Guitar Review with RedTail Wolf of Macon, Georgia

The spacing between the strings is slightly wider than on other acoustics. . Denny sets up each of these instruments and you can tell that it is a passion for him. The strings are so low to the frets that a normal piece of computer paper has trouble slipping between the two. It is amazing to play and probably something you need to see and feel to believe. I could play this guitar all day and never get that left hand cramping that you can sometimes get from long sessions. As mentioned in previous reviews on Zagers, I think this is a revolution in guitar playing. This innovation will make new players stick with guitar playing longer. The ease of fretting the strings and sounding good right from the get go is such a positive for newer players. I am all about spreading guitar playing and to Denny Zager I say, “Thank you for making it much easier to get new players to stick with it! Thanks for making guitar playing easier for us all!” The world could use many more guitar players.
Customer Support:
Usually with a newer company and a new model I won’t comment much on this category as it is a non tested area. I must say again, that through talking with the folks at Zager, and the fact that Denny hand signs each guitar are pretty good indicators that they will stand behind the product. I see no problem in this area.
Overall Gritz Rating by Redtail Wolf:
At this price point I honestly don’t see how you could not consider the Zager ZAD-50. In fact the difference between this guitar’s tone and a guitar that costs 3-4 grand is almost non existent to the ear. I can tell the difference between this guitar’s tone and my $3000.00 guitar but it makes me deeply question if that money was well spent. Old RedTail is telling you folks in no uncertain terms that if you are in the market for a great looking, great sounding guitar give Zager a shot. You won’t be disappointed.

Of course that’s my opinion, and as always; I urge you to play many guitars before making a purchase. Read reviews and other people’s opinions if you must. The point is you will know the guitar that’s right for you when you play it.

Thanks to the good people at Zager Guitars for the ZAD-50. I look forward to reviewing more Zager guitars in the future as they are continuing to expand the line with acoustic/electrics, cutaways, and maybe some more surprises in the works. Stay tuned.

Keep on pluckin the plank we love, Brothers and Sisters.
Till next time, take good care of each other, and may your days be blessed. Drop me a line and tell me what you think. I appreciate the e-mails that have come in on past reviews and look forward to discussing any aspect of the guitar world with yall!

Michael “RedTail Wolf” Nystrom
]]> http://ambikasoftware.wordpress.com/2010/07/11/zager-guitar-reviews/feed/ 0 30.704279 76.743910 30.704279 76.743910 ambikasoftware http://ambikasoftware.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/zager-guitars-2/ http://ambikasoftware.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/zager-guitars-2/#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:47:47 +0000 ambikasoftware http://ambikasoftware.wordpress.com/?p=50 ]]> Zager Guitar is a 40 year old family owned guitar company that offers its own line of “EZ-Play” hand made guitars as well as an online video guitar lesson library whereby you can receive one-on-one video guitar instruction from 60 year Master Guitar Player who will show you how to play from scratch (if you’re a beginner) or take your skills to the next level (if you’re an advanced player) using his revolutionary “Play-By-Ear” guitar system.

Action, Fit, & Finish: 10
The guitar was set up superb. it has hand filed frets and a custom carved nut and saddle. There was no buzzing of frets, and the action was low for ease of playing. The finish was without any flaws.

Reliability/Durability: 10
Right out of the box, I used an intellitouch PT-2 tuner to tune. Tuning was easy, and the same evening, we played it for nearly three hours without any loss of tune other than one arrow on the tuner scale on a a couple of strings. The guitar stays in tune remarkably well. It stays in tune as well or better than the more expensive guitar I have. The hardware all appears solid….Sealed Grover tuners are present. One strap button is present, but I doubt I will put one at the neck. Finish appears to be very well done and capable of holding up. I see no reason why this will not be dependable, and it does have a lifetime guarantee. Two of my friends, who have played for 15+ years, played it and they said it had incredible sound for the price.

Customer Support: 10
Honestly, I could not have walked in a store and gathered more information than what is on their website. Also, questions were answered via E-mail within hours. Answers are given in a very friendly manner. In addition, a toll free number is provided. Warranty is lifetime.

Overall Rating: 10
I have only been playing since early January, however I have been able to progress well. I can play most regular full chords (no full bars yet), and I can keep up with the group, (on most runs) I have started meeting with. I won’t pretend I hit every chord at exactly the right time, but I got more complements when I brought the zager ZAD-50 than ever. My fingers did not throb after almost three hours of the last session. I have a Crafters of Tennessee sunburst pattern guitar for which I paid $1100 used (retails over $1900), and the sound is comparable…the Crafters is a bit more mellow, but for the price neither I nor my friends found much difference. I love the low action and ease of playability. I tried a similar priced (local store) guitar and there was no comparison…high action with tiny sound, and it killed my fingers. I chose this guitar after reading, reading and more reading at the Zager guitars website and other areas where testimonials were given. I also asked some questions which were answered quickly. There is also a large FAQ area in the website.

If this guitar were lost or stolen, I would definitely buy it back.

The main reason I wanted a second guitar is because I am moving, and I needed another to keep in the area where the group meets and the other will be kept at home. I cannot take one to work and leave it in the car like I do golf clubs. Speaking of Golf clubs, since I am a beginner at guitar, I can use them to relate. I am a scratch golfer at age 52. Golf clubs come in all price ranges and some are easier to hit and some are definitely better after they have been custom fitted. Still, no matter how well the club is made or how expensive it is, you still have to make the swing to make it work. This guitar has been set up by someone who is a performer (Denny Zager) and who knows how to set it up. I can definitely say this guitar is easier to play for me than my Crafters and a couple of Martins that my friends have. The Martins have more richness in the tone, but they are $3000. The guys playing them have years of experience. They were impressed with the ZAD-50 and even more so when I told them the price.

Read more zager guitars review written by actual customer visti: www.zagerguitar.com

Features : 9
Gloss finish OM style body
Grover sealed non locking tuners
Fast neck. Scale seems shorter that the 251/2 Most of my arsenal has. and this is good for me
20 total. 14 at the joint
Solid Spruce top
Mahogany back/sides with neck and body bindings. Abalone inlay rosette

Sound : 9
I play finger pick mostly. Very suitable for me
when used Fender Frontman 15G.
It is acoustic. Not noisy at all.
Rich and vibrant sounds. Somewhat sensual. Unususal for ex light strings.
Great action and fast nrck. Small waist good features for me.
Zager guitars recommends these strings but I like them a little heavier.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 9
Action is very low. Zager Guitar is a luthier. He set it up and customized the nut, saddle and frets for remarkably easy playing
top is solid spruce. cannot see any divisions or seams.
This guitar was subjected to above average crqftmansship. It was very clean and well polished

Reliability/Durability : 8
Only time will tell if it will stand road work. I use it in my studio.
Grover tuners (sealed) The name speakes for itself
Only one strap button. I would have preferred none
I play for my own enjoyment. I would put it in front of a crowd but only with frsh strings. The guitar structure is mechanically sound and well braced. It should hold up as long as you use it to make music, not war.
I gave it an 8 only because I would expect it to hold up but dont know factually that it will

Customer Support : 10
Emailed them twice. They were very polite and responsive

Overall Rating : 10
Started in 1965. I never asked about scale but as it turned out it is not an issue. Should have asaked about he string guage recommendation. These strings atr a little too light for me. It is probably part of their “String Science” modification they do.
I will definately buy another. I want the 80CE
I wanted to try the EZ Play system they incorporate. I really have enough guitars. Now I want more. No comparison was made to any except the Martin OM series. This is my first OM soo I wanted to keep my investment down. I would have bought it with onboard EQ and pickup.Nothing else to tell at this time. I just plain like playing it. I find it easier to fret than my D28.

I’m very excited this month folks! It’s time to once again review a wonderful guitar and give that guitar away to a lucky reader. The guitar and case have a retail value of $720.00 so enter and win this beauty. The guitar in question is the Zager ZAD-50 dreadnought 6 string. I have in the past reviewed the Zager “EZ Play String Science”, and a Zager ZAD-20. I’ll refer you to the Zager website for info on each. The site is a wonderful place that gives you tons of info about Denny Zager, the creator of the “string science”. It also gives you an overview of the “string science” which I won’t go into again as we have covered that before. I’ll just say that in my opinion this innovation may be one of the best things to happen to guitars in my lifetime.

FEATURES:
This guitar is as mentioned earlier a dreadnought acoustic 6 string. She is a nice looking instrument featuring, a solid spruce top, mahogany back and sides, mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard and bridge, Grover tuners, fully bound body and neck, an abalone rosette, custom fret work, tortoise pickguard, pearl dot fret markers, and a beautiful high gloss finish. The binding is a beautiful aged crème and black color. The headstock sports the ZAGER logo in gold that matches the overall look of the guitar nicely. I should mention that Zager’s nut, and saddle material, string science, and its finish process are all patent pending. The case is a very nice and durable high impact Zager case. At this price level this is a guitar that far exceeds expectations on features alone.

SOUND:
Wow! Is that a good way to start the sound part of the review? This guitar has amazing tone. I decided to do something a bit different this time in the “sound” category.
I tested it side by side with a couple of my own guitars using two of my friends, who are also guitarists, as judges. I played three guitars to my blindfolded buddies. I must say they were good sports and came into this knowing the price of the guitar I was testing. I wanted them to be a bit biased to start with!

I played the same chord progressions and riffs on all three. I can’t mention the name of the other two guitars used in my test, (I don’t have the companies permission or I would), but I can tell you that one of them retails for $3000.00 and the other is 25 year old guitar that has always been my “tone tester” when doing any comparison for these reviews or for my own purchases. The 25 year old guitar is priceless to me.

The Zager sounded better than the two other instruments to one of my guinea pig’s ears. The other guy called it a tie with my $3000.00 guitar and said it beat the 25 year old guitar I play daily, hands down. I was a bit skeptical of the results. I’m stubborn that way. I repeated the test with the same guitars miked at the sound hole and at the 12th fret directly into my little 16 track home studio recorder. I laid down three identical tracks using the three guitars, using the same microphone position and repeating as closely as I possibly could the circumstances on all three. I had my wife play them back to me randomly, so that I would not know the guitar used on each track. Again I used the same chord progressions and riffs. I was able to tell the difference between the Zager and the $3000.00 guitar but could not pick my own 25 year old friend out of the mix. What does all of this mean to you? Zager HAS something here that is astounding. I am amazed. Not amazed, blown away! This guitar actually rivals instruments that should have no rival under the 3 to 4 grand price range but it does. It does it at a price point just under 6 hundred bucks!

RELIABILITY AND DURABILITY:
This is always a tricky category with a new instrument from a new company, but having had numerous conversation with Dennis Zager Jr. and talking to others who have Zager guitars, or guitars Denny has applied the string science to, I think I can safely say that when Denny hand signs each guitar, he means that his reputation rides on each instrument. The guitar seems well built with an attention to detail that you just don’t find at this price point. With good care and proper maintenance; I can say you’ll be playing this guitar for many, many years to come with no problems.

ACTION, FIT, FINISH:
This is another area that Zager shines in. The guitar came to me in great shape. It was in tune and intonated to a tee! The frets are custom dressed by Denny and are crowned and finished nicely. The finish on the guitar is beautiful and flawless. The action is in a word amazing. This is what makes a Zager a Zager more than any other attribute in my opinion. Putting aside the astounding tone for a moment these guitars play effortlessly.

The spacing between the strings is wider than any other standard guitar. Denny sets up each of these instruments and you can tell that it is a passion for him. The strings are so low to the frets that a normal piece of computer paper has trouble slipping between the two. It is amazing to play and probably something you need to see and feel to believe. I could play this guitar all day and never get that left hand cramping that you can sometimes get from long sessions. As mentioned in previous reviews on Zagers, I think this is a revolution in guitar playing. This innovation will make new players stick with guitar playing longer. The ease of fretting the strings and sounding good right from the get go is such a positive for newer players. I am all about spreading guitar playing and to Denny Zager I say, “Thank you for making it much easier to get new players to stick with it! Thanks for making guitar playing easier for us all!” The world could use many more guitar players.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT:
Usually with a newer company and a new model I won’t comment much on this category as it is a non tested area. I must say again, that through talking with the folks at Zager, and the fact that Denny hand signs each guitar are pretty good indicators that they will stand behind the product. I see no problem in this area.

OVERALL GRITZ RATING BY REDTAIL WOLF:
This guitar gets a solid 5 stars… The sliding scale we use is from 1 to 5 stars. That is, a score of 1 is BAD a score of 5 is something special.

At this price point I honestly don’t see how you could not consider the Zager ZAD-50. In fact the difference between this guitar’s tone and a guitar that costs 3-4 grand is almost non existent to the ear. I can tell the difference between this guitar’s tone and my $3000.00 guitar but it makes me deeply question if that money was well spent. Old RedTail is telling you folks in no uncertain terms that if you are in the market for a great looking, great sounding guitar give Zager a shot. You won’t be disappointed. Of course that’s my opinion, and as always; I urge you to play many guitars before making a purchase. Read reviews and other people’s opinions if you must. The point is you will know the guitar that’s right for you when you play it.

Keep on pluckin the plank we love, Brothers and Sisters.
Till next time, take good care of each other, and may your days be blessed.
Drop me a line and tell me what you think. I appreciate the e-mails that have come in on past reviews and look forward to discussing any aspect of the guitar world with yall!

Michael “RedTail Wolf” Nystrom
rdtail_nystrom@yahoo.com

Buy one for yourself at Zager EZ-Play Guitars

Sound :
This Guitar with it’s Cedar Top and Rosewood Back and sides gives a rich base and crisp clear  highs, perfect for freestyle playing. Sound projection is amazing and the sustain goes on for ever. There is no electronics with this model, I installed a Fishman Humbucking Soundhole Pickup, and this Guitar sounds beautiful through an amp. As far as sound quality goes, I will rate this model with the best of the high dollar brands.

Action, Fit, & Finish :
Zager Guitar came to my door with the action of an electric, amazing! The Cedar Top was 100% quality and perfectly matched. Flaws to the body? Any nit-picker can find a flaw on a $5000.00 Guitar, so for the price I paid, $595.00 the one small finish flaw I did find, was minute and was of no concern to me.

Reliability/Durability :
I think this Guitar will perform well under any conditions, and will last for years of enjoyment. Quality Finish and Craftsmanship. I would have no problem saying that I could depend on this Guitar, and I would not hesitate to use it as a primary Guitar for a gig without a backup.

Customer Support :
Answers calls and responds to emails promptly. Warranty is Lifetime. Don’t think this Guitar will ever need repair, but if it does, Zagers will stand behind their Guitars 100%, no questions asked.

Overall Rating :
Playing on and off for over 30 years. I plan to order another ZAD-80-OM at the end of this month, just in case something would happen to this guitar…I want to make sure I have two of everything I like. I can’t find one thing that I don’t like about this Guitar. I own a Taylor 314CE-L2 Maple, and I rate this Zager 80-OM equal to, or better than the Taylor. Electronics would be a nice feature on this model. Don’t hesitate to buy a Zager Guitar, you will be impressed and happy with your purchase for years to come.

For More Information Email me : major19882002 at aol<dot>com

Zager Zad-50 CE

Features : 9
The finish is very glossy, which looks nice, but would not be my first choice. The built in tuner is a nice addition. The case as well does a very nice job of cradeling the guitar. They threw in an eztra set of Martin string which was a nice touch. The pickup is an active model, which uses a 9 volt.

Sound : 10
Normally I don’t do testamonials on the things I buy, but I had to let everyone know about zager guitar, so here it goes.

I play everything from country, to 80’s rock, to playing in my church. I have a fender stage 100, a Peavey transformer 112 and I plug into the PA when available. zager guitar has a full bright sound typical of a spruce top. It has a great smooth sound that depending on how hard you play can get very full and bright. It sounds absolutely great throught my Fender amp, along with the sound board at church. I do use a zoom acoustic pedal, more often than not.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 10
The action on zager guitar is unmatched, for the price. The action would be comparable to that of a $2000 Taylor, which is what I was going to buy. Plugged in this guitar sounds amazing. I have looked zager guitar over very well and can’t find any flaws in it at all. Dennis Zager looks these over before he sends them out, and must do a good job, because I can’t find so much as a slight blem. The string science that Dennis uses works great, I was definelty a little worried because I have rather large fingers, and have no problem at all. Barre chords on this guitar are a breeze.

Reliability/Durability : 9
I can’t tell you how this guitar will hold up, I have not had it that long. I am just going on what I have had in the past and it is very well made. The finish is great, and all the hardware is top notch. I would not go on a gig without a backup, so I can’t give that question an honest answer. I give it a 9, based on lack of knowledge on this category.

Customer Support : 10
The customer service I recieved from this company is top notch. It is refreshing to see that there are still people who do business the old fasion way, by putting customer service first. I needed the guitar by a certain date and they did what it took to get it to me on time. They always answered my e-mails within about 4 hours, and answered all of my questions.

Overall Rating : 10
I have been playing for about 10 years now and have owned a lot of guitars. I have currently a martin d-50 which I am now selling, because I like this guitar better. A G&L electric and Ibanez acoustic electric and a few other priceless keepsakes. I wish that this guitar had a front strap peg on it, but I will have someone else install that. This guitar compares with thousand dollar guitars. With a money back guarentee, how can you go wrong, that was a selling point for me, and boy am I glad I did.

What’s good about the contents of the left-hand panel is that it is dynamic and changes depending on the type of your search. Through Universal Search technology, the items on the left-hand panel changes and suggests the most relevant genres of results for your query. And you can switch seamlessly to these different types of results. It could also suggest different views on how you want your search results to be displayed or even display the search results together with other related topics.

In addition to the said enhancements to the search results interface, Google has also tweaked the color palette as well as the Google logo – giving the search results pages a modern and still simple look and feel.

The redesigned Google search interface is being rolled out globally today, although I haven’t seen it when I tried visiting Google Search. Have you seen the changes already? How do you like the new design and navigation of the Google Search Results Pages?

The clock is ticking on the demise of some downgrade rights for Windows 7, an analyst said Thursday.

Last year, Microsoft said that customers could downgrade new machines purchased with Windows 7 Professional to the older Windows XP Professional for a limited period. The deal ends 18 months after the introduction of Windows 7 — in other words, in late April 2011 — or when Microsoft launches Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), whichever comes first.

Nearly two months ago, Microsoft acknowledged it’s working on Windows 7 SP1 . It has not yet set a release timetable, however.

“So the clock is ticking down on that offer, after which time the only option for non-Software Assurance customers to deploy Windows XP is to use Windows XP Mode,” said Al Gillen, an analyst with IDC, referring to Windows 7 Professional’s built-in virtualized version of Windows XP.

Corporations that subscribe to Software Assurance (SA) — MIcrosoft’s annuity-like upgrade guarantee program — or purchase Windows through volume licensing plans have downgrade rights from any edition, including Windows 7, to any previous version going as far back as Windows 95.

Calling SP1 an “important milestone for customers” because of the impending end of downgrade-to-XP rights, Gillen noted that the service pack will have relatively little impact on enterprise plans to deploy the new operating system.

“Historically, classic customer deployment behavior for new Windows client operating systems was to wait for the first service pack to arrive,” Gillen said in a research note published yesterday.

That’s no longer the case, he said, echoing opinions expressed earlier by other analysts, including Michael Cherry of Directions on Microsoft and Diane Hagglund of Dimensional Research.

“The Windows patching process … has changed the rules of the game for many customers,” Gillen argued. “The continuous stream of patches, over time, delivers a significant portion of service pack content.”

Recent surveys conducted by IDC with IT professionals and end users showed that budget limitations and application compatibility were the biggest concerns about migrating to Windows 7, not the lack of a service pack.

Although Microsoft originally wanted to limit Windows 7-to-Windows XP downgrade rights to just six months after the release of the former, it quickly backtracked last June after another analyst, Michael Silver of Gartner Research, called the plan a “real mess.” Instead, said Microsoft, it would allow downgrades to Windows XP until 18 months went by, or until it released Windows 7 SP1.

Time will tell if Samsung can attract developers to its own smartphone operating system now that it has released the beta of its Bada software development kit.

Bada is a software platform that Samsung announced last year that will allow developers to build applications for phones running Samsung’s proprietary operating system.

The SDK, posted Thursday to the Bada developer Web site, includes an integrated development environment, simulator, user interface builder, sample applications, documentation and tutorials. The IDE is based on Eclipse CDT and the UI framework supports Samsung’s TouchWiz UI.

Some people, including Ken Hyers, an analyst at Technology Business Research, groaned at the initial announcement about Bada. “My reaction then was, oh Christ, another OS, another app store,” he said on Friday.

On second thought, however, he said it makes sense for Samsung to have its own application development environment. Samsung is the second biggest handset vendor in the world and is now the largest in North America. Hyers expects that one-third of Samsung’s smartphone handset models this year will support Bada. Developers are typically drawn to platforms that have the most end users.

Apple remains the clear leader in attracting developers to its application store, the largest in the mobile market. But beyond Apple, it’s clear that the number of users on a platform attracts developers. Palm, which had a very small market share when it launched its new WebOS, demonstrated just how important market share is, Hyers noted. After struggling due to slow sales, Hewlett-Packard recently announced plans to buy Palm.

The first phones running Bada are expected to hit the market in June.