Another member who has the same brand guitar as I do mentioned when he first got his Avalon that it was harder to play. I immediately thought, it must be the setup and mentioned that. He said no, it is actually just harder to play, it takes more work.
So I scratched my head over that one, but didn't let it stop me from evaluating Avalons online. I decided to buy one and I'm really happy about the robustness and tone of the guitar. The one drawback is.......
its harder to play.
And it's really kicking my butt a bit. I was just recording myself in a practice session and on playback I hear every little movement, finger on string (not squeak), hand movement on back of neck, right hand fingertips on wound strings, etc, etc
Then I recorded the same thing using my D-120ce (about a $2,000 downward difference in retail) and I hear almost none of the offending sounds, but of course I don't hear the clarity and brillance of the Avalon either.
Back to the woodshed I guess. I'm not letting the Avalon sit and gather dust
I would ask for tips, but it'd be like asking directions on how to get to Carnegie Hall...
Practice, practice, practice.