ZAD-80

The Guitar is advertised all over the web as being built by a master luthier Denny Zager, equivilent in quality and sound to major brands costing several thousand, and with a revolutionary set-up based on "String Science", also called the "EZ Play" system.

EZ Play is the guitar's major claim. In fact the EZ Play set up is said to be so low that it is unlike any other guitar, and that the tone/volume is enhanced by other modifications that Denny makes to the bracing.

The set up is indeed low. Not only is the action low, the frets have filed down (but not crowned!). It is without a doubt the easiest fuitar to fret that I have ever owned. BUT - the low action causes other problems. It is fine to have such low strings if you are finger picking or lightly strumming, but if you play with a pick, or attempt to get more volume by strumming harder, the buzz is terrible.

I tried mine in a bluegrass jam setting and it sounded terrible. The lows were non-existant compared to the other guitars and there was no volume. The buzzing was terrible. Normally, you could adjust the guitar for your playing style by putting on heavier gauge string (Gains volume and bass), but not with a Zager! Your warranty is void if you put heavier strings on it, probably because the bracing has been reduced in an attempt to salvage some of the sound quality and volume.

The Frets are also problematic. The frets have been filed down to a point that there is nothing left for future fret work. For the type of playing I do (Blues. Bluegrass. Folk, Jazz. Roots music. Gospel, it is not suitable.

Very anemic. Not bad for finger picking alone in the living room, but is completely "lost in the mix" when playing with other instruments. There is little low end response because of the extra light strings. Bass comes from the ability of the string to "drive" the top, and make it vibrate at the bass frequencies. Extra light strings just don't have the oomph needed to drive the top. The reduced bracing must help (I would hate to hear the guitar before the braces were reduced) but it is insufficient to regain the tone that was lost by the decision to use extra light strings.

The guitar is finished in thick, tone killing polyureathane instead of the nitrocellulose used by better gutar makers. In this price range it is to be expected. but with all the hyped advertising about the guitar comparing favorably, or even superior, to high-end guiatrs costing thousands, I was hoping to see the better finish.

Other than the set up, this appears to be the same as any Pacific-Rim Asian guitars that are on the market in the $200 - $400 price range.

The sound is similar to an old EKO that I picked up at a gargae sale a couple of years ago. Thin and unimpressive.

No problems here.

For someone, this may be ok, but for me to use the guitar, I would have to treat as an instrument that has been damaged by some terrible accident that destroyed both the frets and the bracing - and have it restored to the standards that accepted throughout the world for proper guitar craftsmanship.

Having the frets replaced and the braces redone on this guitar is like having an engine replaced on a $500 beater car. Yeah, you could do it, but the cost of the repair far exceeds the value of the car and just dioesn't make sense.

Pays shipping both ways. Takes the guitar back without question.

This guitar is not q good value. The target audience is new players who lack the knowledge and expertise to realize that the so-called "String Science" violates the integrity of the guitar. There is nothing unique about the Zager which makes it inherently easy to play, it is simply an Asian import guitar that has had a technician (Luthier) set the guitar up for extra light strings and shave the braces to thicknesses that are unsafe with regular gauge strings.

Any guitar can be made to play exactly like a Zager by simply taking to a skilled guitar tech (luthier) and requesting the same mods. Depending on the part of the country you live in, this is going to run between $50 and $100. The math is easy - you can get a good Asian import and have it set-up and be Hundreds of dollars ahead!

The advertising hype is hard to swallow on this guitar. Reminds me of several sayings: "if its too good to be true, it probably is", and "Theres a sucker born every minute" come to mind.

So if you just want to buy a guitar with the lightest and lowest strings possibe, and don't care about the limitations caused by the alterations, then this is the guitar for you. But if you want a better sounding guitar, at a lower cost, and without limitations, then buy one of the many excellent bargains from Asia and have a Luthier set it up for the lowest possible action with extra light strings (Without changing the bracing or frets!). You will be able to revert back when you decide that you want more tone from your guitar, and you will be money ahead!

Advertised as "EZ Play", based on "String Science". Advertised as easier   to play than other guitars. Advertised as sounding better than other   guitars. Supposed to be personally set up by Denny Zager to his "unique" standards.

Top was reasonably well bookmatched, but had a lot of runout. The finish was the typical thick poly found on Pacific rim guitars. Acceptable quality tuners. Plastic or Tusq nut and intonated saddle.

The frets were filed down to almost nothing, and were not properly crowned. There was almost no neck relief. The  action was extremely low. If you hit a string hard, it buzzed   badly.  Comes with extra light strings.  Zager said the   warranty if void if you put anything heavier than lights  on it.

Very thin weak sound for a dreadnought. Totally unacceptable.

I didn't keep it long enough to really assess this, but I would expect it to hold up as well as a Pacific rim guitar would. Reasonably good.

String spacing feels unnatural. I kept pushing the first and sixth strings off the edge of the fretboard. Not really "EZ Play."

When I called and said I wanted to return it, they took it back, no questions asked. Even paid the shipping both ways. No problems there.

If the frets and the action weren't so screwed up, I might compare it with a Samick and maybe give it a three or four. As it is, it was poor. Very disappointing.