Product: Dell'Arte OM
Price Paid: US $1500
Submitted
10/15/2003
at
11:56am
by
Anonymous
Features
:
8
Bought new 2002.
Made in USA.
Spruce top, koa sides, 3 pc back--2 koa panels and center mahogany. Mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard and (pyramid) bridge. All solid wood. Wood binding on the top with an interesting inlaid wood rosette. Small diamond position markers. Wood and ivoroid binding on the fingerboard.
Natural finish on the top. I think it's a pretty guitar, although some people would find it too plain. I replaced the tuner buttons (gold) with pearloid. The Schaller tuners are fine--I thought the gold buttons were garish.
Dealer threw in a Martin/TKL case.
Sound
:
9
I play mostly ragtime and country blues. This guitar has a sound that's very similar to the ladder braced guitars you can hear on old 78s. It doesn't have the bass you'd get from rosewood. Overtones are a big component of the sound. I like this guitar very much for fingerpicking. The sound is well balanced and the bass and treble lines sound distinct and separate. It's not a great guitar for strumming in the folkish style, but for playing rhythm chords for old pop tunes it has an arch top like sound.
It's a good guitar for what I do.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
Factory setup was pretty good. The dealer did a tiny bit of fret leveling. The action was quite a bit lower than the guitar I replaced, and it took some getting used to.
This is a hand made guitar and it was done well. No cosmetic flaws, the braces were glued properly, and the binding and inlay are good.
Reliability/Durability
:
No Opinion
Withstanding live playing kind of depends on the atmosphere. This is a delicate instrument. You can't use it as a club like a metal bodied resonator. I don't think it's any more risky to take out of the house than any other half way decent flat top guitar.
Customer Support
:
10
I spoke with one of the owners when I first bought the guitar. He was very helpful.
Lifetime warranty to original buyer. Given that it's a boutique guitar, you have to hope they're around if anything happens.
Overall Rating
:
9
I've been playing for a little over 40 years. I currently have a couple of resonators, the Guild F-30 that I bought in '64, and a cheapo electric I use to play into headphones.
I'd think about buying another if it were stolen or destroyed, but I live in an area where there are a couple of good sized acoustic dealers and might find something I liked as well or better. Don't get me wrong, I like this guitar very much.
For the price it was the best guitar I found in a six month search. The dealer had had it for a long time and the asking price was the price I would have tried to negotiate.
