Esteban

Im sure Zoro, has made a small mint selling his guitars, otherwise we wouldnt continue to see his infomercials....

You would be hard pressed to find a postive review by anyone who has actually ordered one, not saying some arent pleased but I think most agree a person would do much better buying a cheapo laminated no name brand from a local guitar shop...

I have found the infomercial amussing, the hat and sunglasses are too much, if he would just wear a black cape.. :lol:

Good old Esteban has been the subject of a couple of threads on GN. The concensus is that what he sells is garbage - go to Harmony Central and read the reviews - especially the one about the bird house. :lol:

I make it short: Esteban is a conartist. :lol:

My friends an idiot....he bought one without talking to me first. Junk. The preamp broke in a few days, does not sound good unplugged or plugged in. The over drive on the amp was horrible. STAY AWAY!!!!!

Of course, you'll eventually run into someone that will claim they are great guitars for the money. DON'T BELIEVE IT. They are JUNK and anyone that says different either doesn't own one or is lying.

Ok, let's see who will come along and claim that I'm wrong.

I love to hear him play his guitar... but do you really think that is the same guitar that he is going to sell you for that little of money?

Some things just shouldn't be bought without a test drive... cars, shoes, eye glasses, guitars, etc., etc.

I will say I have never played one so I can't pass judgement.

I would think they are worth just about every penny you pay for them.

It's unfair to think that a guitar amp, bag, DVD, book combination would be of the highest quality for $179.

It's also unfair for the seller to represent it as something it isn't.

I have yet to play a guitar that retailed for under $150 that I thought was worth being anything more than firewood.

But what are you expecting for that price?

I think you get what you pay for. I think that holds true in Esteban's case too.

He isn't a rip off. He isn't a con artist. He's a pitch man. He's a marketing gimmick.

Shame on you if you think you are getting a Martin and a Marshall for $179.

I put him in the same category as any other infomercial. If you think the Ab-cruncher 2000 is going to give you a six pack without pain or effort, you are going to be sorely disappointed. If you think that the Esteban guitar pack is going to make you special without the pain or effort, you will be too.

I'm not advocating buying this guitar. But I don't think you should buy any other cheap guitar either. The Fender packs, Ibanez, whatever packages for starters try to sell to people's dreams too. Take a look at the packaging. They just don't have a HSN weirdo pitchman.

It's extremely rare to see a good guitar for a little money, especially if it's being mass-marketed for 'value'. It's a lot more common to see a poor guitar for a lot of money.

I played an early 40s Gibson L-5 last week that a guy was looking to sell. This particular one hadn't aged very well - as a musical instrument, it's comparable to guitars around 1/10th his asking price.

But at least the Gibson has a resale angle - it's essentially an antique, aside from any musical value. A piece of music history.

For some reason I can't find a website for the Estaban Collectors Club.

For some reason I can't find a website for the Estaban Collectors Club.

It's in the yellow pages under "Waste Disposal" :lol:

Funny, the Ab-cruncher's fan website is under the heading "Waist Disposal"

I am sorry but I do have to somewhat dissagree with you Nick.
Only because of the fact that Estaban is marketing to a certain group of people. ie. people that know absolutely nothing about guitars.
In this vane he is making these people believe they are getting a quality intrument when in fact he is selling Junk.
There are other guitars at or near that price range that, although still not very good, are much better than what Estaban is peddling.
On the other side of the coin, and you are right on about this Nick, there is all kinds of junk being sold and it is a buyer be ware society we live in.

Ah-ha, but so is Fender with their Squire line, Ibanez, Yamaha and Washburn.

Nowhere on the Fender packaging does it say "Warning, this guitar is a piece of crap"

It probably shows some heavy metal headbanger with a stack of Marshalls in front of an adoring crowd. Now you and I know that the pro guitarist isn't playing a squire. Isn't that the same?

BTW, I am not the font of all guitar knowledge, so go ahead and disagree with me wholeheartedly. :wink:

Yes true but the models you are refering to are at least playable.
You have to know the extent of garbage we are talking about.
A friend of mine had an Estaban acoustic.
The fingerboard is not even made out of wood. It appears to be something similar to cardboard. The frets are rough and loose, some have even fallen off and had to be glued back on. It buzzes and rattles something terrible.
For comparrison I bought an acoustic from the local pawn shop for $40 they were brand new in the box. couldn't find a brand name on it anywhere. But it played good and even sounded good.
PS: I do feel guilty about dissagreeing with you since I am wrong myself so often.

^Aha! You are wrong! Cardboard has wood in it! :lol: