Simon & Patrick Pro CW Flame Maple

Gold tuners, B-Band pickup w/ blender package. Internal lapelle mic and under sadle pickup w/ blend control, volume and bass & treble.
Takes a 9v battery. High gloss finish. Cutaway body. Really cool looking low profile pickup control panel.

Every time I play this guitar in public someone comes over to me and says, "What kind of guitar is that?.....That sounds really good!"
I ordered this guitar from a local music store and waited 3 months before I even got to hear it. The Lasido company does not make a bad guitar. Period.
I've owned an Art & Lutherie, Seagull and now a S&P. All the same company. The S&P in my opinion is the top of the line. The only guitars you can compare it to are Martin, Guild, and Taylor. Nothing else that I've heard compares. Nice full body tone. Crisp, deep accent on bass tones and sharp clearly audible highs. Both the pickup and the microphone sound great.

Perfect right from the factory as far as finish. No flaws, no compromises. The intonation was not perfect and stayed that way for almost a year until I just recently had the saddle re-worked and the nut filed down a bit. Now it rings out like a bastid and sounds like a $3000 guitar. I use it live and in the studio and it rules.
I wish the saddle was bone instead of whatever composite material they used. I've already worn grooves in it.

I've had it for over a year and nothing has failed except the grooves I wore in the saddle.

They're ok. I haven't sent it in for repair or anything. They don't speak much english since they're in the French part of Canada.
I nagged them alot when I was waiting for it to be built. It was supposed to take 4-6 weeks and it took 3 months. That's a long time to sit on $1100.00

Overall I love it. I dreamed about buying one of these for years until I could finally afford it. I talked my step dad into buying one also and he loves his. The best acoustic you can buy in it's price range. If you can only afford $200-$300 buy an Art & Lutherie. If you can only afford $300-$500 buy a Seagull. Anything else buy a S&P you won't regret it.

My Simon & Patrick Pro Cutaway Flame Maple Acoustic was made in 1999 in Canada by LaSiDo, which also makes Seagulls and several other lines of guitars. It has 14 frets to the body, and 21 total. The body is cutaway to the 20th fret. It has a solid spruce top. It has the LR Baggs undersaddle ribbon transducer, and the LR Baggs active EQ with three tone controls and volume control. The back is made from three pieces of solid flamed Maple, in the style of the Martin D-35. The sides are made from a laminate of three layers of Maple. The neck is Honduras Mohagany with Rosewood fretboard and Rosewood Bridge. The saddle is Micarta, with special shaping to individually compensate intonation on each string. The body is a slightly slimmed dreadnought style with a cutaway, with a high gloss finish of eight coats of hand rubbed nitrocellulose lacquer. The neck has a satin finish. The tuners are gold color and look similar to Gotoh sealed tuners. Although part of LaSiDo's professional series, the style of the guitar is simple and plain. It arrived with its wooden hardshell case.

I am a very basic acoustic guitar player and play primarily without a pick. I have not used the S & P with an Amp, so I can't comment on the LR Baggs electronics. This guitar combines a spruce top and a maple body, so I expected a bright tone with crisp, distinct chords. To my surprise, the S & P Pro Flame Maple has a warm, balanced sound. The bass is full, without being boomy. The S & P Maple combines the perfect balance of the Seagull Folk with the warmth of the Seagull mahogany Dreadnought S6 models. The treble is full, with a strong fundamental, which is similar to Seagull's cedar tops, and it has a richer and fuller treble than most spruce tops I have heard. The S & P tone has a degree of complexity beyond its price range. The Simon & Patrick APPEARS identical (except for the peghead and some detailing) to my Seagull Flame Maple, but the Seagull Maple has a much cooler and crisper sound. The S & P is one year older than my Seagull; perhaps its warmer sound is a result of having been played for a year or two.

I bought it used, so I don't know what the factory setup was. When I got it, the saddle was a bit high due to sitting on top of the LR Baggs Ribbon Transducer, so I sanded 1\32nd of an inch off the botton of the saddle to get the lower action I prefer. I adjusted the truss rod and now the action is low and fast, much like a well set-up Taylor. Simon & Patrick uses a very plain style for their guitars, which I like. However, some of the finishing work was less than the norm for a professional quality guitar with a list price above $1,000. A 1/4 inch strip on the fretboard below the bass "E" string was not smoothly polished. The three pieces of solid Maple used for the back are a bit plain compared with the flamed maple used on many high dollar guitars. The bridge slot was cut a bit too wide, so the saddle sits in it loosely, rather than with the ideal snug fit. The maple used on the sides is very attactive, and the high gloss lacquer finish on the body is wonderful. The top is attractive and carefully finished solid spruce. The neck has a plain satin finish that does not match the body in color or texture. The wooden hardshell case is Dreadnought size, which means the slightly slimmer S & P needs a bit of extra padding at the lower bout to create a tight fit.

Although some of the finer details are less than perfect on this guitar, its basic structure, such as the neck, body, and internal bracing show a high level of craftsmanship. This is a light weight acoustic guitar with a solid feel. The eight coats of lacquer provide a thin, but durable finish for the top and body. I think its durability should match acoustics from Martin, Gibson, or Taylor. Of course, all acoustic guitars are fragile compared with any solid body electric.

LaSiDo has always been quick to respond to my e-mails to the www.seagullguitars.com website. When I needed a new saddle, they mailed one to me at no charge. The S & P Pro Series and Seagull Pro Series appear to be made in the same shop; the only big difference is the shape of the peghead. That should simplify any future repairs, as does the LaSiDo bolt-on neck design. My S & P is used, so there is no warranty. I wanted a owner's manual for the LR Baggs electronics, and when I e-mailed Baggs they offered to send me the manual at no charge.

I have tried to be critical of this guitar, because the "I love my guitar" reviews are not helpful to buyers, nor to the people who make the guitars. But, the bottom line is, the S & P Pro Flame Maple is a wonderful guitar. It has a balanced tone from the lowest notes to the highest notes. The bass is warm and full without being boomy. The treble is rich and sweet without the bright, tinny quality that mars many spruce top Dreadnoughts. The guitar sounds nice played softly with just fingertips and also sounds good under hard flatpicking. After some adjustments, the action is low and fast. The rather plain pieces of Maple on the back, and some careless detail work keep this guitar from looking like a $2,000 guitar. However, it sounds as good as any Maple guitar I have heard. Its tone may be the result of almost two years of use. New maple guitars can sound almost painfully bright. The prior owner of my guitar may have "played in" a lot of the warmth and complexity that make this such a great sounding guitar.