My AE405TV -- First Impressions

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Author Message Cooltouch (Cooltouch) Posted on Friday, January 09, 2004 - 8:48 pm:    Hey everybody -- Well, my eBay special AE405TV arrived today. Some surprises, some disappointments. Here's a photo of it: \image(AE 405 TV) This AE405TV was made in 1984, s/n 841000871. It is a plywood guitar. Top, back and sides are all laminates. It is also a shallow-body acoustic, something I didn't notice in the eBay photos. The body depth tapers from 70mm (~2-3/4") at the neck heel to 80mm (~3-1/8") at the base of the guitar. The nut width is 42mm (~1-5/8"). The string length is 650mm. The headstock is inlaid with a Rosewood cap. The tuners were changed out to a cheap, open-gear set of Grovers. Mother of peal dot inlays on the neck. It has a built-in under-the-saddle transducer pickup with volume and tone knobs on the upper bout, just above the neck. The soundhole rosette has an inner ring of celluloid (?) that looks like tortoise shell. The top binding has this same treatment -- an inner strip of tortoise-shell looking celluloid. Nice touch. The back has a simpler white-black-white binding, and a centerstrip made of alternate colored perfluing. The back has a noticeable arch to it. The neck is quite comfortable, and feels a lot like an electric. Soundwise, it sounds like a shallow-box guitar. It doesn't have the booming bass of larger boxes, but the tone is clear and pleasant. It isn't very loud, but when I play it in front of my Shure condenser mic, it has a nice, bright sound. The pickup is missing the input jack and one wire, so I haven't been able to test it yet. This guitar has been played a lot. There was moderate wear to the first three frets, and even some shallow gouging out of the fretboard on the first three frets. I was able to dress the frets up with files, and scrubbed the fretboard down with steel wool, then coated it with orange oil. One mildly troubling feature is the top has a dimple that forms between the soundhole and the cutaway when it is under tension -- it's only a little more than an 1" between the sound hole and the cutaway. I suspect this has appeared because of the guitar's age. It looks like it's due for a neck reset. The action was quite high, even though the neck is dead straight. I cut the bridge down as far as I could go, but the action is still a bit higher than it should be. I bought it mostly to use as a template. I like the body shape, and I plan to try building a guitar using this same general shape. I plan to repair the pickup, make a template from it, and sell it. I might try resetting the neck, dunno yet if I want to bother. Best, Michael Cooltouch (Cooltouch) Posted on Friday, January 09, 2004 - 8:50 pm:    Dang it, still getting the hang of posting images. Trying again: Ericsson (Ericsson) Posted on Friday, January 09, 2004 - 9:28 pm:    Too bad about the condition. I still think it is a very appealing guitar to look at. I like the soundhole shape, the body lines, and the headstock is cool too. Buying acoustic guitars online is so hard, but sometimes it turns out to be worth the risk. Cooltouch (Cooltouch) Posted on Saturday, January 10, 2004 - 9:10 am:    Yeah, this is the second acoustic I've bought off eBay -- third guitar, actually. Of the three, this one had the fewest surprises. I asked the seller a bunch of questions before bidding, not all of which he answered correctly. I don't believe he was intentionally trying to mislead -- he just didn't know anything about guitars. So, I knew about the inoperative pickup, for example. I didn't have to give much for it -- $170 delivered to my door. Like you, I also like the body shapy, which is why I bought it. As for the rest, I was hoping for the best. I figure that, now that I've cleaned up the frets and lowered the action, and once I get the pickup going, I can probably get at least what I paid for it if I put it back up on eBay. My quest for an R400 Ragtime Special continues. There's one on Ebay right now, but the Buy-it-now is too high for its condition, IMO. Does anybody here happen to know if the Ragtime Special is also a thin-bodied guitar like this one? Honestly, I prefer a deeper box. Best, Michael Johns (Johns) Posted on Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 10:35 pm:    Cooltouch: You're probably going to hate me for this, but I found an '84-'85 Acoustic Guitar catalog that I forgot all about. It shows the Lonestar, Vintage, Artwood and AE series. There were 4 models in the AE line. The AE300, AE405, AE410 and the AE450. Are you interested in hearing any more about these? Ericsson (Ericsson) Posted on Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 11:36 pm:    I'm game, John... watcha got? Cooltouch (Cooltouch) Posted on Wednesday, January 14, 2004 - 11:31 am:    Johns, Nope, not gonna hate ya at all. I'd really like to learn more about them. A couple weeks before the AE405 appeared on eBay, there was a nice looking AE300 -- I was gonna bid on it, but was busy doing something else when the auction closed. Oh well, there will be others -- there will always be others. Best, Michael Acetan (Acetan) Posted on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 12:08 am:    Hi Johns, Do you have any info on AE410? I have acquired an AE405 last month and am trying to learn more about the series. I've found, so far, that the AE300 is a dreadnought and the AE450 is nylon strung, but could not find anything about the AE410. Johns (Johns) Posted on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 9:09 am:    Acetan: Here's what the '84-85 Acoustic catalog says about the AE410: Piezo-ceramic pickup under the saddle. No batteries required. Tone controls are "a new concept of Hi-Cut, Low-Cut blend"; flat in the middle, clockwise increases treble, counter-clockwise increase bass. Top: spruce; back and sides: mahogany; fretboard: rosewood. Bridge: rosewood with Tru-Tune saddle. Bridge endpins: Ivory with black dot. Smooth Tuner machines. Finish: black. No body dimensions are given. Acetan (Acetan) Posted on Friday, October 01, 2004 - 1:13 pm:    Thanks Johns. Acetan (Acetan) Posted on Tuesday, October 05, 2004 - 10:39 pm:    Just closed the deal on the AE410. Should be here next week.

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