martin and Gibson - no contest especially if you look at the price.

This is a year 2001 made Seagull Artist Flame Maple (sans LR Baggs electronics on board). Made from select Maple, home grown in the Province of Quebec.

The top and back are solid wood (sitka spruce & Maple respectively).
With bolt-on necks. The sides are made from a 3 way laminate. They say it gives added stability and support, but I guess I would still rather have solid wood on the sides.

The Flame Maple is impressive.

I really like the wide range of sounds this guitar covers. The bass is full and the treble strings are bright. The Dreadnought body style gives a nice deep sound and the Maple/Spruce combination produces quite bright/loud output.
This guitar performs great when either strummed or figer-picked. My buddy owns many fine (and very expensive) acoustics and always enjoys playing my Seagull... he thinks it's great (or is he just making me feel good ? :)

I felt the guitar (for the price) was very well built (construction, bracing, finish, etc..)

My only complaint was the action was set too high. When I took it to a local shoppe that specializes in fine acoustic-stringed instruments, they couldn't lower the action. They noticed a flaw in the way the neck was set. We sent it to a luthier Seagull contracts out in New Hampshire or Maine for a neck reset. I'm not sure what they did to it (a higher bridge piece... new nut.. actually reset it ???) but the action was now set to an acceptable range and can be lowered a bit more if needed.

I believe the Seagull is very well constructed and will withstand the test of time and the various musical/weather environments.

I'm satisfied in the way they fixed the neck (lower action). Though, I noticed they can be slow getting back to you via email. I also wish they would update their website ("artists" section) and include a factory tour.

I've been playing this guitar everyday for the last 9 months. It sounds great (the wood "voices" nicely over time), stays in tune and looks (and plays) like a guitar that could be priced around 2,000 US.
The Seagull offers great value.

Other guitars I considered (a bit more money) :
- Larrivee (also a Canadian maker)
- Tacoma (Tacoma, Washington)

Both are very fine guitar manufacturers and will be one's I consider for my next guitar. After that I will go with an Olson, Ryan or Hoffman. :)

This one was made in 1991 prior to the actual Artist or Professional series debut. It was a demo for that series and shares almost all of the attributes of today's version minus a few. This one does not have the bird inlay at the twelth fret, a different finish on the headstock and chrome vs gold tuners. It has a built in pick-up but does not have the LR Baggs EQ system. The finish is fantastic. Solid spruce top with flame maple sides and back. High gloss finish brings out the woods texture. You can check out some pics of this guitar at www.guitarscanada.com in the collectors section. It's really a nice guitar in all respects. The neck is mahogany and the mine, unlike the production version, has an ebony fretboard with the offset "mini" dot inlays.

The sound from this guitar gets better as the days go on.

I found it hanging in a Pawn Shop for peanuts and I did nothing more than clean it up. No flaws in it at all.

This guitar will last several lifetimes and I would use it in any situation.

Never had to use it.

I have been playing 10 years and when I seen this one hanging there I just about dove over the counter to get at it. When I seen the price I almost shit myself. I of course gladly paid the dude hos asking price and walked out with it. If lost I would most likely not pay the replacement cost of a new one, they are very expensive. I would start my search for another used one though.

My Seagull Artist Flame Maple Cutaway Acoustic guitar was made in the Year 2000 in La Patrie, Quebec, Canada. It has a bookmatched solid spruce top, a three piece back (similar in design to the Martin D-35) made of solid Flame Maple, and laminated sides made from three layers of Maple. There are 14 frets to the body, 19 frets to the cutaway, and 21 frets total. I did not select the optional LR Baggs Duet electronics. The body has a high gloss lacquer finish with eight thin, light layers of lacquer applied one by one, taking eight days to apply and polish. The neck has a satin finish. The Headstock has a faceplate of high gloss Flame Maple. There is cream color binding around the headstock and around the front and back of the body. The neck is Honduras Mahogany. The fingerboard and bridge are Rosewood. Microdot position markers on the fingerboard are tiny and almost invisible. The saddle is Micarta, shaped to individually compensate intonation on each string. The tuners are high quality sealed units, with gold toned metal and translucent white tuning buttons. The body is Seagull's version of a Dreadnought, which is half an inch slimmer and half an inch shorter in the upper bout compared with traditional Dreadnoughts. The slimmer profile is designed to eliminate the excessive bass afflicting many large guitars. The Cutaway at the 19th fret extends the player's reach to all 21 frets. The fingerboard is 1 13/16 inches wide (1.8 inches) at the nut and the neck has a low oval profile and a depth similar to current Martins. The 24.84 inch scale is shorter than most current Martins. Martin does use a Seagull style wide fingerboard and shorter scale on several very expensive models, as a wider fingerboard and shorter scale is preferred by many finger-style guitarists. My guitar came with a custom fitted wooden hardshell case with an arched top. A thin tortise shell color pickguard was placed in the case so that the purchaser can chose whether or not to put it on the guitar.

A spruce top and a maple body combine for a bright, crisp, penetrating tone. The guitar has perfect balance from the lowest notes to the highest. Seagull avoided the excessive Bass that impairs the balance of most large guitars. Instead, the Bass is taut, precise, and focused. In a series of rapid eighth notes, each note can be heard distinctly, rather than blending together. Each note of a chord can be heard clearly, and has equal volume. Treble notes are full bodied, without the "tinny" sound of most large acoustics. The Flame Maple's personality is cool, crisp and bright. The clarity, and exceptional balance of each note make the Flame Maple ideal for playing melody or finger style arpeggios. Playing alone at home, its brightness can be a bit much. My cherry body and mahogany body Seagulls have a warmer, sweeter personality that makes them very pleasant for playing at home. However, their laid back personality might cause them to get lost when playing in a mix of other instruments. Maple provides a good, "spicy", alternative sound for someone's second guitar; it may be too biting to be someone's only guitar.

The Action was set ultra low; almost electric guitar low. My non-cutaway Seagulls came with the action set in the low-average range. The Flame Maple plays easily and cleanly from the 1st fret to the 21st fret, which is reachable with the cutaway body. The setup is perfect for fingerpicking or playing melody, but is too low for hard strumming with a flatpick. The top is made of bookmatched solid Sitka Spruce, with a deep yellow color that complements the darker yellow gold color of the Flame Maple back and sides. The back has a small, dark Gold triangular piece in the center, and two larger, brighter Gold sections on each side of center that have flame patterns that look almost three dimensional. The two outer pieces have differences in their flame pattern, and may be cut from different trees. The guitar shows exceptional workmanship. The high gloss lacquer finish is very thin to provide the best possible sound. The thin finish also provides a clear view of the golden Flame Maple wood. The use of microdot postition markers on the fingerboard and having no pickguard installed means that when you look at the guitar you are looking at only the beautiful wood. The only flaws were a tiny area inside the soundhole that was not smoothly finished, and the seam between the body and neck is slightly visible. The neck has a perfect set, as Seagull's bolt on neck provides very precise neck sets. Overall, it looks like a $2,000 guitar and plays as easily as a $2,000 guitar. The guitar fits nicely in its well made wooden hardshell case, but with about half an inch of free space at the bottom. For traveling, I will put a pad near the bottom strap button for a tighter fit.

This is a well made, high quality acoustic guitar. That means it is very fragile yet it can outlast me if I take proper care of it. The very thin lacquer finish is likely to show wear and the Spruce top will get scratches (especially as I will not install the pickguard). Wear is how guitars gets character. The bolt on neck can be reset in about fifteen minutes, should that become necessary twenty years from now.

Seagull provides a two year warranty to the original owner. Seagull has an informative web site at www.seagullguitars.com and answers most e-mail within two or three business days. (Seagull has team members who are fluent in both English and French). Seagull's friendly folks have provided me with good advice, and sent me a new saddle free of charge for another guitar. Seagull has an excellent reputation for helping their owners, both during the warranty period and after. Seagull prefers to do most service through its neighborhood dealers, so dealers usually have a qualifed repair person on staff. (It would be silly to ship a guitar to and from Canada for a twenty minute adjustment on the truss rod and saddle, right?)

People should buy a guitar for its sound and playability, not for its looks. However, while looking at a Martin 000-15, I fooled around and fell in love with this golden beauty. It plays more easily than any of my guitars. Its crisp, taut, bright personality is very different than my more mellow cherry body Seagull and my mahogany body Seagull. Lots of folks love the sound of a Maple guitar. Over the past Seventy years, many of Gibson's most popular acoustic guitars have been made of Maple. Try out a Maple bodied guitar and find out if you are a candidate for the Maple sound. My rating of "9" is in direct comparison with other top quality acoustic guitars, such as Gibson's wonderful J-185 Maple body small Jumbo. The Gibson J-185 costs almost double the price of the Seagull Flame Maple Cutaway.