Epiphone DR 90 Limited Edition

[Tele-Caster]

I recently went shopping for an acoustic guitar after 5 or 6 years of not owning one.

I played bunches and bunches of guitars over the last few weeks. On my last day of guitar shopping, I had the contenders narrowed down to a particular Seagull S6 and a particular Yamaha FG 700, of all things.

I've been to the S6 rodeo before, so I wasn't surprised to like the one that I found. I happen to think that the Seagull S6 is a great sounding guitar, not just "for the price" but at any price. Advancing age and arthritis have me bonding with the sting spacing and neck profile of the S6 better now than when I owned one previously.

The big surprise was the Yamaha FG 700. Of all of the guitars I played to that point, the Yamaha FG 700 was my favorite, tone-wise. It is a little brighter and more mid-rangey than the S6. This actually is an advantage to me because I'm a bare fingers on strings kind of guy, so a "bright" sound under plectrum activation isn't so overwheling the way I normally play with bare fingers on strings.

Ultimately, the choice was between outstanding playablity in my hands or slightly better tone to my ears. I decided to "sleep on it" and return when my mind was made up. Thankfully, the simple solution of just buying both of them didn't spring immediately to mind at the time. Instead, what did spring to mind was a little prayer-like thought that the perfect guitar would have the tone of the FG 700 and the playing feel of the S6.

On my way out of the store, I spotted a guitar with a $58.44 price tag out of the corner of my eye. I suppose it was curiosity, more than anything, that had me taking the "cheapie" back in to the acoustic room. I'd played everything else, so why not play that one, too? I'd know, first hand, just how dreadful a guitar priced less than a tank of gas actually is.

Well, in a day filled with surprises, this was the biggest one yet. The tone of this bargin-bin special was even more impressive to me than the FG 700, having more punch when strummed hard and significantly more sustain. I really liked the sound the guitar produced, but I liked the playability, too. The action set-up was just how I like it from the git-go. Low enough, but not too low for annoying buzzes. Credit a decent job of fretwork there, too. Frets were all properly dressed, crowned, and even in height. I had thought that the playability of the S6 was a good as I was likely to find, but this guitar had it beat. The string spacing was similar if not the same, but the neck had a faster, less chunky feel to it. It was also baby-bottom smooth where the S6 had a kind of sticky feel to it.

The tone was lush on chords stummed with a flatpick -even chords formed beyond the fifth fret. Individual notes rang out with piano-like clarity. There was plenty of bottom to be had on bass runs, but it wasn't overpowering. The quitar had a nice, even response up, down, and across the fingerboard. It is very "Ovation like" in that regard, which I think is a good thing. In all, a well balanced, refinied sound was being delivered by this low-buck box. The other shocker was how much volume it delivered with just bare fingers on strings. The S6 was the champ there, but this low-buck guitar wasn't that far behind. It was easier to get volume with thorugh bare fingers on strings than the Yamaha FG 700.

This guitar had the tone and playability I was looking for but I couldn't be satisfied with that, so I decided to nit-pick and look for an excuse not to fall in love with such an inexpenisve insturment. The gloss finish was nicely applied. The thin body bindings almost looked and felt painted on because of the non-existant gap between them and the wood. The interior of the body was neat and tidy, too.

There has to be a catch, and of course there is one or two. The tuners on the guitar are old-school non-sealed 14:1 units with chrome covers. The knobs are chrome and their form factor gives the guitar a kind of vintage vibe and feel. They seem to work very smoothly, so their old-school spec isn't a dealbreaker to me. I wasn't expecting sealed Grovers or Schallers at this price, anyhow.

The body and back of this guitar are Nato ply and on mine, this wood has a very pronounced and highly figured grain pattern that is pleasing to the eye. A plywood backed and sided guitar isn't a deal breaker for me, either. Most of the acoustic guitars I've owned have been Ovations, so getting uptight over plywood backs and sides when most of my acoustic guitars didn't even use wood for those jobs would be kind of hypocritical. I tend to think of plywood backs and sides as yielding a more robust box that can withstand extremes in temperature, humidity, and the occasional hard knock better than solid wood. Since part of the joy of acoustic is being able to make music around a campfire, there is certainly a place for a plywood backed and sided guitar in my playing life.

Plywood tops, on the other hand, are something that are said to be universally yucky and in general, I tend to agree with the conventional wisdom. On the other hand, I've heard and played some older Yamahas with plywood tops that sounded fantastic in spite of being so handicapped. The cheap guitar that I was falling for seemed to fit that model. It was delivering volume, tone, and an articulate voice that it simply shouldn't have been delivering. Not surprisingly, the tone was a little more focused than that of the other two contenders. My expectation was that this cheapie might deliver a decent recorded sound without too much trouble.

The tone is what it is -pretty dang good and shockingly so for the price of admission. The downside is that it won't "open up" but there is a yang to that yin, too. It isn't likely to get worse under exposure to conditions that I wouldn't want to subject an all solid wood insturment to.

The day after I got the guitar home, I spent the entire day playing it. The thing refused to stay in tune for the first few hours or so. I had to tweek it every now and then for the remainder of the day. By the thrid day, it was holding tune quite well. I mention this because some reviewers on the 'net have been critical of this model for lack of tuning stability. At first, I agreed with the negative press on that score but mine is now just as stable as any other non-Ovation acoustic guitar that I've owned.

I've recorded a few tracks with it and my gut instinct about its "recordability" was right on. It mikes well for live performance, too, as I discovered yesterday when I played out with it for the first time.

I like this guitar so much that I sought to buy another from the same place. Unfortunately, the store I purchased it from had them ridiculously low priced for a reason. They're out of stock and aren't planning on getting any more. Epiphone doesn't seem to list the thing in their catalog.

The fact that this guitar was the cheapest one in the shop isn't why I bought it. I almost DIDN'T buy it for that reason. I play a Deering banjo, a G&L Legacy, and a Telecaster so I do have some sense of pride in my tools and I am not used to finding musical happiness in the instrument bargain bin.

I'd also caution that as much as I like my Epiphone DR-90 Ltd. Ed., and as much as I'd like to have another one of the same thing, I'm reluctant to buy one online because I'm still not convinced that they can all come out this good for an MSRP of $160.00 and around $130.00 on the real or virtual street. They certainly got mine right, though, and if they can get one to sound this good, I suspect they can get at least a few more to pass as acceptable instruments.

I wasn't too inclined to pay attention to Epiphone for guitar purchases in the past -particularly acoustic guitar purchases, but one result of this experience is that I am very keen on trying a couple more of their models and giving them a shot. For example, I have to think that if this bargin-bin model is so good, a "Masterbuilt" DR-500 might be very good, indeed.

I'm posting this more for the benefit of someone looking for a guitar to dabble with the acoustic realm, or looking for a decent but inexpensive camping or travel guitar, not to convince anybody to buy one, but to say that in might be worth giving one a shot if you happen to stumble on to one at a good price.

T-C

[Opa John]

I believe it. I played one a couple of years ago on one of my visits to Sam Ash. It was $99 and actually one of the best looking, best sounding, easiest playing guitars I looked at that day under ~$400. Didn't buy it though......maybe I should have.

There's certainly nothing wrong with owning a cheap "beater" guitar as long as it sounds good. I think everyone should own one....no matter whatever other guitars a person has.

[lckyjcky]

Cool review, enjoyed reading it, thanks. Reminds me of Stella, she was the sweetest dog I ever had, even though I have had AKC registered purebreds, that mongrel was the best four legged pal I have ever had. I now have a $3000 English bulldog, but I miss my Stella. Sob...

[Tele-Caster]

After a week of playing my Epiphone DR-90 Ltd. Ed. daily and not being able to put it down for hours on end, I remain shocked and amazed by the sound quality and playability of this "el cheapo starter model" guitar.

I've replaced the strings with a Martin phosphor bronze light guage set. As expected, the guitar sounds even better and is even more playable now.

I'm really impressed by the playability and how well this guitar was set up as issued. I'm equally impressed at how well it sings through an SM-58 mic, now that I've played out with it a few more times since my original post.

I agree with the comment that there's a place for "beater guitars that sound good" and this DR 90 Ltd. Ed seems more than up to filling that role.

T-C

[zombywoof]

Seems to me you did everything right in picking a guitar.

You held the guitar in your sweaty little hands before buying, you compared it to others, and let your ear and fingers tell you what to do rather than the advice of the guitar gurus out there.

Play the heck out of it and enjoy!