EKO J-52

The J.52 is an Italian-made dreadnought style, steel-strung 6-string guitar. The one I have, I inherited from my father who bought it new in the UK around '63 or '64, so I guess that's not too long after the time it was made.

It has a spruce top and what looks like a walnut back and sides.
It has an adjustable walnut bridge, but this is not the original. The narrowish neck also appears to be mahogany and has a truss rod and a rosewood fretboard. The tuners are the open-gear type with plastic keys.

My Dad was a folk player with a fairly aggressive finger-picking style and the guitar seems to complement that style of music. Though I'm playing rock ballads with it and it seems quite happy! It's quite bright and strident in tone, with a fairly full sound. I remember him playing this guitar in a good-sized concert hall un-miked.

Hard to say much here, as I haven't had the guitar from new. The good condition of the guitar now though is some kind of testimony to its original construction and there don't appear to be any problems that have emerged because of poor quality design, materials or workmanship.

The guitar has been gigged fairly extensively over its 40-odd years but has stood up well. My Dad also was not big on maintenance so basically, it's had to take care of itself!

The lacquer is very deep all round and has some minor cracks on the lower bout and a couple of dings on top. It's also become slightly yellowed across the lower bout where it wasn't properly covered by a case.

The neck is still straight and there's a stress crack in the lacquer near the heel, but nothing that suggests a structural problem. One of the tuners (second string) feels a little loose but still seems to work OK and the guitar holds its tune very well.

The original rosewood bridge split about 20 years ago and was replaced with a slightly larger walnut one that probably carries the stress of the string tension a little more effectively.

There's a single strap button - a plastic one - which broke off many years ago but was glued back on. Not sure I'd trust it to hold the weight of the guitar now, but I generally play sitting down anyway.

No need to use customer support ever. Also Eko went out of business about 20 years ago.

Although I'm using this guitar to learn on, my Dad played it for over 40 years. While it's not been abused as such, it's certainly not been over-maintained either, but it's lasted well. It still plays great and I have to remind myself that it's almost a vintage instrument. If it went missing, I'd be gutted of course, mainly because this particular guitar has a history for me. Objectively though, if you set out today with the equivalent amount of cash to buy a guitar, you'd probably find something really nice, but I doubt you'd find anything with as much character.

I'm not the orignial owner of the guitar, so im not too sure what came with it. My grandfather bought it in the early 70'2 from the original owner, and it just sat in his closet for aabout 30 years until i started playing in 1999. Unlike many acoustics mine has 22 vintage style frets, and it was made in Italy. All of the tuning pegs work great except the d- string which is a little loose.

This guitar has a fairly dark, dull sound. The frets are too big, and the strings are too high off the fret board, causing alot of buzzes. It fits mt 'style' alright, but i prefer the epiphone better.

As i said i didnt have it from the factory. The finish is ok, but theres a crack on the peghead and the body from age. The guitar was very durable and lasted 36 years in fairly good condition.

Very durable. The thing is a tank, but it only has one strap button, and i hate having to tie the strap to the neck.

N/A

I prefer my Martin and epiphone, but this one is alright too. Ive been playing for three and a half years.

This is an Italian-made dreadnought acoustic, modeled after the Martin D-28 as are many acoustics, but that is where the similarity ends. It was made in Recanati, Italy in 1966 or 1967. My dad bought it for $100 on July 28, 1967 in Peoria, IL. It has 18 frets, and appears to be a laminated top, but I can't tell for sure. It has a transparent finish. A few years ago, I had a Barcus-Berry passive pick-up installed, and it sounded like absolute crap. All mids and treble. I have no idea why I did that. I have since disabled the pick-up.

I have a style, well, I just strum my acoustic. This guitar sounds like you're playing out of a cardboard box. If it has new strings on it, it sounds decent, but after a while it starts sounding more and more cardboardy. Not a lot of good bass, and overall it's muddy. Also, the thing isn't very loud. It sounds about average. But at least it stays in tune well.

The guitar had been in my basement for a decade or so in its case before I started messing around with it. So I have no clue how the factory set-up was. The finish has cracked from being left out in my car in the cold...and its gigantic headstock has a little pressure crack in it, judt because it's old. One of the tuning peg handles got bent a few months ago when I bumped it against a metal bar, but it still works.

It sucks for performing, I rarely use it for this...only if I have to. The hardware has lasted 32 or so years, so yeah it's durable, just doesn't sound good enough amplified to use in a performance. The finish is fine except for the cracks, it's stinkin' thick. The strap buttons are great, and the guitar is very dependable. I have been playing it for about 5 years, and it's been an okay guitar for knockin' around. Its been beat-up and battered around, and I'll probably pass it down to my kids whenever that happens.

N/A--I don't think Eko Guitars exists anymore.

I have been playing guitar for 4 1/2 years, and until I save enough dough for a real acoustic, I'll just put up with this one. I also own an Epiphone G-400 (1994?--bought new) and a Crate Vintage Club 20 amplifier. I'm not too thrilled with the SG--won't stay in tune most of the time. There is a period of time where the strings are just right--then it stays in tune, just for me though. Anybody else touches it and BWANG its all out of tune. And the pick-ups are crappy, but I'm pretty sure some of the muddy sound has to do with the thick finish and pieced together in a Korean factory mahogany body. I traded another amp for the Crate, so I actually didn't pay for the Crate, and I don't like it because it doesn't have clean tones or reverb. Well it has clean tones, but they just aren't that clean. Back to the Eko--I like its huge headstock, I mean you could stick 6 more tuning pegs on there and call it a 12 string. It looks like an old Epiphone headstock, like on a Casino or something. Oh yeah. The label is all Italian. I think this guitar might sound decent if it hadn't been sitting in a wet basement for 15-20 years.