With most of today's affordable guitars coming out of Korea and Mexico, I was surprised to see some new competition from Ecuador. The manufacturer, American Bob Vogel, also owns a recording studio and record label in Quito, the capital of Ecuador.
The Vogel product line includes bass, electro-acoustic, electro-classical and solid body electric guitars. The model I tested was the Electro-classical ($262 FOB from Ecuador) which has a black fiberglass back and a plywood top. The top is also available in Spruce. Having played Ovation guitars of similar design in the past I wasn't too optimistic about the tone of the Vogel. However I was pleasantly surprised at the warm tone that came out of the guitar, even with the laminated top. Vogel claims that using a more shallow design and a thinner, hand-made fiberglass shell allows for a much richer tone. I would imagine the solid spruce top would be even better. The fiberglass back and thin body makes the guitar very light, well balanced and comfortable to hold. Because of its size, tone and weight, I could see this being a good gigging guitar.
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| Vogel Electro-Classical Guitar |
I liked the feel and playability of the 19-fret neck made from Ecuadorian Cedro hardwood. Jim Dunlop frets are used and the neck on the review model was intonated perfectly. The action is in the medium range and player friendly. The Mighty Mite Korean tuners held pitch very well.
The Shadow piezo pickup is mounted in the bridge and is wired to a Shadow P4 4-band equalizer. The 9-volt battery pack and EQ are side-mounted and easily accessible. The volume, bass, mid, high and brightness controls are adjusted via sliders, the EQ sliders are center detented. There is also a battery light and an anti-feedback switch. The guitar sounded very un-piezo like when plugged into an amp and full range speaker. The electronics give a lot of flexibility of tone and volume.
One of the gripes I had with the guitar is that the internal wiring is a bit long and tends to rattle around inside the guitar. I talked with the manufacturer about it and he stated they were going to try to attach the wires in a way that wouldn't affect resonance. Another problem is that the frets were cut a bit long and poked through the lacquer at the sides of the neck. This caused a bubbling of the finish at those points, which peeled off easily. This left the sharp end of the fret hanging out. The manufacturer was aware of this problem as well and future models will be cut to fit within the fretboard.
If these problems can be addressed then the guitar gets an excellent score for being an easy to play, good sounding and easily transportable instrument.