Zager guitars?

[daklander]

Don't forget about me. I've owned and loved my Zad 50 for three plus years. I have wasted way too much time on here rebutting the dogma on this topic and now have arrived at a place where I can just shake my head. Maybe the muck they encounter leaves a bad taste.

 

 

Yeah, well you were a contributing member to the forums, primarily electric guitar before coming over here and your first post here, though pro Zagahatchi, was not a shill the {censored} and run, and it was not the very first post on the Harmony Central forums in general. You, because of your interaction with these forums prior to your Zagification lets us know though you like yours you're not a shill.

 

Hate to break your collective snob ass, headstock name loving bubbles, but I've played a couple and owned one Zager Zad 50 for two years. I bought it for $450, and I've never looked at another acoustic. Its made in Indonesia, not China. It's action was perfect for me out of the box. Its intonation was dead on, fret work and nut beyond what you'd get with a $50 "set up". It looks and sounds terrific, and has amazed expierenced guitarists in my family and professionals who who've actually played it. I've NEVER seen before an off the shelf guitar that played as well in this price range. I don't work for them but do own multiple higher end USA electrics and could spend more on a guitar if I wanted to. Is it a $250 guitar with a $200 set up? Who cares if it sounds right, plays right and is backed by a real USA address with real people on the phone?

[Brokepick]

"Is it a $250 guitar with a $200 set up? Who cares if it sounds right, plays right and is backed by a real USA address with real people on the phone?"

 

If someone is determined to buy a "$250 guitar with a $200 set up" no one has the right to stop them. All anyone on this forum has tried to do is to point out the folly in doing so. Anyone can get a guitar that "sounds right, plays right and is backed by a real USA address with real people on the phone", and they don't have to spend $450 on a $250 guitar to do it, as Zager and his Zombies would have you believe.

 

Personally, If I found a used Zager at a yard sale, or a pawn shop for a REASONABLE price, I might consider buying it, if the nut and the frets aren't butchered up too much by that "String Science". I will NEVER advocate paying a $200 or more premium for "improvements and modifications" of very dubious value.

 

Ok, I'm done ranting. I feel better now.

[Misha]

Hi valentsgrif!

 

Yes, Mr valentsgrif is a real member. I think he is mostly active in the electric guitar forum.

 

Personally, I don't have any problem with Z*ger guitars! Only with their marketing practices.

 

At the end, as people mentionned before if Z*-owners are happy, that's what matters!

 

By the way, I never saw any Z*ager guitar in Canada!

[kwakatak]

Are we becoming paranoid, or am I just naive?

 

Yes

[bluecollarman]

weedle weedle weedle

 

+1 ROFLMA

 

No one mentioned the best part of the post...Denny is retiring from his master luthering!!

[masterbuilt]

MarkCvn, welcome to the board. Enjoy your Parkwood. I played one a little at a Guitar Center in Columbus, Ohio. Since no salesman came into the acoustic room and nobody gave me the time of day, I did not buy one, but, I might have bought one that day. I was in a sort of buying mood.

[kwakatak]

Well, I just wanted to post my personal experience of having been Zagerized . I did not dislike the guitar, it sounded nice to my ear. But after having been forced into a new purchase, and having gained at least a little experience, I feel I can say that the Zager is no better than a sub 300 guitar at best and that the Parkwood as well as many other low ends I tried are much better sounding than the Zager. For those people who will come to this thread straight from the Ebay site, I just wanted to express IMHO that 500 dollars can buy you a twice better guitar than a Zager ZAD-50. It is after all a little confusing to see such glowing feedback on ebay and in other reviews, and then read the conjugate opinions from you guys here. People buying Zagers do not get the chance to sit down a play them side by side with other commercial brands, since they are not sold anywhere but thru Denny. I have had the unfortunate experience of paying more than what I should have while getting less than what I could have and probably should have listened in the first place. The best I can do Is to warn others. I hope this helps to dissipate the uncomfortable aquatic smell, if not, sadly, that is simply your burden to bear. EZ-Play anything guaranties nothing.

 

Oh - OK, then...

 

As the commercial says: never underestimate the power of a good night's sleep.

 

Translation: I was wrong. Welcome to the board. I'll go back to lurking now.

[FlamingProstate]

 

Alright, I, being a beginner, bought one of those Zager ZAD 50 awhile back. It think it sounded really good from a noob perspective, even after reading all the controversy, I still bought one. It sounds great and I found it very hard to put down.

 

 

i know how you feel...my zager has even cured me of my erectile disfunkshun problem and when i called mr zager about it he siad he was gonna patent it and my guitar is shiny

[FlamingProstate]

MarkCvn, welcome to the board. Enjoy your Parkwood. I played one a little at a Guitar Center in Columbus, Ohio. Since no salesman came into the acoustic room and nobody gave me the time of day, I did not buy one, but, I might have bought one that day. I was in a sort of buying mood.

 

 

try to saty on topic

[masterbuilt]

Yo, Flaming... you know what you can do with that night stick...:poke:

[Pine Apple Slim]

 

Can you tell me about how all those guitars that you mentioned sound compared to the ZAD80? In this price range I want the best sound that Ican afford. Have you played and heard any or all of these guitars, or is this still just your opinion? Again, I am looking for honest first hand experience to make an informed buying decision. I get the impression that being a "Hall of Fame" member you just can't resist the temptation to put your 2 cents in alot of threads just to be heard, not really knowing what your are talking about with first hand experience. So, please, I want to hear from those that own one or played one! ONLY!

 

 

I played one.

Tone like a cardboard box compared to any other equally priced brand.

The EZ play set up is great for electric whankers who dont wanna hurt their precious little fingers and never intend to acoustically PLAY the dang thing above a whisper.

The frets are filed so flat and low you will never be able to dress them.

In short, it sucked, so there.

[boxorox]

I'm sure history will show your closed mindedness for what it is. Future generations will celebrate the Zager name along with the great acoustic engineers such as Loar, D'Angelico, Macaferri and Esteban. (His gutars are made of "real wood". What a concept!) All guitars will one day be made to Zager specs. By the year 2525. If man is still alive...

[Charlotte941]

 

Your right, this is getting rediculous. I do want to say I live in North Texas and not Lincoln Nebraska. I have played guitar since 1964 and not a newbie as stated. I love guitars. I have had Gibson and Gretsch (electrics). Now in additioned to the one in my previous post, I own Fender, a 1979 Takamine F-349 (Martin lawsuit copy) that my wife and I bought for my mom in that year, and an Ibanez AG-86. I would like to continue posting on this forum about general accoustic questions that may arise because I do recognize the talent here. Nothing stated was meant to "piss" people off. I didn't realize there was so much animosity toward certain guitars when I posted. What was stated was my actual opinion. End of subject

 

 

Just my 2 cents. I used to read these forums contemplating buying a Zager just to see what all the hype was about but I kept putting it off because of posters bashing Zager non stop. Finally I figured I had nothing to lose as Zager seems to honor their money back guarantee paying shipping both ways so I pulled out the credit card and ordered one of their acoustics in black. Now I will tell you that I am not a professional musician but I've been playing on and off for the last 25 years and I frequent some high end shops and play the best guitars they have just to see how good they really are. 4 days later the guitar arrives. I have to say that I was blown away. I currently own a Taylor 910 and the Zager plays much easier, really no comparison in this category. The string heights were slightly lower but the main difference was the string spacing and tension. There's a little bit of extra width between each string and that exta space makes a world of difference in my playing speed. It just seemed to fit better in my hands, much more natural. I also didn't have to press down near as hard especially on bar chords. Now I paid $2800 used for my Taylor but for crying out loud if you were to buy one brand new they retail over $4000. In my humble opinion I don't think a $500 guitar has any business playing even close to a $4000 instrument. My Taylor should have played circles around a guitar costing less then 1/6th the price. Sound was also very close. I would have to say my Taylor had an edge sound wise but my Taylor is also 8 years old and the Zager is brand new so I would assume that once the woods open up it might very well match it. Bottom line I paid under $500 and got a guitar that not only played easier but also came very close in tone to a guitar costing 7 times the price. As mentioned I'm not a professional but I did my research before buying reading everything I could find and I went by criteria like Zagers Ebay rating of over 1700 positive sales without even 1 negative feedback. I also called the Better Business Bureau and verified all was legitimate and they had been in business since 1969. I even went and checked their reviews on this website and they had hundreds with average ratings of 9.5+ on all thier models. You can't make up Ebay feedback and you can't make up hundreds of reviews from customers who leave email addresses and even sometimes phone numbers. All I can say is I took the plunge and was not disappointed. At this point I feel like I got screwed by Taylor.

[Brokepick]

 

31 posts and not a one of them is anything but a plug for Zager.

 

Can you say shill?

[daklander]

......I paid $2800 used for my Taylor...... At this point I feel like I got screwed by Taylor.

And Taylor screwed you how???? You purchased a USED Taylor,. The schmuck who sold it to you is the one with whom you should be PO'd.

[daklander]

31 posts and not a one of them is anything but a plug for Z@ger. Can you say shill?

 

Yeah, he's probably the poster child for Z... shills.

[FlyinFlip]

Zagers cause cancer! its true! Denny's String Science went wrong and his secret formula seeps into your pores. Check it out on the web! Thats why Zagers are built in Asia - the FDA and EPA wouldn't allow the carcinogens used in manufacturing in the states! My cousin bought one and he got brain cancer. They had to take out over half of his brain, and after that he thought the Zager sounded and played as good as a Taylor!! Beware!!

 

Yeah! Zager guitars rock. If you believe that, you must have had the same operation! By the far the most overhyped, underperforming guitars on the market! But hey, you get to play an acoustic with extra light gauge strings! What kind of moron would believe that this is a good deal?? Oh - the idiots who post false and multiple identities in forums to get free advertising. Well advertise this: Zager guitars are only sold to those who don't know any better.

 

Denny Zager makes his living by touting his one hit and screwing over good people looking to get started on guitar.

 

Charlotte941 is a shill, and he spends his day posting favorable reviews in forums and blogs under different names so that YOU will think that Zager is worthwhile. Yes, you can make up hundreds of reviews. 1700 positive feedbacks from EBAY only means that the product was delivered as promised, it states nothing about the merchandise.

 

Tell you what Charlotte, you could at least post a pic where you are playing a Zager - not that 12 string. But it is all made up anyway so it doesn't matter.

 

If you want a real review read this.

 

Why doesn't Zager publicize the fact that the warranty is void if you put a larger gauge string set on? With the loss of volume and tone resulting from such light gauge strings, no one would want the guitar!

 

Actually, no one wants the guitar as it is. What people want is the hype that Zager creates. Of course its all smoke and mirrors. Was it PT Barnum that said "Sell the sizzle, not the steak"? he definitely said "Theres a sucker born every minute" and both apply to Zager.

 

No other manufacturer goes to these ridiculous lengths (shills like Charlotte941) to try and fool the buying public. Stay away or else you will get CANCER!

[riffmeister]

Zagers cause cancer!

 

Great second post. Your first post was a piece of {censored}, too.

 

[valentsgrif]

Can someone please stop posting "Lumpy's" link as some sort of evidence of Zager inferiority.

 

The faults "Lumpy" (that name alone should cause one to pause) are of a guitar that was brought to him by someone who is unidentified. We don't know if it was bought new, used or what its previous owners did to it. I've yet to see any other reviews that duplicate Lumpy's findings (with pics) and on the other hand find in multiple reviews in a variety of settings, an overwhelming amount of positive feedback, myself included. I've been playing acoustic for over 30 years, do my own set ups on my Yamahas and if requested will detail why I bought a ZXager over 3 years ago, if you care.

 

But what peaks my curiousity on here is the number of under 100 posts of people who slam Zager; I guess these experts have been silently lurking for years and the Zager guitar makes them finally break out to lend their two cents and save the great unwashed from the error of their ways. Or maybe they are a bunch of loser "joiners" who want acceptence by the cool kids and pile on an instrument they havn't played, let alone seen. I guess high school never really ends.

 

Funny how everyone is ok with $900 Chinese Masterbuilt Epiphones. Yeah, and the "masters" building them are 13 year old asian kids. I guess that kind of marketing is ok.

[Stackabones]

[Crab_Cake]

 

 

(I love the new emoticon)

[totamus]

 

Funny how everyone is ok with $900 Chinese Masterbuilt Epiphones. Yeah, and the "masters" building them are 13 year old asian kids. I guess that kind of marketing is ok.

 

 

You do realize Zagers are Asian guitars, imported by Zager? After the Sigma line (also Asian) was discontinued he started importing his own. All Zager guitars that I have seen are Asian imports. I would understand if you didn't realize this - as one of the reasons many find Zagers so objectionable is the misleading advertising.

[Hudman]

Zager owners love a good fight.

[boxorox]

Zager, Zager, Zager! Doesn't anyone think of Evans anymore? Where is your sensitivity?

But honestly, buying marginal or decent pac-rim guitars, giving them a fret dressing and a tweak, and selling them as your own is BS.

I've had a decent Sigma. Dressed the frets, tweaked the truss rod. Lightened up the bass bars. End result: A nice playing good sounding Sigma. I sold it as fast as I could.

If you try one and like it, buy it. But there are better guitars to be had for the money. A Seagull comes to mind...

[daklander]

 

But what peaks my curiousity on here is the number of under 100 posts of people who slam Zager; .....

 

What pisses most of us off, and me in particular, is the number of shills who's first post here is a spam regarding Zager guitars, their tremendous qualities and that wonderful String Science. And, of course, every freaking one of them has been playing guitar for as many, or more, years than I have, and nearly all own other guitars, some well respected guitars with tremendous history and a reputation for quality, and they seem to somehow find the Zagers to be something special with a super String Science setup, that happens to be exactly how my Ventura, without String Science, is set up, as compared to the one guitar who's owner had the guts to measure the setup and post the results.

I don't believe more than two Zager braggarts who have come here lauding the guitars on their first have stuck around and I don't recall hearing any recordings posted. (I may be mistaken on that, TCBronson, maybe.....) (Old timers disease you know....)

I mentioned before you are the anomaly in your posts. You were a contributing member on HC quite a long time before you bought your Zager, according to your first Zager post.

Hey, really, most of us are happy that you guys who actually purchased one of the guitars and it was good enough that you kept it, and you actually stick around. It's my believe few of the shills actually purchased one of those guitars or even own any others.

 

When the frickin' shills go away the hate will as well.