Esteban American Legacy Black Mist Limited Edition Reviews 5

$235 from HSN

The first thing to note is, Esteban has apparently fixed the problems of the original American Legacy. I never had a pin come loose and the electronics work fine. I love the look of this guitar. It's a black dreadnought, with mother of pearl trim. I'm used to an Alvarez Regent 5224, a $700 acoustic, and I could hardly tell the difference. The on board EQ comes in very handy when switching between effects on the fly. The overall construction just feels good. It comes with a reinforced gig bag, two instructional DVD's and 2 booklets, a couple of picks, guitar polish and cloths, an electronic tuner, an extra set of strings, a 10 watt 5" amp and a short cord. The tone is awesome... it sounds just like my Alvarez.

The black enamel finish on the front of the guitar was marred right out of the box, but it's not noticeable unless you look for it. The DVD's are alright but the method books suck. There are mistakes in the printed music and I can read standard notation and tab, but not Esteban-notation. The action is a little too long for me.

Aside from some minor marring on the face of the guitar, it's gorgeous. It feels solid and has some heft to it, and plays like a much more expensive guitar. It's a dreadnought with a neck-through design and a thick, round neck, so it may not be good for those with very small hands.

This guitar is well worth the money. It's so versatile, it's among the most beautiful guitars I've ever seen. It's good for beginners to intermediate players, and I expect to keep playing it for a long time. It's everything you need to get started playing for less than $300, and only 20,000 were made so it's a collector's item if nothing more.

Kery Adams rated this unit 5 on 2004-10-19.

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