I bought my EJ200 last November with my birthday money, from Fuzz in Nottingham (it's now back in West Bridgford).
Features:
Made in October 2010 in Indonesia. Frets are crown inlays which look great, go all the way to 1. It's a nice, large and snug neck, plays great. Super jumbo. Mines a natural. No electronics, mustache bridge, gold Grover tuners. It's a super jumbo, the shape made famous by Elvis, Cash, Dylan, Noel Gallagher and Kelly Jones. Looks magnificent. Came out the box fully set up, perfect for me. Funky pickguard too. 8/10.
Sound:
With the stock strings you get a real deep, bassy sound. It can do the light noises but better when a capo is added. The extra body capacity gives it a lovely, dark balance which complements the looks. It's perfect for nearly everything but will give everything a bassy tone. I play Oasis, Dylan and even some Miles Kane and Arctic Monkeys stuff and the EJ200 handles everything you throw at it. For the price, it's better than the £500 Martin's. 9/10.
Action, Fit and Finish:
Action was set up great as soon as I tried it in store and then got it out of the box at home, not sure whether it was Fuzz's work or factory settings. No flaws, everything is solid. No wobble in the tuning heads, no strange noise from the frets. The finish is perfect, I've had the EJ200 since November 2011 (I write this in July 2012) and so far there is no sign of the pattern coming off the pickguard (it will happen in the future though. 8/10.
Reliability & Durability.
As mentioned earlier, the EJ200 will take anything you throw at it musically, and proves tough. I'm clumsy so it has gained a few bumps but nothing major and still looks great with a few love-bumps! I haven't played with it live yet as I'm yet to play live at all but when practicing with friends, playing some obscure Oasis b-side or writing my own stuff the EJ200 hasn't failed to give 100% quality. 9/10.
Overall impression.
It's a brilliant match for any style of music but beware of the dark and more bassy edge the EJ200 will give. I have played a few different acoustic guitars (from £800 Martins to cheap practice Fender acoustics) and the EJ200 stands up well to most. It lacks that extra bit of quality that an £800 Martin has but you wouldn't imagine I had paid £300 for it. If it was stolen or lost, I'd happily sell anything to get it back. I'm currently considering putting thinner strings on my current EJ200 to cope with the lighter acoustic sound and buying another EJ200 so I'm still getting that lovely dark tone.
The only bad side of it, it does get a bit awkward to play because of the size of it, but it's something you forget about once you've strummed or finger picked a few things. 9/10.
This has also been posted on the Ultimate Guitar website, hopefully they publish it soon!
Inabit.
SJ.
Inabit.
SJ.
