the_cunning_1

i bought a zad 80 ce a few months ago. largely based on the testimonials on their websight. genius i tell you, pure genious. anyway, when i first got it, i thought that it sounded nice and played pretty well. i will stand by that assessment. the playability is very good, the sound is just good and the guitar feels a little boxy and heavy. when i emailed their customer service, i got a lot about how the guitar will only sound better with age and that other guitar makers (namely taylor) age the wood for their guitars, so naturally the taylors would sound better. so i decided to give it a little play time and see what happened. it doesn't sound any worse, but...... the reason i went with the zager in the first place is that i hoped to find a guitar for under a $1000 that sounded and played like the $3,000-$4,000 guitars (like the taylor 814). what i got was a guitar that cost $800 and sounded like a LOT OF OTHER GUITARS in the same price range. so. it's not that i'm unhappy with it, it's just not a great bargain. after having played (and buying) a larivee J-09, i relized the depth of my mistake. granted i paid a bit more for the larivee, it was very well worth the extra cash. i also have a 1970 yamaha fg-180 (an absolute BEAST of a guitar) and recently i got an fg 345ll (1973 model). of my guitars, the zager is the one i like and play the least. if anyone is looking for a newer ZAD 80/CE (with case) i'd sell it for less than i paid.