Walden Guitars G630CE Natura

This G630CE Natura was made in 2005, I believe, in China, with solid Western Red Cedar top and laminated Rosewood back/sides. It has gold finished tuners and abalone rosette, and pearl "Walden" inlaid onto the headstock. Binding is plastic though. Nut and saddle is plastic, but I had them professionally replaced with tusq and had action professionally setup. Original setup was slightly high, but by no means bad at all. Has Fishman Classic 4 pickup (undersaddle pickup). As the "G" in the model number implies, this is a grand auditorium bodied guitar, with a very unique straight down cutaway. Laminated back/sides, plastic binding, and plastic nut/saddle drops the rating from a 10 to an 8.

Sound REALLY impressed me! All notes are clear, crisp and strong. I've owned dreads, but this is the first folk/grand auditorium guitar in my arsenal. I've heard that the basses on this style guitar is not as strong as the basses on dreads. I must say, this Walden must be the exception because the basses here are just as strong as any good dread I've played. The sound is more Martin than Taylor with excellent balance betwen deepness and clarity, treble and bass. Very warm sound. Great for fingerpicking or strumming. Very, very enjoyable to play. No shortcomings in this category.

Original action was slightly high, but not bad. Plastic saddle and nut, and plastic bindings. Thin nitrocellulose finish, which I really like. There seems to be some finish descrepencies and some spots on the finish look a bit cloudy. The guitar is very light, and neck is very comfortable with nut width at 1 and 11/16 inches. Not much to say here.

I believe this guitar will withstand live playing, though I can imagine it will collect a lot of scracthes due to the thin finish. But then again, even my other guitars with heavier finish has accumulated scratches too... I believe that any guitar that sees good playtime will eventually harbor scratches, so my only insight is that one would have to be carefull with ANY acoustic guitar whether handing it on or off stage, therefor, I will not rate this category.

No problems so far = no customer support contact.

I've been playing for well over a decade. I play classical nylon stirnged guitars as well as a bit of flamenco, as well as acoustic steel string dreads, and now this folk bodied steel stringer. I knew absolutely nothing about Walden guitars and bought this one on Ebay just because I love how the body looks, even if the sound turned out to be just so-so, and was deeply surprised to hear that the sound was WAY ABOVE so-so! I also own a Martin DX1, which I gave good ratings for here on harmonycentral. In comparison, the Martin has a boomier bass, but the Walden has a slighter edge in terms of string balance. And of course, the Walden is much prettier than the DX1. I also owned a Crafter D45/N dreadnaught (which I sold, drats!) which sounded crisp and candid, and it's prettier than the Walden. But getting to the point, I would have to say that I rate the Walden right up there with the DX1 and the Crafter. In terms of sound, there's nothing I dislike about the Walden G630CE. Once in while, I still browse for Walden guitars on Ebay just to see what's out there, and I've not come across a G630CE lately. This model is very hard to come by, so if one crosses your path, go ahead and grab it. Beautiful, warm, and excellent volume!

Made in China, app. 2004-2005. 20 fret mahogany neck with a very nice feel. Real abalone and mop inlays on soundhole and neck. Solid cedar top, laminated rosewood sides, back also probably laminate. Came with Fishman Classic 4 preamp and undersaddle piezo transducer installed. Satin finish body with cutaway. Would have preferred a gloss finish myself. Nicely matched rosewood back, (probably laminate). Tuners are nice but have no name on them. Came with a decent case. Replaced the saddle and bridge pins with Tusq products. No real problem with the originals just the Tusq products give a slightly better tone for only a little money. Loses points for the Fishman electronics, but this is also a "budget" guitar.

I play mostly older classic rock, or country on this acoustic. Have used it with a Laney LA60C acoustic amp, a Crate V65 electric amp and plugged straight into mixers. The guitar sounds wonderful played acoustically. That's why I bought it! The harmonics are excellent, the action is great after some tweaking. I'm going to give the guitar a 9 for sound but that is only based on the acoustic qualities. The Fishman stuff has to go. Not sure what I'm going to replace it with yet, but the sound straight acoustic is SO much nicer than plugged in. If I want electric sound I have plenty of electric guitars!

The original factory setup for straight acoustic was very good.The harmonics and intonation are spot on. I have lowered the action a bit to suit my playing style. The guitar seems to be very well made and has not given me any reason to be unhappy with it save the pickup system. There was a minor finish flaw at the bottom where the binding joins the body. (have to look for it) But the guitar was sold as a second (about 300 off list) because of it.

Works fine on stage but I wouldn't go to a gig with just one guitar no matter what is was.

I have called the company trying to resolve issues with the Fishman pickup system and they were very helpful. Just don't like the Fishman sound myself....it's a matter of taste....blondes vs brunettes etc. etc.

Been playing over 20 years. If you can't orjust won't spring for a Gibson, Martin, Taylor or whatever, give these Chinese made guitars a try. Other acoustics are a 1981 Ovation Custom Balladeer, an old Ventura 12 string and an old Ventura classical. MULTPLE electric guitars. If this guitar were lost stolen or destroyed I would certainly look at Waldens again, but each acoustic is diiferent. Played MANY different guitars over six month period before buying this one including many more exspensive guitars. The store that I purchased this one from had three of the same model in stock. This one was the hands down winner in my opinion. Walden has some real craftsmen building there guitars even if it is built elswhere. Huge value for the money. Play it through an amp before buying to evaluate the Fisdhman pickups....you might like them. Without the pickup I would rate this guitar a 10, but the beautiful acoustic tones are wrecked by the pickup system in my humble opinion.