Esteban Unknown Guitar

I've been a musician for most of my 61 years. Started out on an old 'Stella' acoustical guitar that belonged to my grandfather and went from that to a 'Danielectro' electric instrument. My wife ordered this Esteban package from the Home Shopping Network after one of Esteban's performances and sales pitches. The instrument itself was beautiful, but it's functionality was at the bottom of the list. After tuning it up the strings rested almost 3/16 of an inch above the frets AT THE NUT END making it almost impossible to chord. The old Stella that I learned to play on played easier and had a lot more tone than the Esteban did. After emailing the company 3 times about the condition of the instrument and giving them ample time and opportunity to respond, I ended up boxing the whole thing back up and returning it to HSN for a credit. I would NOT recommend this instrument to anyone who is wanting to learn to play - let alone a seasoned player. About the only working feature that I DID like about it was the built in pickup and EQ.

Being a country music style player this guitar does not have the 'gusto' needed for an acoustical instrument - even if it had been playable. Tinny highs and a lack of real good lows doesn't make for a good sound on stage. Even playing through it's built in pickup on numerous different amps didn't make any difference. My PRIMARY instrument is pedal steel guitar and I have several different high-end amplifiers that I use. None of those could make much difference in the tonal quality of the guitar.

WHAT "factory set up"??? It comes with an instruction manual telling you how to adjust the neck to start with! You shouldn't HAVE to make initial adjustments on the neck of ANY guitar as it's received from the factory.

I would not depend on this guitar for any type of actual performing. Now, it's pretty enough that it just MIGHT make a good wall decoration in some country stores or restaurants.

Ahhh. . . . here's what sets Esteban's company apart from all the rest! I emailed them FROM THEIR OWN WEB SITE 3 different times over about a three week period describing the problems with the guitar. Not ONCE did I get any sort of reply. So their customer support is basically NONE.

I've been playing for 50 +/- years. Other than the two instruments listed above I've owned a pre-CBS Fender Stratocaster, a Fender Telecaster, and an acoustical guitar that I had hand made. In the 70's I fell in love with the pedal steel guitar and that has been my primary instrument ever since. I own and play a Sho-Bud professional, a Sho-Bud Pro II, and a GFI Ultra. These are played through any one of several amps I own, but usually through one of my Peavey Session 500's or my Nashville 400.

I wouldn't even ATTEMPT to replace the Esteban - even if I had keptit if it came up stolen. If I'd had the opportunity to play one before my wife ordered it I would have told her not to waste her time.

standard finish, lacquer on some cheap wood. tuners that hardly stay tuned and a fretboard made out of fiberglass I'm assuming with frets that feel like barbed wire. made in china. included a gigbag, strap, cheesy instructional video, a tuner that can't tell the difference between D and E.

very dry and dull sounding when you can actually fret the chords right.

the action is just horrible. it is extremely hard to fret any chords and when you play most open chords, only 2 or 3 notes can actually be heard because the rest of the strings are muted. the action is so high that you have to physically strain your fingers to finger chords and you still can't get them to sound right.

the fretwires are poorly filed and can cut you if you're not careful. the nut is cut so deep on the higher strings that they do not sit well and rattle around. and the truss rod feels like it will break the neck if you try to adjust it

this guitar would not withstand live playing because its so horrible you will either smash it on stage or light it on fire or maybe both. the only reliable thing about it is that you can count on it to disappoint and and frustrate you every time you pick it up to play.

got it through HSN.

It is absolutely atrocious that some people can praise these guitars. I've lost my faith in humanity that someone who claims to be an accomplished guitarist can put his name on this piece of crap and market it to people.

I've been playing for 7 years now and I've owned a barrage of guitars ranging from jasmines, squires and no names, all the way up to taylors, martins, guilds and gibsons. we got this guitar for my sister on a whim for a starter guitar and the only reason i haven't destroyed it is because she likes to keep it in her room as decor. don't waste your money on this guitar. I'm so embarrassed to even have on in the same house as me that i almost didnt write this review because it would no longer allow me to deny any relation with it. Esteban, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Black, Cutaway steel string guitar. Came w/ nice case, strap, dvd lessons and amp.

I was a music major in college years ago in piano and woodwinds. I did learn a couple of chords on the guitar when I was a child. However, a beginner none the less. No style as of yet, but would like to learn classical and flamenco. The amp seems to work fine w/ no sound issues.

I had to tune the guitar when I received it. I don't see any issues in the guitar.

Well considering that I am not a professional and am learning only for myself this seems to be a moot point. So far so good.

Warranty for a year, never have needed to use it.

Again a beginner and am please w/ the guitar so far. Good sound, and on the contrary to others, I have found it easy to play. Notice I didn't say easy to learn. Nonetheless, very happy w/ the guitar. Paid 179.00 brand new. I did break a string and broke the extra string trying to restring it. I took it to the local guitar shop and bought new strings and they showed me how to properly restring the guitar. Anyhow, the owner of the store was suprised with the guitar and told me that I made a good purchase. Told me that he couldn't even sell just the guitar for less than 300.00 dollars. Others in the store complimented me on the guitar.

I have played a guitar for 35 years. I bought the acoustic electric model and have been very happy with everything except I wish the strings were a little closer to the neck. For the money, I think this is an excellent buy. It is sure a nicer guitar than the beginner guitar I started out on. No it isn't in the same league as the quality guitars, but for $200.00, I think it is a bargain. Take $200.00 into your local music store and see what you can get. I don't know how long it will hold up, but for the price, you can get your money's worth. This is one of the very few things I have boughten that I actually got more than I was expecting.

I got this as my first guitar. Pretty standard features. You get what they say you get (although it isn't close to as good as they claim). But all of the stuff I got worked fine. The case is actually pretty nice.

It sounds pretty awful with the setup and the strings that it comes with. After switching to nicer strings, it sounds ok. Definitely not a guitar that sounds good though. The amp is pretty pathetic too.

After reading other reviews I guess I got lucky. Although all of the hardware and the way it was put together is pathetic, my guitar was actually acceptable. No sharp frets, strings weren't that high(still high though), and the neck wasn't too bent. Overall, it was pretty bad, but it worked.

Everything is wearing down(tuners, paint everywhere, bridge, etc.) but it still works after a couple years.

I really wouldn't bother. Just get a new DIFFERENT guitar.

It was my first guitar and I almost quit because it sucks to learn on. But I forced myself to learn, and now I don't really mind it. I've played cheap guitars that my friends have (fenders, ibanez, and some no-names) and they definitely played so much nicer and sounded better. The quality of this guitar really is crap. Overall this guitar isn't worth buying especially because I actually got one that worked and I don't even like it. But on the bright side, you get a pretty nice case. Also, if you learn on this guitar, then any other guitar that you decide to buy in the future will be a major upgrade.

Finish (Painted, Black, what else to say about it.)
Body Style (Cutaway)
Tuners (Actually nice looking, like on my buddy's Martin. But, the screw on the side of the tuner tends to loosen every 30 minutes or so, thus a wierd vibration noise from the screw pops up to say hi).
Neck/Scale (Fat for a steel string guitar)
Accessories (Gig bag, cable, strings, strap, shady amp, the worst guitar instruction DVD's on the planet. I have been playing for about 8 years, and got so mad after the first disk I threw the rest away instantly. Estaban is not trying to teach you to play, he is mearly showing how much better at flamenco and marenge he is than the average consumer.)
What year was it made (2006)
Laminated top
Controls (Volume, tone 3 way.
Pick up config (Piezo)
Pickups ( I don't even know)
Body and Neck woods. (All plywood to my understanding)

Its not really a bad guitar, just a bad Christmas present.

It fits my music style well, seeing I usually play in my office, or in the back yard after a few beers, so I can only blame my drunkeness to the guitar sounding bad. Once you change out the crappy cheese cutting strings, and put some martins on there, it actually sounds pretty rich.

Action....hahaha, hard to get used to, I went from electric to acoustic in my playing, way to fat of a neck on this thing, almost as wide as a classical guitar. Hard to get barre chords to play with skinny hands.

I don't know how durable it is, for 200 bucks I would expect much.

I will never get this guitar repaired, if it needs it, I will donate to WWF and let them use it to entertain the mindless youth of this great nation.

Decent guitar, horrible instructions, not worth the money to buy, and pretty much a crappy Christmas present from the parents, would have rather them give me the money for gas and beer.

My friend purchased this guitar with the intent of taking guitar lessons from my husband...instead of going with us to GC to pick out a beginner guitar for a couple hundred, she bought this ... thing... she didn't know anything about music or guitars, and only knew that the guitar was known as a 'world class musician' and that the guitar was a great value...sheesh...she's a smart girl, complete w/masters degree - but boy - did she get a piece of not-so-good equipment. The features as they are loosely called simply suck. I have a $99 fender 15watt amp that sounds far better than this nasty little amp that came with her kit. The finish was kind of nice, shiny black, but that was about it.

Surprisingly the sound was very nice, rich and tonal with a very full sound. Not too bright, not too deep. This is assuming you can get your hand around the neck to hold down the strings, and you can get past the frets without cutting yourself. My friend was really frustrated because she found it really difficult to play the guitar and couldn't understand why she was so frustrated...I picked up her guitar, played a simple C-G chord set up and had scratches on the inside of my fingers from the sharpness of the frets toward the top strings. Nice.

Action : Extremely high, difficult for someone to get their hands around unless they have larger than average hands.

Pickups: so-so

Flaws, bracing, etc: The wood looks slightly warped on the top, dipping inward at the sound hole. The strings it came with were almost as good as baling wire, only much thinner. Once I replaced them with some light guage Martin strings (tried D'addario, but the wsound was still a little tinny) the guitar sounded pretty rich and nice, and was a tiny bit easier to play. The frets were sharp on each side of the neck, and were veryveryvery high.

I don't think this guitar would withstand anything but casual practice.

the Hardware seems decent enough, but it's pretty hard to screw up a nut.
Finish - I guess enough varnish will take care of anything.
Strap buttons - did not come with any.
Dependable - I don't think so
Would I use it on a gig without a backup? I wouldn't use it on a gig.

Not applicable. The guitar has seen about 2 hours of actual play time.

I've been playing about 2 years, my husband about 14 years (guitar and Bass). Together we own 2 violins, one 3/4 upright bass, a warwick electic bass, an acoustic alvarez bass, a subbass, a fretless bass (franken-bass, made from parts), fender jazz bass, tacoma roadking guitar, fender les paul electric guitar, gretsch electromatic hollow-body, and parkwood acoustic-electric (this is a pretty new guitar to the market, I think - amazing sound, solid wood throughout), rich and tonal, slightly bright but hits the low notes just right. www.parkwoodguitars.com - sold only at GC and musiciansfriend.com in the US.

After i played this guitar for the first time, I almost cried in pitty for my friend. She doesn't have a lot of spare money and buying the guitar in the first place was a big deal for her. When I realized what a difficult thing it would be to play, I changed out the strings using two different sets and didn't charge her, just trying to make it easier to play. There just isn't any way to get around the uncomfortable size of the neck, and the action and the frets being so poorly machined that they nick the player. My friend put down the guitar, she can't get rid of it and can't afford to start over. I lent her a nice little OLP electric to get her used to a guitar that could actually be played so she could feel the comparison. I would not get this for anyone for any reason. I wouldn't buy a guitar without trying it first, anyway.

I discourage anyone from buying this guitar. Or even taking it free. The softcase it comes with is pretty decent, however.

It was all together, nothing missing. Very happy with what I got.

Sounds good it need tweaked a little, get rid of the steel strings. Other then that it sounds good.

Evrything was fine, except for the strings and the bridge, if you spend about 50 or 60 dollars and get the bridge shaved down for a little better action and replace the steel strings you will have a nice guitar.

I think this guitar would without a doubt withstand playing all night. I would get a better strap for your self.

I had one problem and that waas the amp, whe nI plugged in the cord to the amp you had to wiggle it to get it to work. I e-mail the place I got it, they e-mailed me back and gave me a phone number to call. I called and talk to a girl named Melody she said to faz her a copy of the shipping invoice and she would send me a new amp, I didnt even have to send the old one back which I fixed at no cost to me in 15 minutes.

I have been playing for 13 years and I have played with alot of good guitars (gibsons martins fenders ibanez less paul ) this guitar is no high end guitar nut it is without a doubt one that is worth every penny, the finish is nice its not as cheap as those cry babys say it is, ( you only spent 2oo + for it) its definitly worth it thanks Esteban.

Plywood everything, buzzing frets, painted fretboard plasticy parts, but at least you can smash it. I give it 2 points, one because it is at least a guitar, and one for being fun to smash.

The strings vibrate when you strum them, and they sound horrible. Plugged in, it buzzes. When smashed, the guitar makes a wonderful sound. Bonus points for that.

Inch-high action, tuners falling apart, paint spills everywhere, and the frets cut me.

When smashed, it was sawdust in one minute. This was the second Esteban. The first exploded when I strummed it.

At least I can smash it for fun. It fell apart after one smack.

This makes a great instrument to smash on stage. If you want a real guitar, then at least go to a music store.

Beautifull sparks in the fire, truly. This guitar was left brand new at my house, dude just got it. now that says it all.

You will find that this guitar sounded GREAT.....when I SMASHED that bastard into a 1000 pieces. If I were the maker of this guitar, I would stab myself in the eyes w/ my chopsticks. Also sounded great in my firepit.

All I can say is that it truely does feel like crap, tweeked it out a bit then hammered it as loud as I could so I couldnt hear the buzzing. In every way this is a poor design.

I can say that that bastard lasted for a short while w/ me hammerin that sob. What little spirit it had did break in 5-10 sec.

wouldnt know but id guess no speaka.

Im not trying to be rude, its my nature, took the time to write so if you didnt know, you do now. go spend the money on a martin, youll have it the rest of your life. man youll be buried w/ that btch.

Finish (Krylon black, nice n' chunky. I'm tempted to wetsand this dog)
Body style (dread not)
Bridge style (suspension)
Tuners (Ping stayslack)
Neck/Scale (rubber/plywood board)
Any included accessories? (a tuner which died on me)
What year was it made? (2006) Where was is made? (China, land of junk [no pun])
How many frets? tight ones or loose ones?
Solid-Top? Laminated top? Cardboard top?
Which controls are given (volume, tone, 5-way selector, 3-way, tap, etc...)? the ones that don't work
Pickup configuration? (Piezoe)
Body and neck woods? (Plywood)

Love that silkscreened herringbone in the back beyond the paint drip, fine quality craftsmanship ladies and gentlemen.

Loud & tinny. poor sustain due to the plasic bridge. This douche says this "was modeled after his 2 grand hand made acoustic". Who was his luthier? "Jay Turser", "Oscar Schmidt", Michael Kelly", Carlo Robelli".

It looks, feels, and plays like a $99 dollar cheap-ass acoustic. Like all QVC products, these are turning up at Goodwills by the armfull. My wife bought a Esteban amp for $25 for her keyboard, it's a NOISY sounding little piece of crap. The Goodwill down the road has one with the case, 2 DVD, poster, pile of books, and tuner for $125. It was even autographed in the soundhole. That Mylar sticker on the soundhole is UBERCHEESE! Goodwill is where all Infomercial/QVC products go to die, I predict that a year from now, all Goodwills will be overun with them.

Don't get it close to humidity, it may unravel. I also hear that the necks are set in with dowels instead of a dovetail joint. No wonder why these are becoming unplayable. I've tried out $75 Epiphones that play much better than this.

Do you know the Burswood acoustics that Esteban sells can be purchased at Target for $99 and this knucklehead is trying to pawn them off for $200 with books and videos. QVC? What support! wait all day on hold.

My Dad's friends all know how to play "House Of The Rising Sun", it's not a hard song to learn. Steven "Esteban" Paul is a total cheesemeister if he has to devote a part of a DVD on how to play it.
Besides......I've just saved some money by switching to Geico.

The dude HIDES his features, man. Looks like Zorro with sunglasses instead of a mask.

He stinks. Claims he was trained by Segovia, was in a car accident and couldn't play for ten years. If you've seen his infomercial, you can tell he still can't play. I've never heard of him before, he's that famous. CAUTION: Mystery man in black resorts to "House of the Rising Sun" for suckers.

Apparently, as expected, what he plays on TV and what you get are not the same thing. And I'm not impressed with what he plays on TV, either. Note how elusively he really talks around the guitar's features.

People say they wouldn't play this guitar on a gig without a backup. A backup? For an acoustic guitar? Uh-oh...

Whatever the opposite word for support is, that's what this company has for its customers.

Been playing for decades and know junk the moment someone's trying to sell it. Esteban is an artist, all right--a CON artist. A sheister, and a transparent one at that. You don't even have to listen to him all that carefully to realize he's giving that fact away himself. This is no "gift." It's something you get for someone you hate, someone that you want to DISCOURAGE from playing the guitar. The inventor of the guitar is rolling over in his grave at this painted piece of cardboard with strings on it being passed off as a guitar. Of course I didn't buy one. Just check the other reviews, which only confirm my suspicions. Why am I here? I hate seeing people get ripped off. There are so many other better options.

I dont kow if this is the guitar that i have but mine has no "name" so this must be it. It was made it china, probably by slaves. The neck meets the body at the 14th fret and the rest are to difficult to use because of the high action. The woods are cheap and the esteb an guy tell you that it is "real wood" but arn't most guitars? This is the kind of wood we used to use in school during year 7 woodwork classes(cheap and rubbish). The bridge is made from what looks and feels like plastic and you cant adjust the action. The neck is very fat especially as i am used to playing my strat and it has a lovely narrow comfortable neck, whereas the esteban errr...doesnt.

I like playing nirvana. Despite looking eerily like the guitar kurt is using on the front cover of the live in new york album, it doesnt sound like it at all. But I suppose the sound isnt too bad although it doesnt suit my style.

This is the WORST part of this guitar. It wasn't set up by the factory as far as i can tell. This action is way too high. This fretboard is covered in horrible black paint that is rubbing off even though i have only used it 1 or 2 times as i dislike it so much. After reading ather peoples reviews of this product i think i got lucky with the frets bridge and knut as they are in the right place but i can see the glue. I found a couple of chips on the body. but that doesnt bother me too much.

I dont think this guitar would withstand any kind of playing.

Ive been playing for about a year. Im so glad this wasnt my first guitar because i whould have given up after the first week because the high action and poor fret job together with a wide neck make it extremely hard to use. I got it as a christmas present and my heart sank as soon as i saw the box labelled thane direct because i have always thought the shopping channels are a scam and it ruined my christmas when i has to tell my mum i didnt like it. I think esteban is a prick and it should be illegal to sell these "guitars" if you can call it that.

The finish on this guitar is horrible. There's glue down the whole one side of it & it's disgusting.

It buzzed all of the time & I can't stand it!! It's soo annoying & everytime you take it out to play you have to tune it because the thing never stays in tune & I barely play it!

I have to say I love my guitar because it's my first one, but really it's a piece of crap. Sure, I hit it off a couple things & it has a few scratches in it, but theres a huge scratch going down the back of it & i have no idea what it's from. The notes sound horrible i cant even play the 1st string because my frets are all screwed up!

Will this guitar withstand live playing? no!
Does the hardware seem like it will last? no its a piece of crap!
Is the finish good enough to last, or does it seem thin and easy to wear off
with lots of playing? yes very

Can you depend on it? no
Would you use it on a gig without a backup? no

I wrote to the company 2 days ago & they seemed very rude. I explained my problem to them & they responded very poorly by telling me about their $9000 guitars & how they need "set up". My cousin who plays guitar said that "setting up" is bs & that theres something actually wrong with my guitar.

A friend of mine bought this "thing" hoping to learn guitar. After giving up out of frustration, he asked me if I wanted it, knowing that I play. It was free, so I took it home. I've seen Esteban's infomercials and I always figured him for a fraud, so I decided to see just how accurate his claims were. The first thing I noticed was that the ... I hate to call it an instrument ... was indeed made of "real wood" as he claimed. Notice he never says spruce or mahogony, just "real wood". The top was spruce - I think - but very thin, not a typical soundboard by any stretch of the imagination. The body was of some other unidentifiable type of wood - I dunno - whatever grows in China. The neck may be maple, again I can't really tell. The fingerboard is a disgrace. Painted plywood with frets that stick out in places.

This is an acoustic only without the electronics that he's advertising now. It does buzz quite a bit. Reminds me of the cigar box guitars I made as a kid. Certainly doesn't have any kind of richness to it. My $100 Yamaha sounds 100 times better.

Uh, let's see. It's hard to judge the action because the neck has a significant bow that cannot be fixed by adjusting the truss rod. The tuners slip so you can't keep the thing in tune and the bridge is misaligned.

Aside from the fact that it looks like it would break with any kind of wear and tear at all, remarkably it's still in one piece.

Since I got it gratis from a friend the CS doesn't figure in.

Gosh, I don't know if I've ever seen anything this dreadful before. I've seen Esteban compare it to his Martin and I just have to laugh. Of course, traditionally touring musicians have their guitars ghost made elsewhere. It's highly unlikely, for example that the Fender Stratocaster played by Eric Clapton was made in a Fender factory. So, I can only assume that the guitar played by Esteban on his infomercial was ghost-made (although I can't imagine why a gutiarist with this little name recognition - despite claims that he's "world famous" - would rate a ghost-made instrument). By the way, David Hasselhof is world famous too, but I digress. Why anyone would buy something from such an obvious huckster is a mystery to me - I guess they see the ponytail, sunglasses and black hat and assume that he is someone. And for someone to say that this is a good guitar for the price just doesn't know what they are talking about. There are tons of guitars out there in the $100 - $200 range that are quite acceptable instruments, and they can be purchased from just about anywhere including big box instrument retailers and e-bay. My Yamaha FG-75 is a nice guitar to putter around on and it would run you about $100 today - used. I also own an Ovation Balladeer. Nice guitar, I love the trebley sound, but I don't pull it out much anymore. Bottom line, don't spend your money on this, it's not worth it.

Bought my Esteban in 2004. I think the quality must have improved by then because I have very few complaints. Plays well, strings a little raised, but otherwise seems worth the money.

For strumming or picking, it's versatile. Don't expect concert hall sound, it only cost $140 for gosh sakes! I use it as my second at the cottage. It does the trick.

Arrived completely untuned, but otherwise there was no glue marks or scratches or warps. It was fine.

Case provides good protection. Replaced most strings with minimal fuss.

Didn't need any.

The "features" on this guitar are a joke. The only thing good about them is the mother-of- pearl inlay. The rest is crap. It's not real wood and it's basically glued together.

It sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard. This guitar buzzes everytime you pluck a string. It's one of the acoustic-electric ones and you can't hear anything out of the amp unless it is on overdrive.

The strings are extremely high off the fretboard. It was very hard to play. After a while every note below the fourth fret on the B and High E string was the same. When I removed the strings to see what caused this, the bridge fell off. I'm not kidding you. The bridge wasn't even glued to the damn guitar.

The price is high because it was a full package, but now I wouldn't let them give it to me for free. This guitar is a piece of crap. No one in their right mind should ever consider buing this guitar. Never buy anything that says "Estabon" on it. The best part of this package was the hardshell case, which I put my Takamine in.

The guitar is crap. I cannot stress this enough. If I could give it a zero I would.

DO NOT BUY IT.

Friend brought this to me after purchausing it from some late night TV scam. I don't even know if you could consider this pylwood. particle board?

The neck was warped and the bridge is not even centered on the guitar body. ALL of the strings buzz. You cannot change the action unless you installed a new bridge nut that would be at least 1cm higher

There was no set up. Probably made buy a cardboard box company.
Three of the frets were sticking out enough to tear off a knuckle.
The fretboard is covered with some kind of goo. I tried to play the thing for a couple of minutes and the ends of my fingers were black from this stuff. One of the tuning pegs had this same sticky goo all over it. When I tried to remove it I noticed that it had melted part of the plastic peg. The finish looks like flooring varnish.

This is not a guitar. It is a dangerous play toy. (the frets stuck out and were very sharp)
It was unplayable because of the twist in the neck and the offset of the bridge, the buzzing strings and the general poor construction of the whole toy.
I told my friend to send it back to the company.

He had a difficult time trying to find out how to send this 'thing' back.

I have played classical guitar for 35 years. I wish my friend had come to me. There are many great little guitars on the market for well under 200 CND. They are good working - repairable musical instruments.

Please pass this information on because people are getting totally ripped off.

Oh yeah. I actually saw the TV ad for it. This estiban character must have lost every last bit of technique that he had with all the 'classical' training he says he has.

aisan made, bought in 2001, nylon classical. i played this guitar as a beginning guitar to cut my teeth on. three years later i decided to refinish it, what the hell it cost me $113- here's what i found: the top, i suppose is spruce. solid? i really could'nt tell. the fret board is painted plywood. back and sides? i could'nt get stain to penetrate at all, so i did a faux finish of koa. neck? would'nt accept stain and it is not mahogany like estefraud says it is. i noticed long after the warranty of 30 days that the head was twisted and warped and i know it came this way because i've taken very good care of it. strings buzzed since day one. i was simply dissapointed with its performance.

sound is thin and strings buzz. what you would expect from a basswood plywood back and sides. remember neck came twisted and cannot be fixed, worst warranty in the business.

action would be fine if THE NECK WAS'NT TWISTED,STRINGS BUZZ and defeats the purpose of producing any notes properly. finish is painted on back and sides to resemble um, shall i even say wood? thin lacquer used as finish. tuning machines are cheap but have held up.

this guitar is not able to satisfy any type of playing or player.

30 day warranty, then they don't know you.

when i started playing i did'nt know much about guitars. i urge anyone to purchase a Blueridge guitar. these are the finest guitars for the money. i have two now and am flawlessly learning to play on guitars that are so easy to play. they have an array of models to choose with solid wood back and sides and sound very, very close to Martin guitars in their own class. choose mahogany or rosewood either way you can't go wrong. go to ebay or centsible sound.com or do a google search. these are truly the only way to learn and play guitar on a budget. dreadnought or ooo styles, dreadnoughts are easier to play and sound more full, ooo's sit easy in the lap.

the features werent even in the box, i never got the instructional books, strings, or anything telling me how to use the amplifier. i called HSN and they told me i MIGHT get them, but i wont know for weeks.

it sounds okay, i was pleased with the sound of the guitar, but i couldnt get it to work through the amplifier, i dont know how because i never got any instructions, i think it just dont work, i hooked it all up, put the battery in, a 9volt, which i am guessing because it is the only battery that would fit. tried everything and it still dont work.

it is a pretty guitar, i got the black one, it is in nice shape, but it does feel a little cheap. i am not familiar with guitars, but this product is NOT what was advertised on tv.

i wont know what it will withstand, because i am sending it back, i didnt get what i paid for, and the whole, i MIGHT be getting the rest, just isnt good enough for me, and i dont want to wait weeks to see if i will get it, and then not be able to return it.

well i called HSN to ask them if i am doing something wrong with getting it to play over the amp, and they said they dont know anything about the product and that maybe i should call esteban, so i called esteban, and i was placed on hold for 18 mins and then eventually i hung up, i called estebans sales dept, and they said they cant tell me about the product they just take orders. the customer service at esteban as well as HSN was HORRIBLE. i should have listened to the complaints on the web, but i thought i would try it for myself, and now i am writing the same story.

i was pleased with the looks of the guitar, the quality was a little cheap, i did like the case, and how it was lined in velvet, the videos are a nice touch, but the amp dont work, cant get any help, the reason why i am returning the guitar, is the lack of Customer Service i recieved, the guitar may be a good one, but i will never know because i am returning it before i am stuck with it.

TV ad for Esteban Steel String Guitar by Ingenious Designs. I have to admit that the product is fine for the price.

Sound is better than expected. Classical music, loud sounding.

Fit and finish was fine. No scratches or dings.

I think the guitar will be fine for practice. I try tunes on it just as I do my DXM Martin. The Martins sounds better but the price is three times the Esteban.

I emailed a question from the web site and had an answer in a day, and a very curtious one to.

I have not been playing that long but enough to know a fair bargain when I hear it. I would consider another if mine was lost or stolen. I could not duplicate all the items I recieved for the price from another, and I tried.

I purchased the Esteban steel string guitar with case,training, music books,picks,strings,etc.(from a TV ad)It was defective; the lectronic mechanism inside the guitar did not work. I even took it to BEST IN MUSIC and they confirmed the problem. Also the guitar case zipper was broken when it arrived. After much effort, I contacted Ingenious Designs. They sent me a postage return label. I returned the entire package. They refunded me for two payments, but now they are using my Visa to take money out of my bank account again. I disgarded the information when I thought the situation was taken care of. I can't find my invoice number. Every time I have called the customer service number I've been kept on hold for anywhere from 25 min. to an hour just listening to the recorder tell me to go to the web site, but when I go to the web site, it doesn't come up. THERE IS NO HUMAN TO TALK TO and the phone eventually hangs up.
DATE AS OF TODAY JANUARY 17, 2005
CHECKING ACCOUNT: US BANK
DATE DESCRIPTION DEPOSIT WITHDRAWAL
1/10/05 Visa Purchase (non pin) $66.00
Ingensdesig800-248-3002ny

01/04/05 Visa (non-pin) Return Id * Ingensdesig800-248- 3002ny $66.00

01/04/05 Visa (non-pin) Return Id * Ingensdesig800-248- 3002ny $66.00
So now I'm fed up because it took weeks to get in contact with them in December to let them know of the problem: Their answer was, "well, we're just really busy" That IS NOT the kind of answer you give a customer who has already paid via Visa. Since I cannot find my purchase information,

I was so dissapointed. My daughter has wanted a guitar for two years I saw the info add on TV and thought she would be thrilled.

She saw through the the scam that is Estefraud!! I was very dissapointed! THe bits and pieces were all there but the the guitar was ready to fall apart. It is a true scam!! made by someone who has sold out to fooling single Mums like me who saved and saved for a piece of junk.

I am no one to really give an opinion but the sound was tinny and some fretts would leave a vibrating tone. It sounded like what it turned out to be really so dissapointing. I am ashamed for Esteban having to promote this really sbstandard. He once had my respect but now he has my money.

finish was terrible. Plywood that is painted and it came looking like a moron had used follow the dats putting it together.

It has survived the first three months in the cupboard. It is unplayable well the sound is like a childs toy. Give me the one he plays on the commercial that what I say.. Complete CON !!

I bought it fron HSB_ I tried to return it after 3 days and I was told I must have broken it for it to sound so bad and that if Estaban can play it so should my daughter. THey would not answer my calls. I made the mistake of paying for the trash first. No refund and no calls back after my first complaint. I think Esteban should stop fooling people like me who trust his word and thought at least we would get our money's worth this was a shameful of Esteban.

I think I have said enough. I just wished I had come to this page before I spent all of the money for my daughter's birthday.

Shame on you Estaban!

None. My air guitar has more features than this POS. I think it's made out of balsa wood----you could tear it apart and make planes out of this thing and it would be more useful.

Sounds great when you do your very best Pete townsend impression and smash the bloody thing. Estefraud's sweat shop workers must be as tone deaf as him (must be a requirement for their job description. This crap makes me want to put the guitar down and play video games. Maybe Estefraud shoud try Kazoo making before he reaches for the stars and attempts guitar making.

For this moron to compare this crap to a Martin is ludicrous. The guitar isn't finished. This guitar gave me splinters intead of callouses. Right now I'm dressed like Zoro because I don't want to show my face after buying this crap. The finish on this guitar is as fake as the costume Estefraud wears.

This guitar is hypersensitive to any motion or movement as it will go out of tune. I find this helps to predict earthquakes. PLEASE ADVISE: AFTER TUNING, DO NOT PLAY. With the gap between the neck and the strings, I'm thinking of hanging myself----but the guitar would fall apart before I reached that point. I put vice grips on this thing as a capo. If Estefrauds head was in front of me I'd put vice grips on that too.

Not as much support as my jock strap.

sucks sucks sucks sucks sucks.....was the video over an hour, or did it just seem that long? Can't even use the video to tape stuff over because that's junk too. The gig bag is a body bag for this junk. End of story. Segovia taught this loser? I bet he's rolling in his grave right now. The only billboard charts this guy is on is for the hearing impaired.

Gift of Guitar Esteban classical kit. It came with electronic tuner, 2 instructional videos, musical cd for listening,hard nylon carrying case, extra strings and picks, straps. This is an all wood six string with 3 bass strings cover in steel. It's made out of burchwood and signed by Esteban.

I am a just learning but my instructor thinks I got a good deal. I love it classical

Like I said I am new but everything looked great!!

It is serving me well but I do not know that much about guitars

bought it off of ebay new.

Nice rosette, nice herringbone stripe. The extras were ok, the gig bag could be better, but the video and everything helped to make it worth the price. The neck was cheap looking, the frets are kinda sub-par and it had a sort of cheap feel. But I'll tell ya, you just can't get a better guitar for the price, considering the extras and all. You get what you pay for.

Sounds great!! I play mostly bluegrass and very little old rock. This guitar sounds good for the price.

I liked the action pretty good. The finish is rather sub-par. The tuning keys look cheap but seem to hold tune. There are sanding marks left on the finish where they didn't get it finish sanded good enough. Still, for under a hundred spot......

I'd say you can get your money's worth out of it. I wouldn't say I'd use it on a gig without a backup guitar, but I think it should hold out for a good while.

Have not dealt with the company, bought it from a wholesaler.

I'd say it is most definately worth the price. It isn't a high-dollar instrument, hence the low-dollar price. But I would have loved it when I first started out. It is a GREAT beginners instrument, since it doesn't cost much and sounds great.

Guitar feels cheap. Bridge is thin wood, the bone is plastic, and not big enough for the slit makeing it lean which cracked my bridge.

A Yahmama at Cosco for 90 sounds like a Rimerez compared to this guitar.

No laqor finish, looks plasicy, wood is very thin, fret board is part of neck, not a added piece, and its painted black. Even has paint mess ups. The sides and back are painted not stained.

Mine broke on the second day. The bone was leaning in and broke the piece of wood on the bridge.

HSN took it back and gave full refund. (But only if you call within 30 days of purchase.)

Get a yamaha instead, this is worth 50 bucks a toy guitar for a 6 year old. I thought i was gonna break it playing the chord part of leyenda. It also buzzes really bad and you can't adjust it.

FINISH ON THIS GUITAR IS VERY DECEIVING AND YOU MUST LOOK CLOSELY TO SEE JUST HOW POORLY IT IS MADE...THE NECK TOP IS NOT ROSEWOOD BUT LOOKS TO BE PLYWOOD, PAINTED BLACK AND SOME AREAS WERE TOUCHED UP WITH PAINT OR MAGIC MARKER...

POORLY MADE...AFTER HAVING IT ABOUT A MONTH THE NECK WARPED AND TWISTED A LITTLE MAKING THE STRINGS HARD TO PLAY...THE STRINGS WERE OFF THE BACK OF THE NECK BY ABOUT 1/2 INCH AND COULD NOT BE CORRECTED. I HAD IT LOOKED AT BY A PROFESSIONAL GUITAR REPAIR PERSON AND SAID THE GUITAR WAS VERY POORLY MADE.

ABSOLUTELY NONE....PURCHASED THE GUITAR FROM HSN NETWORK ON TV THRU THE STRENGTH OF ESTEBAN HIMSELF SELLING THE GUITAR...WHEN I TRIED TO RETURN IT BECAUSE IT BECAME UNPLAYABLE..HSN WOULD NOT TAKE IT BACK AND REFERRED ME TO THE MFR OR DISTRIBUTER (INGENIOUS DESIGNS)..TRIED FOR DAYS TO GET THRU TO THEM BUT COULD NOT...TOTAL RIPOFF!!!