Antoniotsai Dreadnought

Both the guitars I have have solid maple necks with rosewood fingerboards & solid spruce tops. One has rosewood back & sides the other is called lacewood maple both are solid wood. Both are 14 frets to the body with no cutaway. No pickups. Abundant beautiful inlay work. One has a Rosewood bridge the other is ebony. Tuners are inexpensive but quite functional & smooth.

When the rosewood model first arrived I was not impressed with the sound so I took it out for minor setup work and had decent quality medium strings put on. I then set it aside for 3 months in its case with a cheap case humidifier. When I took it out and played it I could not believe the difference in the sound. I have a pro quality Canadian made dreadnought with rosewood back & sides that is 10 years old and this guitar was rivaling its tone and volume at only 3 months. The lacewood maple model had great tone & volume right out of the box and has only got better with a minor set up and change of strings.

This is where the Antonio does need to pull up his sox a bit. Any instrument I have purchased from him has been inadequately set up and improved greatly in play ability with minor work. Sometimes the sound also seemed to benefit from this minor work. The guitars I have purchased have had good fit and fnish in other aspects it was just the play ability(action) that needed some work.

I have no problems with either of the guitars that I have written about here now. Nor have I had any serious problems with any of the other instruments I have purchased from this maker. I have taken a little extra care to be sure they are kept in their cases with humidifiers when we are in a dry season such as winter and I have had no problem with cracks such as others have complained about. They seem to be well made given the price. Infact I would compare them favorably to others costing more.

The lacewood maple guitar had a defective tuning machine but the factory sent me out an entire new set inluding a choice of knobs to install on them. This did take some time to happen but it was a very satisfactory resolution to the problem which cost me nothing but my time to install the new machines.

I have been playing various accoustic & electric instruments for over forty years. I have owned numerous American, Canadian and Asian made instuments. The sound from these guitars is comparable to any Martin or Gibson that I have owned or played. They are definitely more pretty to look at! The Martins, Gibsons etc. in general are somewhat easier to play but not by a lot. I have had and seen many older American and Canadian guitars with cracked tops etc. as well. You may have to have it set up to suit you and take a little more care for the first couple of years but it is a lot of guitar for the money.