Peal DS-10

This is a continuation of a recently submitted evaluation.

Just got the guitar back from the local shop. Four frets had popped out of position and were sitting high. Each needed to be reglued. Total cost of getting everything right was going to run $145. I don't think this bodes well. If this happened on a new guitar, how long before a few more pop and require repeat trips to the shop. I've owned a number of guitars from low-end junkers to fairly high end equipment and I've never seen the glue job on a fret fail.

Update to previous entry:
Called in with the findings of the local guitar shop. They gave me the option of either replacing the guitar or getting my money back. I choose the later. They gave me a return authorization and promised to send a prepaid label via email.

This guitar is advertised as being Korean built. It's a pretty typical dreadnought design with the neck meeting the body at the 14th fret and a 25.5" scale. The guitar is fairly light weight. The finish is very high gloss. This is a very low price guitar. Because of this, I'm willing to accept poor wood matches between the two pieces of the top. The sound-hole is decorated and the guitar has a black scratch guard.

This guitar does not have any electronics. The tone is fairly bright. I suspect that this might be due to the very light gauge strings used. I haven't measured them but they seem more like electric strings than acoustic.

The tuners are no-name sealed units. They seem well made with little backlash in the adjustments. I think these units are typical in the $200 price-range and I don't think they are anywhere near as pricey as the seller would want you to believe.

The frets themselves are low and thin. The action is also pretty low. In this unit, it's actually too low and I've taken it to a shop to get adjusted.

The guitar is sold by mail/web-order only. Shipping is included in the price as is a gig bag.

The sound is very bright, with a smaller base response than I'm used to. I suspect that the strings are lighter gauge than you would find on most acoustic guitars.

The sound at this time is severely impacted by improper setup. Pressing the high E string at the first fret makes contact at the second fret. This is not a buzz, it is actually playing a half note higher than desired when you uses this fret on the first string.

The third string at the second fret also has a pronounced buzz.

I bought this guitar for my daughter, and in spite of the issues, she really likes the sound and string feel. She can't wait for it to get back from the shop.

Set up was very poor. I have string buzz due to either a poor fret job, improperly tensioned neck or both. the action is set very low.

The top is poorly bookmatched but given the price on this unit, it doesn't bother me.

Other than these items, it seems to be a well made guitar. Construction is good. I haven't found any excess glue or gaps in the bindings. The body and neck appear to be well made and I don't anticipate any problems if normal care is given to the guitar.

This guitar seems well made and we don't intend on it being a working instrument. Acoustically, it is very different than my other acoustic guitars and I probably would not use it as a backup instrument because of that difference. I would suggest using one before deciding if it fit an individual's needs for a performance guitar.

It comes with a tail strap button which seems to be very firmly attached.

I called support about the problem with the string buzz and poor setup. They asked that I take it to a local shop and have it fixed. They said they will reimburse me up to $30 to get this resovled. I'm waiting to hear back from the tech as to what needs to be done and what the cost will be.

I don't think these guitars are inspected at all prior to shipment. What you get is exactly what the factory ships. This helps keep the price down but means that you may need to spend time to get the guitar set up at your local shop. And this is the biggest argument for buying a guitar locally. No local shop is going to let a guitar go out the door set up so poorly.

I've been told I can send the guitar back for a full refund. Once I hear from the the tech, I'll make the decision whether to invest additional dollars into the guitar to get it set up correctly or just send it back.

I was surprised that no effort had been made to ensure the guitar had been set up correctly. My daughter is bummed that she will be without the guitar for several days while it is in the shop. Depending on the cost of setup, I may be returning the unit.

I think once someone gets the bugs worked out of one of these, he would have a nice beginners guitar that has some features not often found on guitars in this prices range.

If guitar imports had opened the box, verified that the unit was set up correctly, I would have given it a 9 or 10.

The DS-10 is dreadnought acoustic with a solid spruce top. It has a high gloss finish which makes any imperfections stand out. The first one I ordered had a ding in the top. The tuners are sealed and worked very nice and it came with a descent soft gig bag. Overall I think this is a very nice looking guitar.

The sound was very full and loud. The base was nice and deep.

I had to send this guitar back. I was very disappointed that it didn't work out. The factory didn't set the neck properly. The term the guitar shop used was that it was set back to far. The angle was wrong and the factory compensated by putting in a larger bridge piece. The guitar came severely dried out which made the top sink down and caused the strings to be to low creating fret noise. The shop couldn't set it up for me due to this and said to send it back as defective. The online shop I purchased this from was very understanding and offered a full refund and return shipping paid.

The local shop did say that it wasn't too uncommon for them to send back guitars that arrive like this with most of the brands they carry. Based on that, I don't believe that this one guitar is representative of all peal guitars. I just got one made on a bad day.

I may look at another one of these in the Summer when maybe the humidity is up in Utah, where it came from, and I won't receive on that is dried out.

This is a very solid guitar. It seemed to be equal in weight, full binding, and quality on the finish as compared to guitars I looked at in the shop costing $500.00 or more.

Very good and friendly. they stand by the unconditional guarantee!

1977 Takamine F307

Hello, my name is Steven. I was in several R&R groups during the late sixties and seventies. While in these groups I was lead singer, playing some harp and percussion instruments. Always in my mind was to someday learn to play the guitar! There were always obstacles in my way that took my priorty. I have had a good life so far! Not very much at all would I, that I could, change. I feel as I have been blessed! That being said, it is now time for me to fulfill some of my more worthy dreams, i.e., now that I am retired. Number one is to live out my dream of learning to play a six string acoustic guitar! Like most men my age I have children and grandchildren and thank GOD, a wonderful wife!! Which all brings me to what I want to share with those who share the love of guitar music! I have been searching, in my area, every pawnshop, music store and the want ads in the papers near me. Other than a favorite uncle who may have left you a 1959 Martin D-28 in perfect condition about the only way you can afford to own a "good guitar" is to pay out the BIG BUCKS. Until now that is. This TGX DS-10 seems to totally fit the bill! Not only is this a "no brainer" since the good folks at "GUITAR IMPORTS" are willing to back it up. They are willing to pay the freight BOTH WAYS! YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT LOSE! THANK YOU GUITAR IMPORTS!

If it isn't EXACTLY what I want G.I. will pay to have it sent back to them! That said, I prefer classic/folk rock. the type music i grew up with. The rich full sounds of groups like C.S.N.&Y., Paul Simon, Hank Williams etc. The list goes on just as the emotions that pour out of my body like the music I want to play! If, as I truly expect, this guitar is delivered to me it will be the beginning of a life remaing love affair!

I am undescribably anxious to make my order!

I bought this guitar at the beginning of January 06 from Guitar Imports. The guitar is made in Korea and good woods with no lacquered fretboard. It has a dreadnought body, the top is solid spruce, the back and sides are made from select mahogany, the neck is solid mahogany with a rosewood fretboard and bridge. The fretboard is a classic 25.5 scale with 20 frets and pearl position markers on the fretboard. It has generic sealed tuners that do the job very well. I also has ABS binding on the neck and body. There are no major accessories that come with it except the Allen wrench for the truss rod, a well padded gig bag and a the nice price of $179.00. You can pay it off in three payments with a credit card so it is easy on your pocket book. This was the most guitar I could find for the money online.

I am a beginner and have not thought about a style yet but the guitar sounds great to me with a full and bright sound. To me it sounds Great!!

The fit and finish is fine and this guitar seems to be built like a tank for many years of use. The action is fine out of the box and it comes with D'Addario light strings. One odd thing though it made a rattling noise when I turned it over. When I started looking around inside the sound hole and noticed there were a number of shavings. It didn't affect the sound any and I was able to vacuum it out when I changed the strings.

Like I said this guitar is built like a tank and looks very solid. The description of the bracing and binding of TGX/Peal guitars on Guitar Imports website was the closer of the deal on my decision to buy one from them plus the attractive price and 3 payment option. Right now I'm a casual player and I am sure this guitar will last a long time.

These people have incredible customer service skills and service. The first DS-10 they shipped had a problem with one of the frets and I talked to them on the phone about it and they shipped another guitar immediately with a call tag for the defective guitar. They picked up the shipping and made it right. My jaw still hits the floor thinking about it. I have not had any problems with this guitar and it's an awesome value for a beginner to start with. I'm no expert, but I think anyone looking for an inexpensive second guitar could not go wrong with a DS-10 from Guitar Imports.

I bought this guitar to replace an Esteban Burswood Acoustic that my wife purchased for me at Christmas. It literally fell apart in my hands and HSN was kind enough to take it back. I was fired up to learn to play and wanted another guitar without breaking the bank. I only have been playing since Christmas of 05 and this guitar is miles ahead of the Esteban Guitar. I went looking locally for a guitar and looked at Seagull, Yamaha and Washburn and still took a chance on the DS-10 based on the price alone and glad I did. If it was stolen or something drastic happened to it I would buy another. The customer service and price cannot be beat. If I stick with it I am tempted to get an electric ST-11 from them.

The DS-10 is your standard size dreadnaught accoustic steel string guitar. The S in the DS-10 stands for solid top soundboard for those who don't know this allready. Solid spruce in this case. Prob. not the top end sitka or engelman spruce but solid non the less, and that is what really matters with all nit picking asside. Laminate mahogany back and sides. Solid mahogany neck. Rosewood finger board and bridge. Peal is a Korean company and the guitar was bought online through guitarimports.com I paid $179.00 for the guitar itself and free quality gig bag with lots of padding.

I'm still a newbe but I've been around musicians and instruments most of my life. This guitar has a very nice tone, good sustain, and over all a very plaesing sound to it. This is my oppinion and others who have turned an ear to it. Including a prof. guitar repair man.

Set up was OK from the factory. Pretty low acion. I took it in recently for a proper set up, and there is a huge difference. I would highly recomend this for any guitar no matter the price paid. Personal preferences can be attended to. You won't regret it. Over all fit and finish are flawless. Allthough I did order the lesser priced D-10 (lamanate top) first and there was a small set of scratches under the finish. Nothing too serious but I knew it would bug me down the road. It was replaced with no questions asked (though I chose to upgrade to the solid top) The guys at guitar imports will really bend over backwards to make you happy with your purchase. Best customer service I've seen anywhere. Also the spruce top has "bear claw figureing" Very cool looking. Gives it a more interesting look then just a strait grain. From what I gather there aren't many of these in stock. This wood is normally reserved for more expensive models in the peal line. Because bear claw is a little more rare than regular grain pattern.

Everything seems to be very well made. No name tuners, but they are solid and hold a tune with no slippage. The wood work is very clean and well built. Not too heavy or over braced. No glue showing on the inside and tight seems all around. Only time will tell but I'm confident that with proper care I'll own for the rest of my life. After all it is my first guitar.

I can't say enough good things about the people at guitar imports. Three year warranty on most models through guitar imports. And Lifetime through Peal. Spend your money with them and you will be happy.

I would definatly buy another Peal and prob. will in time. I did alot of research befor buying and this is with out a doubt the best deal out there. If your a beginner I believe there is nothing that compares in this price range. Look around and you will find I'm not the only one saying it. Don't pay for a name when the music is what it's all about.