Post by oldbones on Feb 6, 2011 11:04:15 GMT
Manufacturer & Model *: LAG 200PE Parlour guitar
Where Purchased: Baroque and Roll (Cinderford)
Year Purchased: 2008
Sound *: Being a parlour guitar, you don't expect the projection or resonance of a full-bodied guitar, let alone a jumbo, but for its size, the 200PE produces an acoustically loud bright sound with enough bass to satisfy.
The guitar is best suited to finger-picking and plectrum lead. Strumming isn't quite so effective as the treble tends to get a bit lost and overall definition can be a tad muddy. Plectrum strums sound better than fingertip strums - but chords picked cleanly when fingerpicking sound very good.
Sound Rating *: 8
Setup *: Action as bought was low, but not ultra-low. There were no fret buzzes and this hasn't changed since it was bought. I usually use a G7th or Shubb capo and even at the 9th fret, there sre no signs of buzz or rattle.
The neck profile is comfortable but the strap button as fitted to the heel is best removed as you can slam your hand into it when playing high up the neck. Either use the type of strap which lets you 'hang' the guitar via a small attachment at the soundhole, or move the button to the bottom of the heel.
Setup Rating *: 10
Appearance *: A lovely little guitar. Build quality is excellent with only a hint of glue-smear at the bridge. The finish is not gloss and that doesn't always appeal to everyone.
Appearance Rating *: 9
Reliability *: Absolutely no nits to pick here. The guitar came fitted with Elixir strings and tuning is fantastically stable. I can't even recall the last time I had to adjust tuning - and this is one of 3 guitars that I contantly have on stands in rooms of my house, so it gets played pretty well every day.
Reliability Rating *: 10
Components *: String attachment is of the through-bridge type with no pins. This has thus far caused no problems. Restringing is ultra-easy.
The main component to describe is the 5-preset Studio LAG system. This provides just 5 untweakable settings - and therein lies both a good idea and a glaring problem. You can choose between these options:
1 - Natural folk
2 - Bluesy / Studio
3 - Rhythm
4 - Fingerstyle
5 - Jazz
The idea is to provide the player with 5 disctinctive settings to make it easy to switch quickly and cleanly. BUT - the assumption is that players only need these settings and are happy to accept them as-is. Any tweaking has to be done either via an in-line FX modelling unit or at the amp. So what's the point? At best, the settings will be what you want. Next best, they come close and give you a starting point for tweaking. At worst, they need to be significantly tweaked to give you the sound that YOU want. Also - doe settings 1 or 4 actually give a true electro reflection of the acoustic sound? I'm not sure.
I love the guitar, but not the pickup system. (This isn't a problem for me as I rarely use the electro side of things anyway).
Components Rating *: 6
Pre-sale Customer Service: Superb pre-sales advice. The dealer made sure there would be guitar for me to try on the day I went to see him. There was no pressure to buy.
Pre-sale Customer Service Rating: 10
Post-sale Customer Service: Just as good as the pre-sales service.
Unfortunately the credit crunch destroyed his business and he had to close.
Post-sale Customer Service Rating: 10
Any Other Information: This guitar was part of the LAG 'Four Seasons' series which has now been discontinued in favour of the Tramontane series.
I'd defintely recommend trying one if you encounter it. Cost-wise it was an incredible bargain when new --- but make sure you check that electro side of things. It could be a deal-breaker.
Where Purchased: Baroque and Roll (Cinderford)
Year Purchased: 2008
Sound *: Being a parlour guitar, you don't expect the projection or resonance of a full-bodied guitar, let alone a jumbo, but for its size, the 200PE produces an acoustically loud bright sound with enough bass to satisfy.
The guitar is best suited to finger-picking and plectrum lead. Strumming isn't quite so effective as the treble tends to get a bit lost and overall definition can be a tad muddy. Plectrum strums sound better than fingertip strums - but chords picked cleanly when fingerpicking sound very good.
Sound Rating *: 8
Setup *: Action as bought was low, but not ultra-low. There were no fret buzzes and this hasn't changed since it was bought. I usually use a G7th or Shubb capo and even at the 9th fret, there sre no signs of buzz or rattle.
The neck profile is comfortable but the strap button as fitted to the heel is best removed as you can slam your hand into it when playing high up the neck. Either use the type of strap which lets you 'hang' the guitar via a small attachment at the soundhole, or move the button to the bottom of the heel.
Setup Rating *: 10
Appearance *: A lovely little guitar. Build quality is excellent with only a hint of glue-smear at the bridge. The finish is not gloss and that doesn't always appeal to everyone.
Appearance Rating *: 9
Reliability *: Absolutely no nits to pick here. The guitar came fitted with Elixir strings and tuning is fantastically stable. I can't even recall the last time I had to adjust tuning - and this is one of 3 guitars that I contantly have on stands in rooms of my house, so it gets played pretty well every day.
Reliability Rating *: 10
Components *: String attachment is of the through-bridge type with no pins. This has thus far caused no problems. Restringing is ultra-easy.
The main component to describe is the 5-preset Studio LAG system. This provides just 5 untweakable settings - and therein lies both a good idea and a glaring problem. You can choose between these options:
1 - Natural folk
2 - Bluesy / Studio
3 - Rhythm
4 - Fingerstyle
5 - Jazz
The idea is to provide the player with 5 disctinctive settings to make it easy to switch quickly and cleanly. BUT - the assumption is that players only need these settings and are happy to accept them as-is. Any tweaking has to be done either via an in-line FX modelling unit or at the amp. So what's the point? At best, the settings will be what you want. Next best, they come close and give you a starting point for tweaking. At worst, they need to be significantly tweaked to give you the sound that YOU want. Also - doe settings 1 or 4 actually give a true electro reflection of the acoustic sound? I'm not sure.
I love the guitar, but not the pickup system. (This isn't a problem for me as I rarely use the electro side of things anyway).
Components Rating *: 6
Pre-sale Customer Service: Superb pre-sales advice. The dealer made sure there would be guitar for me to try on the day I went to see him. There was no pressure to buy.
Pre-sale Customer Service Rating: 10
Post-sale Customer Service: Just as good as the pre-sales service.
Unfortunately the credit crunch destroyed his business and he had to close.
Post-sale Customer Service Rating: 10
Any Other Information: This guitar was part of the LAG 'Four Seasons' series which has now been discontinued in favour of the Tramontane series.
I'd defintely recommend trying one if you encounter it. Cost-wise it was an incredible bargain when new --- but make sure you check that electro side of things. It could be a deal-breaker.
) I did have to go up a string guage tho. Give it a try maybe?