Donner Carbon X Wood Acoustic Guitar Beginner & Intermediate Learner Kits - Carbon Fiber Top, Wooden Bowl, 38" Durable Solid Guitar with Case, Strap, Steel-String, RISING-G1 (Gloss, Black)

I'm a self-taught player who finally was able to pick-up a guitar after retirement. I'm certainly not a great player by any stretch, but I do enjoy doing what I do finding song chords and messing around with fingerstyle play. In this journey of about 10 years or so, I've played numerous guitars...no different than a lot of 'music store rats' trying out various guitars, some that we can afford, and many that we can't. I've played and owned Taylors and Martins and a number of other high reputation guitars. I only mention that to provide you, the reader, with a perspective.I've come to find out that people who own guitars don't just own one, or two...probably more like 5, or more. Guitars are very personal. We obviously are very picky about their sound projected, how they feel and play and numerous other things. And so we think we like a guitar, buy it and then find out perhaps it wasn't the best choice or perhaps, and I'll use the phrase that I've read from others so many times, 'it's time to thin the herd!'My guitar journey has brought me to some realizations. I'm not going to play professionally.....Ha! In fact, other than that very occasional, mostly infrequent opportunity, I play for me. Every now and then I will play around the campfire for others etc, but usually it's me and perhaps my poor wife hearing me behind the closed doors.Another realization. You don't have to spend ridiculous amounts of money to either get quality or an excellent sounding guitar. I've played and purchased a few Eastman guitars that were/are incredible, great sounding guitars at a fraction of the cost for those top brands. It seems some guitar players have as much interest in owning those top brands....sometimes several of them....in fact will list them on forums like badges of honor, which I find most interesting. How many guitars does a person need?And finally, I realize that I know what I like. I have a pretty decent ear, something that has helped me considerably on my journey. I know there are many, many folks much more skilled than I am at a lot of things. Additionally, as I mentioned, guitars are very personal and assessments of them very subjective. I've tried guitars in music stores that were reviewed extremely well by multiple sources, some 'professional', and I was struck by how much I disagreed with their assessments.And so, I come to this little guy that I purchased a week or so ago. A quick side-story that leads to this. I have a brother who seems to have a similar interest in learning to play the guitar. Had a rather large Yamaha and although it was a nice sounding instrument, I advised him for learning purposes perhaps he ought to think about a short-scaled, smaller guitar. I did a little research for him and found this Donner guitar. He didn't want to spend much money.....check. It had pretty strong reviews. Sold his Yamaha and bought the Donner. He shared that he loved the feel, the sound...was really happy with his purchase. One day, he visited and brought the guitar.I was so impressed with this little guitar I ordered one. My 'go to' guitar that is always at my fingertips in my office has many battle scars. It has had many accidents in its life, cracked in a few places, yet still sounding decent. And it will find a new home. My wife and I have learned in our 'older age' when we are considering a purchase of something....'One out...one in.'This guitar will serve me incredibly well, I'm sure. It is extremely comfortable to play with its reduced size. It's extremely lightweight and is just a pleasure to hold and play. You can have all those things going for you, however if it doesn't sound good to your ear, you're not going to want to play it and you'll be 'thinning the herd' again soon. I've often heard smaller guitars described as having limited, 'tinny' sound. I'm amazed at how balanced the sound is. It's rich, full with nice highs and I can't believe the low end on this thing. Perhaps this might be one thing some will not find appealing about it....the low end is significant and some may find it overwhelms the mids and highs. Again, personal preference here. I like it. Donner describes its ability to get this kind of sound is from its unique bracing...I'm also sure it's from the carbon sound board. The richness of its sound and sustain are so surprising. It also stays in tune remarkably well.The guitar seems to be of high quality. I've looked it over thoroughly and I don't notice anything about it that reveals its pricepoint. So, finally...price. How a guitar that I like as much as I do (read into this my above War and Peace novel about perspective!) can be had for less than $200 is beyond me. If you're a beginner, like my brother, or not; if you want a guitar that you don't have to worry about dinging or whatever because you want to travel with it, or just have it for daily playing, I'd strongly suggest you would consider this guitar. I honestly think you'll not be disappointed.

As an owner of two Taylor acoustics. Someone who appreciates well balanced tone, feel, and craftsmanship. This Donner is awesome. For the price You can’t beat it. I’ve played tons of acoustics from $300 to $2000. And this one sounds better than all of them. Intonation is good too. That’s always an issue on guitars in this price point. Gig bag is decent, strings sound good. Strap is nice. Includes picks, cleaning cloth. and tool to adjust the truss rod. I would highly recommend you at least give this one a shot. You can always return it if you don’t like it. One thing to note. The neck is a bit thicker than one might like. But for me it’s fine. I don’t have an issue with it nor does it feel too thick. My action is a bit high. But no big deal. I’ll pop the bridge off and sand it down a little.Incase you wanted to know. I measured and the scale length of this guitar and it’s 24.75. The nut and saddle are either bone or synthetic bone. Not plastic.

I purchased this for my kid to use as a "beach" guitar because of the price and was not expecting much. However, the guitar was surprisingly good in many ways. The action was fine. The neck was straight. There were no obvious intonation issues when using a capo to play higher up on the neck. The general build quality is almost comparable to Baby Taylors. The design is a copy of McPherson guitars with the offset sound hole. This helps in the guitar sound big and full despite it being a 3/4 scale guitar. The guitar does use a plastic bridge and the carrying bag is not the best but that's to be expected given the price. Also, these things don't affect the overall quality, playability, and sound of the guitar.

This is a sharp looking guitar and you immediately notice that some effort went into crafting the design and attention to detail. Everything visually-minded about this Rising-G1 looks top notch (I got the Brown Gloss model). This is a small guitar, only 38" like the Parlor models and light as a feather, though the cutout feature allows good access all across the fretboard with smooth rounded frets both up and down and a sharp looking fretboard cutout at the body. The headstock is visually stunning with polished bronze looking designer tuners and embossed logo. Most notable is the "parametric" sound hole with its offset location. It took about 3-4 hours of playtime to break-in the strings (11-50's) which brought the tune down to a warm sounding, comfortable tone. The padded gig bag is well made and a very nice addition to this package. The only drawback is the volume level. It's very low, so you won't be disturbing any neighbors while playing this guitar. It desperately needs a pickup for boost, but for $200.00 it's a deal and a nice addition to my collection. Oh, and most important, it's fun to play with a great feel to it!

High quality guitar! Excellent finish and sounds great. Excellent sustain and reasonably priced. Very playable guitar!!!!