At the winter NAMM show, we saw a few solid-body electric acoustic guitars. Some of the more memorable ones were from companies like Washburn and Samick. Unfortunately, you won't find Kramer products at the NAMM shows because they're only available factory direct to consumers through www.musicyo.com and not sold to music stores for resale. What this means to the crew here at Music Gear Review is we have to wait until we actually receive a unit for review to get our paws on it. This can be cause for some pretty painful anticipation. Case in point - the Kramer Condor thin solid-body acoustic electric guitar.

You probably haven't seen or heard much about the Condor - unless you frequent the MusicYo! site. Part of the Kramer line-up, the Condor is a solid body electric acoustic guitar that's elegant in its simplicity, yet big in the sound category. The body is that of an electric, with a fast slim tapered neck, low action and a thin, solid body. The bridge, spruce top and electronics, though, scream acoustic.

Ours arrived a few days ago and immediately I had it unboxed. The unit arrived with an Electar Acoustic 30 Amp which we tested with for hours. The amp / guitar combo sounded great, but stay tuned for that review, the Electar Acoustic 30 deserves it's own day in the sun. We also spent considerable time cranking this puppy through our Mackie PA. With several hundred watts and a set of 15" cabs driving it, this electric acoustic sounds LARGE.

The Condor utilizes a piezo pickup system from Shadow of Germany that resides under the bridge. The unit runs off a 9-volt battery stored underneath, easily interchangeable from a latch cover on the back of the guitar body.

We played for days, and are still playing with this guitar. I put my Ovation away for now, pending a truss rod adjustment, because it just doesn't play this nice. The Condor sounds great through the Electar Acoustic 30 amplifier, spectacular through the Mackie PA system (plugged direct with no D.I. Box or pre-amp) and incredible when recorded. We play through a lot of gear here, as you might imagine, but every so often a product comes along that just blows you away. Maybe it's the fact that I've never really sat down and had the joy of playing a solid-body acoustic electric.

There were several things that pleased us about this guitar. For starters, this is one pretty guitar. Ours arrived with a natural finish that had a solid light spruce top, distinct striping along the edges of the body and mother of pearl trapezoidal inlays. The unit is neat, clean and pretty. The spruce top had some nice character in it. These are nice appointments for a unit available under $300. The controls were simple, but effective. The unit comes with two knobs on the top of the body edge for volume and tone. The guitar sounds really great so there's not a whole lot to adjust.

The tone, stupid! Some say beauty is only skin deep, but this axe looks and sounds good inside and out. Probably the most important characteristic of this guitar was the incredibly clean and full-bodied tone. This was really amazing due to the type and location of the pickup. We really didn't know what to expect, but were very pleasantly surprised once we started playing. Also, let's not forget to mention the Gotoh tuning heads. We played the you-know-what out of this unit for two solid weeks and have made only minimal tuning adjustments. Also built in is an adjustable truss rod and a nice set of instructions on how to adjust one for those times when you change the string gauge to something quite a bit different or the elements and humidity cause your neck to need adjustment.

The Condor was extremely comfortable to play. I'm used to playing with my Ovation Celebrity Deluxe and am frequently frustrated when the unit slips all over the place because of the bowl back. Other jumbos and dreadnoughts are also less comfortable because they're so big. The Condor, with its thin profile, stayed put and was not cumbersome at all. Don't let me forget to mention the nice close action with no fret buzz.

So what's the advantage of a solid-body acoustic? Complete non-existence of feedback. That's right. I actually had volumes cranked and laid this guitar up against a speaker cab. A microphone way on the other side of the test studio room started screaming before I heard even a squeak out of the Condor. As a matter of fact, I never heard a squeak.

And the clincher is... the price. The Condor is listed under $300 for a guitar that easily could fetch double that.

So what did we think could be improved? Well, that's a tough one. It's hard to find things about the Condor that are less than pleasing or unacceptable, especially in it's price range, but at the risk of sounding biased I have some recommendations - and this is being really picky:

Although the fit and finish were excellent and the wood grain was very pretty, the body style of this guitar says "heavy metal electric guitar" more than it says "I'm an awesome sounding solid body acoustic." I would recommend a few different body styles to appeal to those of us looking for something a little sexier. Don't change the concept, though, it's definitely a winner. I would rather use one of these units than a jumbo dreadnought any day.

We would like to see lower profile knobs for volume and tone. These buggers stick up quite a bit and look a little out of place. It would also be nice to have knobs that you can press to recess into the unit then push-click to pop out and adjust. While we're on the subject, it might cost a few more dollars, but the addition of a 3 band EQ or something might give these guys the ability to charge a little more for a unit with some more functionality. I don't know what's all possible from an engineering standpoint with the thin, solid body, though.

I'd also like to see a different finish on the back of the neck. I like to play a lot of open string chord variations up and down the neck that requires sliding my hand a lot. I found the clear coat finish on the back of the neck to be prohibitive to smooth sliding. It felt a little clammy at times. Then again, that could have been my own paws.

Lastly, we'd include lighter strings. Given the full-bodied sound that came out of this unit, I'm guessing it shipped with at least a medium gauge string. They are beasts to work with, though. I don't think it would make a huge tonal difference to ship this unit with a lighter gauge to make playability even more comfortable. Let's face it, since you're amplifying this guitar you can get away with a lighter string. You can EQ the tone to get more bottom end if you need it. I found the heavier strings getting a little muddy and boomy at times as well. This of course, is all a matter of personal choice.

Bottom Line:

For under $300, you get one heck of a guitar for the price. Although the solid-body electric acoustic guitars aren't for everybody, for those of you with an application for them, they are incredible. If you gig frequently or like to record in your home or project studio, I can tell you that you're not going to get a much better acoustic tone in a comfortable, feedback resistant (read feedback non-existent) guitar in this price range. As a matter of fact, I don't think you can find a solid-body acoustic like this for anywhere near the price. If you can, let ME know. I'm a new believer. I know the old timers will argue the sound quality because of the composition of the guitar, but as I stated above I would rather play with one of these thin solid-body acoustics than a jumbo any day. Thanks to Kramer for another great product.