OT-22 arrived yesterday.
While I'm obviously in the honeymoon period, I'm 51 and have been playing for 35 years now... I don't really have honeymoon periods anymore. True enough I get a new piece of gear, and am excited about it, but I pretty quickly determine if it's worth keeping (which means at least a number of years) or not. I guess you could say, I don't have the "lust" of youth anymore, at my age/experience level it's more of a ability to see "the marrying kind" instead LOL.
But anyway, IDK if Elderly set this guitar up or not, but the strings were not new, the fretboard is VERY dry, and the guitar was buzzing a little. It had almost no relief. It appears to be a 2018, so I wonder if it's been hanging somewhere "up high" for a few seasons or something.... in any event, a truss rod adjustment fixed the buzz, lemon oil will fix the fretboard, and the strings, while not new (corrosion spots), they haven't been played much, either.
So, how does it sound?
I like it. Alot. Even with the EJ16s on it, which are not "my" strings. But after several rounds of lossening/tightening the strings to make and check the truss rod adjustments, the strings have broken in... and sound quite good. It has a big low end/low-mids presence for a smaller body... that surprised me. There's alot of "body" to the tone. It's not dread bass; it's more like a low-mid thing that makes the guitar punch above it's weight; it sounds bigger than you think it will.
So, the guitar is comfortable, sounds good, has the mid-voicing I have always been after, and plays well. It capos excellently- it might be the only guitar I've ever owned that doesn't have to be tweaked (re-tuned) to be in tune with a capo. I'll try a few different strings on it, but I've always wanted an acoustic that sounded great with dead strings lol... I'm not a primary acoustic player, so those strings only get changed 1-2 times a year. For the price, it can't be beat, even tho it did need a little TLC out-of-the-box.
Now, here's the kicker for me, and a slight digression:
There's "something" about this guitar.... the intangible thing.... I "just like it". Alot. I've played it for only an hour (while adjusting it, then a little bit after), and I feel like, this is going to sound weird, I'm already
developing a relationship with it. Maybe alot of that is it's smaller size, it's so comfy... and the neck is comfy, but almost too thin for me... so we aren't talking "the perfect guitar" here, but there's something going on, I just really like it, it feels like I've owned it for years or something.... hard to explain. Maybe it's just the simplicity: even with old EJ16s on it, out of the box, it sounds good, plays good, capos good. It's EASY. And it's smaller/more comfy size: EASY. Maybe that's it. Unlike all the other acoustics that have gone through here over the years - try many different strings, different saddle material, different endpin materials, blah blah blah.... this thing just sounds really good, with old EJ16s on it. Pick it up, play it, and put it back on the wall....
(I still love the tone my old Ovation has: it's like a baby grand piano, it's just kind of difficult to play for long, due to the rounded back and it's size. Plays like a dream too. The Walden is nice, plays well, but the guitar has mellowed over the years, and the cedar top+the mellowing has made it VERY mellow... even with bright strings on it. With dead strings, it sounds pretty...dead.)
Anyway, just FYI for anyone who buys one- mine wasn't perfect out of the box, but a little playing time and a truss rod adjustment made it sizable difference. This of course shouldn't be news to anyone here. I really like it. I think I'll keep it.
