Body
- body shape: Grand Auditorium
- top material: Solid Western Red Cedar
- back material:
Mahogany - side material:
Mahogany - soundboard bracing: Scalloped-X
Neck
- material:
Mahogany - nut width:
1 11/16 " - fingerboard:
Solid Rosewood - trussrod: 2-way adjustable
Appointments
- binding:
Black plastic - rosette:
Maple and Mahogany - tuners:
Die-cast chrome - logo:
Pearl - bridge:
Walden Rosewood bridge
Finish
-
High Gloss
Options
- cutaway: Venetian
- EQ: Fishman Aero+ or Classic 4
Walden may or may not be a name you've heard about in the guitar world. They are a relatively new guitar manufacturer and don't have the name recognition of all the other brands such as Yamaha, Taylor, Martin, Larrivee, Ovation, or Takamine. Regardless, Walden guitars of comparable specs to these other manufacturers often sell for less than half the price. Why? Because in this day and age, consumers pay more for the brand name than the product may actually be worth. This isn't a problem with Walden.
The CG570CE is a Grand Auditorium Acoustic-Electric guitar with a cutaway. The solid western red cedar top and mahogany sides covered in a high gloss finish make this instrument appealing even before you play it. Once you play it however, you will fall in love. It seems unreal that a guitar that sounds this great can be found for around $400 or less brand new. The CG570CE is available with either Fishman Aero+ or Classic 4 electronics, but it sounds just as beautiful plugged in or not. It has a balanced yet powerful tone, especially for a slightly smaller body than the traditional dreadnought. On a scale from "Taylor to Martin" I would say this guitar's bright tone is more similar to a Taylor. Whether played by finger picking or strumming, the CG570CE holds up well and sounds amazing.
The Grand Auditorium body style of this guitar also makes it easy and very comfortable to play no matter your size. The deep waist of the Grand Auditorium shape allows it to rest comfortable on your body. The only possible peeve for some with this guitar is that the nut width is 1 11/16". Although I personally had no problem, some passionate finger-stylists with larger hands may feel that the strings are a bit crowded. For strumming and shaping chords however, the width is perfect.
Overall, Walden has really set the bar in terms of price to performance value with the CG570CE Acoustic-Electric. For just $400, you get so much that most guitars upward of $700+ don't even include. And this is still a whole hundred away from the $500 mark. In this range, Walden still offers a few more great buys that are unmatched in terms of their value. Let's just hope that Walden keeps offering such great deals and doesn't turn itself into a manufacturer that sells its brand name rather than their guitars at the right price.
3 comments:
This sounds like the best choice of the under $500 large acoustic guitars with an electric pickup.
I played a Walden guitar today and I can honestly say this review is dead on, the sound is just as good if not better than a Taylor or Martin and the price was even better, $275.00 it was not a full size dreadnought, I may be going back to purchase one in the near future.
I just love the sound of Walden guitars and I have two of them and would not sell or trade them they're my pride and joy ,really great guitars
Post a Comment