Walden D550

The current acoustic guitar market is saturated with entry level and budget models from many different companies. It can be confusing for anyone looking to buy their very first acoustic, a player looking for a less exspensive guitar or a seasoned pro looking for a backup guitar. So the Walden D550 might just fulfill your needs and fit your budget.

The Walden D550 is a standard dreadnought, the most recognized and popular acoustic design. Walden’s are built in China to a very high quality, exceeding that of other import guitars.

The guitar features a solid spruce top; laminate mahogany back and sides, 3 piece mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard and bridge, no name die cast tuners which I must say hold the guitar in tune very well. The guitar is attractive to look at, workmanship is very good and it features a tightly grained solid sitka spruce top. Please note that a solid spruce top will produce a far superior sounding guitar than a laminate topped guitar.

Playability and sound quality is what impresses me most about the D550. The guitar has a very comfortable neck which fits nicely in your hands. A proper setup is also very important with a guitar, and when setup to my own preference the guitar plays as easily as a guitar costing a whole lot more. Though the guitar has laminate back and sides, the sound quality, thanks impart the solid spruce top is very impressive. Acoustic guitars open up over time as the woods lose their stiffness, so the more you play them the better they sound. Any musical style can be played on this guitar, it's very versatile. The guitar also features scalloped X bracing which gives it a nice open sound; equally as good for delicate fingerpicking as it is for hard strumming.

Walden guitars generally come with a high quality padded gig bag, but can be had with a nice hard-shell case for an additional fee. The D550CE is the electric/acoustic version which also features a cutaway for access to the higher frets.

The Walden D550 fits the needs of many guitarists. As a starter guitar the low cost, sound quality and playability are a plus. For the seasoned pro it would make a great and trustworthy backup guitar. For the person who likes to take their guitar to parties but doesn’t want to get their expensive one smashed, it’s an excellent choice. I highly recommend the D550 to anyone needing a quality budget acoustic.