GEAR: BADEN A-STYLE KANZO
BADEN A-STYLE KANZO
We’re all accustomed to all-solid guitars of Far Eastern manufacture, but this Vietnamese-made Baden is like no other we’ve encountered. Huw Price tests.
E
very acoustic guitar manufacturer must have wrestled with the challenge of designing a harmonious and elegantly styled cutaway. Some stick to tried-andtested shapes, while others attempt to de-emphasise that body bite. Whoever designed the Baden made no attempt to do either.
Build and Features
The shape of this guitar is angular and brutal in an art deco sort of way. It’s like a more rounded take on a Maccaferri cutaway, or two different-sized guitars have been sawn in half then joined down the middle, but the square junction to the neck heel allows easy access all the way up to the 20th fret. In fact, they could even have added a couple more. Detailing is restrained and tasteful to the point of austerity. The soundhole is bound with Kanzo and a wafer-thin layer of black between the ring and the inside edge of the solid-cedar top, and there’s a tiny bone ‘keystone’ set into a V cut into the soundboard. It’s extremely simple, but exquisitely done. The Baden logo has been routed into the rosewood headstock veneer and the letters are traced out in gold paint. It might not sound great, but it looks superb. The ebony fingerboard is uniformly jet black. Modern
guitars featuring very dark ebony or rosewood boards often leave your fingers mucky because they’ve been dyed, but the Baden is au naturel. There are no visible fret ends so the fretboard is likely to have been bound with ebony. Simple white plastic dots appear along the edge but there are no position markers on the board. The back and sides are solid Kanzo, which is the Anglicised name for a Cambodian mahogany variant, and assuming it’s centre jointed, the line is virtually invisible. The Kanzo looks gorgeous under thinly applied gloss polyurethane and it contrasts well with the satin polyurethane on the darker-toned
The detail is austere but looks superb
The Kanzo looks gorgeous under thinly applied gloss polyurethane and it contrasts well with the satin polyurethane on the darker-toned African mahogany neck. African mahogany neck. The neck is one piece, so there’s no stacked heel or scarf-jointed headstock and it’s attached by a traditional dovetail joint. The front and back body edges get Sapele binding with maple side purfling. Other details include ebony bridge pins with shell dots and chrome die-cast tuners with a ratio of 14:1. The tuners work very well,
but to my eyes they’re the only cosmetic flaw in the overall design. However, it would be simple and relatively cheap to change the buttons, and you might be able to remedy the very slight neck heaviness at the same time. Baden’s marketing stresses the care and attention that is put into every guitar, and it shows. The nut and saddle are both carved
The square junction at the neck heel allows easy access up to the 20th fret
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GEAR: BADEN A-STYLE KANZO
BADEN A-Style Kanzo www.acousticmagazine.com for reviews
Technicalspecification Manufacturer: Baden Model: A-Style Body Size: Baden A- Style Made In: Vietnam Top: Western red cedar Back & Sides: Kanzo Neck: Solid African mahoganyKhaya ivorensis Fingerboard: Ebony Frets: 20 Tuners: Gold Ping with Rosewood Buttons Nut Width: 1 & 23/32 inch Scale Length: 25.5 inch Onboard Electronics: n/a Strings Fitted: D’addario EXP 11 Left Handers: Yes Retail Price: £1049 Gig Bag/Case Included: Deluxe hard shell case
Contactdetails 440 Distribution Tel: 01132 589599 Info@440distribution.com www.badenguitars.com
Whatwe think Pros: Superb playability, gorgeous tone, stunning looks, fabulous materials and build quality. Cons: Generic chrome tuners. Overall: With a street price under a grand, the Baden A-Style trounces most of the competition at this price point.
The tiny bone ‘V’ sets of a plain soundhole
The saddle is graceful with smooth curves and like the rest of this guitar superbly finished
There’s plenty of feathery brightness, and it’s bolstered by a strong and punchy mid range and genuine muscle in the low end. from bone and they’re as neatly shaped and highly polished as any I’ve ever seen. The compensated saddle is particularly graceful, with smooth, soft curves rather than sharp segments. The nut slots are cut as low as possible, without causing buzzing, and the neck is set for a steeper angle to the bridge to enhance top vibration. However, as a consequence there is a slight downwards curve to the fingerboard from the neck joint upwards.
Sounds
The playability is superb, and sonically the Baden falls somewhere between a fine Lowden and an OM Martin. There’s plenty of feathery brightness, and it’s bolstered by a strong and punchy mid range and genuine muscle in the low end. There’s copious volume, too, but
the Baden retains its refinement and delicate precision even when it’s being pushed hard. The bass is deep but very solid and well controlled. Consequently dropped D and C tunings presented no difficulties. So, whether you’re banging out a rhythm part in standard tuning or indulging in some complex fingerstyle in DADGAD, the Baden delivers. But the Baden’s best quality is the way it responds to your playing touch. Our review sample already felt freed up, like a wellseasoned guitar. It responds to a light touch like a thoroughbred fingerpicker, then roars into action when you dig in with a plectrum. The dynamic range is enormous, and superb stringto-string balance ensures chord voicings shine through while simultaneously making the Baden easy and forgiving to play.
Conclusion
Every now and then I get a guitar for review that I feel very reluctant to give back, and this Baden is one of those. I love the way it looks and sounds, plus it plays like a dream. All-solid-wood guitars from the Far East have become commonplace but they’re often let down by the overenthusiastic application of high-gloss poly finishes, overelaborate detailing and abalone overkill. Had it not been for the ‘handmade in Vietnam’ label, I wouldn’t have batted an eyelid if I’d been told that this came from the workshop of a highly skilled UK or US luthier. Granted, some of the major manufacturers offer ‘budget’ models around this price, but you often have to accept simplified neck joints, lower-quality materials and inferior finishes for that big name on the headstock. So read the spec box on the Baden and see if you can figure out where you’re being asked to compromise, because I certainly can’t. Huw Price
Our Ratings Explained 5 Stars: Superb, Almost faultless. 4 Stars: Excellent, Hard to beat. 3 Stars: Good, covers all bases well. 2 or 1 Stars: Below average, poor.
Ratingout of five BUILD QUALITY SOUND QUALITY VALUE FOR MONEY Everything on this guitar screams modern 50
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