Estaban Guitar

Gayla,

Gayla, you have done a very wise thing in seeking advice before buying one of these guitars.

Esteban has become the stuff of legend in the acoustic guitar community...for all the wrong reasons. He is a con man.

I have been playing guitar since 1979, and I am familiar with these Esteban guitars.

I cant say this emphatically enough...

DO...(((NOT)))...BUY...ONE!!!

They are junk. If the world were fair Esteban would be arrested.

Here are some quotes from a secular acoustic guitar forum I frequent. (I'll put a link at the end)

Someone asked a question similar to yours...

And here is a response that person got...

I have heard testimony after testimony from serious guitar players...who apparently are somewhat wealthy and dont mind spending $150 bucks for this reason...who have purchased one out of curiosity just to see if its anything like its descibed as being. They arent.

One guy took the back off to show the bracing on the top. It looked like cheap pieces of balsa wood glued on with Elmers glue. One player actually sliced open a finger on cheap frets sticking out from the fretboard. It wont stay in tune. It sounds terrible. Its a piece of junk. It is not a guitar. It is a guitar shaped object that is actually a piece of junk. Esteban is quite talented, and its a testament to is talent that HE can make the thing sound decent...IF the one he is playing on the infomercial is in fact what is being sent out.

Heres what you need to do. Go to any good sized reputable music store and tell them what you are looking for. Most of the economy brands...Washburn, Alvarez, Epiphone, Fender, etc...have "Starter Packs" that are in the same price range as the Estaban guitar shaped object deal. You'll get a good quality acoustic guitar. It wont be as good as a 2 thousand dollar guitar, but it will stay in tune, it will sound good, it will be easy to play, etc.

(If the strings are a bit high, most stores will lower them for you for free)

You'll get picks, a chord chart, a case or gig bag, and an instructional video, etc.

(if you find a good pack with no video, buy it and get the video for about 10 bucks. The store should have plenty of those and they will find you the best one to meet your needs.)

I personally would recommend a Washburn D10S starter pack. I have been impressed by that particular Washburn starter guitar, but honestly...all the major economy brands have good quality entry level guitars.

Good luck! If this is for you...or a loved one...a musical instrument is a purchase (or gift) that keeps on giving for the rest of your life.

God bless,

Mike

The Esteban thread

[ August 27, 2005, 11:18 PM: Message edited by: D28guy ]

 

You get what you pay for with guitars. There are very good reasons Martins cost a lot. They are true musical instruments.

Esteban lost a lot of credibility in the guitar world endorsing this product.

 

Greetings Bro. Curtis:

I have a question for you: WHO IS HE?
Aside from seeing him on HSN selling those guitars from behind polarized sunglasses, I have not heard of him.

I heard someone calling in to proclaim that they LOVE the guitar, and that they were calling back in to order two more. That seemed a little over the top. I saw him when I was back in Tennessee visiting my parents ( ) and my Dad and I really got a chuckle from watching him wearing those glasses inside the studio.

Regards to you in Beautiful Big Sky Country,
BiR

 

He is actually pretty good. I don't own any records of his, but what I've heard demonstrates a great amount of talent.

Buying guitars is very tricky. Like D28 guy said, you may get lucky with a cheap one, I played a Yamaha for years, before buying my Martin. Just like you may buy a junk car for $200 and be able to put 30,000 miles on it. But for the style of music I now play, a Yamaha would not cut thru the banjos, fiddles, mandolins, or human voices. I needed a guitar that would project. The Yamaha was great for when I sang troubador style, but now I play either my Martin or Bourgeois.

BTW, the Big Sky country is underneath a gray haze, almost blocking out the horizon, due to the huge fire season we have going on. We have a dozen big wild fires surrounding Missoula, and several in the Bitterroot valley, as well. It may rain over the next two days, and clean the air a little, but I expect it to continue until late October. It may put a damper on my plans for a Labor Day weekend hike into the Bob Marshall Widerness.

Oh yeah, I wouldn't buy one.

 

D28guy, I've heard the same thing.
My husband was looking into all that a while back and realized he needed to just go to the local music store. He bought a good priced one there.