Description
Review of the Ashthorpe 41 Inch Beginner Cutaway Acoustic Guitar Package, Sunburst
The Ashthorpe 41 inch is a full size steel string acoustic with a cutaway, sold in sunburst as a starter package with a gig bag and the usual first accessories. Ashthorpe aims it at teenagers and adult beginners rather than children, and the bundle is built so that nothing else needs buying on day one.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- A published scale length of 25.5 inches, which is genuinely useful information and rare at this price. It is the standard dreadnought scale, so any commonly sold acoustic string set will fit correctly.
- Rosewood fretboard on a maple neck. Rosewood is the conventional choice for a fingerboard and is far more appropriate than the soft woods that often appear in this bracket.
- Cutaway body, which removes part of the upper bout so the frets above the twelfth are reachable. That matters for anyone who wants to play melody lines rather than only open chords.
- Complete starter package: gig bag, digital tuner, strap, three picks, a spare set of six strings and an instruction sheet.
Cons
- The spec table says the guitar requires one CR2 lithium battery, included. A purely acoustic guitar has nothing to power. That cell almost certainly belongs to the clip on tuner in the bundle, and the field has been attached to the wrong item.
- The product dimensions are listed as 3.25 by 3.25 by 41 inches, which describes a long thin box rather than a guitar. The description’s own figure of 41 by 16 by 3.25 inches is the credible one, and the two do not agree.
- The listed weight of 3.7 pounds is light for a full size laminated acoustic, which usually lands nearer four and a half to five pounds. Treat it as approximate.
- The top is laminated linden. Laminate is durable and stable but it does not open up with age the way a solid top does, and it is the main reason an instrument at this price sounds the way it does.
- No nut width is published, so how wide the neck feels under the fretting hand cannot be established from the data.
Detailed Product Description
The top, back and sides are laminated linden, sometimes sold as basswood. Laminate is several thin sheets of wood glued in alternating grain directions. It resists humidity swings and knocks far better than a solid top, which is a real advantage for a first guitar that will live in a bedroom rather than a case. The trade is tonal: a laminated top is stiffer and does not vibrate as freely, so the sound is more even and less resonant than a solid topped instrument. The difference is explained in the guide to solid top versus laminate acoustic guitars.
The neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard carrying 20 frets. Maple is stiff and stable, and a rosewood board is slightly oily, which makes it comfortable under the fingers and easy to maintain. The scale length of 25.5 inches is the standard long scale used on most dreadnoughts. At that scale, alloy steel strings of light gauge sit at a moderate tension, firm enough to give volume but not so tight that chords become a struggle.
The bridge is fixed, with the strings anchored by bridge pins and passing over a saddle. Height adjustment is a workshop job rather than a knob, so the action arrives as the factory set it. The cutaway is a thinline style cut at the neck joint. The high gloss finish looks good but shows fingerprints and light scratches more readily than a satin one.
What Comes with the Product
- The 41 inch cutaway acoustic guitar in sunburst
- A nylon gig bag
- A digital tuner
- A shoulder strap
- Three picks in assorted colours
- An extra set of six strings
- An instructional sheet
Not included: a hard case, a capo, a guitar stand, a string winder or any online lesson subscription. What a bundle at this level typically covers is set out in the guide to what is in a guitar starter bundle.
Who It Suits
This suits a teenager or adult starting from zero who wants one purchase that covers everything, and it suits a returning player who needs a knockabout acoustic that can be left on a stand. The laminate construction is the right call for a guitar that will not be babied, and the cutaway means it does not become limiting the moment lead playing starts.
It suits less well a child under about eleven, for whom a full 41 inch body is too large to hold properly. It also suits less well anyone specifically chasing acoustic tone, since a solid top model will sound noticeably better and will improve with playing. Comparable bundles include the Ashthorpe 38 inch acoustic kit, the Lotmusic 41 inch cutaway bundle and the Donner 41 inch acoustic bundle. The full range sits in acoustic guitars and beginner starter kits.
How to Maintain
Wipe the strings after every session. Steel strings corrode from skin acid and sweat, and dead strings are the most common reason a new guitar sounds dull within a couple of months.
Store it in the gig bag when it is not in use, and keep it away from radiators and out of hot cars. A gig bag will not stop a fall the way a hard case would, so a guitar stand is worth adding if it will live out in the room.
Slacken nothing and adjust nothing on the truss rod without knowing what it does. If the strings buzz or sit high, a setup at a local shop is the correct fix.
Tips and Recommendations
Change the factory strings early. Budget instruments often sit in a warehouse for months and the shipped set will sound flat compared with a fresh one, which changes the impression of the guitar entirely.
If chords buzz above the fifth fret or the strings feel stiff, a basic action adjustment is the difference between practising and giving up. The guide to guitar action and setup covers what to ask for.
Product FAQ
Does this guitar need a battery?
No. It is a purely acoustic instrument with no electronics. The CR2 cell listed in the spec table is for the clip on tuner supplied in the bundle.
Is the top solid or laminated?
Laminated linden, stated by the manufacturer. Solid top construction is not claimed anywhere.
Can it be plugged into an amplifier?
No pickup, preamp or output jack is listed. An external soundhole pickup or a microphone would be needed to amplify it.
