Fender DG-14S

This Fender DG-14s was one of the last ones made after they switched the side and back from maple to mahogany. This is about as close to a Martin D-18 copy as you'll find. The "wood-tone" finish has the satin look of more expensive guitars rather than the dipped-in-plastic gloss of other Fender acoustics. The Fender CD-140s, new at the time of this review, appears to be the same guitar.

Wow! This guitar looks like a Martin but sounds and feels like my Gibson. Very full sound, plenty LOUD, and great projection. I would have no problem taking this to a bluegrass jam where volume counts. You can hear all the strings when you play a chord. Good definition note to note. No question the switch from maple sides and back to mahogany sides and back turns this into a completely different sounding guitar. For the price, or anything under $1,000, this gets a 10.

The action was perfect right out of the box. Amazing. This will probably one of the few guitars I've owned that didn't need a set-up. The neck is a tad wider than most affordable acoustics....which is a feature I like. No problem fingerpicking. The frets are sharp on the ends, so will need to be filed down. Tuning machines are surprisingly smooth.

Everything on this guitar looks very solid, the same kind of construction that keeps a lot of Fender acoustics going for decades.

NA

I've owned a great many guitars over the years. While this DG-14s isn't a Gibson or high-end Martin, it misses by so little that most people in your audience wouldn't be able to tell the difference in sound and playability.

I'm not going to bore anyone by repeating what others have already said. But I will say this the woods are very attactive. The solid spruce top is a beautiful blonde and the maple back and sides are RICH looking. The whole axe is just a joy to look at and to play. My rating is based on the quality of the workmanship rather than features because it is a standard dreadnaught without the electronics. So there are really no features.

I bought this axe new about 5 months ago and waited to submit this review to see what tonal colors she would produce. It sounded wonderful when we first met, that is why I brought her home with me in the first place. I knew it wouldn't be long before she opened up to reveal her true personality. I just cannot believe my ears when I play this beautiful blonde. I am in so much disbelief I had to visit a local guitar center to test my ears. I played several high end axes that day and the closest comparison I found was a $1400 Taylor 410. There were others upward of $2000+ that sounded better but not extremely so. This guitar just looks, plays, sounds and feels good.

Good quality workmanship. One cannot complain here especially in this price range of guitars. Truely unbelievable.

Don't expect any problems. Seems to be a workhorse.

Haven't used it and don't expect I will need to.

I have currently in my arsenal a Martin DX1, Alvarez PD80S and this Fender as far as acoustics go. I have since passed on others I have owned at one time including a couple of Ibanez, and a Simon & Patrick Cedar. Overall I have to rate this Fender very highly. After all, not to many axes can rival the Taylor. But this Fender has done an outstanding job doing so. I am still in disbelief.

Same as everyone else has described, so I won't bore you by repeating. However, I will say this. It is a plain Jane no frills dreadnaught with a Wood-Tone satin finish that is very nice in appearance. While not "Eye Candy" with all the artistic decorations of the other "high end"(give me a break)guitars. The priority of this guitar is right where all guitars should be "SOUND" and playability. Fender definately has a winner here. My rating for this category is based on craftsmanship with attention to detail and not decorations.

WOW!!! I don't know if there are any words that can fully describe the sound of this axe. BRIGHT, BOLD, BALANCED, BEAUTIFUL, SEDUCTIVE, POWERFULL, MARTINESQUE, it does it all and does it EXTREMELY WELL!!! This is truly one of those you need to play and experience to understand. What's a Martin??;) Yes, I've played them too as well as many other HIGH END axes. Put your kids through college, put a down payment on your new house with the money you save by choosing this guitar instead of the Martin. You won't regret it.

No complaints here. Everything was clean. Great display of quality crafsmanship. I tweaked the action a little to my likings. But, this was purely a personal thing. My rating again is based on a no frills, plain Jane guitar.

As reliable and durable as anything out there no matter what the cost. It's a Fender come on.

Haven't used it and don't expect I'll need to unless I do something stupid, which isn't covered in warranty.

At any point in time I've owned my share of guitars, and have compared many times more. I presently have in my arsenal an electric Kramer strat copy. The rest are acoustic, Ibanez AE18NT & PF5NT, Carlo Robelli W280, Alvarez PD80S and this Fender DG14S. As you've probably concluded I favor Acoustic guitars. If lost or stolen there is no doubt I would replace it with another without hesitation. My favorite feature is the Martinesque features including sound without the Martinesque price tag.

Made in 2002, probably Korea factory. 14 clear frets. Solid Spruce top. Laminate maple back and sides. Dreadnaught/acoustic/non-cutaway. Neck is made of NATO. Finish is "wood tone" satin finish. Tuners are the basic chrome "die-cast". Fingerboard and bridge are rosewood. Compensated Urea Saddle.

I mainly lead contemporary worship services in the modern worship stuff (Redman, Knapp, Chapman, Audio Adrenaline, etc) So I range from fingerpicking soft melody to pretty rough, deep strumming. This guitar FOR THE PRICE, has done a good job covering it all. A smaller auditorium style guitar would probably suit my needs better for finger picking, as a big Martin would certainly sound much better for the heavy strumming, but like I said, for the money, it has a nice "maple" bright sound, with relatively deep bass. The highs may sound a bit tinny depending on where you are playing, but when sticking to the basic chords, she's a beast.

Ouch. This is my second DG-14S, the first cracked from a bridge pin sticking too far through the whole. Both were set up awfully. A quite large concave curve in the neck left strings entirely too high off of the neck. Authorized techs really haven't even done much for that. There is also a large bump where the neck and body meet. Also, there is quite a "warp" in the neck, which leaves any note above the 10th fret mute. There is nothing that any tech can do for this that is worth the money. The finish on the top is a nice, natural, unflashy looking finish. It is also bookmatched very nicely. The back, sides and neck have a few flaws in the finish, nothing that you wouldn't expect from this price range.

This guitar has been lugged arround to many churches, hotels and basements for gigs. It has taken a pretty good beating, and held up fine. I am a Youth Minister that has many youth picking it up, playing it, knocking it down... Not to mention my 18 month old daughter that trys to scratch it and has knocked it down quite a few times. She's sturdy alright. I have had no problem with any of the hardware. The finish, I'm sure, will wear off sooner than later. The strap button has come unglued a number of times, but it's no big deal. I have used it countless times without a backup, but always have felt a little nervous about it. Like I said, for the price, it's as good of a guitar as your going to get.

The first DG-14S I owned had a huge crack from the bridge to the bottom of the body. I figured one of the youth broke it. But after bringing it in to the dealer and having a Fender Rep look at it, they decided that it was a manufacturer error in making the bridge pin whole too large, resulting in a crack from the pin. They kept the broken guitar (which would have come in handy for camping, darn) and provided me with a brand new guitar. It took a few weeks, but I was happy about it. Nice job, Fender

Well, the price on this baby is now at $210 on musiciansfriend.com. It is definately worth that much. If you are looking for a basic guitar with no bells or whistles, that you can strum out some hardy worship songs and not spend your life savings, this is a great bang for the buck. You get what you pay for, though. If you are looking for anything more than this, look to the Fender "Grand Acoustic" Series, it may be more fitting to your needs. If it were lost or stolen, I'd probably save up an extra couple hundered dollars and get a Martin "X" Series or Fender Grand Acoustic Series guitar. Hope this helps.

My Fender drednaught was made in Korea in 1998. It has a solid spruce top, maple sides and a nato neck.
What makes this model unique is the plain satin finish. It doesn't have the shiny lacquor finish of many guitars, which Fender claims allows this guitar to vibrate more fully.

The sound of this guitar is incredible for the price I paid. Pure and deep describes it best. I use Martin 540 Phophobronze strings (12- 54 ) which sound great. Highs are bright, lows are deep. No buzzes or tinny sounds.

Fit and finish on this guitar was excellent. The wood on the back shows a slight blemish in the stain, otherwise it's very good. The guitar seemed well set up, however, I purchased it from an authorized Fender dealer, and I believe they have a tchnician check each of their guitars.
Factory tuners work easily and securely. The guitar seems to stay in tune forever.

The DG 14 is very well made and seems as though it will last a very long time. I have a few other guitars, but this one is my work horse. I use it constantly for practice.

I've had no problems, so I haven't had to deal with Fender, but, I like the idea of a lifetime warranty on manufactorers defects.

The price paid for this guitar is certainly not high for a musical instrument of this quality. The overall sound of this guitar is excellent and the playability of the DG14 ( as with many of the Fender acoustics ) compares with guitars costing ten times that amount. I've played Martins and Taylors and the playability of my DG14 ranks up there with theirs.
I've been playing many years, and this is a great guitar for a beginner or experienced guitarist.