PittPastor
Member
OK, the Arcos is here! [I have not decided yet to keep it, so feel free to chime in with opinions. I'm not emotionally invested. Yet.]
First impressions are pretty good. I will have an expert look at it before I make my final decision. I see a line that seems to not follow the flattop grain, and wonder if that might be a lacquer crack. But I'm not too concerned about that. Everything looks good to my eye -- except the action seems crazy high to me. I know my D40C is low (both because I like low action and because of the neck issue and cut saddle compensation) but this one just seems way too high.
It has (old) medium strings on it now. I will switch them out for lights. That will make the action seem better, but I still don't like how high it gets by twelfth fret. I imagine that can be fixed, but (correct me if I am wrong) that means shaving the bridge -- so I need to wait until I make the decision to keep Arcos first.
The electronics are a pleasant surprise. I like having a tuner, and EQ built in. I haven't plugged it in yet. I will do that later today, I hope.
The case is a soft case. Not crazy about that. But the foam packing in the soft case is solid. I think it protects it really well. The nice thing about it is it won't get nicked or scratched like a hard shell case does. But I really don't like the idea of zipping and unzipping every time I want to take it out to play. If I keep it, I probably will look into a hard shell case for it.
The arched back is hardly noticeable when I play it. That's a plus. I thought it was going to feel like trying to play an Ovation (something I never could get used to!)
The sound is brighter than my D40C. Surprisingly, tho, I feel the humming of the bass strings through the arched back more than I do on my D40C. It has a pretty good voice. I don't love the tone's balance -- but I don't want to focus on that too much. I am sure it will sound different with new strings. If I don't like the bright sound, Martin Retros are really good for making tones seem more woody, and I just happen to have a set here. So, I will try a couple of things before deciding.
OK, enough babble... you came here to see pictures! (I know you guys so well...)
Here we go:
In the "Hard Soft Case"
Front
Back. Arch not noticeable
A look at the slotted bridge. Never had a guitar with one of these before
showing the action. Don't like how fast it rises
Electronics
And here's how you know it is a refurb:
Here is a closeup on the arch. IDK how to make this smaller!
First impressions are pretty good. I will have an expert look at it before I make my final decision. I see a line that seems to not follow the flattop grain, and wonder if that might be a lacquer crack. But I'm not too concerned about that. Everything looks good to my eye -- except the action seems crazy high to me. I know my D40C is low (both because I like low action and because of the neck issue and cut saddle compensation) but this one just seems way too high.
It has (old) medium strings on it now. I will switch them out for lights. That will make the action seem better, but I still don't like how high it gets by twelfth fret. I imagine that can be fixed, but (correct me if I am wrong) that means shaving the bridge -- so I need to wait until I make the decision to keep Arcos first.
The electronics are a pleasant surprise. I like having a tuner, and EQ built in. I haven't plugged it in yet. I will do that later today, I hope.
The case is a soft case. Not crazy about that. But the foam packing in the soft case is solid. I think it protects it really well. The nice thing about it is it won't get nicked or scratched like a hard shell case does. But I really don't like the idea of zipping and unzipping every time I want to take it out to play. If I keep it, I probably will look into a hard shell case for it.
The arched back is hardly noticeable when I play it. That's a plus. I thought it was going to feel like trying to play an Ovation (something I never could get used to!)
The sound is brighter than my D40C. Surprisingly, tho, I feel the humming of the bass strings through the arched back more than I do on my D40C. It has a pretty good voice. I don't love the tone's balance -- but I don't want to focus on that too much. I am sure it will sound different with new strings. If I don't like the bright sound, Martin Retros are really good for making tones seem more woody, and I just happen to have a set here. So, I will try a couple of things before deciding.
OK, enough babble... you came here to see pictures! (I know you guys so well...)
Here we go:
In the "Hard Soft Case"
Front
Back. Arch not noticeable
A look at the slotted bridge. Never had a guitar with one of these before
showing the action. Don't like how fast it rises
Electronics
And here's how you know it is a refurb:
Here is a closeup on the arch. IDK how to make this smaller!
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