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(More customer reviews)I own other acoustic guitars: an all solid wood Martin 000, a Taylor 810 Limited, a 90s Tacoma dreadnought, 2 Takamines (one Japan, one Korean made), a Jasmine S34C NEX (which I reviewed here on Amazon) even an Esteban (which I gave away with no regrets). So to be honest, this "handcrafted" instrument is the worst built of any that I have ever handled. The wood used is of low quality even if it is all solid; and the fit and finish is on par with the Esteban (I would venture to say that the Esteban is a little better built and finished).
To give you a better idea, the finish is uneven to where you can see the difference in the level of lacquer on the surface of the sound board. On the back side, you can see areas where the lacquer is thick and cloudy. Some areas on the edge of the sound board looks like it was cut with a dull blade. They even used off colored wood filler to fill in the dog eared areas where the sound board meets the side. The fretwork is sloppy on the edges, and unleveled which leads to lots of buzzing. Very disappointing for an instrument at this price range.
Now, the style is very cool and the sound that the instrument gives off is full and unique; not boomy like a dreadnought and not shallow like some concert body styles. It sounds better than my NEX Takamines, but not as rich as my 000 Martin and does not have the projection and volume of any of my dreadnoughts. It is definitely worth owning for the unique sound and body style. But, just beware that Giannini is way behind the Indonesians (don't mean to knock anyone, but there is a pecking order) in their guitar craftsmanship. My NEX styled Jasimine will attest to that.
I ordered two from Amazon, the first one I returned promptly due to the fact that it looked like some used cheapo you would pick up at a garage sale or flea market. The second was much better and actually looked new. That is the one I based this review on, sorry to say. I would have given the first one 2 stars all around. This one actually gets 3 for build quality at least. I give it 4 stars for sound and playability (if I ignore the fret buzzes), and 5 for cool factor and fun to own. This averages out to be a 4, but actually more like 3 1/2.
If you are going to buy one of these, I hope you get a chance to check it out first. I don't recommend buying sight unseen due to the differences in build quality in the two specimens that I received. And, don't pay over a grand for this thing. I got mine on a good sale day and it was much, much less.
BTW: Amazon does have a great return policy, even though they made me pay for return shipping on the first one until they verified my complaints and refunded me some of the return shipping cost (but not all). And of course, they promptly sent me another to replace the first. Kudos to Amazon, even though they sometimes try to pass a reject along for the real deal. This is not the first time they did this to me with a guitar purchase. Come on Amazon, you need to inspect your instruments before you send them out. It would save a lot of time, money and frustration.
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