Love the neck, as a guitar player it feels just right. It sounds amazing. Many good comments from friends at sessions. Installed K&K pickups for live use through a Grace pre-amp, I could not ask for better.

6 months ago

Happy customer, quick and secure shipping to the US, no complaints!

1 year ago

Shipping to the USA was timely and item was packaged and arrived with care . The staff at McNeela were extremely helpful with my Order assuring all my questions and conerns were answered. After playing guitars for 30+ years this was my very first Bouzouki. Appartently I chose wisely. This Bouzouki is asthetically pleasing with KOA and exhibits craftmanship with attention to detail. The instrument sets-up nicely offering great fretting action along the entire fretboard with no fret buzz. Perfect Intonation with good sustain and a great voice makes it ideal for my particulat irish strumming style.. ( I use a 0.71 mm DUNLOP GATOR GRIP Pick tapering the tip down to 0.61 mm )

1 year ago

2 years ago

I own both the McNeela Premium Electro Acoustic Irish Bouzouki and the Antonio Carvalho Bouzouki PTB308. Five stars for each of these bouzoukis. Both are wonderful instruments and splendid to play and to hear. However, these bouzoukis are different in several significant ways. I wrote this review to help someone who is trying to sort out which instrument to buy. This review was written after performing with each instrument during four, 90-minute shows my trio did over the span of two weeks. (Not sessions. Concerts. On stage doing a mix of tunes and songs.). Technical differences of importance. Nut Width: The Carvalho nut is more than ¼” wider than the nut on the McNeela. This quarter inch difference is more than a 22% change in the dimension between the two bouzoukis. Players with large hands may appreciate the wider nut. Players with small hands may find the larger nut size to be challenging when reaching for chord positions. The Carvalho also has a thicker neck than the McNeela. On balance, the Carvalho favors players with large hands or long fingers. Scale Length: The scale length of the McNeela bouzouki nearly 1.5 inches longer than the scale length of the Carvalho. This means The McNeela bouzouki requires a greater stretch to get the same chord or melody fingering. In practice I have found that both instruments feel good to play. But, the Carvalho, despite the shorter scale length requires a greater stretch for fingering than the McNeela. That’s due to the greater nut width on the Carvalho. The wider neck of the Carvalho spaces out the strings more than the McNeela. The Carvalho favors players with larger hands or larger fingers. I have small hands and short fingers. I can barely reach an octave on a standard piano keyboard. The Carvalho requires more concentration to keep my fretting hand open and flexible. I must be more aware of the reach when playing the Carvalho. The McNeela, for me, has a more natural feeling when I play. Tip for Those (like me) with Short Fingers: Tune the Carvalho bouzouki down a whole tone to A C G C. Put a capo on fret 2, This makes fingering a much easier reach for short-fingered players. The low tuning does not degrade the voice of the instrument. It still sounds great. The Voices of the Instruments ( I did NOT use the plugin capability of the McNeela bouzouki for this) My McNeela bouzouki has a spruce top. My Carvalho has a cedar top. Spruce generally produces a brighter voice. Cedar generally produces a more mellow voice. The McNeela has a flat top. The Carvalho has an arched top. In general arched top lute-family instruments tend to produce more mellow sounds and less sustain. Arch top, lute family instruments tend to have more “bite” than flat top instruments. That’s why arch top guitars are favored by jazz musicians. It’s why an arch top F-body style mandolin is favored by bluegrass musicians while a flat top A-body style mandolin is favored by old time musicians. Punch for the arch top. Twang and sustain for the flat top. The McNeela voice is balanced across the entire four pairs of strings. It’s a clear sound that supports both delicate ornamentation and strong back up chording. The intonation is perfect. And the voice up the neck is sweet and clear. There is no weak sound anywhere on the McNeela bouzouki. The instrument’s voice is well balanced and produces a very attractive tone. The Carvalho has a stunning low end in its voice. It’s rich, mellow, full. It’s very satisfying to play this instrument. You really feel inside the instrument. The bottom end is amazing. My choice of the cedar top was correct. The top range of the Carvalho’s voice with the cedar top is very bright. I can only guess that the top end with a spruce top might be too bright for my tastes. The strength of the Carvalho’s voice is much greater than any other bouzouki I have played. This is a loud instrument. It will hold up well in a large session or in ensemble. Suggestions for Both Instruments Would be nice to have a strap button already installed at the neck joint. While it isn’t hard to install a strap button, not everyone is comfortable drilling a hole in a $600 or $700 instrument. That means a trip the luthier and a bill. A small thing, perhaps. Which one to Buy? If the primary goal is to have a loud instrument with a deep bottom end and a detailed high end range, my choice would be the Carvalho. If the goal is a balanced, clear, sweet voice across its range, with lots of sustain, it’s the McNeela for me. If your hands are small and fingers short, lean toward the McNeela. If your hands are large and fingers long, lead toward the Carvalho. Or drop the tuning on the Carvalho and put a capo on fret 2 to accommodate short fingers. If you are playing mostly with friends or in a small session, lean toward the McNeela. If you are playing in a large session or with an ensemble, lean toward the Carvalho. Bottom line: I’m not parting with either of these marvelous instruments. Each has a unique voice. Each feels different to play. For me it’s not a matter of which is “best”. It’s the fact these two instruments deliver distinctly different performance voices. I love them both for different reasons. Which the bouzouki I choose to play depends upon the setting and size of the group. Each bouzouki has significant strengths. I’m very pleased to own both of these bouzoukis. For what it’s worth, my trio likes the Carvalho best for performing. They like the big, natural, open voice of the Carvalho. Hope this report of my experience with the two bouzoukis is helpful.

2 years ago

Love the neck, as a guitar player it feels just right. It sounds amazing. Many good comments from friends at sessions. Installed K&K pickups for live use through a Grace pre-amp, I could not ask for better.

6 months ago

Happy customer, quick and secure shipping to the US, no complaints!

1 year ago

Shipping to the USA was timely and item was packaged and arrived with care . The staff at McNeela were extremely helpful with my Order assuring all my questions and conerns were answered. After playing guitars for 30+ years this was my very first Bouzouki. Appartently I chose wisely. This Bouzouki is asthetically pleasing with KOA and exhibits craftmanship with attention to detail. The instrument sets-up nicely offering great fretting action along the entire fretboard with no fret buzz. Perfect Intonation with good sustain and a great voice makes it ideal for my particulat irish strumming style.. ( I use a 0.71 mm DUNLOP GATOR GRIP Pick tapering the tip down to 0.61 mm )

1 year ago

2 years ago

I own both the McNeela Premium Electro Acoustic Irish Bouzouki and the Antonio Carvalho Bouzouki PTB308. Five stars for each of these bouzoukis. Both are wonderful instruments and splendid to play and to hear. However, these bouzoukis are different in several significant ways. I wrote this review to help someone who is trying to sort out which instrument to buy. This review was written after performing with each instrument during four, 90-minute shows my trio did over the span of two weeks. (Not sessions. Concerts. On stage doing a mix of tunes and songs.). Technical differences of importance. Nut Width: The Carvalho nut is more than ¼” wider than the nut on the McNeela. This quarter inch difference is more than a 22% change in the dimension between the two bouzoukis. Players with large hands may appreciate the wider nut. Players with small hands may find the larger nut size to be challenging when reaching for chord positions. The Carvalho also has a thicker neck than the McNeela. On balance, the Carvalho favors players with large hands or long fingers. Scale Length: The scale length of the McNeela bouzouki nearly 1.5 inches longer than the scale length of the Carvalho. This means The McNeela bouzouki requires a greater stretch to get the same chord or melody fingering. In practice I have found that both instruments feel good to play. But, the Carvalho, despite the shorter scale length requires a greater stretch for fingering than the McNeela. That’s due to the greater nut width on the Carvalho. The wider neck of the Carvalho spaces out the strings more than the McNeela. The Carvalho favors players with larger hands or larger fingers. I have small hands and short fingers. I can barely reach an octave on a standard piano keyboard. The Carvalho requires more concentration to keep my fretting hand open and flexible. I must be more aware of the reach when playing the Carvalho. The McNeela, for me, has a more natural feeling when I play. Tip for Those (like me) with Short Fingers: Tune the Carvalho bouzouki down a whole tone to A C G C. Put a capo on fret 2, This makes fingering a much easier reach for short-fingered players. The low tuning does not degrade the voice of the instrument. It still sounds great. The Voices of the Instruments ( I did NOT use the plugin capability of the McNeela bouzouki for this) My McNeela bouzouki has a spruce top. My Carvalho has a cedar top. Spruce generally produces a brighter voice. Cedar generally produces a more mellow voice. The McNeela has a flat top. The Carvalho has an arched top. In general arched top lute-family instruments tend to produce more mellow sounds and less sustain. Arch top, lute family instruments tend to have more “bite” than flat top instruments. That’s why arch top guitars are favored by jazz musicians. It’s why an arch top F-body style mandolin is favored by bluegrass musicians while a flat top A-body style mandolin is favored by old time musicians. Punch for the arch top. Twang and sustain for the flat top. The McNeela voice is balanced across the entire four pairs of strings. It’s a clear sound that supports both delicate ornamentation and strong back up chording. The intonation is perfect. And the voice up the neck is sweet and clear. There is no weak sound anywhere on the McNeela bouzouki. The instrument’s voice is well balanced and produces a very attractive tone. The Carvalho has a stunning low end in its voice. It’s rich, mellow, full. It’s very satisfying to play this instrument. You really feel inside the instrument. The bottom end is amazing. My choice of the cedar top was correct. The top range of the Carvalho’s voice with the cedar top is very bright. I can only guess that the top end with a spruce top might be too bright for my tastes. The strength of the Carvalho’s voice is much greater than any other bouzouki I have played. This is a loud instrument. It will hold up well in a large session or in ensemble. Suggestions for Both Instruments Would be nice to have a strap button already installed at the neck joint. While it isn’t hard to install a strap button, not everyone is comfortable drilling a hole in a $600 or $700 instrument. That means a trip the luthier and a bill. A small thing, perhaps. Which one to Buy? If the primary goal is to have a loud instrument with a deep bottom end and a detailed high end range, my choice would be the Carvalho. If the goal is a balanced, clear, sweet voice across its range, with lots of sustain, it’s the McNeela for me. If your hands are small and fingers short, lean toward the McNeela. If your hands are large and fingers long, lead toward the Carvalho. Or drop the tuning on the Carvalho and put a capo on fret 2 to accommodate short fingers. If you are playing mostly with friends or in a small session, lean toward the McNeela. If you are playing in a large session or with an ensemble, lean toward the Carvalho. Bottom line: I’m not parting with either of these marvelous instruments. Each has a unique voice. Each feels different to play. For me it’s not a matter of which is “best”. It’s the fact these two instruments deliver distinctly different performance voices. I love them both for different reasons. Which the bouzouki I choose to play depends upon the setting and size of the group. Each bouzouki has significant strengths. I’m very pleased to own both of these bouzoukis. For what it’s worth, my trio likes the Carvalho best for performing. They like the big, natural, open voice of the Carvalho. Hope this report of my experience with the two bouzoukis is helpful.

2 years ago