Hohner EA65CEQ

Year/Location - 2005, Korea
Frets - 20
Top - Solid Sitka Spruce
Controls - Volume, bass, mid, treble, bright, and anti-feedback
Pickup - UST, Shadow P4
Woods - Back and sides: solid ovangkol; neck: 3-pc. mahogany
Finish - Gloss with satin neck
Body style - Grand Auditorium
Tuners - Gold (originally with amber pearloid buttons)
Neck specs - 25 1/2" scale, 1 11/16" nut

Unplugged, I've never encountered a better guitar for my style. I play everywhere from a light finger-style to a medium/heavy rock. Plugged in, on account of a cheap pick-up system, it sounds, frankly, like garbage. It can be tweaked to sound half way decent but it will take alot of experimenting.

The sound (back to unplugged) is fairly well balanced. It is a little quieter than a Taylor GA but I don't mind that. It is a little lacking on the bass end, but again, that suits my style to a T. It sounds the best when the strings (I use D'addario EJ26 11-52)are about a week old.

My only qualm with the sound of my guitar is that it sounds like you plugged in a tin can when you amp it.

When I got the guitar initially the action was set just right. I like to have the strings as low as possible without them buzzing. But as always, adjustments must be made a little ways down the road. But that's just part of having a guitar. It doesn't play like it used to but that's because I hate having to say "Lower, lower, lower."

The major flaws in craftsmanship are that the glue at the neck joint was not completely wiped so the finish there has a milky white color. The inlays on the bridge were not aligned well, and the inlays on the fretboard were not centered between the frets. Also the back was put on crooked. You can see the joint shift to one side as it gets closer the the heel.

I have no major complaints now as I've forgotten most of these flaws unless I take the time to think about it, which isn't worth it.

Will it withstand live playing? That depends on if you can stand it's live sound. I have used it plugged in for periods of about half an hour and if the tone is adjusted right, it will do quite well.

I had to replace the plastic tuner buttons once when they stripped out. I put on another set of plastic buttons which also failed me. I now have some grover tuners with metal buttons that were made for ovation. All else, as far as hardware goes, seems fine.

I would say this is a fairly dependable guitar. I mean it's not an Olson or anything, but it works for me. It's in the shop right now for a fret dress. The pick-up had to be re-soddered once, and I've had to have it adjusted once or twice since I got it, but it's always been there for me when I needed it.

I've never dealt with Hohner, nor is my guitar under warranty, which stinks.

I have been playing for seven years, and this is the only guitar I've owned. I'm thinking about buying a PRS SE Soapbar II.

If this guitar were ever stolen, I might think about buying another one for sentimentality's sake. But I'd probably start looking into Takamines which are made to plug in.

I love the body shape, the tone, and the ovangkol. I'm not especially keen the narrow string spacing (1 1/2" @ nut, 2 1/8" @ saddle).

I'm not sure I can compare it to another instrument. I always think of Taylors as my standard for string spacing, but not my standard for a guitar. I bought this guitar bacause I liked the GA body style and this was the only affordable one I could find. Plus I liked how it sounded. I just wish it had a better pick-up system.

Piezo 5-Band EQ, Shadow electronics. Looks like it was made in china, plays like a much more expensive guitar.

For the price, Hohners definitely have the best sound. It's not a martin or a taylor. It's a Hohner, with a sound of it's own. Nice and natural, not too overbearing.

I just installed a $220 Seymor Duncan SA-6 Mag Mic on the guitar. Combined with the piezo on this guitar, I haven't heard a plugged in tone any better except for a $2200 taylor I played once.

Action is good. When I got the guitar, the under-saddle pickup was out of alignment, making the high E sound much weaker than the other strings. It was easy to fix, though. There are some minor flaws in the finish, but than again, I don't care what the paint job sounds like. The hardware is nice, as well as the inlay. Great natural looking guitar for the price.

This guitar's construction is built better than any other guitar I've seen in the price range, though the finish is a little weak. This guitar replaced a flame-maple $600 fender electric acoustic. It sounds better than the fender amplified and unplugged.

I've been playing piano by ear since I was 4, and guitar since I was 12 (10 years now). I also play sax, clarinet, and piano, and compose various styles of music. I really, really care about my guitar's tone, but would rather save up for a house than a Taylor. I prefer the tone of this guitar to my friend's $1000 martin, and my old $600 Fender Acoustic (which I traded for this guitar), and my friend's $1200 seagull. I have played taylors 5 times the price which I would buy if I had the spare cash, but this guitar will probably remain my "live" guitar for life. I may end up buying another for friends to strum when they come over.

If stolen, I would pray that the individual who stole it finds joy in the instrument and changes his ways, then I'd reorder it (and my seymour duncan sa-6 mag mic) in a heartbeat.

This is a 2002 made in China model acousti/electric guitar. 20 frets all very smooth and bound. Makes for nice feel along neck. The top is a solid Sitka Spruce with very tight grain. A somewhat uneven coloring does not detract from it. Also mine has a small flaw in the grain (it has kind of a swirl in it). Color and swirl in no way effect playability. The back and sides are Ovangkol (African Exotic Wood from the Ivory Coast)it looks very nice. It has scolloped X bracing underneath the top. It has the Shadow P4 Electronics and a pizeo bridge pickup. The neck is mahogany and the fretboard and bridge are rosewood. There is a rosewood cap on the headstock with a rosewood truss rod cover. The fret markers are a nice pearloid that changes colors in the light, not at all like the toilet bowel type all white pearloid on some inexpensive guitars. All in all very very nice looking without being gaudy. I think it is a cutaway concert sized guitar. The tuners are a no name cast tuner that feel like a 18:1 or 14:1 gear ratio, tunes nicely and stays in tune. The buttons on the tuners are a great looking kidney shaped amber colored plastic that changes depending on the angle of the light...Nice. Came with a truss rod wrench and a turtle shell pickguard that you can either put on or not, depending on your taste. I gave it a 9 because of the slight color variation on the top and the little swirl. Other than that it really is nice.

I bought this guitar for use with an amp. I figured the acoustic sound was just a plus. However I have found that I like playing it without the amp too. Nice sound from it, not too bright, but not in the booming dreadnaught class. I am using this with a Behringer Ultracoustic ACX1000 amp....With the 99 presets on the amp I can get all kinds of usable sounds.....Lots of fun. I can't think of one thing I don't like about this guitar.

The action on this guitar is low (3/32 at the 12th fret), no buzzing and very easy to play. Of course I play mostly electric and I found that I have gotten sloppy and mute the strings alot....I am sure I will overcome this. The only flaw on this guitar when I got it was the slight swirl in the spruce and the Low E string bridge pin would raise up when the guitar was tuning. I reinstalled the string into the bridge with a bend by the barrel and fixed that problem. I like the Shadow electronics and it sounds nice....The End Pin does not have the output jack in it...The output jack is on the bottom in the same position as a Les Paul. The wiring for the preamp was not secured properly and you could see it "dangling" when you looked in the sound hole. Also someone did not trim the end off the plastic tywrap...I plan to fix these when I change strings. The sloppy wiring and tywrap lowered the score in this area, but these do not effect the playability at all....

I don't play live at all so I won't put it to the gigging test. The hardware is excellent and will probably last a long time. The finish seems fine, however the rosewood on the headstock does not show through the finish unless you really get close and look hard. Strap button seems fine. The guitar survived being shipped across the country by UPS. Must be tough

I purchased this guitar from Dr Clucks Online Warehouse and had really good luck with the transaction. The first guitar I got was damaged and Ed at Dr Clucks sent another one right away after I Emailed them and sent digital photos of the damage....Big + there. The guitar has a limited lifetime warranty, and since Hohner has been around since the 1800's I am sure they will be around to honor it.

I have been playing on and off for 30 years (more off than on). I have 5 electric guitars and one other acoustic. If this were lost or stolen I would purchase another one in a heartbeat. Wonderful guitar at a good price. I love the look of this guitar...It is the new Hohner "O" series...It just looks nice. I played this and other guitars at my local dealer before I purchased this Hohner...I played a Takamine, Seagull, Ibanez, Epiphone, Gibson, Taylor, and Martin. The Gibson, Taylor, and Martin were too expensive. The Takamine had such sharp fret edges that it was uncomfortable to play. The Ibanez and Seagull were just hard to play, and the Epiphone was not impressive. I ended up buying it online and saving $200.00. I love the easy playing low action. I just purchased a nice set of Martin abalone dot bridge pins to install when I change the strings. The bridge pins supplied were just standard plastic black dot pins. All in all a super value. If you want to read another opinion of this guitar read the January 2003 issue of Guitar 1 magazine. They gave this guitar the 1 award for January.

I think this a entry level 2002 model of the O-series, acoustic/electric, made in China, 20-fret, solid Sitka spruce top, Ovangkol (I guess its a tree) back and sides, Mahogany neck, Rosewood bridge and finger boards. Hardware includes Shadow P4 Electronics; volume, bass, mid, bright, anti-feedback and battery indicator LED and enclosed tuners. My guitar has a natural finish, cut-away dreadnaught body and came with 2 optional pick guards. The guitar has a nice clean finish no apparent flaws, the 'O' or '( )' series trademark appears as 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17 fret markers and adorns the bridge, at each end.

I have recently purchased this insturment and use it only as an acoutsic guitar. All strings produce a clean and bright full sound. The dynamics, resonance and timbre is good and should get better with time. I play mostly contemoprary soft-rock and Hawaiian.

The overall construction is flawless. The action is small with no buzzing. It is very easy to play for people like me with small hands. Note: never plugged it into an amp yet.

This guitar appears very durable; thick finish makes the guitar feel 'heavy'. The strap button is the normal plastic stuff and the harware 'looks' ok. I don't know if this would last a paying gig, I don't gig, but beer parties... no problem.

I have no problems with this insturment. This guitar comes with a limited lifetime warrenty. There is a local company here (Guitar Works) that does excellent work and will honor the warrenty (so Music Mac tells me). I've had experience with this comopany and will rate it accordingly.

I purchased this guitar to replace my 'Orlando' which was received as a Christams present, in 1971. Since 1971 I have been playing a sum total of a year, in guitars. I recently retook it up again and found my old guitar's action too high after the 7th fret and the neck not too straight.
I went to the local Music Mac and test ran the following entry-level guitars: Waushburn D10, Yamaha (something low end), Ibanez (another low end) and Takamine G-series. They all had something that I didn't like; D10 bar chords above C was difficult (though overall best sounding), Yamaha really buzzy, Ibanez and Takamine a little buzzy. Then the sales guy showed me the Hohner and it was very playable, small action, nice bright sound (the D10 still sounded a little better), and lots of cool features.
I guess what sold me on the guitar is that it was the easist for me to play clean bar chords. If I ever plug it into an amp I'll submit another opinion (yeh everybodies got one).