Suzuki SDG-200

This is a followup to my review below. More and more players have been telling me what a nice sounding guitar I have so I took this little SDG-200 down to my local guitar store, which is well stocked with higher end Martin, Larivee, Taylor, Santa Cruz, and Breadlove models. I stepped into the humidity controlled room where the good stuff is displayed and closed the door behind me. For the next hour I did A-B sound comparisons between the Suzuki and several of the other guitars. I listened carefully for tonal clarity, balance, harmonics, volume, and fullness and crispness of the bass. Here are the results.

I didn't have time yet to test the Breadloves or Taylors.
It shamed the Larivee D-09 and D-60.
It smoked all the cheaper Martins including D1, D16, and D18 models
It beat the Santa Cruz D and F models with a little to spare.
It edged out the Martin HD28 and OM-42 (which are both really nice guitars).
It was EXACTLY equivalent to a Martin D-41, and I do mean EXACT.

This guitar is pretty much a dead copy of the Martin D-41 (it has no 1st and 3rd fret markers on the finger board but otherwise it's a beautiful copy) and there is not a nickle's worth of difference in the sound they produce. The difference is the Martin will set you back about $3700 street price while the Suzuki can be bought new for $600.

Upon leaving the room I asked the owner of the store to play my Suzuki and give me his opinion. After the first chord he said "Wow." Ten minutes later he told me that it was a great sounding guitar. When I told him about my test results and about the test I had just run he got kinda red in the face and explained that every once in a while a guitar will be made that sounds better than the other examples of that same model. Well that could be. I have not seen or heard another SDG-200 to compare to mine and neither has he. Is it likely though that the first and only one I see would be this great if great ones are really rare? I'm doubtful. If you're in the market and you can find one you should sure take a look it.

I still can't believe the sell this guitar for $600.

Very nice gloss finish.
(from the website:)
Top: Solid Sitka Spruce
Back: Solid Mahogany
Sides: Solid Mahogany
Neck: Solid Mahogany
Fingerboard: Ebonized Rosewood
Bridge: Ebonized Rosewood
Strings: D'Addario
Binding: ABS & Abalone Shell
Pick Guard: Red Tortoise Shell
Inlays: Green Abalone shell
Finish: Natural
North eastern Heritage, Unique Details
Our American Dreadnought features high grade solid Sitka Spruce top, solid Rosewood back and sides and solid Mahogany neck. Fingerboard and bridge are of Ebonized Rosewood. Gold plated tuning machines grace the Abalone shell inlayed headstock. Rosette & body binding are inlayed with Abalone shell. Includes soft lined hard shell case.

I play mostly old country (Johnny Cash, various Hanks), blues, and rock. This guitar suits my style fine. Pure acoustic and it has THE sound you expect from a solid rosewood dreadnaught. The sound is pretty well balanced with a bass that is solid and crisp. If you know the sound you know what I mean. It works SO well for alternating bass strum and walking bass lines of those old country songs. This guitar has enough volume to finger pick but I'm mostly flatpicking now.

I bought this guitar from a pawn shop on Ebay. The guitar was in mint condition in the original case. When I received it, it had cheap strings which wouldn't hold a tune and the saddle was way too loose in the bridge slot. It didn't sound coherent. Wouldn't tune well. The action was too high. I replaced with saddle with bone, intonated it, and gave it a good setup with Elixir lights. Man what a difference. Now this guitar chimes, sings, growls, and rings. It has become my favorite guitar.

The construction seams to be very clean. Perfectly book matched solid Indian rosewood back and sides and solid spruce top. The wood is top quality. The top is bound with ivoroid and real abalone. The sound has an abalone ring as well. The construction is fairly lightweight with nicely scalloped and sanded top braces. This is Suzuki's top of the line acoustic and they did a nice job on it. The only playability issue I have found is that one of the higher frets is a little low on one end which causes one note (which I don't play often) to buzz. I'll have to do a minor fret level to get that corrected. The strap peg could fit a little tighter and I think the tuners might need to be tightend up a little too.

I've only been playing this guitar for 6 months now, mostly at home. I take it camping sometimes and while playing in the direct sunlight in June the bridge loosened. It was epoxied on and the glue melted in the sun. I removed the bridge and reinstalled it with hide glue. It's fine now and I don't play it in the hot sun anymore. The guitar has a lightweight construction (that's how they get THAT sound) so I wouldn't drop it or use it for a canoe paddle. Light strings sound great on this and I would not use mediums. Time will tell.

I bought it used and I do my own repairs. This is current product ( as of Sept, 2006) with Suzuki.

I've been playing about 5 years. I own several acoustics, including 4 TAMA's and a great old Morris humingbird (a GREAT cheap guitar), and a couple of electrics, which I don't play. If this guitar were stolen I'd be hurt (man I feel like playing the blues just thinking about it) then I'd have to buy one at retail. This guitar is still current product and the one I have is the only one I've seen on Ebay. I love the sound, it's playability and it's simple but elegant appearance. There's nothing about it that I don't like. I got this guitar at a great price, probably because the previous owner was a beginner and didn't know what needed to be done to set the guitar up properly. Also since Suzuki guitars have a reputation as cheap beginner guitars they are largely ignored by guys with more that 2 years experience.