I love the guitar because it is an instrument financially accessible to all. For many of us, we started on a "Kapok" or "TGM" brand beater guitar and this allowed us to get our basic chops down when we were financially strapped as students. This got me wondering, at the day and age, for less than 200SGD, are there any other better choices out there for budget-minded Singaporeans who just want to get something to strum their troubles away in their free time? After dedicating a day to shopping around Singapore for a good guitar under 200 that one would not be afraid to keep in the office for practicing during lunch time, the answer is Yes.

Different people hear tone differently, and so for good measure I got two friends who were kind enough to come along for the trip, Starving Musician #1 and Starving Musician #2. For each guitar, each of us gave our opinions on it. Basically, the three main guitar areas in Singapore were visited, Bras Basah Shopping Complex, Excelsior Hotel and Park Lane area. The hard criteria was that the guitar had to be under 200 SGD, after typical store discounts. No attention was paid to salesmen attitudes when trying out the guitars - the important thing was that the guitar had to be the best possible bang for the buck for under 200.

We all know that guitars, like fine wine, age with time. A big part of why old "vintage" guitars tend to sound more resonant and lively is because the woods have gotten more seasoned and more played-in with time. There have been stories of people placing their guitars in front of their monitor speakers and putting them at full blast in order to "season" them. Many companies like Tonerite and Primevibe have jumped on the bandwagon to offer a product that allows the average home user to "season" their guitar. Reviewed here is the Primevibe, a curious contraption with two speaker transducer that you place on your guitar.

When you mention guitars from Australia, two names immediately come to mind. They are Cole Clark and Maton Guitars. Cole Clark is a company started by Brad Clark, who left Maton in 2001 to develop his own brand of guitars. Brad Clark brought the spirit of innovation and individuality to Cole Clark guitars. There are more than four patents pending on a single Cole Clark guitar alone. This spirit of innovation has attracted many players, ranging from fingerstyle guitarist Adam Rafferty to blues-pop singer Jack Johnson.

The guitar being reviewed is the Fat Lady 2 dreadnought with the proprietary Face Brace Sensor pickup and cutaway, model FL2AC. The review model had a solid Bunya top with solid Blackwood back and sides. It sports an unusual A-shaped bracing that is different from so many other guitars which typically use the X bracing.

Beautiful Woods

The headstock of the Cole Clark has to be seen to be believed. Beautifully bevelled and shaped, the headstock exudes a feeling of fine craftsmanship. The Australian Bunya top looks desirably woody and the exotic Blackwood back and sides gives the guitar a unique look. It is a fine looking dreadnought, albeit with character of its own that screams - "I am not a Taylor/Martin guitar!"

LR Baggs puts a new spin on acoustic pickup technology with the introduction of the Anthem, a feedback-cancelling microphone and undersaddle pickup equipped system.

With their latest acoustic pickup system, LR Baggs has developed what they call the Tru-Mic to combat what has been the bane of acoustic guitarists playing live - feedback. In the Anthem, the Tru-ic actually acts as the primary source of the output - basically everything above 250Hz, while the undersaddle Element transducer provides the bass below 250Hz.

A Look at the Tru-Mic

Traditionally, in a live situation, the mic inside an acoustic guitar cannot be turned up and it provides just a little authenticity to supplement the undersaddle pickup sound. The Anthem turns this around, with the Anthem providing most of the sound, and the undersaddle pickup supplementing the bass output. The Tru-Mic is light-weight and is recommended to be attached to the bridge plate by LR Baggs.