Product: Avalon A325 Rio
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
10/30/2006
at
03:54pm
by
Fat Bloke
Features
:
10
Body Style: Jumbo
Wood: Brazilian Rosewood back and sides, sitka spruce top
Case: Hiscox
Pickup: Fishman Acoustic Matrix
Inlays: Mother of pearl inlays on stock and sound hole.
Sound
:
No Opinion
I mostly play rhythm in a worship band - I've also got a couple of Sobells, a mandolin and an octave mandolin. I chose the Avalon as they have a similar sound to the Sobells. It is very, very loud unplugged! I normally run it into a Trace TA100R and that to the desk, with a feed back from the desk as second input to the Trace so I can blend my own personal foldback level with my instrument slightly in the front of my foldback.
It is a truly unbelievable sound from what looks like quite a small instrument. I've used it quite hard with a plectrum and it's great, but equally at home just finger picking.
The sustain is amazing - play a chord, set it down, go and make a cup of tea and it's still sounding when you get back - ok, not quite, but you get the drift. And detuned to D, it's got this rich, mellow, bright and punchy feel to it - hard to describe except it is very, very hard to put down until your fingers get sore.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
10 out of 10. Played straight out of the case. Just everything was perfect. I could not find a single flaw in this finish. Fishman pickup works great and I chose it because it doesnt require a cut into the body and gives a faithful reproduction of the sound - I guess as good as the Lloyd-Baggs I've got fitted to the Sobells.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
Fitted with the transparent scratch plate, which hasnt shown a mark with some very heavy playing. It's quite a small instrument physically which means it's going to get fewer knocks in some of the smaller venues we play. Everything about it screams experienced practical robust build by people who actually play. Strap buttons work fine. I do use it without a backup guitar (though I've always got my mandolin with me.... :-) )
Customer Support
:
10
Well, I've never had to have an instrument repaired, and I hope this will be the case with the Avalon. Lifetime warranty. The guys at the factory were brilliant, helpful, sent me photos of it in build, really understood what I wanted from it and spoke from their own personal experience (Jim the manager plays regularly, same sort of gigs as us, so he knew what I was after)
Overall Rating
:
10
I've been playing about 30 years. Regular gear is a Trace TA100R into a Yamaha powered desk. I also plug into a Yamaha powered speaker if I cant be bothered to lug the TA100R around. The only question I'd ask is "Why didn't I know how fantastic these were until I went to find out?". I would buy another one in a heartbeat if I lost this one. I compared it to Taylors and Martins, neither of which had the depth of tone and sustain I need. It wasn't cheap but for less than a Martin price I've got a much, much better instrument; I normally work this out by the fact that I'm spending way too much time playing it at home.
