Review of Avalon L335C

[Nige]

I thought you might be interested in a review of the L335C guitar I’ve just acquired from Irish Guitars through EBay.

The guitar arrived courtesy of TNT just 24 hours after I’d paid for it which is fantastic service as I live in Leicestershire, many thanks. I didn’t have time to play it straight away as I was actually at work but managed to snatch 15 minutes during my break just to make sure everything was ok. My first impression on the build quality was that the guitar was stunning to look at. Attention to detail was first class and the dark cedar soundboard was as Jim described a lovely dark chocolate brown. The claro walnut back & sides was also beautifully figured and all of the joint faces between the woods were executed with precision. I particularly liked the sycamore binding around the fingerboard, it really adds class to the overall look of the guitar. So top marks for looks!!!

I’ve had the guitar now for just over a week and I’ve had plenty of time to play it & get a feel for it. This is my first cedar topped guitar all of my others being spruce so I was very interested to see how different it sounded. I was expecting a little less sparkle in the trebles but I was delighted to find I was wrong, the trebles are still very sweet and sparkly. The mid’s and the bass’s are also very strong with no loss of clarity or tonal separation, each string can be heard individually. The definition on this guitar is really very good. This makes it excellent for fast finger picking passages, the guitar being more than capable of retaining it’s clarity without the sound becoming mushy. At the other end of the scale, when playing slower, more moody pieces, the sustain and fullness of tone make this guitar a joy to play & listen to. One thing that really has been a revelation is the extra volume I seem to be getting, this guitar is really loud which is great as I do like to give it a bit of stick every now & then. A brief word on playability, I felt very comfortable, very quickly on this guitar, the action and the .012â€

[JB]

Thanks for the review and kind comments Nige much appreciated and i'm glad you're happy with the guitar, it was / is a bit special with that chocolate brown cedar .... I think that was the darkest of the lot, infact probably the richest looking cedar top we've received in the last few years, very tasty

enjoy
jim

[chris c]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new guitar ! Great review. These e-bay offers are too tempting... I almost wish they would stop ... but not today... in fact I'm going to take a look again just now
I bought my Avalon (Jacques Stotzem model) 6 months ago and I'm still thrilled every time I take it out of its case... and even more when I start to play it

Enjoy !

Chris

[Nige]

Thanks guys, Its good to hear such positive feedback on your avalon guitars.
John, I would be really pleased to meet up with you and compare guitars and maybe crib a few licks. I've always found it a great source of new ideas to get together with other players. and swap a few ideas although I suspect I might come away wanting to rob a bank to finance some more guitar investment. If you would like to message me we could swap phone numbers and get something arranged.

Chris, it sounds like your thinking of adding a new avalon to your collection . I must say I really liked the look of the Golden Gate Jazz that was sold last week, my very first guitar and tuition was classical and my wife is quite keen for me to have one (one day) Hope you find something that catches your eye!

I'm going for the first "live" road test on sunday night at my local acoustic night so i'll let you know how it goes!