Customer Reviews

Oscar Schmidt OE30 Hollow Body Electric Guitars, Tobacco Sunburst

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am by no means an expert guitar player. I used to play when I was younger and just recently decided to start playing again. I love Country Music, some Jazz, some Blues and some Rock. More Country Music than any of the others.

I previously purchased an Oscar Schmidt Blue Burst for myself and was so impressed I decided to buy a Tobacco Sunburst. When I received the Tobacco Sunburst, I noticed it was one made in Indonesia. I looked it over and it looked and felt like a real quality guitar. In some ways, it felt better than the Blue Burst I have that is made in China. After tuning it, I played a few chords with an amplifier and a few chords without. The sound it produced was REMARKABLE!!! This is NOT a cheap guitar! With or without an amplifier, this guitar has a sound that can give the best Gibson, Epiphone or Gretsch REAL competition!!!

The OE30 has two Washburn Series 400 Pickups that can produce a warm deep mellow sound or a sharp rock growl. The body is made of maple with a flawless finish. The neck is mahogany and has a good feel. The Grover Tuners are quality and have a good postive feel when tuning. The Tobacco Sunburst came with different strings than my Blue Burst. The strings are thicker and more like the strings on an acoustic. Playing it takes a tad more pressure, but the sound they produce is beyond belief!

For the price, you get an awesome guitar that rivals the more expensive semi-hollows. Don't let the fact it's made in Indonesia dissuade you from purchasing one. I will admit, there are flaws, but you have to look really, REALLY close to find any. This is a quality guitar that if properly cared for, could last a lifetime and will. Washburn also warranties the guitar to the original purchaser for life. (Read the Warranty for limitations).

If you want a semi-hollow guitar, consider the OE30. You will not be sorry. You will receive a quality guitar, a lifetime warranty and save money as well.

I originally started this review with the sentence: This guitar is actually not bad for such a reasonable price for a hollow bodied archtop electric...
I bought this guitar for just over 200 at a local dealer, and when I wrote this review on Amazon, the price was 159 dollars in November of 2011. It went up to 227 just before the holiday, and now there is one seller asking $350. This guitar is NOT WORTH $350.
If the price goes down to 250 or less, then read on, this is the rest of my original review...
Its sound is good and the craftsmanship is better than normal for such a budget guitar... I say this because please be aware that Oscar Schmidt was not always "Washburn's little brother" as another reviewer commented... as in fact they date back as old as the original Washburns do and to a completely separate company. Currently both brands are owned by US Music Corporation, who bought them both circa 2000 from Fretted Industries, who bought both brands from separate companies in the late 70s.
The brand is currently associated with Washburn because of the ownership. After purchasing the names US Music Corp turned Oscar Schmidt into a budget line, and also make budget Washburns that are sold at Target. Many Oscar Schmidts, depending on the dealer, often come horribly setup and are no longer the instruments they once were... there are exceptions, of course, this guitar can be a great value as long as you get it from a good dealer. The only thing they seem to make consistently good anymore is auto harps, since the brand was always very well known for that. As for Washburns, well, just don't buy one at a Target I guess.
You're welcome to read my "So you want to own an Oscar Schmidt Guitar?" review under product review guides. Amazon always deletes the link but it will come up under that name. It details the history of both companies.

I own an Oscar Schmidt OE-30. I bought it several years ago when I was on a tight budget because I wanted a bluesy guitar. It's not a bad guitar for the price.

Mine is black. The finish is surprisingly high quality for a lower end guitar. It's very pretty. The pickups are fine. They're not Les Paul pickups, but you're not paying Les Paul prices. The neck is relatively narrow which I prefer. The setup on mine was a little high, but it was easy enough to correct. The sound is good. I like that chunky, blues sound out of a hollow body. I played mine daily for years, and I don't really have a whole lot of complaints.

As a matter of fact, I changed my mind. I was going to give this guitar a 3, but I think it's really a 4. It's not a high end, professional guitar, but for what it is...it's not a bad axe. I still pull mine down if I'm wanting to record some blues.

So I am a beginner. I needed a new electric guitar and wanted that hollowbody sound. Good price for an good guitar. Never played it on stage so I don't know its limits in that area. Other reviews say to change the strings and the pick ups. So do that if you got the time. If not, then just buy a better guitar.

The paint looks good and the finish is ok. Sounds ok when plugged in.

I am just getting back into guitar after quite some time and did a fair amount of research before buying this guitar. I was looking for something more suitable to playing jazz and felt this was a very good buy compared to the Peavey, Ibanez, Dot I was looking at. However, at this point (about 3 weeks into having the guitar), I have concerns. First, even though the picture showed a pickguard, there was none. I did call the vendor and he said previous shipments came in with the pickguard but not the current one's. It's not a deal-breaker. Then I spent several days tuning the guitar to no avail. The strings were extremely light and just would not hold a tune and the intonation was way off. So I took the guitar to a local shop and had it stringed with medium-gauge flatwounds plus they did a full set-up. I also had them make a pickguard for me which looks great. I have now essentially doubled the cost of the guitar but even so I think the cost is reasonable. However... the guitar still does not hold a tune as I would like and I'm not sure why. I have to do a significant re-tune every day when I first play and then do minor tuning during the 1-2 hours I play. I've had the strings on for about a week now so figure any string 'play' would have settled in by now so something else is going on. When I got the guitar back from the set-up, I was told to watch the tuning on the guitar. He was concerned that the tailpiece and bridge were not mounted flush with the body and may not be set correctly, possibly loosening under the stress of the flatwounds. This is where I have my concern. I can see that those two pieces are not mounted flat against the arch top but rather are parallel to the strings and thus appear to have a small 'lift' on the tail side. They seem to be set solidly, just not correctly (according to the shop). I am hoping that eventually the guitar will hold a tune... it could be the strings or the weather or temperature in the house or humidity or whatever, I'll have to see. (or maybe I'm just real picky!) On a more positive note, I love the new strings and action on the neck. Much better 'jazz' sound with the flatwounds and I use a very slight reverb on the Fender Frontman I bought for a deep, mellow sound. Overall, the guitar is gorgeous with a nice, high-gloss sunburst pattern and nicely monogrammed headstock that really catches your eye (mine at any rate!) I do wish it were balanced a little better, these 335-knockoffs have a heavy block in them. I use a strap even when sitting. I also bought a generic 335 hardshell case through Amazon for a very reasonable price and it's a perfect fit. Overall, I would say that this purchase is ok at this point. When the tuning issue is resolved, it will become an excellent buy on my part.

This guitar is awesome. I loved it from the moment I tuned it. It is clear, powerful and easy to play.
No doubt a great purchase for the price and a great addition to my collection.

Item was sold as a hollowbody guitar but it is a semi-hollowbody which is not the same.Oh well I will keep it if it playes ok.Extremely loud string buzz on low E and was simply not playable. Guitar shop said it would cost $70.00 to make it playable so I sent it back and only lost my shipping charge. Glad to get rid of it.

I'm not an expert with guitars. I've played for a few years a 12 strings acoustic guitar, but this is my first semi-hollow. So far I didn't play it with an amplifier, so I'm not sure how it will perform when amplified and if the electrical components are good or not, however the acoustic sound is just fine for me so far and certainly it is a lot of fun. For me it was a great way to get back on playing guitar after a few years of rest... For the price I think this is a great instrument and I think and hope I will be happy with it for a long time.