Fender CD-60 Review: Acoustics Under $300 Reviews

Hello and welcome to my Fender CD-60 review.

This review will take a look at the sound, playability and quality of the materials of the CD-60 and is part of my review series of guitars costing less than 300.

I will also provide links to user reviews so you can see what others thought of the guitar and give my opinion as to:

• Who this guitar is most suited to; and
• The value-for-money of this guitar

O.k let’s check out the details

Table of Contents

• Guitar Sound
• Guitar Materials
• Video
• Guitar Playability
  • Action
  • Nut Width
  • Fretboard (a.k.a. Fingerboard)
• Who this Guitar is Most Suited to
• Value-for-Money
• Final Verdict
• FAQs

Guitar Sound

I wasn’t expecting much from this guitar – especially given its USD $239 price tag (which includes things like a hard case, tuner, stand etc if you get it as a bundle).

And in all honesty it didn’t deliver that much sound-wise. The sound was a bit thin/empty. There wasn’t a lot in terms of mids or bass but the treble wasn’t scratchy or tinny (as it can be on some cheap guitars) so it wasn’t an unpleasant sound, just a lacklustre sound.

I didn’t find it hugely dynamic either – i.e. you couldn’t get heaps of volume or sustain out of it when you put it through its paces. However, you could get it to calm to a whisper. The sound was easy to control. But you didn’t get that characteristic boomy sound you’d expect from a full size dreadnought.

This makes it a good option for a beginner – and it plays nice too, but more on that in the playability section below.

Guitar Materials

let’s take a quick look at the materials used in the CD-60 and how they affect the tone of the instrument.

Again, given the cost of the instrument, I wasn’t expecting too much here in terms of quality materials.

• Top (Soundboard): Laminated Spruce. Using a laminated wood for the soundboard is probably the biggest contributing factor that leads to that uninspiring tone. I don’t mind seeing laminated materials on the back and sides but I like to see a solid wood top – even on cheaper guitars.
• Back and Sides: The back and sides are laminate mahogany. This is no surprise – guitars with all solid wood generally start in the over $1,000 price range.
• Nut and saddle: The nut and saddle are plastic. Again to be expected. This is a pretty easy thing to change though – particularly for the saddle assuming it’s not glued into the bridge.
• Bridge: The bridge is made from Sonokeling. This is like the poor man’s Rosewood. it’s similar to Indian Rosewood but isn’t as hard and dense so doesn’t do as good a job as rosewood.

Video

You can get an idea of the sound of the guitar for yourself in the video below. Of course videos aren’t always the perfect representation but it should give you a good idea of the sound.

Guitar Playability

The CD-60 was actually surprisingly pleasant to play.

It was quite smooth and easy on the fingers and hands. It’s set up pretty well to play straight out of the box, which is great for a beginner who doesn’t want to worry about messing with the setup.

Action

If I bought it, I would probably lower the action ever so slightly – but that’s being pretty fussy, you could definitely just buy this and play it as is and it will be very comfortable and pleasant to play.

Nut Width

The width of the neck at the nut is 1.69″ (43mm). This is pretty standard these days and provides a good balance of having enough spacing between strings and having it being narrow enough to be easy to play even if you’ve got smaller hands/fingers.

Fretboard (a.k.a. Fingerboard)

The fretboard is made from Sonokeling (like the bridge). Like I mentioned earlier, this is like the poor man’s Indian Rosewood – but it felt fine to play to me, so this isn’t an off-putting feature of the guitar.

Who this Guitar is Most Suited to

The CD-60 is a great guitar for a beginner. Probably not for a kid because it’s a full size dreadnought – but for a full size person :-). It’s a great beginner guitar. This is for a few reasons.

1. Because it’s technically nice and easy to play, which is really important for beginners
2. it’s not physically difficult to play – which is also great for beginners
3. The sound is easy to control
4. it’s a really reasonably priced instrument

The sound quality isn’t suitable for playing live or recording in my opinion – but it’s certainly not unpleasant so it is a good guitar to learn on and to practice with – or if you need something for camp fire jams.

Value-for-Money

This guitar is priced about right in my opinion. Especially because often this will come as a package deal and include case and other accessories.

it’s not extraordinary value-for-money but it’s definitely not over-priced either.

Final Verdict

Disclosure: Links below may be affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you make a purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you.

In my opinion the CD-60 is a decent little guitar for its price. Don’t expect heaps in terms of tonality or dynamics, but it is really pleasant to play and the sound is good for learning on.

This would be a great beginner guitar.

Learn more about the Fender CD-60 and check for prices: Fender CD-60 at Amazon.com (with bundle)

Thanks for reading and I hope you found this review helpful. Check out: Guitars Under 300 reviews

FAQs

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