Good alternitive to the Taylor T5 (Crafter SA-TM)

Member Name: Matt1982

Product:	Crafter SA-TM
Date:	13/02/09 (140 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Price, tonal range

Disadvantages: none for the price

This is very similar in design to Taylor's T5 and is a great mid-price alternitive.
It's got a flamed "tiger" maple top, solid back and sides, rosewood fretboard, chrome machine heads, Kent Armstrong lipstick style pickup and an LR Baggs piezo pickup under the saddle.
The tonal range is bery broad with the ability to blend the two pickups. The undersaddle pickup provides the traditional acoustic tone while the lipstick pickup adds warmth and a more "electric" feel. Not only is there a blend control on the preamp but there's also and EQ and volume control.
It's a comfortable guitar to play as it's quite thin but it still maintains depth in the tone. It's not really designed for playing unplugged but it's fine for jamming at home.
Once plugged into a decent amp or PA the guitar really shines and could suite any intermidiate or semi pro player.
The build quality is good for the price but you don't get the quality tone woods that you would with the T5. This is especially evident in the rosewood fretboard - the ones I've seen tend to be quite dry and light in colour so it will need regular conditioning.
Overall it's a great guitar for the money with a good range of tones that would suite any gigging acoustic musician or home recording enthusiast.

Summary: A good all round tone machine