[outoftheblue]

I purchased an Acoustic Guitar from guitarfetish based upon the various positive reviews I have read. This is a backup guitar to my Martin JC16-RE. Keep in mind the Xavier cost $233 with case. The cosmetic appearance is nice. Upon closer inspection there is a small ding on the top and the color is buffed off around the edge of the sound hole. Overall the cosmetics are good. Nut, saddle and endpins are plastic. Neck width at the nut is 1 11/16" compared to 1 3/4" on the Martin..this makes for narrow string spacing. The sound unamplified is very tinny and muted. Playability out of the box is poor. To improve the sound and playability I plan to replace the nut with wider string spacing (fm 35mm to 38mm E to E), saddle and endpins with Tusq products. A set up to lower the action at the nut 2mm and 3mm-4mm at the bridge will be done. Plugged in the fishman electrons do a decent job going through my Roland Cube 80X. For a $179 guitar it is just OK and should improve with a good set up. If I would have had the opportunity to test it before purchasing I would have passed.