Zager ZAD 80CE

Made with love in the USA. Small family company doing everything the right way. Top of the line throughout. Must see to believe.

Built in transducer and electronic package - Fishman

Solid Cedar/Rosewood, Full abalone inlay - Beautiful guitar

Real nice Grover tuners


Comes with electronic humidifier, picks, autograph of Deny Zager, Martin strings, T-shirt.

Great rich, full sound. Sounds better than most guitars that are three times more expensive. Sounds like a thirty year old guitar. I play with it unplugged a lot. When I do plug in I use a Roland acoustic amp.

The only guitar I know of to travel half way across the country and be in perfect tune when I took it out of the box. This is a quality guitar.

The action is set low for easy playing. The strings are also set a little farther apart to make this guitar the easiest guitar you have ever played.

Finish is fantastic. Can't beat the electronics or the Grover tuners. Overall, a solid guitar through and through.

Best custumer support. Can you you say you talked to the president of the guitar company you bought from. I did. I had a few questions and received e-mails back in under 10 minutes. Promised if I didn't like it for any reason I could return no questions asked and of course no restocking fee. Not many companies do that.

I have been playing for a relatively short time but I looked at and tried many different guitars. It would not be fair to say, "for the money this is a great guitar". The reason is because this is a great guitar despite the fact your not paying thousands of dollars. All my friends that spent large amounts of money on their guitars are green with envy. Looks great, sounds better, and a small family that cares about their work and product.

Solid top USA made, fishman electronics, on-board tuner that works wonderfully, Grover tuners, 20 frets, abalone inlay, cutaway, nice workable thin neck, simply will WOW you.

Crisp clear precise.

Almost flawless. Truly a joy to own.

Any fine instrument will give back to you according to how you care for it. I would play on stage with it, but it is always prudent to have back up.

If ANY company has better customer service, they are very unique. These guys are always available. Feels like dealing with friends.

I own a zad 80ce, an ovation collectors edition shallow bowl 1986 model (purchased new) and a Taylor acoustic electric. I also own a PRS and Stratocaster electric as well as a Yamaha acoustic electric classical. All expensive guitars. The Zager was the least expensive
out of this group, however, I like it the best. It is very very nicely fit and finished, great action on the neck, light weight, and nicely in tune all up and down the neck. A "C" is a "C" everywhere on the neck. No slightly off notes. I hate when open chords sound good and then bar chords are a little off. Maybe I am just lucky, but my Zager is beautiful, flawless, and playable for hours with no fatigue. I spent $2700 on my Taylor and had to have it adjusted to make it more playable and it is still not as nice as my Zager. I have been playing for 41 years and I am in no way reimbursed by Zager
for this review. I am sorry that it took so long for me to find out about Zager and purchase one. I love the instrument. You will too.
Try it. You too will be amazed.

This 2008 model ZAD 80CE is made in USA By a family owned company!
Full Size Dreadnought
Venetian Cutaway Design
Scalloped X-bracing
Gloss finish!
Solid Ceder Top!
Rosewood Back & Sides
Rosewood bridge
Rosewood fret-board
The Zag CE80 has 20 hand filled frets!
Hand-Carved Custom Nut
Hand-Carved Custom Saddle
Sealed Grover Tuning Gears
Abalone Inlay on Binding
Abalone Inlay Rosette (Laid by hand around the entire outside edge of the sound hole)
Tortoise Shell Pickguard
Genuine "Martin" Strings
On board equilizer to include on board tuner!
Controls Made by Fishman!
The controls include 3 sliders controlling your Highs, Lows, and Mids, a single slider controlling the "presence" of your guitar through the amplifier, and a single knob to control the volume level.
Plus a built in transducer! installed by pro luthier Denny Zager(bringing out the extended bass response and rich ambiance of your guitar's wood plugged into a amp like a electric)
Included was a guitar stand - Zager T shirt - light Zager guitar picks!

I play Folk rock and Christion rock!
This guitar is perfect for my style of music!
I am plugging into a Crate GT212 Guitar amplifier!
The sound of this guitar is rich and pure with no buzz!
The guitar sounds just as good unplugged in as it does plugged in only louder!
I also use this guitar with TC electronics guitar effects with awesome results!
This guitar is not noisy at all just pure rich Full quality sound!
I can play this guitar soft or loud with very little effort!
I have no dislikes about this guitar!

The action of this guitar is fantastic.
My fingers do not get tired when I play this ZAD 80CE.
The pickups sound better than other acoustic guitars I have played!
This guitar arrived in tune only needed a slight adjustmnt to be ready to play.
With no flaws!

I have no dought this guitar will work great for live playing.
I have not owned it long enough to say for sure!
I bought this guitar for performing live as well as use in my home recording studio!
It is put together excellant.
The strap buttons are very solid.
I would not use any guitar on a gig with no back up!

My e mails have been answered very fast!
Customer support has been great.
I have not had any issues with buying a guitar from this company.
I belive 100% if I have a problem in the future with my guitar I will be well taken care of.
There is a full 100% money back guarantee!
To include free shipping on the return if ever needed.
Add that with a life time guarantee and it does not get any better than that for customer support.

I have been playing guitar for 39 years!
I have owned Yamaha acoustic. Jay Turner Electric Les paul . Kramer Electric strat style electric.
And a Sigma Martin acoustic!
I will not be playing my other guitars much any more.
If this guitar where lost or stolen.
I would replace it with another ZAD 80CE as soon as one could be shipped!
When this guitar arrived it took less than one min to be fully tuned and ready to play.
I have played several guitars befor decideing to buy the Zager.
I played Martins Taylors Guilds Gibson etc.
I have a good ear for sound and this ZAD 80CE guitar sounds as good as most of the major brand guitars priced several thousand dollars more.
Some of the guitars I played in stores sounded flat compared to the quality full rich sound of a Zager guitar.
I am also impressed with the Gloss finish and quality craftmanship of this guitar.
I play soft and hard rock for differant sound effects and this ZAD 80CE has had no problem creating the sound and effect needed for my original music!
With less pressure on my fingers due to the low action set up by Denny Zager!
The only thing I wish is I had heard of this company sooner as the price is affordable and I could have been sounding better a long time ago!
Steven J

Spruce Top Mahogany sides - wonderful full sound. Easy play system - strings are close to the frets and the strings slightly widened. A delight to play. Fishman electronics. This is a cutaway making the upper frets easy to get to. Locking tuners - rosewood neck - with a great molded hard case.

I play 60's music with a need for electric and accoustic. This really fits the bill and your fingers are not tired after a long gig. It has an amzingly rich sound and it is brand new.

Perfect

I have not had it long but it has performed admirably with no worry about needing a backup. Stays in tune very well. I can depend on this guitar.

The support is amazing. They will literally talk to you at any time day or night. Shipping is incredible. They do it all.

I have been playing for 45 years - I own a Stratocaster and a LP Jr. The one thing that will attract you to this guitar is the amazing ease on your fingers. You will not find this in any other stock accoustic out there. You can absolutely buy with confidence because if you don't like it they will take it back (no questions asked). They will even pay shipping both ways. How can you beat that...

Acoustic dreadnaught with venetian cutaway.Three piece back. Fishman onboard tuner and equalizer.Cedar top, rosewood sides and back.Gold sealed Grover tuners. Abolone inlay around the edges of the guitar face and sound hole.Tapered neck built to Denny Zager specs.

The sound is very rich and full.The cedar top and rosewood back and sides really produces a mellow full bodied sound.

The Zager setup is the best I have played.I had several of my fellow guitar players play the Zad 80 CE and all were very taken by the ease
and playability of the guitar.None had heard of Zager before, so there were no preceived opinions.The action was effortless. I have played for hours and my hand did not tire.The guitar has a very fine finish.The fit of the neck to the body flows nicely.

I believe the guitar will last for many years. I would take it to a gig without backup.The finish looks as if it would last with normal care.Only time will be the real test to reliability and durability. I haven't owned the guitar vety long, but the overall construction and finish leads me to believe it will last a very long time.

The company support is second to none.I own a small business and wish I had a team of professionals like Zager Guitar.Dennis Zager who handles all online questions was just remarkable.I always had an answer to my inquiries within a half hour, even after normal business hours.When I made phone inquiries the staff was very friendly and helpful.If some could not answer a question they made sure someone got back to me that could.The no cost to you 100% money back guarantee was a first on me, with no cost to return the guitar for any reason.

I have been playing guitar on and off for over 30 years.I have owned a Yamaha 160, several Carvins,Silvertone and Gibson guitars.The Zager right out of the box played easier than any of the other guitars I own.If the Zager were lost I certainly would buy another. In fact while at my local big box guitar store this afternoon I scored another Zager off the used guitar area.I bought the ZAD 50 CE
they had for sale.The overall appearance of the Zad 80 CE is very impressive.The gold hardware , cedar top and rosewood really presents itself well.The only minor thing I wished the guitar came with is a front strap mount.The rear strap mount is trick, it's also the connector for the amp cord.Fantastic value for the money.

In 1972, I bought a Tama guitar (not very well known). It had excellent intonation and really good action which made it easy to play. I tried many other guitars but never found a reason to upgrade until I played a Zager that a friend of mine bought. That did it! After playing the same guitar for more than 35 years, I had to upgrade. My friend had a ZAD 50CE, but I figured this would be the last acoustic guitar I would ever buy, I went for the ZAD 80CE. I couldn't be happier. It's wonderful.

What is so amazing about this guitar is the tonal quality and the volume it produces. It allows a person to strum and add emphasis where you want them and then go quiet in other spots allowing you to add emphasis and far more feeling to your music.

The Tama guitar I had was very easy to play. I had played Martins and Gibsons which didn't match the playability. The Zager was the first guitar I've played that surpassed my Tama.

I've only owned the ZAD 80CE for a few days, so it's hard for me to comment on this. The only thing I wish they would do is install the strap button near the heal of the guitar. However their customer support and video showing how to mount the strap button were very good.

I can't believe the customer support. I have never bought a product from anyone anywhere, even Walmart that support their product the way that Denny Zager supports his product. You can email or phone them almost any time of the day and you'll get a response within 2 hours. Unbelievable.

Although I've only owned this product for a few days, I couldn't be more impressed. I have never run across a company that is more customer oriented, but even more important, they produce a quality product at a price about 1/4 the price of a similar quality product. I have always wanted to own a Martin guitar. Now I own a guitar produced in a Martin factory, fine tuned to make it more playable and I got it for about 1/4 of the price.

I bought a Zager ZAD80-CE with the solid cedar top, Grover tuners, and the Fishman Clearwave 50 electronics. The built in tuner is especially handy. I also got a Martin hardshell case with it.

Several years ago I paid $1500 for a used Guild D55 which blew me away when I first strummed it! Although this is not a Guild D55, it has the same piano like clarity and sustain that you would expect from a high end guitar. I paid alot less for this Zager guitar than my D55 which was well used and needed some attention from a Luthier after I bought it.

This Zager has a rich-full sound. Perfect for what I plan on using it for - leading worship at my church.

The reviews I read said this was an easy guitar to play - it's true. I have played Guilds, Carvins, Taylors, Gibsons, and Martins and this Zager is by far the most effortless guitar I've played. Action is amazing and the attention to detail for a guitar in this price range is impressive.

Just got the guitar so I can't comment on durability but if I were to give it a rating based on the workmanship I see on it, I would give it a 9.

You're not going to find better customer support anywhere. I am a pastor of a church and I have been inspired by how well I was treated from start to finish. I'd like to offer that kind of "customer service" to people who visit our church!

I've been playing for over 25 years -mostly in a church setting, and currently play a Guild and a Carvin regularly.

I was originally planning on buying a Taylor but found the cost for the higher end Taylors too much for my budget.

I would not hesitate to buy another Zager. I plan on recommending Zagers to anyone who is looking for a great guitar for a fraction of the price that the more popular manufacturers offer.

I took a chance after reading the reviews. I'm sure glad i did!

venetian cutaway, Fishman electronics, cedar top, Grover sealed tuners, quality through out!!!

Ive been playing for 25 years and have owned several acoustic electric guitars. Most have had a good sound plugged in but somewhat of a dead sound when just played with out the electronics. This guitar the Zager ZAD80ce was a huge suprise for me. An awesome punchy, bright, Rich tone. Excellent sustain for an acoustic guitar! With the oneboard eq many tones are possible of course. I play mainly alternative rock but many styles are possible with this guitar

Action is the whole selling point of this guitar. i am not one to believe testimonials..becasue who are these people right? But if you listen to the testimonials on their site. Its true. A very easy guitar to play. I am very happy with the setup

Quality parts quality woods quality electronis...they have done all they can to make a top of the line guitar...SOLID!

A family owned and operated business so their name is on the line. Customer support is excellent not only for help with a purchase but also for any issues that arise. I live in Canada and they do not ship outside of the USA but were able to ship to a relative in the USA. I was given a great discount on a guitar case because I explained about import taxes/duties etc.... When sent from my relative i was unfortunately given the wrong case I selected. Upon contacting them I was offered a refund on the case and keep it, or free guitar lessons for a year on their site to make up for the error. WOW! Both about $120 value. Any other company offer that? None that I know of. It was explained that because of the discount they gave me on the case it was likely assumed that I wanted a different case because my purchase price was much lower...regardless customer support is were Zager guitars shines...oh lifetime warranty too!

25 years playing. I have owned over 10 guitars during this time. This product is one of the best I own. I am very happy with it. I would buy again. I am not one to write testimonials but i am for this guitar..that says something. they offer an excellent guitar for an affordable price...cant beat it!

Zager EZ-Play modified system.Full sized dreadnaught cutaway design.It is a beautiful guitar with solid cedar top and rosewood back and sides,bridgeand fretboard.It has a Fishman Clear Wave 50 pickup system with built in transducer and on board equilizer and an electonic tuner that does a great job of fine tuning.I thought I knew how to tune a guitar until I used it.It really brings the maximum desired tone out.It has scalloped X-bracing,hand carved nut,saddle,hand filed frets,sealed gold colored Grover tuners.The face is protected with a tortoise shell pick guard and is beautifully accented with abalone inlay on binding and rosette.One of the biggest selling features for me is the 100% money back guarantee and lifetime warranty.Another major reason in buying this guitar is the EZ-play system.It has low action with no string buzz and I have played it a lot since I received it.No more sore fingers and less discomfort in my chord fingers from arthritis.Upper stap peg is not included with guitar and has to be purchased and added by owner.Zager web site offers a help available to owners. I think it would be a god idea to have these installed at the factory.

I can't compare this guitar to the very expensive models.I have a 93 Martin D-1,and an early 70's Gibson SJ and Yamaha FG-300.The sound surpasses the Martin and Yamaha and is equal to if not better than the Gibson.It sounds rich and full from top to bottom with great sustain.Each note is clear.I have been playing mostly unplugged and generally use a thin flat pick.I play mostly country ,folk, and bluegrass gospel.I just purchased a Kustom Sienna 65 and the electronics sound very natural.I'm still experimenting to fine tune the sound I want but thus far am pleased.No instructions were included to assist in operating the Fishman equalizer but Zager's weg site does give a very good instructional video in operating the on board tuner and I feel confident Zager would assist if I have problems with the electronics.I believe the equilizer is based on person preference anyway.No big issue.

Low action,no buzzing.Beautiful woods,finish,and hardware.Looks and feels like a top of the line guitar to me.
P.S.This guitar was purchased at a factory discount due to slight finish flaw on the under side. It is barely noticeable and has to be viewed by holing it towards light.The flaws are clearly decribed and shown by pictures.I saved $100 by pruchasing this guitar.The discounts vary in price depending on the flaws which are only cosmetic.

Only time will tell.I see no reason why it will not stand the test of time.It has the lifetime warranty to back it up.

Every question submitted to Zager was quickly answered via email.The support staff is very courteous,professional, and resonsive.Hope I never have any repairs to address and as stated previously,Zager guitars have a lifetime warranty for the original owners.

I've been playing guitar off and on for 42 years.I hadn't played on a regular basis for over 20 years.I started back playing after I retired last august.As mentioned earlier,I have three other acoustic guitars.I really love the ez playability and quality of sound from this guitar.I didn't feel like I could afford the really expensive upper end name brand guitars.I liked what I heard and read about Zagers and realized I could buy a good looking quality guitar direct from the factory before mark up.To my knowledge these guitars are not sold by dealers and this is why the savings are passed down to the consumer.With a satisfaction guarantee with all expenses reimbursed if not satisfied.I had nothing to lose.I'm very happy up to this point and hope I'll be saying the same thing 10 years from now.If my opinion or situation changes I will be happy to submit another review.

Fabulous guitar! Even my son's instructor who teaches music at San Diego State University and is an accomplished player and instructor was very impressed with it. We agreed that it played easier and sounded better than his $2000 Taylor. This guitar is everything and more that they claim it to be. The fishman electronics included with this model are the best as well.
It is hard to believe all the testimonies that praise this guitar maker so highly with all the false advertizing out there but in this case....believe it! Incredible customer service too. I also just signed my son up for Mr. Zagers on-line lessons. $99 for an entire year. I am currently paying $40/Hr. This company is a class act.
Sincerely,
Mike Gallagher

Sounds better than the instructors $2000 Taylor.

Wow!
Plays like nothing else out there. We tried them all including $4500 guitars

Perfect for any gig. Light but beautifully constructed and with the fishman electronics on board....exceptional sound consistently

This is where Zager really comes through. Send them an email and see the quick curteous response from Dennis Jr.

I only wish that other company's would follow in the Zagers footsteps. They are a hard act to follow.