Renegade Guitar Price

[Hebe Zuelke]

BruceEgnater has a well-earned reputation for building high end guitar amps with great tonal versatility and exceptional build quality. Suffice it say, Egnater is an amp guru with few peers. So, it was somewhat surprising when he changed his focus from the Egnater custom shop to lower priced made-in-China amplifiers.

Part of Freshman's Maple Ridge collection, these guitars are designed to accommodate a smaller budget without sacrificing quality. The FA1DNS is a Dreadnought sized acoustic. It's a great looking instrument with flawless finish throughout. At this price range you might expect to find the odd sharp fret edge, or bit of seeping glue here and there, but there were no such issues on our sample. The natural satin finish is classy and understated, with the scratchplate included separately should you wish to add it, depending on your preference. The combination of a solid A grade Canadian Sitka spruce top, mahogany back and sides, with a rosewood fingerboard does a great job of tone matching overall, with the mahogany giving depth/warmth and the spruce top adding some mids and bright top end. Impressively, despite the low price, this Freshman even includes quarter sawn, scalloped X-bracing inside - and that's something else you don't expect to see in this price range.

The playability on our sample was spot on, as was the intonation and dynamic continuity. If you are used to low action and thin electric necks, then this set-up may take some adjustment, as the action was a little on the high side, but that's not necessarily a bad thing: a slightly higher action tends to yield better tone and reduces the problems of fret buzz. Being a Dreadnought size there was plenty of volume achievable, good resonance throughout and an array of tones available depending on where and how you played it. Tuning stability was great and that has a lot to do with the gold machine heads that look and feel like they belong on a far more expensive guitar.

Dreadnoughts are probably the most basic of acoustic guitars but there is still plenty of room for failure with poor construction, choice of woods and attention to detail. I am happy to report that no such problems exist with this one from Freshman, this is a fantastic pull out and play guitar, with a head-scratchingly low asking price!

Freshman's RENOCSB is the same price as the FA1DNS but comes as an electro acoustic. This is made possible I should think, due to this model being a Folk size rather than Dreadnought, and also because the top, although still Sitka spruce, is not solid. Also in common with its sibling, this one has a mahogany back, sides and neck with a rosewood fingerboard. Acoustically, compared to the FA1DS, it has to be said there is not as much volume or depth to the tone, although the sound is still very pleasing, with nice warm mids courtesy of the mahogany. The finish was immaculate, and the playability spot on. Both guitars were set up in a similar way, so once again may take a little getting used to if you're used to a lower action.

The cutaway on this model made the dusty end of the fretboard far more accessible, although that has to be weighed against having taken some wood away from the instrument, and therefore losing some of the natural resonance.

The important test with this model, though, was how it sounded plugged in. The electronics are Freshman's own EQ System and META 20GT pickup, which has a built-in tuner. The addition of a tuner at this price range is very pleasing, especially as this may be bought for the beginner guitarist. The EQ system was self explanatory and easy to use, as was the tuner. Plugged straight into the studio PA system the pickup worked well, offering warm tones and bright tops without losing much of the natural acoustic tonal qualities, there were also no issues with feedback, despite being very close to the fold-backs.

As with the FA1DNS, the RENOCSB is equipped and finished to a much higher spec then you would expect in this price range. No corners have been cut, just good honest workmanship and attention to detail making this a serious contender for those looking for their first, or another electro-acoustic.

This was my first experience of Freshman guitars and I have been hugely impressed by the high quality throughout, great playability and fantastic tones for this sort of price. Competition is fierce out there at the moment for lower priced acoustics, but these two should be placed right at the forefront. Don't be taken in by the 'if it's made by Brand X it must be better' sales pitch. If you judge these two guitars on their merits, they are both excellent. If you are looking for a top quality, great sounding acoustic or electro acoustic then I highly recommend that you go check these out.

I have about 30 guitars from a 1950 fender broadcaster to Gibson les Paul 1967 and many more in between.

I also have a renegade bass. This is a well put together guitar and should not be shunned at. The maker of these guitars

did a great job for the price. His name is Andrew Presnell. He now works for Andrew Allan Guitars. Awesome sound and a very true neck.

: can any body give me some info on a guitar manufacturer called "Renegade" that makes a les paul copy. yeh there not that bad of a guitar to play i owe a few diffarent guitars fron gibson to fender and everything in-between and it is one of the better knock-offs i have,has nice action and good tone,as far as it sounding better being firewood that guy should go and get his ears flushed!!yeh ive been playing for about 18 years now and this guitar doesnt seemm that bad to me trust me there`s worse

: : can any body give me some info on a guitar manufacturer called "Renegade" that makes a les paul copy. : yes, they are total junk. sound best being used for campfire wood!!! If your a technical guitar player who does everything by brand and and play every note perfect then go pay $1500 and get a gibson or epiphone but if want a guitar that sounds just as good then for $300 you can buy a renegade and if you dont like it pay the extra $100 and get pickups that you like.

In my search for an acoustic guitar VST, I came across this company but cannot find out much about there instruments, especially the acoustic guitar. Their version 2 of this which they currently sell seems to go back to 2009. I don't hear much of a mention of them around the place. Does anyone use these products? Are they any good?

Thanks, yes I like the renegade guitar, the GUI and the sound, the download size, the price is right as well ($100.00 AU). It's sitting at number one at the moment for my choice of Acoustic Guitar VST in the other thread. Have just sent them an email to find out the install/authorization procedure as this will determine if I can install it or not. I will decide which to buy on Tuesday. The Orange Tree samples are out of my price range unfortunately, $265.00 AU amongst other things I have to buy.

When I got it I quite liked mixing my own real acoustic guitar with the Pettinghouse Acoustic Guitar in pseudo 12 string stereo mode to create a nice wide jangly sound.

The bundle does include a lot of reasonable instruments plus quite a bit of "filler" which I have never used.

That said I have also purchased OTS, Indiginus, Ilya Efimov and others which as TheSteven says are better sounding. If given a choice now I would probably go with them instead of the Pettinghouse Bundle.

Thanks, yes it's an example of how blending real and virtual can give pretty nice results. I can do some isolated guitar tracks for you if it would help?

The Pettinghouse guitar track on it's own sounds OK but unconvincing and it also cannot play the drop D which many newer virtual guitars can do.

Thanks man, really appreciate it, the strumming sound is about on par with my Kontakt Factory Akkord program and as you say does not sound that convincing, a long way away from the Indiginus demo's I've heard. I would say, strumming engine fail. In addition, the actual sound does not have that shimmering quality to it.

I have a Framus Tennessee Custom. QC is as good as anything I've ever seen or owned, and I've owned a lot of high end guitars. The neck contour isn't a baseball bat or a shredder neck...feels closest to a 60s slim taper, or the necks of my old Tele Jr's. The contour is a medium C-shape. It would be fine for most folks, but it's a bit too small for me due to some fret hand issues I have.

Mine has the "arist package" upgrades...which are little more than a flamed maple neck and gold hardware. Art Thompson of Guitar Player magazine compared it favorably to a Hamer Newport Superpro and a PRS Hollowbody.

I wish Framus would bring them here through the Warwick distro netwoork. At the current price points, it's a tremendous value for a hand crafted instrument. I've not seen better wood on guitars costing twice as much from Gibson or PRS.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm selling mine. I took a chance on it, but the neck is just a bit too small for me. I have nerve damage in my left hand from a car accident, and the only necks that I can play on now are "baseball bat" sizes. This is more of a medium C, not unlike an SG, LP Classic, or even an American strat/Tele.

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