1990s Abilene AW-15 (Samick) Dreadnought Guitar

This Indonesian-made, Samick-branded, Abilene guitar was just in for a glorified setup but I figured I'd pop one more into "the log." This is an all-ply, mahogany-veneered, x-braced instrument. The fretting is alright but not spot-on, the build quality is fine, and sound-wise it's close enough to '70s and '80s Japanese-made ply-body instruments to keep the ears happy for strumming or fingerpicking. As a flatpicked lead or melody instrument, though? Nah.

Just like I always say, I do have a healthy respect for mass-market ply-body instruments like these. They hold-up fine after decades of abuse and, provided the neck is decent, can be made to play well with a minimum amount of work. Do they sound amazing? Obviously not. Would I enjoy one outside camping or down at the river? Of course! Would I use it to record acoustic instrumental music? No way. Would I use it to record chord work? Sure!

So there you go.