Walden D550CE Natura Line Acoustic Guitar

I own a Yamaha and one Oscar Schmidt semi acoustic guitar and I have been playing them for a couple of years now. One of my friends had this Walden G630CE which he had bought for around $450. When I first got to play this Walden guitar I experienced the difference over the ones that I used to play with. After coming to USA I had thoughts of buying a new guitar for myself because I couldn’t bring my guitars all the way to here. (I’m actually an international student if you were wondering) So my friend actually suggested me that I should try one of the Walden guitars.The Walden D550CE is an acoustic electric guitar from their Natura 500 series of steel string division. It is a full size dreadnought cutaway shape made up of Mahogany in the back side and solid spruce on top. The neck is also Mahogany made, the fretboard and the bridge are rosewood. The preamp is a B band T35 and uses PP3 type battery. The lacquer layer on the body is so thin which proves it is a satin finish (no gloss).This guitar is so light weight and it makes you feel so comfortable when you are playing it. I kind of like this satin finish of this D550CE as well, because when you have the gloss on the body it makes the movements of your hands a little hard when you have to slide on a sweaty day. The back is solid rosewood color, the sides of the box body is laminated Indian rosewood and the top is aged natural color.When it comes to the sound of this D550CE I think it is really balanced from top notes to the low notes. It brings out the base from the bottom which sounds very tight and that’s something I really liked about this guitar particularly. I believe this is something very identical generally among all the Walden guitars. I wish I could compare this one with having my other acoustic guitars next to me, but I think Yamaha (FGX720SC) sounds a bit brighter than Walden and Walden sounds a little heavier specially with base notes than Yamaha. A friend of mine (who has played lots of guitars in the past) told me the sound of my D550CE is closely similar to the Crafter guitar, which is kind expensive than Walden.I think it is a reasonable price range $200 - $250 and I would say this is one of the best guitars for a beginner to start learning with. It’s nearly been 1 year since I bought my D55CE and yet it sounds really good. There were no damages too when I was receiving the guitar. It came up with the gig bag but I would recommend you should buy a hard shell case to avoid the neck from being sheared off specially if you are travelling with the guitar.

In March of 2007 my wife bought me this guitar for our first anniversary in Tacoma, WA.I've abused it by A) neglecting the string changes every guitar needs and B) not getting it set up like I should have right off the bat.Fast forward to 2016: This guitar has survived a move to Hawaii for 3 years with beach playing, Texas where it played in the heat of the summer, and then to Idaho where we are now.When I took it into Guitar Center in Killeen the associate was amazed at the condition. I dropped it off for cleaning and "set up" and when I went to pick it up he asked me how old it was. "Really?! Dude it's in great shape. Seriously. If it's held up this long don't let it go."No for the reason it's not a 5 star... my wife's guitar, a Fender, was set up already. Also, this Walden does not have a neck-side bolt for a strap.But I love my guitar.

Fabulous build quality, great tone and a great sound amplified. Wonderful guitar.