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Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.

I felt it necessary to write an amended review of this guitar. First let me say that I was being a bit too critical in my first review. After finding a set of strings that sound better than the ones that came on it and making some necessary adjustments as one almost always has to do right out of the box I find this guitar an amazing value for the money. Fender really stepped up their game in the acoustic guitar market with these Limited Edition Paramount series. At least in the case of the Adirondak/ Mahogany PM3 000 I bought. The AA grade Adirondak top makes all the difference in the world. It has such wonderful projection, volume, tone and dynamics and doesn't compress when strummed hard like Sitka spruce can do. The African Mahogany is just beautiful with it's grain pattern and it helps create a great balance of tone & volume from string to string in harmony with the Adirondak top. After tightening the tuning gears just a little the backlash went away and that was very easy to do. After making a very small adjustment to the bone string nut that issue went away. These were all simple adjustments and nothing that should make anyone interested in this model not buy it. In fact there is always a very good chance you wouldn't have to make any adjustments on the one you should buy. In fact I believe it is a great value at this price point. I own many much more expensive supposedly higher end acoustic guitars and they are all taking long naps in their cases now. I simply can't put this instrument down and when I do I am picking it right back up and that my friends is the one true sign of a great instrument. The fit and finish is superb on mine. The binding is flawless, the nitrocellulose lacquer is applied with perfection. The sustain and resonance after changing the factory strings became astonishing and the neck is so comfortable to play now that the action is set perfect. I can only say I rushed to judgement a little quick in my first review and that was my bad. I can only say that I am very glad I bought this instrument even when I have so many other fine acoustic guitars already. zZounds as always is the absolute best on line music equipment retailer on the web. Hands down folks. Their " pay to play" program is hands down the best out there. Believe me because I am a repeat customer with them many times over now and they always deliver, no questions asked. Please consider this revised review with more respect then my first one. I will never be sorry for a second for buying this guitar and I have been a serious player since 1964. I know a little about what a good guitar should be.

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Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.

I bought this guitar because both Fender and zZounds seemed very confident it is an excellent instrument. My first impression is that it is made from fairly good woods. The finish is a nitrocelleouse lacquer and is fairly thin. The neck is more of a slender "D" shape than a C shape being it is somewhat flat at the very back of the neck carve. The rosewood fretboard is very nice, smooth and even in color. The fret work is decent for an import guitar. No real sharp fret ends. The action was also pretty good on the one I received. I did have to adjust the neck relief just a bit but that was easily done. Now to the tone. It is a little "boxy" sounding but I believe that is due to the Adirondak spruce top. After some playing time my experience tells me it will "loosen up" some. The African Mahogany is beautiful on the one I got. The top is bookmatched very nicely on mine.The binding is perfect and of an aged white color which is nice. The tuning gears have a tiny bit of backlash in them but maybe a bit of tightening the drive gears will fix that. The string nut's G string slot is cut too low so the G string rattles on the second fret and the slot is too tight so the G string binds and creaks when tuning up or down. This can also be fixed rather easily. Although for a guitar that costs 1199.00 these details should not have gotten past Fender's quality control. The bone saddle has plenty of height for string break and the bone string pins are nice. The inside of the sound box is very cleanly done with no apparent glue showing, no sand marks on the braces and the purfling looks very well done. The tone is a tiny bit dry and the sustain and resonance is fair to good but not excellent but that may change some after the top opens up a little. The case is very nice. Overall it is a nice instrument, maybe not as Premium and Paramount as the name and description implies but a worthy step up from a lower level guitar. Is it on a level with my Martins and Gibson acoustics, no but they did cost a lot more and were made by hand here in the USA. Now remember I am reviewing the one I received and if you buy one it may be better than mine. I am keeping it and with some detail adjustment it may make a good every day player. Keep in mind this is just a day one review and in a little time I may have a more glowing review after some time with it and some extended playing time and finding the best strings for it.

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