Peal JC Deluxe

I bought my Peal JC Delux in 2004 on a recommendation from a friend. I have been playing it for gigs and also for church music. I use it for songs that require flat picking and for folk music. I own many guitars (Martin, Fender, Gibson) and sometimes play the Peal at big events. This guitar was purchased through Guitar Imports, Nate, and they were great to deal with. Good story about the Peal guitars, ask Nate to tell you how they got started. The finish work on this is unreal, it is hard to believe the inlay and detail work on a $500 guitar. No other manufacturer will compare. If it didn't sound great I would just say it was all flash and not substance, but the guitar sounds as good as it looks.

All around great sound .. when plugged in. By itself (no amp) it does not project as robustly as say, a Martin or Yamaha. But wired in, this guitar sounds extremely rich. I use medium gauge Elixir strings or medium gauge Martin bronze strings. The Triphonic pick-up with equalizer is a nice electronic package, except for the sound hole mic. The mic creates too much feedback and I almost always keep it on the lowest setting. I use either a Fender Acoustic amp or a Roland VG8 amp with COSM pickups. The mic does enhance the sound when playing the guitar through soundboard (studio) where amplification is not necessary. Otherwise, they need to work on the feedback situation. All together the mixing and blend from the triphonic is good quality.

Action from factory settings is OK. I had the guitar bringe re-worked by a bluegrass guitar pro, and the frets by a referral from Nate, and the action now is very fast. The neck, double truss, is solid and allows for fine tuning of string height over the frets. We found the frets to be in good alingment. Fret size (width) and neck radius are good designs. I can go from this guitar to my Strat and it feels pretty much the same. Fretting strings all the way up to the 15th fret is easily achieved with the cut away and sound quality is good all the way up the neck.

The guitar was knocked over and was bounced on a cememt slab during a festival we played at about a year ago . One tuner knob popped off, but otherwise I cannot find a scratch on it. I played the thing that evening and tuned up the G (3rd) string with a pair of pliers, and it worked fine. Actually stayed in tune the whole evening. Hardware is good quality (gold tuners). I have traveled with this guitar many times (airline). No problems. I recommend buying a good hard case tho.

Guitar Imports in Ogden, Utah. Ask for Nate. Great guy and will deal very fairly with you.

For the money, this is a very very nice instrument. Considering the price that is comparable to the garbage that is coming out of China these days, these Korean made Peal guitars are an extremely good value. I am glad I purchased one.

Just wanted to update a previous post. After having the guitar set up by a professional, and having put new strings on, the guitar sounds much better. This is really a very beautiful, nice sounding, very playable guitar. Thumbs up! You can't touch a guitar like this from a guitar store for the same price.

8.5, counting the scores from my other post, and upping the sound from 5 to 8.

This is the spruce solid top. Made in South Korea 2004 I think. I opted for the optional Tri-phonic Blender electronics (wow). Sealed gold plated tuners. Came with free Korg tuner that even had free batteries!

I love this guitar's sound. I thought I would have to now purchase a new acoustic amp, but in the meantime I plugged into my Behringer GMX 110 and played with some of the many chorus settings. I can't begin to describe the beautiful sounds this combination produces. I will admit I dont have loads of experience under my belt, but I've been around music all my life and I know what sounds good! I took the JC to my brother's house for a more experienced evaluation, he hooked up to his high end Yamaha acoustic effects pedal and Fishman Loudbox acoustic amp and I coudn't tell the difference. The JC still blew us away with its sound and versatility.

After reading other reviews and testimonials on this guitar, I thought the action would be a little lower. But it is still decent and very playable. Maybe to others it would be ok. I just like it low. The finish is beautiful. Abalone & pearl inlays everywhere. NICE I did notice when I put brass bridge pins on it that the wood on the bridge seemed really soft. Maybe normal I'm not a guitar pro, just my humble opinion.

I dont gig just starting to play alittle in church, but I dont see any problems in this category.

Great warranty. One year no questions asked trial period. If I dont like it, send it back. No re-stocking fees, they pay shipping. If it really works out should I go that route , I've got nothing to lose

I've only been playing about a year and a half but have played some high end guitars (Taylor, Martin, Breedlove). Every time I play one I try to learn what makes a guitar special. I cant explain all the particulars of what makes a great guitar but I know a nice one when I strum one. I've picked some that were better than this JC, but they were all over $1500. Over all, I love everything about this instrument. I am glad I forked out the extra $150 for the Tri-Phonic Blender though. I think it finishes off a great guitar

Solid spruce top, mahogany sides, rosewood neck. Jumbo cutaway body with gig bag. Gold plated tuners, piezo pickup. Nice inlays for a guitar of this price.

Very tinny out of the box. Bought the Elixr strings everyone has recommended, will try them soon. You won't believe it, but doesn't sound nearly as good as the much joked about Esteban I bought. Side by side, Esteban sounds much better unplugged. The two guitars are pretty even through the amp.

Perfect, no flaws. Guitar is absolutely beautiful. Better made than the Esteban guitar. From the neck, to the frets, to the sides, back and tuning heads, this is a sharp guitar. Compared to Esteban though, it is 3 times the cost.

No worries here. This guitar is well built. I've closely examined the guitar, compared it to the Esteban, and it is clearly higher quality construction.

Love Nate, but you won't get him when you call. Within 1 day or so, you'll hear from him via email or phone, and when you do, you'll get the answers. He's pretty much by himself though, so be patient. He is great, once you get his attention. BTW, they sent me the wrong guitar, so I may send this back. I ordered the cedar, got the spruce.

Only been playing about 8 months. Starting with low end guitars to ensure I stick with it before investing more. For people just wanting to start playing guitar, I would have to say the newer Esteban is a better value. I've got them right here side by side, and Esteban clearly has a better sound. JC-Deluxe is beautiful, doesn't sound bad, and perhaps will improve with new strings.

I bought my JC deluxe online in Feb 2005. I am reluctant say what I paid for it, because I paid a lot less than the folks who have submitted previous reviews, and I don't want to one-up them. My guitar has a solid spruce top, rosewood back and sides (laminated, I presume) and a mahagony neck. The guitar is very attractive, one of the nicest I have ever seen. The pearl and abalone inlay (yup, the real thing) is excellent. The workmanship on this guitar is top notch. One area of confusion is the guitar's origin. Inside the bowl, I am told it was made in China. On the backside of the headstock, it tells me it was made in Korea. This would concern me a whole lot more if the guitar was ordinary. Wherever this guitar was made, it is a fine piece of craftsmanship. I don't have one negative thing to say about the quality of the materials and workmanship. I give this a guitar a 9 in this are just because I think a 10 denotes perfection, and that's stretching it a bit.

The straight acoustic sound on the JC is as good as anything I have played in the 300-1000 price range, and in fact I have played a number of $1800 Taylors, $2000 Gibsons, etc that don't sound any better. My problem is that I have become such an effects junkie, having played stricly electric for so long, that I am hard to please when it comes to an unamplified guitar. So I just plug my JC in and that takes care of the problem. I am running this guitar through a $199.00 Behringer, with an old beat up Boss chorus pedal and it sounds magnificent. No lie here...it sounds amazing. The Artec pickup system is just great. It is hard to imagine a better sounding guitar than this one. It has a bright, crisp sound. Lastly, and most importantly to me... the intonation is right on the money. It is one of the best guitars I have owned in terms of intonation...all the way up the neck.

The action was too low when I received the guitar. There was a pretty significant buzz on the d and g string at the second and third fret. I planned on adjusting the truss rod at some point....but after a few days it corrected itself, and now the action is just where it should be. The finish is excellent, no flaws that I can see and the joints are flawless too. A really great piece of work.

I would have complete confidence in this guitar whether I am on stage or just jamming with my other over the hill, legends in their own minds guitar buddies. This guitar is an amazing value for the price I paid. I just don't anticipate any problems with it. After 2 months of use, it is just like new.

I dealt with Nate at guitar imports and he was extremely helpful. I initially bought the smaller acoustic electic that they advertise, and I decided I wanted something larger with a little more acoustic presence. I exchanged that guitar for the JC and the whole return process was seamless. These folks give every indication that they will back up their promises with action. I recommend them heartily.
I feel that I received incredible value for my money. What more can you ask?

I have been playing for 6 years this time around, mostly electric. I will always be an effects junkie, and I will always prefer playing stricly electic, but I will use my JC as a civilizing influence on my addiction. Something to sort of temper this compulsion to plug in, turn on, and rip jaw dropping blues riffs (don't I wish)from my $300 epi dot. If ever someone ripped this JC off, I would certainly buy another. I played tons of guitars in many a smoke filled guitar store in search of a good deal...and this guitar, whatever it's origin, is the best dang guitar I found.

With the JC Deluxe I have, it has the Triphonic pickup blender, which was the reason I got this guitar as I need the percussive and tap approach to be picked up with out adding a bunch of extra little pickups. It's great, I can mix the two pickups and mic, get all of the parts I'm playing, all going to one input. Stays in tune well and has a very nice look to it, the best looking acoustic I have for sure.

The sound is very good, both with a mic in front of it (purely acoustic) or using the Triphonic system. I usually go straight in the board when playing live. I even used it for a jazz session and was happy with the sound, it has a full sound and is bright too.

I play all types of instruments and they all vary in action, when this came from the factory it was very low action. I didn't have anything done to it, for the two hand tapping thing, it plays like butter, really. I tap piano style with percussion, so there has to be some ease to the action, I really can't complain even if I wanted to. When I play fingerstyle or with a pick, look out, you really can roast all over the neck without any fight.

No problems yet and I don't suspect there will be.

I've dealt with Nate the whole time and he's been super helpful, from the first conversation of me telling him I was looking for an acoustic that its job would be 9/10 of the time tapping. And I needed it to sound great because I tap comp for my singer Eden, and I need it all to be picked up and go to one output. He came through and was a super cool guy about it the whole time. It did everything he said it would, that's service.

I have been playing all idioms for 28 years. Really a great guitar I think, again, it does what I was told it would after I was very specific in what I needed it to do. If it were stolen or lost, I'd have to get another one, it's the only thing that works perfect for the tap style I'm playing behind Eden that is quick and quality. And it can do straight ahead acoustic playing too. If you're looking for an acoustic guitar, I'd suggest checking one out, you'll be glad you did. I give 10's because the experience was a good one and though I make things work out as far sound and all of the things listed above, I really didn't have to do anything, it was right there.

I receieved my brand new, hot Peal JC Acoustic Electric guitar last month and it has been a dream come true. I have been looking for a soild, well built guitar for under $500 for quite some time now, and I found this one on the interent and I feel like I got a steal.
It was made in Korea (not sure when). It is a Jumbo sized Cutaway with a great (Artec) pickup installed. Sounds good plugged in or out. The neck is comfortabale and so is the aciton. It came with a Gig bag and they threw in a little digital tuner with my order too. It is Cedar on top with Rosewood supporting the back and sides. Not sure about the neck. Know the fretboard is rosewood. Good tuners. great sound!

Sound Awesome!! Could not be more happy!! I like the full sound that cedar gives right out of the box. I like everything about it....except the gig bag. I wish it came with a hard shell case! no big deal though. Only paid $459 for it!!!! What a deal!

Very easy to play! Came already setup to my style of music! Good wood used for this guitar. no flaws in this guitar! Made pretty good and it smells nice too.

Seems to hold up just great so far. I don't play in a lot of gigs or in front of people to often, but I am sure it would hold up well if I did. holds its tune for weeks at a time. no strap buttons were included on the guitar, but thats alright for my style.

Did not deal with anyone. Ordered the guitar online and in about 5 days I got it in the mail. Very cool deal! Website says it is a lifetime warranty, but I will see if that is true or not someday.

Played for about 4 years! I would definitely try to get another one if this one were stolen. I love the guitar. My fingers are very sensitive to tough guitars and I can play this guitar for hours with no problems. Sound great too.

Made in Korea! This is a cool guitar! Some of the features it has.....Solid Top, Rosewood Back, 4 Band equalizer and lots of pretty inlays. It is a Jumbo and has a big sound. It is big and I am not use to that yet. Hard to get my arms around it (but I am kind of a small person). Very good electronic system. Built very sturdy.

The sound is very full. I like the guitar overall, but it needs some buttons for a strap so I can play it when I stand up. Didn't like the strings it came with..but put some Elixirs on and it really rips now. I have had this guitar about 2 months and I love how well it stays in tune. I can go a week without touching it and it is still in perfect tune. I had a cheap Dean before and it was pretty quiet. I had to plug it in to get any real sound out of it. Not with this guitar....very powerful.

Feels great!! I have only played for about 3 years and it seems to have good action. Does not hurt my fingers to press down the srtings. (hurt before I changed the strings) Woods match up perfect. The finish is good. I need to buy a hard shell case. A guitar this nice should come with a hard shell case. Comes with a gig bag if you buy it on Ebay.

I don't play live, but I suspect that it would probably do fine. I play in the convenience of my own home and small family and friends deals. I think this guitar will last for a long time. It is built very well...I can tell from just holding it. Tuners are good and should hold up just great. Everything about this guitar is good so far.

I bought this guitar on ebay for about $600 and I did not really deal with anyone. I called in and paid for the auction and got my guitar in about 3 days. The warranty I got when I purchased it was for a year with a 90 day back guarntee. I like how they offer a money back guarntee if you are not satisfied...helped me to have more confidience in buying one.

I have only played for a couple of years. I have a little acoustic amp and three guitars. I would defintely buy another JC deluxe if mine were stolen. Great guitar for the price!!

This guitar was made very well in Korea. I am not sure when it was made, but it seems to be built very solid. It has 20 total frets. The top is solid Cedar and sides and back are laminated rosewood. It has an onboard equalizer with volume, middle, bass, treble, and presence controls. It is made by ARTEC and is model AGE7. It is a jumbo cutaway. It came with a gig bag. I don't know what brand the tuners are, but they are comparable to my Grovers on my Washburn. As far as features for the money, I have not seen another guitar that comes close.

With the Jumbo body and Cedar top, it is great if you want a rich/full sound, but it is not as bright sounding as my Washburn. I really like the sound though, and it is very good plugged in or not.

It came setup perfectly. The action is very low, and that is what I prefer. It came with "lights" on it and I put some "mediums" on and it is perfect for me now (no adjustment was necessary).

I have only had the guitar a couple of weeks and have not played it live yet, but I think it will do well. The electronics sound great and seem to be made very well. Very solid guitar!!

Seemed very nice when I ordered it. Fast Shipping. Anwsered all of my questions. Have not needed to contact them since, so I don't know.

If it were stolen, I would be really mad, and then I would buy another one. I looked at some really expensive Martins and Fenders before I bought the JC and I like it just as much for 1/2 the price. For the money it is perfect! Tons of cool features. All of my friends go nuts when I pull it out of the case and tell them how much I payed for it. Sharp guitar!!