Excerpt from Guitarist Review
As auditoriums go, the A22NS-CE is reasonably compact in profile, measuring 378mm (under 15-inch) across the lower bouts. The 100mm rims, though, are relatively generous for the body size, giving a decently proportioned sound chamber. In overall shape, the guitar is like a scaled-down rendition of Takamine's NEX mini-jumbo design, along with a certain resemblance to Tanglewood's Venetian cutaway Super Folk models.The guitar comes dressed in a well applied, all-over satin finish, with enough of a tint in the lacquer (or perhaps base stain) to give the top a vaguely cedar-like hue and appearance, even though it is actually solid Sitka spruce. It's more widely grained than the dreadnought's Engelmann, but a good-looking piece of wood nonetheless. Laminated mahogany does duty for the rims and back, the latter not featuring any centre strip. What the body does have, however, is rather nice maple binding, and the soundhole rosette gets the abalone treatment - a similar shell also being used for the bridge pins' spot inlays.
Save for a smidge more depth along its length and the merest hint of a more shouldered profile, this Farida's mahogany neck is very similar to the D16N's. The heel though, instead of the dreadnought's boat-bow shape, is flatly rounded to aid access into the cutaway, and string spacing at the bridge is widened a little to just under 53mm.
The fret ends, again, are a little abrupt - though not so noticeably - but the tops feel smoother, probably because the guitar has had some previous playing in (unlike our two dreadnoughts, which arrived detuned and still with the protective paper wrapping over their strings). The rosewood-faced peghead totes gold tuners rather than the D16's chrome, and instead of conventional central markers the bound fingerboard carries offset dots.
These would be neat if you could see them better, but the green abalone used doesn't contrast well against the 'board. Still, there's always the crucial side markers to rely on. The A22's powering is a Fishman Classic 4, familiar on electros around this price. Very easy to use, the allslider control panel provides volume and four-band EQ and, aside from latch-out battery access and a battery status LED, that's it. Nice and simple.
SOUNDS:
This is one of the most responsive acoustics of its size that you're likely to encounter. Volume is eager, the dynamics and sustain breathe easily, and the open-voiced tone is a pleasing blend of dry-edged sweetness, a quite sparkling treble and commendable low-end warmth and depth, particularly when digging in.
Predictably, the ever-dependable Classic 4 system proves a stress-free zone for powered performance. It replicates the guitar's acoustic traits well, and each EQ band is sympathetically responsive. Our sample's inter-string output was just a shade inclined towards the low strings, but it only took a modest notching back of the bass band to redress this perception without thinning out the whole sound. In fact, unless you're after specifi cally emphasised tonalities from the A22, the system requires relatively little EQ'ing either side of its flat settings. Good news.
Review by Jim Chapman and Roger Newell that appeared in Guitarist Magazine November 2006 issue
Download the full review in Guitarist Magazine here
(3.8Meg so we'd recommend right-clicking and downloading the file to your computer)