Donner Acoustic Guitar for Adult Beginners, Full Size 4/4 Cutaway Guitar Package 41'' Spruce Mahogany with Gig Bag Tuner Strap Strings Capo Picks (DAG-1C)

Product Information

I may have gotten a return item because the truss rod cover is chipped and there are surface scratches from strumming. The guitar is made from a unique wood called Kauri, which produces a warm and powerful sound. The wood resonates better than mahogany and creates a higher clarity. The laminated spruce on top adds to the durability of the instrument. Despite its already affordable price, the Donner DAG-1C comes with everything a beginner needs – from a padded gig bag to a digital clip-on tuner, and even an Allen wrench! On the other hand, the brass strings on this guitar deliver a bright metallic sound. It’s also easy to play, so playability isn’t an issue, either. Its impressive tonal quality and brighter sound also make it perfect for a variety of playing styles and guitar playing skill levels. The guitar arrived for the most part not set up. The action was high and the truss rod set without tension. One half turn of the truss rod and removing the two shim strips under the saddle solved the problem. It could use some work at the nut also. Intonation was acceptable.

The string pins on the bridge can be out of various materials such as plastic, ivory, and bone. The standard low and medium-level guitars come with plastic pins which are easily broken or damaged. You may consider changing them with ivory or graph tech string pins for a better tone and tuning stability. Differences Between The Models While briefly swapping strings to try a lighter set (which did not change the setup, probably thanks to the carbon fiber), one of the bridge pins snapped off. I was using a Music Nomad bridge pin puller, not some makeshift tool. Fortunately, I had a few spare pins.Donner guitars are ideal for beginners from the value standpoint. Guitars often come with accessories or even all that you need to get started. Donner guitars are also usually easy to play, versatile, and sound good. Also, players who want a basic acoustic guitar to play from time to time can prefer Donner DAG series. If you want an inexpensive guitar to play around with, you surely go with this model. The guitar is not the best choice for more experienced guitarists looking for a solid guitar to play live performances or make recordings. Although the sound is excellent for a budget guitar, I’m not sure it would satisfy an experienced player looking for specific characteristic sounds.

I had to admit that the crunch tones were the ones I least enjoyed with this Donner, but it doesn’t mean this axe sounds bad with crunch, it just was just not my favorite use for this guitar. But crunch tones of this axe are still really good for the price. But most important of them all, although this is a good-quality instrument for its price. All of the compliments I am giving to the instrument are relative to its price. The guitar is excellent for beginners, but it most probably would not satisfy experienced players with its sound and playability. The gig bag is nice, and the other included accessories are decent and functional. Really has everything you need if just starting to learn guitar.

Table of Contents

First, some of the bad stuff. The action was too low out of the box and that caused some fret buzz and a not-so-fun time playing this axe. So I had to do a little setup before the guitar was playable. First, the volume knob affects your sound only from 5-10. It turns to silent when you reach 4, so it doesn’t give that good control over the volume. For me, this doesn’t really matter since I mostly adjust the tone knobs and only sometimes turn the volume to around 8 instead of 10. The sound quality is very good. I’m happy with what I hear, but I like carbon fiber sound. Your taste may vary. The tuners are the worst I’ve ever seen. I mean they hold tuning fine, but they have enormous gear slop when you change directions, and sometimes feel gritty when turning. The Donner DAG-1C has a laminated Spruce top with a special x-bracing design. This allows it to enhance the resonance offered by the Spruce top, so you can barely tell that the sound comes from a laminated tonewood.