Peavey Briarwood DR-3ERCDS

It does not have good intonation and this bugs me. When I bought the guitar, I was a complete novice. Once, I learned to play chords, I thought the G chord sounded wrong. I have had it for over a year now, and have studied this quite a bit. A perfectly tuned string 5 (B) yields a noticeably sharp D on Fret 3. Same for string 6 (E) yielding a sharp G on Fret 3. Strangely enough, the notes at Fret 12 are in tune. The store where I bought the guitar said too bad, that is just the way it goes with some guitars.

The store where I bought the guitar said too bad, that is just the way it goes with some guitars. I took it to another store who adjusted the neck, which made it better until the next string change. Now I just live with it and am looking for another guitar.

I have been playing for about a year and this was my first guitar. I play piano and wanted to try another instrument. I went into a local store and bought this guitar, completely relying on the owner for advice. My bad! At the time, I was not aware of the guitar forums but wished that I had been and read them first. I would rejoice if it were stolen or lost so I could get another guitar. I probably will buy another guitar but this time, I will have done a lot of homework and comparison shopping.

Made in 2004,China.20 frets total,14 frets clear.It's got a solid cedar top & laminated rosewood back/sides.Mahogany neck & headstock with rosewood fingerboard.Piezo pickup under the bridge.Compensated bridge saddle.Looks like a satin finish,dreadnought body,rosewood bridge,sealed die-cast chrome tuners with tortoise knobs.Tortoise pickguard,white plastic with black dot end pins.Neck scale is 25.5".Traditional X-bracing non-scalloped.Wooden binding on top & bottom of body.No accessories included except allen-wrench for adjusting truss rod.

It's got a mellow sound.A warm balanced tone with some nice overtones.I wouldn't call it dark,I wouldn't call it bright.I would say it's just right.The sound is very focused with no offending frequencies.It's got good sustain & very responsive to fingerstyle playing.When played hard it's not the loudest dreadnought out there,but it's loud enough.It can handle heavy strumming with very little compression.

The factory set-up was ok & the action normal (not too high not too low).No buzzing when played hard,just a little stiff when playing high up the neck,but this is a new guitar-needs some time & I play with 12's.Well built instrument,good wood quality & the solid cedar top looks & smells nice!

It's brand new so we need some time here.It looks & feels solid,doesn't go out of tune but the bottom line is that it's too soon to tell.

Briarwood acoustics are made by Peavey & the folks at Peavey are ok I've dealt with them in the past.

Been playing for 20 years.I own more electrics than acoustics.This is my second acoustic,my other is a Taylor 210.I got this as a "round the house" guitar,a guitar everyone can play since I didn't want my Taylor getting smashed around.I've become very fond of this dreadnought.It's got such a great tone & feel.It's a low-priced instrument but the people who built it did a great job.There are days when I play this one & my 210 stays in it's case.I really like the mature warm sound of the solid cedar top.Overall a very good low-budget acoustic.I would buy it again if lost or stolen,it's surely worth it.

Made 2004, in China (Don't laugh or turn your nose up), 20 frets body meets neck at 14th, standard with piezo pick-up, but no controls,(guessing that the make on the p-up is Artec). Top is solid cedar, according to the Peavey spec page on this the back and sides are rosewood I would guess laminated since they don't state "solid", almost possitve that the neck is mahogany. Die cast tuners with very nice tortise shell buttons, NICE TOUCH; wood binding. Compensated bridge saddles; I'd describe the finish as a natural satin defintely non-glossy however Peavey calls it gloss finish. No extras were included but I was able to get a nice deal on everything that I bought that day... a case, a pre-amp and incidentals. Definitely should have some controls for my taste but at $250 we don't get everything do we?

In a word, INCREDIBLE! I've been playing for 27 years now and can say that I have never found something in this price range that sounded this good to me. I went out to try everything that I could that day in 5 stores I had been mostly playing the Martins and Taylors that day, I won't say that this as good as the $3500 models that day but at least sounding and playing like the $1500 range models. The sound is sweet, rich, mellow and the only other word I have for it is mature, like hearing the voice of an old friend. I mostly play contemporary worship music with a bit of blues thrown in. My other guitars are all Vantage brand 2 electric Japanese from the 1980's and one Korean acoustic from the 1990's. I'd have to say it's a solid 9 for sound and pushing a 10 for my humble ear. Some of my blue grass friends have tried it an are thinking it's time for a new axe in the toolshed.

The action is amazing. Now granted after playing this long my fingers have strength so I can press the strings down on things that are torture on the fingers of a beginner. So I have let several people who are beginners play this and they also say that this plays very easy "like an electric" one kid said, so it is not just my callouses talikng. I SEE no flaws with this but I have found it to be sensitive to heat/ humidity fluctuations, nothing to severe but I do need to soften my playing a bit to avoid buzz if it's too hot and humid say 85f+ and 80%rh.

I've only had this for 1.5 months so how can I answer this honestly, ask me in 3-4 years. As far as I can tell it is durable. I've been using it each Sunday since I got it and I don't use a back up.

I hope I never have to find out.

Some of this I mentioned above but here it goes:
Been playing 27 years (although you'd never guess that long LOL!)
If it were stolen I'd buy a Jasmine or an Ibanez and break it over the head of the guy who took my guitar (does anybody remember Quick Draw Mcgraw's alter ego El Kabong?) THEN I'd go buy another one of these.