Hadean EA-100 NA Review

 Hadean EA-100 NA  Review

Review is probably too strong a term, I just know there were a couple questions I had when researching this guitar from Rondo Music online. My impetus for getting this was I wanted to have a nylon string guitar without having to worry about how to deal with feedback at my various jams.  Does it sound just like a classical?  Nope, but feedback isn't a problem and it sounds decent and certainly different than a regular electric guitar. It does still have a nylon string character to the sound. There are several really good videos on YouTube which demonstrate it very well.

The thing I really wanted to know was how loud was it un-amplified.  I was confused about this because Rondo's site said it sounded good plugged and unplugged.  I have to be concerned about playing at night, so this was a biggy for me.  I didn't have to funds to go with a Yamaha Silent guitar, so this seemed like a good fallback.  

Unplugged it is very much like playing a solid body electric, it is about that loud.  Play with a pick and it gets a little louder.  Finger picking is quiet, no concerns there at all. Strumming energetically with finger nails is somewhere between those, speaking voice loud.  I'll try and get some audio or video up to demonstrate this.  With a door closed, I can strum and not sweat it too much.

Other thoughts and observations.  

It is a weird guitar.  The body is thick, the neck as well (I don't mean the width at the nut) and the headstock is oddly large.  None of this is uncomfortable, it just doesn't feel like any other guitar I have ever held.  Because of the width of the headstock, the D & G strings actually touch the wood on the way to the tuner.  Barely, but it can happen.  The serial number is a sticker which looks like it came from a home printer and it is on the back of the headstock, like a mailing address label, about that size.

Setup was kind of typical for a guitar in this price range.  It had fret sprout and the nut was pretty rough.  As observed elsewhere, the tuners are pretty cheap, but they work and I haven't had any tuning issues.  The neck was flat, so I haven't had to do a truss rod adjustment.  The action....well I haven't sat down with a ruler to measure, but it is pretty close to my classical, so no complaints.  If I only played electric, I might find it still too high.  Frets were fine, maybe a hair rough, but I am not concerned ( will polish them when changing the strings).  Oiled the neck as well.  The tuner is fine.

Conclusions.

I like this guitar and continue to feel better about it the more I play it.  

Headstock compared to regular classical 

Close Up. 

Doing the fret ends and oiling the fretboard