Ashton DC-25EQ

Bought the Ashton D25ceq acoustic/electric pack... comes with guitar, AEA10 amp, leads, picks, soft case, start lessons CD-rom. Got the blue version of the guitar. Nice 4band equaliser and built-in automatic tuner great for a beginner like me. Recommended retail is $AUS 429... picked up the pack at a sale for $299!!!

sounds pretty good without the amp, quite warm sound for low notes. High notes sound thinner but acceptable... with the amp even better... equaliser really helps tune the sound you want. Not too much distortion at high volumes.

Guitar very well made. No flaws found.

Don't know how long this will last yet. It is a laminated top but seems pretty well constructed.

Bought this as a first guitar pack for learning. Great value discounted $Aus299 as a pack. At normal recommended retail though, $Aus429, I would have probably spent the money on a plain acoustic instead, probably a Monterey or Ibanez. But at this price, the pack is extremely good value and the guitar is pretty good for the price. Fantastic to have a blue guitar to stand out from the crowd.

Spruce Top
Catalpa Back/Sides
Rosewood Fingerboard
Dovetail Neck Joint
43 mm Width @ Nut
Die-Cast (Chrome) Machine Heads
Rosewood Bridge
Single Cream binding
Ashton Piezo Pickup
4-Band Active EQ

Also available in LH, VNT only
Colours: VNT, BK, TBB, TG, TP

I don't really like the look of the finish on the top - it is sort of a bright orange colour. It makes it look really cheap. But around the sides and the back is a really nice finish. The guitar looks really nice, and the tuners are really nice to use. The guitar stays in tune really well - even after new strings have been put on. The pickup - I think it is a passive pickup. It is the more expensive one. I got it second hand from Cash Converters so it didn't come with anything else. It is just a guitar so features wise - it is pretty bare

This guitar is a good guitar for messing around strumming and having some fun with friends playing chords. But it's a killer when it comes to barre chords. I have played a few acoustics and barre chords are harder than on electrics, but on this guitar I find it impossible to get all the strings making a good clear sound when it comes to barre chords. So when not plugged into an amp this guitar is good - it does it's job. But when you plug it in - well. I think it sounds pretty crap. I have never really known why I don't like playing it into an amp or pa system and I now know it is because it makes it sound really harsh and trebly. The eq fixes it up a bit if you push the bass up - but it still isn't great. There is no way you can do anything lead wise on it, apart from like a little simple clean solo with no bends or anything - so don't buy it if you're thinking of lead. It isn't noisy at all. Without the amp, it does have a fairly full sound. With a set of new strings, it sounds great. I use D'addario standard acoustis strings on it and they sound fantastic.

PROS: Good for strumming, good sound without amp, nice looking, light
CONS: Doesn't sound good through amp/sound system, can't play lead on it

As I have mentioned I think the finsih isn't a great choice, but it's alright. The action is perfect, and even sounds good using a metal slide with it. This guitar also is much better to play sitting down. I find it really hard to play standing up.

The wires inside the guitar are all sort of loosely tangled inside. They were stuck on near the bridge I think but it is only one-sides tape or something and it has come unstuck. I have tried to stick it back in place near the soundhole, but it's lost it's stickiness. The guitar itself seems fairly well made, but the finish scratches pretty easy. On the end of the guitar with the tuners, there are lots of chips and I'm not rough with it so I suppose the finish isn't very hardy. I really wouldn't suggest performing anywhere with this guitar. I play regularly at church and play with it occasionally. It does the job but it isn't great.

I bought this guitar from a local cash converters. I had previously looked at new electric acoustics at a music shop beforehand. I had tried like the Fender's and Washburn's etc. They were about $800 with the more expensive pickup (sorry, I can't remember which pickup - acitve or passave - is more expensive). I was told that you cannot buy an acoustic with this type of pickup for less than $800 new. So anyway we went down to cash converters and there was the Ashton for $399. It sounded alright so I bought it. I didn't know too much about guitars then or sounds. I had been playing for about 1 year at the time. Yeah so I came home and looked it up on Ashton's site and saw the r.r.p. was like $299 - - I was pretty annoyed with myself for wasting all the moeny - $100 more second hand! But that's life. I think the guitar is alright. I definitly wouldn't buy it again. I'd probably go for a Fender or something or a Maton if it was going cheap (unlikely - but). I wish it had a better sound through an amp - I suppose that means a better pickup, a nice fnish on the top and an easier fretboard or whatever so lead it better.

The actual code for this accoustic/electric is D25CEQ ACELECTRIC. All Ashton guitars (contary to other less knowledgeable users) are made in Vietnam and designed in Australia. It was made in 2002/2003 - doesn't matter with budget instruments anyway! This dreadnought single cutaway guitar has a laminated Spruce top, 4 band active EQ (bass, mid, treble, pres)running on a 9V battery, master volume, one Asthon piezo pickup, Catalpa back,sides & neck, rosewood fretboard and bridge, dovetail neck joint, strap pins at the bottom and neck joint of the body, chrome (die-cast) tuners and single cream binding around body and neck. It comes in 3 finishes, natural, black and 2 tone sunburst transparent blue. Of course there are no extras- but if you know how to buy an instrument, you can get your store to chuck in the extras for free or a very discounted price. Overall, these features come into what usually is the $AUD500 mark when you look at other brands: yamaha, ibanez, squire etc. With the potential versatility of a 4 band EQ over the cheaper Volume and Tone controls- priced at the $300 mark, the Ashton scores well.

When played unplugged, it gives a very simple, standard tone- typical of a low or mid-priced dreadnoughts. Don't expect the sound of an Ovation, Fender or a Maton- even the Baby Taylor beats this on tone! But that's a $AUD1000 plain 3/4 acoustic. In general, it's fairly nice, round, fairly full and bassy- as all dreadnoughts. BE CAREFUL when you ask to get it plugged in- make sure you control that. The guy I was with plugged it into a fairly expensive Kustom amp- which via the wonders of great EQ-ing made it sound pretty damn nice. But if you're starting out, or have an amp already- make sure you find one that's similar in price and features, because that's the sound you (and maybe) your audience will hear. Anyway, I played through the Kustom, then a cheap Ashton bedroom amp (DO NOT BUY ASHTON AMPS- they are way to noisy and really cheap sounding, spend the extra few $$$ towards something decent), in which it was quiet but filled to the heavens with treble. I'm not sure whether it's my pass player instincts but there was WAY to much treble- with the on-board EQ flat and both with the amp's EQ trble at 0 and then cut -10db. Piezo's are always pretty horrible, but this Ashton pickup was vomit inducing. But, you can compensate for that buy boosting the mids and bass, then cutting the treble and leaving the presence at 0. I found that the presence really doesn't do much, but it may have been the EQ setting I was running, overall you can get a decent sound out of this with the pre-amp, but it's not really as versatile as other 4-band EQ's i've played.

You get what you pay for- in most cases. here you get a workable guitar, without the extras of a Yamaha, Ibanez, Squier and Fender. The action was alright- but just get the allan key out and adjust the truss rod- simple stuff. If you're starting out, get the music store to do it for you, for free! the tuners, input jack, strap buttons are all in that mid-range area- nothing great, nothing bad. The varnish looks and feels good, while the wood selection is interesting- catalpa is something foreign to me, apparently a soft-wood canadian maple, but the rosewood and spruce are good quality. But watch out for the finish, it's messy buisness. I noticed on the demo model that there was a lot of carelessness- but i rejected 3 new guitars from the storeroom before i found one with less defects (but there were still mishaps all over the shop). On the demo, the cream binding was very messy around the whole guitar- spilling over a little bit or not being everywhere it should be. the dcoration round the sound hole is really basic, and they couldn't even manage to get that right- glitches everywhere. I really don't like the finish on the fingerboard/bridge, it's a patchy thick coating over the rosewood (i like a natural varnish), however, i'm sure it doesn't effect the sound. BUT, think back to when you started listening to music and got the bug to play it- well you really diddn't care for whether the guitarist was using a Gibson of a squire. So, as long as you can handle cost-cutting aesthetics, this guitar is fine for what it's made for.

This guitar is more suited to expanding your arsenal, quickly and cheaply, rather than becoming your main axe. It's great for the begginner, a back-up guitar, something to play and take anywhere without worrying too much about damage. I can't say whether this thing will last, the finish could be the indicator of expensive firewood in 5 years time- but i guess we'll find out with time. You can use it on small gigs, where sound quality doesn't matter too much- but if you're going medium or big, go for something better. Touring wise, it may or may not last- hard to tell. Thus far, i'd have to say it's going pretty good.

I'm a pianist, drummer and (mainly now) bassist. I'm pretty limited in the realm of guitar playing skill- but as a Sound Engineer I've got a lot of brain space on guitars. I own a Yamaha Grand Piano- C1, RBX-370A Yamaha P/J Active Bass, '59 Fender P-bass, Pro Audio 250W bass amp, Boss Bass O/D, DOD Envelope Filter, DOD ice box Chorus, Yamaha (c-150 i think?) classical guitar. If I still have the attitude towards guitar playing that i do now, i'd probably buy it again.. I might dish out a bit more (assuming i get better) for maybe a Monterey or something else. But i'm happy with my purchase- it's doing everything that i wanted.

bought it for $289
Unsure where it was made, think it was made in Australia. it is a 22 fret guitar with a laminated top. Given a 3 way selector and i believe it to be an Ashton name pickup. The body is made of cheap wood because u could feel it. It was a cutaway which allowed access to the higher frets. the tuners looked unreliable, and the nect scale was rather thin

This doesnt suit my style of music at all, i like to play lead guitar and i love playing lead on an acoustic. When i do strum chords it gives a nice thick sound and maintains a good sustain. When plugged in however i think there is too much treble and from the pickups u have to totally cut off the trebble and boost the bass here. For those who like to sing and play rhythm this guitar is great value becuase it dishes out a nice juicy sound. However when it is plugged into an Amplifier there is too much treble, one way to fix this problem however is to mess around with the settings on your equaliser and give the bass knobs an increase in level. As i said, i bought this guitar after my old Samick (which i really loved) snapped into two pieces. When playing Lead, this guitar creates a real nightmare. Its hard to slide becuase of the roughish fretboard and when bending a note on this acoustic its too hard becuase of the bad frets u are bending against. All in all, if u like strumming chords then i reccomend this guitar, but if u like playing lead as well, Stay away from it.

The action was crap, didnt like it a bit i think thats why i took it back and exchanged it for another guitar but thats a different story. The Pickups i had no trouble with, but the Action was high and it didnt suit my style of playing at all.... i missed notes and when it came to vibratoes and bending notes, it was hell for my fingers. however as i said, its good for those who like to dish out chords and sing, barre chords and everything, its heaps good for it.

I dont think this guitar is capable of long gigs but thats simple becuase of the cheap wood, however if u look after it i think it will last a long time. The finish is crap, and the strap buttons look unreliable, this guitar scares me in the way that it is to fragile. This however would make a nice makeup guitar. Its not that i absolutley hate this guitar its just that this guitar is more suited for the begginner. They say u get what u pay for and thats the case here.

I have been playing for a few years now, at 4 hours a day since day 1. I also own an Epiphone les paul standard and use to own an Ibanez strat which was my first guitar. I plug into a marshall stack which gives me an awesome sound. One thing i wish i did was play a bit of lead on the guitar before purchase. When i held it at the guitar shop i only sturmmed a ferw barrer chords and maybe a touch of lead for about 5 seconds. I wish i played a bit more lead to test out how good it was. If it was stolen or lost i wouldnt really care and i would get something else. Important note to rememmebr is that i dont hate ths guitar, it just simply doesnt suit my style.