Product: Antoniotsai Art Rose Cutaway
Price Paid: US $272.00
Submitted
03/12/2006
at
02:38pm
by
Steve Smith
Features
:
6
Spruce top , rosewood sides and back. Ebony fretboard. Abalone inlay work, Hard shell case
Sound
:
5
The sound is passable considering the back has cracks and the neck had to be fixed. Made for display not to play.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
2
Took off strings to repair the break in the neck and nut fell right off. Bridge not set up for proper intonation. Action medium and tuners not properly aligned, some strings actually touch at the head.
Reliability/Durability
:
2
This guitar is beautiful to look at but not really one you could play often. Really not set up for serious playing and seems fragle compared to most other guitars.
Customer Support
:
1
Paid $172.00 plus $100.00 S/H. After it was shipped they sent me an Email saying they wanted another $20.00 for insurence. Seemed funny to ask for it after item was shipped. They know if you send it back they charge you another $100.00 for shipping. Guitar was in a case and packed well. No damage to box or case but when I opened it up I found the neck was badly cracked by the body plus there are two cracks on the back. Not worth sending back and wasting more money, so I re-glued the neck, cleaned it up and will just display it. Have to believe they knew it was broken when it was shipped. Never Again!
Overall Rating
:
2
Its a beautiful guitar to look at. Inlay work is awesome. Past that, not worth buying to play. If you want a foreign made guitar that is not only beautiful, but sounds great and is a dream to play, buy a Zager Martin Sigma. I have a ZAD-80 and would not trade it for any other acoustic I have ever played and I have been playing for over 30 years. Check out their ratings.This guitar is for show not for go.
Product: Antoniotsai Art Rose Cutaway
Price Paid: US $258.00
Submitted
02/01/2006
at
05:29pm
by
Dean Madonia
Email: deanmadonia at yahoo<dot>com
Features
:
No Opinion
God knows when and where this was made. I assume the ebay listing is more or less correct:
The inlays consist of several hundred pieces of mother-or-pearl and abalone.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Top wood: *Solid Canada spruce
Side and back wood: *Solid air-dried Asia Rosewood
Fingerboard and bridge: * Rosewood & Ebony bridge
Neck wood: *Straight Maple
Nut & saddle material: *Bone
Rosette & purfling: *Green abalone
Fingerboard, headstock and back inlays: *MOP & green abalone
*Steel strings. 21Frets.
*Neck width at nut: 1 3/4"
*Total length: 40 3/4"
*Width: 15 "
*depth: 4 1/8"
*Scale length: 24.75"
Case: Hard shell case
No pick-up
Sound
:
6
This guitar has crooked mis-spaced frets and might suit a bluefrass player who is not too adventurous.
Sadly the guitar sounds great and looks great at a glance.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
1
The action was too low when it arrive - sitar. With a quick adjustment, the strings changed pitch when adjusted.Also, poorly filed fretwire,
finish flaws and marks all over (including a thumbprint and some mung from the abalone binding on the top, poor quality wood on sides - obviously not cured (and cracking now after a week),
poorly cut nut.
So much work on really nice inlay on a piece of crap guitar. There is so much on the back that the guitar is all warped from it. Like painting the Mona Lisa on a turd.
I wasn't worried about the set-up and stuff, I was going to have it done here in Nashville, but it isn't even worth bothering with.
Reliability/Durability
:
1
This guitar couldn't withstand live playing, it has already cracked on the sides just sitting in my house for a week. BIG cracks - Long cracks - all the way through - NOT finish cracks.
Customer Support
:
1
If you buy a guitar from Tony, you have to pay $80.00 each way for shipping to and from taiwann. Not worth it.
Overall Rating
:
1
I have been playing for 30 years. I own a 1978 Gibson Gospel (best guitar I ever played, A 70's Ibanez Vintage 12 string, A Daion Gazelle, A Alvarez Charcoal from 1974, an Ibanez Jem 7V, a mexican Fender Strat, and a Charvel Bass.
I asked a lot of people about their purchases from Tony before I bought it and They all liked them. This leads me to believe that they did not know anything about guitars.
The really sad thing about this guitar is that it SOUNDS good, by that, I mean the timbre of the wood. Unfortunately, after putting three months of inlay in the neck and on the back, some jackass cut the slots for the frets in the wrong spot and it hardly tunes up even at the bottom of the neck.
This guitar looks great at a distance and has a great tone, is cracking to pieces, and has crooked frets so it will never sound in tune. Fatally flawed - Like a perfect woman who also happens to be a crack-whore.
