Washburn Rover Acoustic Travel Guitar Review
My family and I went to Montana for a week's vacation out in the beautiful mountains of the Grand Tetons and Jackson hole. Thing is, my son and I went through
serious guitar withdrawals. We even went to a little local pawn shop to look for something cheap to buy... No luck there... We learned our lesson about traveling without our six-stringed friends...
I did a lot of research, playing thinking, and reading. Mrs. Bear said that it would be cool if I went out and found a travel guitar for a treat - to be sure her boys didn't go through withdrawals on later trips. Among the many entries in the travel guitar world, I chose the Washburn Rover. Here's why:
Quick Opinion: The Washburn Rover is a good bargain that has lots of nice features, decent build quality, and great playability. I absolutely enjoy playing my Rover - for more than two years now...
Before you read on, let me explain something very important: A travel guitar is not a warm and brassy hand-made high-end guitar. Travel guitars (all of them) aren't right for recording your next piece for a Pixar film or for playing in a back band for James Taylor or Randy Travis (big fan of both!). A travel guitar is made to feed your playing jones while you're on the road and don't want to tote your Gibson Songwriter around in a jet-powered puddle-jumping tuna can...
Get pricing information and more general info on your new Rover at Musician's Friend.
The Washburn Rover is an excellent all-around choice. It plays great (for something so small) and sounds reasonable enough to make you smile when you sit on the porch, look at the mountains, and play your tunes... Kick back and enjoy your Rover... It has brought music to many adventures. It looks and feels like a nice full-size neck with a little curvy body on the end...
Features: The Washburn Rover is chock full of features for such an inexpensive guitar in such a small size. Let me list out a few for you:
Fully bound body and neck;
Solid (!) spruce top;
Mahogany neck, back, and sides;
An actual, fully-useable 24" scale;
Reasonable build quality;
Reasonably well-dressed and set frets;
Compact enough that it fits in many (probably not all, these days) airline overhead bins - I've done this plenty (and the neighboring passengers can still cram their entire household-in-one-overstuffed-bag bag next to it or under it);
and Simple old-fashioned butterbean open tuners.
Feature-wise, the Rover is rich. It comes with a strap and an allen wrench. It even comes with an excellent lightweight zippered fabric-on-foam case that is very sturdy and very lightweight. I've carried mine TONS of places and have never felt bothered by carrying around our Rover (we named it "Rover" - surprised?). It is by far the best bargain for the money, given the features alone.
Quality: The quality of my particular Rover is excellent. It rivals most basic acoustic guitars, and even a few middling ones. It isn't the perfect detail of a Yamaha student guitar, but it is very close. Overall, you will probably find a few flaws in the finish, or a bumple or two in the binding.
However, the neck is straight and comfortable, the finish feels really quite good on the skin, the neck is finished very well, and the tuners are actually quite nice. Overall, the build quality exceeds many $300 guitars. Perfect? No. Excellent for its cost? Absolutely.
The tuners are the exposed-gear variety. They're not sealed 18:1 Grovers or super-cool Klusons. They're basic. However, they stay very close to being in tune the entire time I'm playing on the porch. That's good enough for me. From an intonation perspective, the Rover is very close to being a near-tempered in-tune instrument. Sometimes you have to sacrifice between tuning for a nice clean D Major chord and a clean warm C Major chord. Using a sweetened tuner like the Peterson StroboSoft or Strobing hardware tuner makes things sound better.
Playability: From the perspective of action, neck feel, and string spacing, the guitar plays awesome - just like a champ. Close your eyes and your fretting hand won't know it is holding a little travel guitar. The action is as smooth as butter (I like 11s in some sort of bronze, usually Ernie Ball Earthwoods of some sort or Martin phosphor bronzes.) It really plays much easier than my larger guitars.
The downside? With any tiny-body guitar (not just the Rover, but all of them), you can't sit it on your leg and relax sitting down with it. If you want to be comfortable and not have to clamp the guitar to your chest, install the included canvas strap. Once the strap is on and around your neck, the guitar actually plays pretty effortlessly. If you don't wear the strap, you'll find yourself fiddling with it all the time (no pun intended, or, maybe pun intended?).
Sound: I've played several travel acoustic guitars. Plug-in electric-earbud guitars, very inexpensive no-name imports, and some from the very big brand names. I love the Martin, truly... but the Rover is warmer and less tinny sounding. Even though I'm a huge Martin and Taylor fan, the little Washburn won my ears over immediately.
So, what does it sound like? It sounds like a really nice guitar that is played back through an inexpensive stereo with little bitty speakers. It is fun, not too hard on the ears, and actually has an admirable flavor and character. Bear this in mind: none of them sound big, boomy, warm, and growly. The Washburn Rover is definitely the best of them (in the low-cost range). The Rover actually is more warm (with 92/8 phosphor bronze strings) than some of the expensive boutique travel guitars. The strings REALLY make a difference. Don't cheap out on the strings. Just don't expect it to sound like my Big Baby Taylor or my cedar-top Tak.
Value: The value exceeds its current $149 price. It is less expensive than its cousins and even comes with a good case. It is definitely worth much more. It is a high-value, very fun-to-play instrument.
Wishes: Washburn already answered my one wish for this: They now come in neat transparent colors and a new natural color. (Bear in mind, I haven't seen any of the sunburst-brown ones like our Rover in recent months.)
Labels: acoustic guitar, fun, guitar, review, rover, travel, vacation, washburn, washburn rover
Taylor Big Baby Taylor Acoustic Guitar Review
Birthday presents are fun sometimes. Last year, a local fellow sold me his one-year-old Big Baby Taylor for a song. I was thrilled. I've
always wanted a Taylor acoustic, American made, spruce top, and more. I got my wish last October.
I was looking for a moderately bright guitar sound, but one that was also warm enough for making recordings/serenading my family... I like the darker sound of my cedar-top dreadnaught, but I needed a complimentary, tenor-/alto-voiced sound. Clean, crisp, defined.
The Big Baby Taylor fits the bill, and then some... Here's why I love mine...
Quick Opinion: The Big Baby Taylor is light, resonant, durable, and very simple. It's comfortable to hold for hours and has a finish that is very easy on the skin. I love this guitar. Where else can you get American-made quality, solid spruce top, ebony fretboard, and nice voicing for so little?
It only took me a couple of minutes to adjust to playing the BBT for the first time at my local guitar store. It was like playing an old favorite guitar, right from the start. I was surprised at its light weight, and more interestingly, its decent sound projection.
If you'd like to learn more about the Big Baby Taylor and get pricing information, click here for Musician's Friend...
Buy a Big Baby Taylor. They're great instruments all around...
Features: The Big Baby Taylor is fairly basic and simple (a good thing), yet has attributes that make it an outstanding choice for someone who wants nice sound on a moderate budget.
The neck is a nice mahogany wood, with a satin finish and a moderate profile. This one isn't thin like a Strat or a Jackson, nor is the neck a log like the big-necked resonators or 50s electric guitars. The profile is comfortable for most sizes of hands. The neck is actually bolted on with screws going through the fretboard into the body. The screws are completely unobtrusive and do not come into mind when playing the BBT. The benefit of this type of neck is that it can be adjusted without popping the neck out of its glue in its pocket, as you would with a set-neck acoustic.
The ebony fretboard is a very nice touch. It is comfortable, doesn't leave your fingers black with wood dye, and is durable. It looks good, too. The satin black headstock face blends down nicely into the fretboard's color.
The body is non-bound, but has decent edge joints. The rosette is etched around the sound hole. The top is solid Sitka spruce, and the back and sides are laminate. Overall, for a sub-$500 guitar, the body is excellent. The satin finish is very nice and very evenly applied.
Quality: The quality of my Big Baby Taylor is great. All the edges where the top and back meet the sides are clean and smooth. Only once (where the edge was whacked against a corner of something in its previous life) have I found a place where the joint felt a little off... which is to say, no problems at all.
The neck and frets are extremely nicely done, the frets are end-crowned for comfort for your paws, The neck finish isn't too slick or too grabby, it is nice and satin-y. My Taylor's neck is two-piece. There is a joint at the end of the headstock/neck merge. The joint is exceptionally strong and smooth to the touch.
The tuning machines are fine quality and have a decent smoothness. I've not had any troubles keeping my Taylor in tune - even after hours of playing (and even in and out of the case a few times). I found some ebony tuning machine knobs and replaced the factory chrome ones - the look is truly awesome.
The back is a little grainy for my tastes... but it doesn't effect sound or comfort in any way. The nut and saddle bridge appear to be either something like Tusq or some other not-cheap-plastic material. I don't get "pings" when tuning the strings or bending strings while playing.
Playability: Plays like a charm. Lightweight, nice neck, comfortable body finish, medium-low action (maybe even low-action). I can pluck fairly hard before I get any buzzes. I don't usually dig in to my guitars with a thick pick much (I'm a hybrid pick-and-fingers guy), but it took an effort to whack the sound.
The size of the guitar (15/16) is unnoticeable - it is a dreadnaught, and feels only slightly smaller than my big Tak dread...
The Big Baby Taylor is significantly easier to play than nearly every acoustic I've played in the sub $500 range. It's a real treat - simple, no fuss - I can concentrate on my music. I have no negatives to say about this guitar in the playability department.
Sound: The Big Baby Taylor is surprisingly loud for a 1/5/16 guitar. It has a tone that is a nice mix between warm and bright - depending where you play on the neck/strings and how you play. You can coax very subtle sounds and great volume dynamics from this guitar.
I put phosphor-bronze strings on my Taylor (Ernie's Hybrid Slinky Acoustics, to be exact). I found that the phosphor-bronze strings really brought out texture and character in this guitar. With straight 80/20 brass-wrapped strings, the low strings seemed a bit thin to my ears. My Ernies really made this guitar sing...
I also added brass string-pins to my BBT. I don't know that they really made the sound too much different, but the combination of the phosphor-bronze strings and the brass pins makes the guitar a dream and a treat for the ears.
Value: The Big Baby Taylor is easily a better bargain than many $500-$600 guitars from a variety of manufacturers. It is sort of a "sleeper", one of the best-kept secrets of the acoustic guitar world. It has big value in a medium price. Mine came with a very nicely padded gig bag (much better than most, much!). It's hard to find an American-made guitar (acoustic or electric) in this price range at all, much less one that is a realy pleasure to play.
Wishes: My only wish? A one-piece neck, or at least one that is one-piece from the body to the end of the headstock.
Labels: acoustic guitar, big baby taylor, dreadnaught, guitar, made in USA, review, taylor
Dean Vendetta XM Electric Guitar Review
Some guitars have a dual purpose in their useful lives. The Dean Vendetta XM guitar is just such a wonder. Some folks need an inexpensive guitar to get them started - not everyone can afford a $2200 Les Paul Standard or a $1300 Fender Deluxe Stratocaster. Some folks need a decent instrument as a base (donor) for some seriously fun modifications - without having to spend $600 on aftermarket parts to put together a donor instrument for one's ideas.
Low-cost guitars tend to fall into one of three categories: cheap, and built to play that way; inexpensive, but not a hit in any area (GREAT specs but poor execution); and inexpensive - but more value than the dollars spent. The Dean Vendetta falls into the third category. As with all low-end/beginner guitars, there are obvious places in the Vendetta XM where money has been saved. Still, the build quality is fine, and the features are actually wonderful.
I specifically went out looking for a Stratocaster-shaped guitar for a mini-humbucker project I had in mind. I didn't want an actual Strat (or Strat clone) this time: I was looking for double cutaway, light weight, and an interesting neck. The Dean Vendetta XM went on sale at my local Guitar Center (and is on sale at Musician's Friend) - perfect timing. I had some proceeds from a guitar sale at Christmas time - and the Vendetta XM came home with me post-haste. It has been the perfect donor guitar for the creation of an AWESOME double mini-humbucker project with a 5-way rotary selector. With some nice USA-made parts, high-end import parts, mods, and a little time, it turned out to be an absolute gas!
Let's talk about the factory Vendetta XM with which I started, pre-mods.
Quick Opinion: The Dean Vendetta XM is a good beginner's guitar - one well-suited to folks who have not yet begun to grow into their inner guitar-hero-self. As with any beginner's instrument, the Vendetta XM is not comparable to well-made instruments from the United States or Japan. If one doesn't expect high-end guitar-ness in the Vendetta XM's $100 form, one will be OK with the result. No, the Vendetta XM is not an American Standard Stratocaster. No, the Vendetta XM is not a USA-made Dean for the family heirloom closet. The Dean Vendetta XM is a nice-looking, great-playing instrument for beginners. It is lightweight, well-featured, and actually looks different than most beginner guitars.
I think the Dean Vendetta XM is a great guitar for starters - one that can be upgraded to accommodate the growing needs of a burgeoning guitar player. This guitar is particularly good for smaller folks (who still want a full-size guitar), or for those that don't like lots of weight hanging on their guitar strap.
My Dean Vendetta XM was not very well set up when I got it. There were (more than usual for a beginner's instrument) fret buzzes and the strings were set too high for a beginner. The intonation is pretty close for a bargain guitar. However, nearly every inexpensive instrument I have ever played had some setup or adjustment issues when pulled out of its box. On the positive side - my Vendetta XM came with an arrow-straight neck and VERY unusually excellent soldering in the control cavity.
If you'd like more information about the Dean Vendetta XM, or would like purchasing information at Musician's Friend, click here.
Features: The Dean Vendetta XM's features are very much it's strongest point. The guitar has a string-through design across a Tune-O-Matic-style non-trem bridge - and the sustain and ring of the body definitely shine through. Even the acoustic sound of the Vendetta XM is pretty good. The string-through design makes for great "ring", reasonable low-end frequencies, and an interesting look to boot.
The simple control layout is a plus. One master tone, one master volume, and a three-way toggle switch adorn the Vendetta XM. The toggle selections are: neck humbucker, both humbuckers, and bridge humbucker. The toggle is a little close to the volume knobs (for quick-change switch slapping while playing). An inspection of the inside of the control cavity was surprising: the soldering was excellent, clean, and well-done. The anti-noise shielding black paint, however, was terribly applied (nothing a little copper shielding won't fix).
The body is very lightweight and is a comfort to the shoulder. The guitar is a little neck-heavy because of the light body, but it isn't obnoxious. My suede strap (fuzzy on the shoulder-side) holds my Vendetta XM pretty well in place for long periods. One small sacrifice of the light body: the guitar doesn't have quite as much sonic guts as a heavyweight like an Epiphone Les Paul, PRS SE, or Squier HH Stratocaster. The stock pickups and the light body do make for some relatively warm (but slightly mushy) sounds played through some amplifiers or models. This is an important thing: the guitar is Extremely comfortable; but there is a small price. A beginner would not feel the sonic difference early in her/his experience. But, this can be fixed with good pickups, a decent nut, and some good adjustment.
Overall, the neck is well above par for an inexpensive instrument. It is reminiscent of a nice Jackson or even a wider Epiphone neck. I like the feel and playability of maple on the back. The rosewood of the neck was kind of weird though: the factory had applied excessive "fingerboard black" to the rosewood. My fingers are black every time I play my Vendetta XM. My particular Vendetta has a great, straight neck. It does, however, have a rough feel - the finish had not been polished down/sanded well enough.
The tuners are adequate sealed machine heads that work fine. Strong bending does pull the instrument out of tune - but not any more or less than any other bargain guitar. The tuners are, however, smooth, better-than-average, and look a lot like the Schaller-type tuners on the nicer Squier instruments.
The dual humbuckers are average, and do the job well enough for a beginner instrument. As with any low-cost humbucker instrument, the humbuckers don't sound like BurstBuckers, DiMarzios, or Seymour Duncan SH* pickups. They're exceptionally easy to replace as the beginner becomes more desirous of better sound. Overall, the sound is fine and the quality is better than average.
My Vendetta XM came fitted with nice lightweight D'Addario strings. They were in good condition, were well-selected for the neck and body type. It's a refreshing change to see commercial-grade strings on a basic instrument - most instruments on the market have lowest-bidder strings installed at the factory.
Quality: The quality of my Dean Vendetta XM is a mixed bag. The finish of the body is flawless - even, smooth, consistent, and attractive (no, they're not gloss finished like in most pictures you'll see - they're satin finished). The finish on the neck is in need of work. The neck finish was rough, the frets were a bit unfinished, and the fretboard is just not as nice as it should be. Even the imprint of the serial number is poorly done. The neck finishing seems as if it was done in a big hurry. The nut is a hollow plastic variety - although this is not unusual in this price range, I'd expect more from Dean.
The wiring and electronics are way above average for a $100 instrument. The quality of the electronic components in my Vendetta were average to above average. The switch and pots are not high quality like Switchcraft USA switches/jacks or CTS pots, but they are adequate and will last for a good while. As with most any budget instrument, the electronics will be noisy in a few years.
I have to say this again (because it is VERY unusual): The electronics were very well done. Most high-end instruments I've played have the same level of soldering craftsmanship and wiring-lengths/wrapping. It may have been just my particular instrument, but I suspect that the simplicity of the controls and the large control cavity make for an easy job at the factory.
Playability: The Dean Vendetta XM is a very playable instrument. It is comfortable from a strap and body-fit perspective, and the neck is a good balance for large hands or even some smaller hands. It is smooth and comfortable in almost every respect.
The tuners go out of tune when the instrument is played aggressively, but not much more than any other beginner's instrument I've played. The instrument needs a reasonable set up when it is purchased - if nothing else to set the string height to the player's liking.
Value: The Dean Vendetta XM is a $149 value, usually sold for $110 to $99 street. Overall, it is a bargain. I really like Dean guitars, and I think they are the spice of the guitar store. I did not hesitate at all to purchase my Vendetta XM.
I think Vendetta XM is great for beginners, and mine has definitely made an excellent choice for my modifications!
Wishes: Do a better job with the neck, Dean: please?
Labels: dean, electric guitar, humbucker, humbuckers, review, vendetta, vendetta xm review
Peterson Tuners StroboSoft Tuning Software Review
I record many different types of music via my computer. I use guitars, basses, keyboards, and mic-recorded vocals and acoustic sounds/instruments. I am constantly in need of a tuner which keeps me from having to worry about intonation issues.
Guitars (the whole family, basses, 6-strings, 7-strings, exotics) and just about every stringed instrument are not
well-tempered.
Read about instrument tempering here. It's fascinating - opens new window. Sometimes, just tuning your instrument to the exact correct chromatic pitches isn't going to give you better sound - "in tune", yes, better sound, no. I've fought the tunings of my guitars for ages (particularly acoustics). Tune up to the correct notes, play three different tracks together with the exact same instrument and the exact same tuning - sometimes the three tracks played together don't sound too good. Why? Tempering. Lack of sweetening.
If you want to tune to the exact pitches your instrument plays, then the StroboSoft sofware (and Peterson's peerless hardware tuners) will give you just what you want, down to the cent (a cent is effectively a hundredth of a tone). But, some technologies help you by giving you "sweetened tunings" - these tunings include the famous and wonderful Buzz Felten tuning system sweetening settings. There are other excellent tunings available to warm and broaden your harmonic and melodic sounds. With StroboSoft, you can spend your time with your music, not with fiddling with your tuner for hours on end.
Peterson's hardware strobe tuners are the best of the best of the best. I've been interacting with them since I was in school band back in the seventies. Recent Peterson Tuners for guitar, bass and other stringed instruments include sweetened tunings. StroboSoft Deluxe also includes sweetened tunings - all of which work
WONDERS for your music and your ears!
You can get more information and purchase StroboSoft here at Musician's Friend.If you'd like to read more about StroboSoft in detail, you can visit the StroboSoft site here:
StroboSoft.
Quick Opinion: Buy this piece of software. Buy this piece of software. Buy this piece of software. Really: Buy this piece of software. Your music will sound better, your music will flow better, you'll have more time to work on your music...
If you're gigging, playing outside a studio, or on the road - invest in a hardware Peterson Tuner (and take StroboSoft's capability with you). The hardware tuners are more expensive than the average hardware tuner, but they are worth it. At some point, I'm going to save up enough sheckels and buy a StroboStomp or the rack version for myself... Their hardware is well worth twice (or more) than their current street prices.
If I can get my paws on a Peterson hardware tuner in the near future, I will write an extensive review of it, as well.
Features: StroboSoft is a snap to use. Install it, go to the setup tab, select your instrument input hardward device, click on "Instrument tune", then choose what kind of tuning you want (6 String electric? 6 String Acoustic? Sweetened? 5 String Bass?). Pluck your strings, and work your tuners/slides/instrument tuning device until the strobe stops moving up or down. You're done.
Set up for the first time takes very little time. Just take a few minutes to read their introduction, set it up, and GO. YOUR music will be sweeter, warmer, and more natural-sounding in a few minutes. Be sure to check out and set up the noise canceling feature (so it can tune easier, even on a noisy guitar or mic) - once you're up and running and understand what the tuner's doing.
Quality: I have had no issues whatsoever with StroboSoft on any of the three computers I use for recording. It has never crashed, misbehaved, or given me the first issue. Flawless.
In case you're wondering, this review is glowing because the product
REALLY deserves it - not because of any other factor.
Value: In my opinion, this software is worth at least as much as Peterson Tuners' StroboFlip and StroboStomp hardware. I'm very impressed (and, frankly very, very happy) that it costs so little. The forums get answered, the emails get answered, the folks at Peterson care about their customers, and you cannot find a better value on the market.
Period.
Wishes: I'd love to see a Mac OSX dashboard widget interface to StroboSoft... just a thought...
Labels: 4 string bass, acoustic bass, acoustic guitar, computer recording, electric guitar, jimmy pearson, macintosh, osx, peterson, software, strobosoft, tuner, tuning, violin, vista, windows, xp
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