Review of Eko Evo Gipsy Guitar - natural

This was a find that I had been wanting to make for a long time.  I play some Manouche/Gypsy Jazz with a friend who is a violinist and I'd been wanting to try out a 'proper' Macaferri style guitar.  This one came up locally at a price I couldn't resist and I went to try it out and (of course) came home with it!.

My first ever acoustic guitar was an Eko Ranger, so I have a soft spot for the brand, and I am really pleased to see they are back up and running and making some really good guitars these days, this being one of them.

First off this guitar is LOUD!  I am a bit of a sucker for niche acoustic guitars and have an acoustic archtop and a resonator This sits somewhere between them in terms of volume and projection.  It seems the more energy you put in the more sound you get out.  It doesn't quite match the resonator, but it comes close and of course the tone is very different.

I don't think Eko market this guitar very well.  Part of the reason for writing this review is to clarify some things I think they'd do well to mention to sell this guitar.

The most glaring error is that these are being marketed with a 648mm scale.  Unless mine is a one off I think they have this wrong.  Mine is a long scale 670mm or 26.3 inches.  This combined with an oval version of the 'grande bouche' gives a volume, projection and snap that is a prized part of the 'petite bouche' Selmers.

The guitar is very light in construction, weighing in at 1.78kg or about 4 pounds.  This also helps with the very lively and resonant feel.  The guitar finish is very thin, and the mahogany is open pore rather than filled, and both these factors help with the overall resonance.

The other thing that gives the unique manouche sound to this guitar is the fact that the top of the guitar is ladder braced, not x braced like most flat top guitars.  This allows the guitar sound board to resonate more freely as there is far less bracing than on a standard flat top. To give the top and back more strength both are very, very slightly arched.  This allows the bridge to sit slightly higher than a conventional bridge and the neck is angled to accommodate this, like on an archtop guitar.

The rosette is a really nice touch, not painted on, but a properly crafted inlay made up of concentric ovals of different woods.

Then there is the heritage.  It is arguable that the manouche guitar comes directly from an Italian tradition of luthiery, and I love the fact that this guitar is conceived and designed by an Italian company, even if it is made in the PRC.

The sound of this guitar, apart from being very loud, is gorgeous.  Eko have done an excellent job of putting together a unique guitar that gets to the very heart of that manouche sound.   The beautiful solid spruce top, laminate sides, thin finish, ladder bracing, arched top and long scale make this sound just like the sound I have in my head of a gypsy guitar.  It has a very special place in guitar history as makers tried to increase the sound projection before the advent of electric guitars.  Although I love the electric guitar, my heart is with these old designs and I am rather sad that most people only ever get to play on a Martin inspired flat top (nothing wrong with that design, I love it, but it is a particular sound).  What you get with this guitar is an ability to cut through other acoustic instruments, either with chords or with a lead line.  It doesn't compress the sound like a flat top guitar but translates all that energy you put into plucking into volume.  It is not subtle when you do this, but it sounds fantastic, if you play more gently there is a lovely tone there as well. Of course you need to string this with Argentine strings to get the proper sound.


The rest of the guitar as a package is very nicely executed.  No faults I can find.  The wood binding is done well, the veneers and top well book matched.  The nut is bone with a zero fret, and the tailpiece is pressed brass like a Maccaferri. The neck is a slim flat D in shape.  The action is highish as it needs to be to obtain the projection.  I like the simple Evo inlay on the 12 fret.  The tuners work well, and the headstock veneer is a very nice thick slice of rosewood.


Although this is a bit of a specialist guitar, if you can find one give it a go - lots of craftsmanship for your money.

Review of Aria Acoustic Bass - FEB-FLLVS

I've had this memorably named bass for a while now. I mainly play electric bass, and I like fretless for the variety of tones that it can produce.  The Aria is very well priced and has a surprising number of good features despite this.  I bought mine secondhand and if you can find one this means you get a huge amount of instrument for your money.

The price point is only really noticeable in a few finish niggles.  The worst is that the truss rod rattles very slightly in the neck when certain notes on the bass are played hard.  The rest are just the standard small blemishes due to lack of time for the workers finishing the guitar, but no deal breakers.

The positives greatly outweigh this.  First off the acoustic sound is louder than most acoustic basses I have played, this I guess is down to the huge body this model has which allows it to displace plenty of air.  The lower bout is 16.5 inches or 420mm, and the soundbox is 4.72 inches deep or 120mm.  I think the fact that the bass has f-holes also helps with a more double bass sound.  The soundboard is an x braced laminated spruce, nothing too special here, but it is thin enough to be resonant.  The sides are a beautiful flamed nato laminate, and bound with wood rather than plastic which is a very luxurious touch at this price.  The bass feels very light, and I think this also helps with resonance.  The bridge is a nicely cut piece of rosewood and the strings feed through this with pins in standard flat top tradition.

The pickup is a under saddle piezo with a decent pre-amp and tuner built in.  No complaints here, though I prefer to record this using a microphone to get the full acoustic range.

The fretboard is a well manufactured and finished piece of rosewood and my bass is strung with flat wound strings which give this instrument more of a double bass vibe, with a nice bit of slap onto the fretboard if you want that effect.  The neck is nato with a rosewood veneer to the headstock.  the tuners work well and the bass stays in tune extremely well.

I use this bass to play some jazz numbers we do with the band, when I want a more acoustic sound.  It does tend to feed back at higher volumes, so you have to be more careful about positioning the amp compared to an electric bass.  Unplugged I think it would just hold its own against an acoustic guitar, but would quickly get lost with more instruments even though it is quite loud compared to other acoustic basses I have tried.

All in all I am very happy with this bass, which was a bit of a spur of the moment purchase.