are crafter acoustic guitars good

Are Crafter Acoustic Guitars Good? Crafter A Good Guitar Brand?

Are Crafter Acoustic guitars good, and what makes the Crafter brand stick out from the competition? Crafter Guitars has made a name for itself through the decades, producing high-quality guitars in an industry dominated by some of the most recognizable brands in the world. Despite the risks and challenges of the guitar-making business, the five-decades old Korean company has given thousands of working musicians and enthusiasts the option to own and play guitars that look, sound, and feel great, without hurting their savings accounts.

Meet the Founders of Crafter Guitars

Building a stringed instrument requires a lot of patience and attention to detail, making it a venture that is reserved only for the most passionate individuals. When aspiring luthier HyunKwon Park established the company in the basement of his house in 1972, he relied solely on the help of four employees, his skills, knowledge, and undying love for the craft, to establish a long-lasting legacy that would later be passed on to his son Injae Park. 

‘Sungeum’ which means ‘accomplishing the sound’ in Korean, was the first name of HyunKwon’s company that focused primarily on creating classical guitars. Hyunkwon’s earlier creations broke out into the scene and catapulted his status from basement guitar builder, to a legitimate instrument producer. He soon outgrew his workspace and went on to build guitars in much larger factories, to satisfy the growing demand for his beautiful acoustic axes.

After Injae joined his father’s company in 1986, he decided to change the name of their guitar brand to Crafter Guitars, which he believes is much easier to market on the global stage. He also chose the name to pay tribute to the hardworking guitar makers that make up the company and the guitar-building industry as a whole. 

Injae Park’s decision to re-brand the family-owned business was crucial to the company’s international expansion. Today, Crafter Guitars are distributed in 40 countries all over Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Oceania and the Americas. A huge leap from their days as the top guitar brand in South Korea.

Crafter Guitars’ Strong Industry Presence

The fact that a small guitar company like Crafter Guitars succeeded in a massively competitive space is a testament to the amount of love being poured towards the creation of each of their hand-made instruments. 

While established juggernauts such as Gibson and Fender are far more sought-after in the market, Crafter Guitars are not lagging behind in terms of meeting the high standards of some of the most discerning guitar players such as R&B singer/songwriter Anhayla and Damon Johnson of Thin Lizzy, to name a few.

Even after 50 years of constructing high-quality guitars, it is still not uncommon to hear people asking the question, are Crafter acoustic guitars good?. This is understandable since the guitar market is saturated with bigger, more popular brand names. Many musicians will however attest to Crafter Guitars’ reliability and capacity to churn out the sweetest guitar sounds in the scene.

Reasons Crafter Guitars Are So Good

Excellent Craftsmanship

Once an acoustic guitar by Crafter ends up on your lap, you can easily tell that it was built with utmost care. The experience and wisdom of HyunKwon, combined with Injae’s commitment and forward-thinking ideas, reflect on every guitar that comes out of Crafter’s factory. From the headstock to the inlays, to the fretboard and the body, the beauty of Crafter Guitars exudes tremendous craftsmanship from all angles.

Great Feel 

Whether it’s the delicate, pop sensibilities of American Idol alumni Janell Wheeler, or the hard hitting hardrock sounds of Dario Lorina, a guitar with great feel is an important requisite. Crafter Guitars always makes sure that guitar players of any style or skill level will feel comfortable and free to channel their thoughts and emotions on these six stringers.

Rich Unplugged Sound

An acoustic guitar should sound good right off the bat, without the aid of any pick-up or pre-amp. Crafter’s combination of different kinds of resonant wood helps in achieving such rich, harmonic tones that professionals and hobbyists alike would find fulfilling.

Powerful Electronics

For those who intend to use their acoustic for recording, live performances or simply wish to make some noise at home, Crafter Guitars usually come equipped with a soundhole mount pickup and preamp system with under-saddle pickup and internal microphone. These things could really get loud on a decent amp, but what’s more impressive is the pronounced clarity produced by these devices, even at a higher volume.

Reasonable Price

You don’t have to sell your organs – or any other instrument – to acquire a guitar that will satisfy your penchant for rocking out acoustically. Crafter Guitars are fairly priced without compromising quality. Ranging from $400 to $1,200, acoustic guitars by Crafter are a perfect steal for both virtuosos and beginners in the art of strumming. 

Durability

Vintage Crafter guitars would sometimes find their way in pawn shops, and some of them are still in great condition today. This is the advantage of handmade instruments that were not manufactured in cookie cutter fashion. It’s what makes Crafter acoustic guitars good. A lot of effort is focused on the building of each guitar, allowing the luthiers to achieve the masterful guitar-building standards set by their founders.

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