Walden D552

Guitar design U.S. made in China.
12 string dreadnought with solid spruce top, mahogany back and sides sapele, dam X "light", mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard and bridge mass, width at nut 48 mm, 20 frets, trussroad "2-Way" mechanical oil bath ...
Nitrocellulose lacquer (very fine) satin finish.

RAS is Extremely well done and fully functional: without a guitar made decorative artifice to be played rather clung to the wall. Only small problem (due to the U.S. design), the action is pretty high ... I limed 4 mm Nut bridge to reach a height of 3.5 mm ropes at the 12th fret which is better suited to hand the French a simple 80 meter

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UTILIZATION

The handle is a 12 string so BIG AND THICK, but once he adjusted the action is perfect (do not hang satin varnish on fingers) for a 12-string so we can say that this guitar is easy to play and has a quick stick.
RAS on ergonomics, the guitar is pretty light and perfectly balanced
The access to the treble is a 12-string Dreadnought Cutaway without ... it's not really the goal to get the latest hoops with this kind of scratch <img class="smiley" src="https://fr.audiofanzine.com/images/audiofanzine/interface/smileys/icon_mrgreen.gif" alt="mrgreen" />
Since it is a sound, we get immediately the sound of the guitar ... and it is surprising for a guitar of this price!

SOUNDS

The tone of this little D552 immediately evokes that of Taylor: very bright and very clean with a nice sustain! It seems truly possible to listen (not after I compared the one behind the other, admittedly) a Taylor GA3-12 ... the latter is certainly more beautiful but also 4 times more expensive, we understand very quickly the interest of the small Walden <img class="smiley" src="https://fr.audiofanzine.com/images/audiofanzine/interface/smileys/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="biggrin" />

Another notable detail: this guitar is planning more than a usual 12-string mid-range (apart from some entirely massive Yamaha LL 16 to 12 strings, I think).

Basically, it is a sound quality close to high-end price of a modest entry, which earned me to write this review ...

OVERALL OPINION

I bought three months ago for my "help", just by chance and not really choose (a 12-string cheap and light that can travel safely) ... I had a Seagull Coastline, but since I sold the little Walden who quickly exceed everything I hoped it. I also own an Ibanez EW20 12-string that I 'd sell probably in the months to come if I find a good amplification system for the D552 (probably magnetic) ...

The pros: The price of course (less than 300 € !!!!), sound, with a satin finish varnish very end, the sober look of the guitar, the neck ...

The -: mechanics who lack some accuracy compared to Grovers, the original action too high ...

With experience, I do not do it again the same choice: I will try anything to try to dig up an even better in the series (who knows?) <img class="smiley" src="https://fr.audiofanzine.com/images/audiofanzine/interface/smileys/icon_wink.gif" alt="wink" /> .
The value for money is beyond anything I thought possible for a guitar under 300 €!