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The Bristol BD-16 has been overwhelmingly positive on Amazon and Google. In fact, this entry-level acoustic guitar is perfect for novices and seasoned players alike. With 4 ½ to 5 stars on several review sites across the Web, this model is built on high-end quality, captivating style and true value. Whether for beginner acoustics or [...]
The Bristol BD-16 has been overwhelmingly positive on Amazon and Google. In fact, this entry-level acoustic guitar is perfect for novices and seasoned players alike. With 4 ½ to 5 stars on several review sites across the Web, this model is built on high-end quality, captivating style and true value. Whether for beginner acoustics or adding this guitar to your ensemble, the BD-16 continues to soar in global popularity. Let's take a look at some of the features that have contributed to its ongoing positive customer reviews and industry ratings.
The Body and Neck #
The BD-16 body and neck truly captures the allure and essence of traditional guitars. With a price range of around $220.00, this unit features superb, quality craftsmanship with a strong eye for detail. Similarly, this low-price but high-quality guitar features a laminate top that is made to perfection. While laminate wood will never sound as good as a solid one, this guitar comes pretty close. The Tonewood used on the top is standard spruce, and the back sides are decked out in traditional mahogany. This guitar truly has a great combination of hard and soft wood, which secures interesting tones and great harmonics.
Here are some more features of the BD-16 acoustic guitar: #
• Rosewood fretboard with a pretty solid foundation.
• The neck also features mahogany, which ensures a pretty durable and fast profile.
• The spruce top features scalloped braces for bright, full range of sound.
• Robust volume and responsive tone controls at your fingertips.
• Slim mahogany neck ensures easy playing and true longevity.
• The chrome-plated 14:1 die-cast machine heads are truly smooth and designed to always keep you in tune.
BD-16 Design Features #
The BD-16 is heralded for producing great tones and harmonics. With its full-bodied sound, you do not need to be a professional player to enjoy this highly-recommended guitar. At a cost-affordable price, this guitar is guaranteed to keep you strumming or hours. In fact, this unit features a classic design and glossy finish for smooth handling. Each BD-16 is carefully crafted by skilled artisans with years of extensive experience. As a classic acoustic guitar, the rosewood and mahogany plys reinforce its durable structure. As mentioned earlier, the lamination also preserves the guitar in appearance and for years to come.
Hardware #
As with any traditional or contemporary guitar, there will always be a few drawbacks. With the BD-16, some customers have mentioned the lack of solid tops and sides. However, the hardware is designed for industry-average and entry-level play by guitar novices. Still, this is not to say that seasoned players and professionals will not enjoy this great, mobile and lightweight guitar. With its artificial saddle and nut, the basic rosewood is still accentuated at every turn. According to current interviews, everything with this unit works pretty well.
This means the pros truly outweigh the cons — especially when it comes to fine tuning and tone controls.
The Sound #
Bristol has created a guitar here that is sure to achieve your desired results. In fact, the positive reviews also revolve around the warm and vibrant tones. This is due to the unit's dreadnought body shape, which ensures optimal clarity and definition with every strum or pick of the strings. Whether you love strumming or finger-picking, this guitar simply does not disappoint.
However, some customers have also pointed out the negatives of the guitar's glossy finish. For one, it can be difficult to keep the BD-16 in place when playing for long periods of time. While the sound and glossy finish are first class, the slim neck and smooth fret board almost emulates an automatic-drive automobile. This means you get true delivery and performance, but without the rigid, manual-feel or a stick-shift drive car. With this mind, I recommend placing a towel or pad on the laps if planning to strum away for hours on end. This will reduce the potential slipping and sliding, which is not much of a concern for the majority of BD-16 owners and reviewers.
Slim Neck Features and Smooth Fret Board #
One of the constants in the BD-16 review is its slim neck and smooth fret board. This makes the unit very comfortable to the fingers and arms when you play. However, another potential drawback is with the body shape itself. As mentioned earlier, the guitar features a dreadnought body design. This means it can be a bit bulky to hold and control — despite it smooth feel and optimal playing features. Again, the top wood portion is made out of solid spruce. This is one of the best wood choices when it comes to dreadnought guitars. The adjustable truss rod also gives you better freedom for alignment, along with convenient positioning.
You are sure to experience great tones when effortlessly moving your fingers between the frets. Still, some reviewers have wished for a more "hands-on" feel to the guitar — as opposed to its overwhelmingly smooth and glossy features.
Full Sound Quality Guaranteed #
The Bristol BD-16 sound quality is truly second to none. In fact, this unit — while lower in price –has the same output as more expensive and high-end guitars. There have been great reviews for the harmonics alone, as well as clear notes and power-based chords. The intonation is near perfect, and this acoustic guitar will continue to deliver for years to come.
As a seasoned guitar player, I have purchased my share of cheaper-priced guitars for the collection. While it's great to save money, you still want a guitar that meets all your needs sound and music wise. With this in mind, the Bristol BD-16 truly embodies the same quality as more expensive units. While certainly lower priced, this does not mean you get cheap imitations or value across the board. In fact, it's quite the opposite, and the Bristol BD-16 is perfect for band practices, along with picnics and family and friends gatherings.
Most of all, this unit is solidly designed despite its smooth appearance and low price. This means you do not have to worry about damaging an expensive guitar, since this unit is self-contained and guaranteed to give you years of harmonic pleasure and enjoyment.
Definitely a great choice for acoustic guitar under $300.