NGD- Orangewood Oliver Jr Travel review and comments

[Guitartanzon]

I was hearing so much about these Orangewood guitar I had to buy one.

So agonizing over these two, Oliver and Oliver Jr Travel. Same price with discount 175 shipped. The regular Oliver is OO size and the travel is much much smaller.

I decided on the travel since I did not have a petite travel guitar.

Its actually a nice looking guitar....quite pleasing. Action was great. Biild quality seems very good but a bit heavy. I tuned it and first strum and said mmmmm..........☹️

The ernie ball strings looked a little rusted or aged on it.....so I had a set of GHS Doyle Dykes 11 1/2 hanging around so put them on.

After about an hour of playing the guitar with new strings it seemed to come alive. But I think this guitar needs medium 13-56 to get the top moving.

Bottomline
Its small....petite..about as small as you dare want to go for a real guitar tuned eadgbe...sort like a tertz size ...neck width is narrow..not a lot of real estate to manuver, if you got big ham hocks, forget it. I play a lot of Ukulele so, its famiiar territory for me.
it appears to me smaller than a GS mini...
Sound, I do not think it can ever ever reach the level of a gs Mini, or Martin OOOjr...or an eastman actg1 travel, ...IMHO..........
This makes a great first guitar for a child.

SOUNDBITE

https://soundcloud.com/user-67035804...020-9-54-31-am

Based on this smallish travel....I THINK, the OO bigger version would have been much better soundwise, if sound, not size is your main concern. Same price. At times, I wished I would have choose the bigger version.


the last picture , my wifes’ $10,000 martin custom shop OO and a $155 Orangewood, ha. Do you think the Martin feels insulted? Wife likes the Oliver, she thinks it cute and cuddly and noodles on it, so I will give it to her if she wants or sell it.

[KevinH]

Sounds like a bargain! Nice looking guitar.

[MahoganyMan]

I also recently purchased an Orangewood, mine is a Dana Mini. Really nice guitar for the money ($125). Action was perfect right out of the box, fret ends were nicely polished, and the fit and finish were good.

The first thing I did was change the strings. The stock 80/20 Ernie Ball Earthwoods sounded pretty terrible (bright and jangly). A new set of EB Phosphor Bronze made a huge difference.

Sound is a bit boxy, which is to be expected for an all-laminate mini but the guitar is very easy to play and is small enough that I can have it at arms reach to pick up whenever I have an idea.

My only observation so far is that all of the strings tend to go sharp over time, so I just get in the habit of tuning it before I play. Since they are going sharp instead of flat, it doesn't seem like a tuner issue, but rather a neck issue. My guess is that the wood used for the neck is very susceptible to temperature and humidity changes, which is probably exacerbated by the fact that the neck is very thin and relatively narrow.

[Ralph124C41]

Originally Posted by Guitartanzon

I was hearing so much about these Orangewood guitar I had to buy one.

So agonizing over these two, Oliver and Oliver Jr Travel. Same price with discount 175 shipped. The regular Oliver is OO size and the travel is much smaller.

I decided on the travel since I did not have a petite travel guitar.

Its actually a nice looking guitar....quite pleasing. Action was great. I tuned it and first strum and said mmmmm..........this sucks. Was not impressed.....and was disappointed ...but keep reading.

The ernie balls looks a little rusted or aged on it.....so I had a set of GHS Doyle Dykes 11 1/2 hanging around so put them one.

After about an hour of playing the guitar seemed to come alive again, and I was happy it actually sounded pretty darn good strummed,. My opinion was defineately changing.

Bottomline
Its very small....petite..about as small as you dare want to go for a real guitar tuned eadgbe...sort like a tertz size body....neck width is narrow..not a lot of real estate to manuver, if you got big ham hocks, forget it. I play a lot of Ukulele so, its famiiar territory for me.
it appears to me much smaller than a GS mini...
Sound, I do not think it can ever reach the level of a gs Mini, or Martin OOOjr....which i think are absolutely bigger travel guitars....IMHO..........But with new strings, and some break in time, in the future some bone bridge pins, Its very pleasing and has pretty decent volume, obviously not a lot of bass, but not tinny annoying either.

Based on this smallish travel....I THINK, the OO bigger version would have been pretty impressive soundwise, if thats your main concern. Same price.
but its bigger guitar.

Hey, For $175 shipped with coupon, ( I actually paid $155 for a blem) with a nice gig bag, does it absolutely blow away the crap you get in travel guitar at that price point, like the martin backpack, and the washburn mini, or a Mitchel, and maybe the yam 3/4. Yes...it does.

HOWEVER...If you compare it to Yamaha FS 800.....for $199....on dollar value,
The Yam will blow it away....but again its a much BIGGER guitar, not a travel size.

So overall, I like it now, because its very small, great travel size, with padded gig bag, nice action, playable and sounds pleasant and very decent with good strings on it and its a real guitar, not a toy..... You could do a lot worse.

the last picture , my wifes’ $10,000 martin custom shop OO and a $155 Orangewood, ha. Do you think the Martin feels insulted?

Thanks for your review.

It allows me now to name the "mystery" guitar that I wrote about a couple weeks ago, the guitar I said I couldn't bond with even after I put my ToneRite on it for six days so I ended up sending it back to the seller.

Yes, you guessed it. It was an Orangewood Oliver Jr. I did not put a new set of strings on it but I did use the ToneRite and it did improve the sound some. However I just don't think I like the sound of smaller guitars like this. I opted for the Junior because it has the 1 11/16-inch nut width while the bigger Oliver also has the wider 1 3/4-inch nut width which I just don't like at all.

I will have to say customer service was great at Orangewood. I got the return FedEx label and sent it to the home base in California. It got there this Monday and just a few minutes after it "landed" I got my refund and it posted about two days later on my credit card. I did have to pay a $15 fee for my buyer's remorse but that was all.

So all in all I think Orangewood put out a good product and backs it with an accommodating customer service.

[Willie_D]

I seriously considered an Oliver Jr. as an alternative to a GS Mini, but realized that even if it sounded good I'd feel like I compromised and still want the GS Mini. I'm happy with my decision to go with the Taylor, though I still think the Oliver Jr. is really, really cool and fills a niche.

[Guitartanzon]

SOUND BITE

Just some NOODLING to give an idea...

It doesnt have much low end. Remember this thing is a SMALL If you played a GS mini and think thats cramped, forget this baby. But it is fun for what it is, a minature guitar. .

https://soundcloud.com/user-67035804...020-9-54-31-am

[Guitartanzon]

Originally Posted by Willie_D

I seriously considered an Oliver Jr. as an alternative to a GS Mini, but realized that even if it sounded good I'd feel like I compromised and still want the GS Mini. I'm happy with my decision to go with the Taylor, though I still think the Oliver Jr. is really, really cool and fills a niche.

The believe the Oliver Jr is not sound/play real alternative to the GS Mini.. You made a right choice
The Bigger Oliver might have been a possible alternative, and at $175 shipped.

A REAL cheaper alternative to the GS Mini probably the $300 Eastman ACTg1 all solid travel, IMHO.

[Guitartanzon]

Ok

Follow up review...
after 1.5 weeks..

Would I buy this orangewood Oliver Jr again......
Probably Not...

However.....
I put it on a TONErite for 7 days and THEN put a new set of heavier gage 13-56 medium strings on it and it made a HUGE difference in sound and volume. . Its really not bad at all now.

However, I would not buy it again because I think you could do better in spending your $195 bucks on a used alvarez parlor, or add bit and buy a used Taylor gs mini or martin OOO or eastman Actg1, or guild jumbo jr or a new Jim Dandy and a case.

and it has O resale value. If you paid $175-195 for it, brand new, what could you possibly sell it for used and shipped and not lose your shirt? So if you buy it, and you do not retutn within the allowed period, which is nice of them, your stuck with it pretty much.

Its not a ripoff at all, but its not a “screamimg value” imho. its “ok” . But i am sure others will disagree.

[Ralph124C41]

Remember you have 30 days to return it. All you will lose , as I did, is $15. Consider that if you were to resell it you will certainly lose at least that much.

Just throwing that out there. With me I knew I wouldn't play it at all. As I said, I did the ToneRite as you did for at least six days, maybe seven. I did not change the strings, however, as I had already decided I wasn't keeping it.