IbanezDudeCK

I was down at my favorite guitar shop today looking for a good, cheap acoustic to use for messing around with alternate tunings and saw a strange little acoustic with the name Teton on it sitting in the middle of nowhere. It had a nice flat finish and a solid spruce top for only $230. I asked the guy about them and he had to go ask the manager what it was. They said it was a new brand that come out January 2011 and that they were designed by the guys from Takamine. The particular model was built to be comparable to a Takamine G Series but a little cheaper.

The neck felt pretty nice, but the bridge was falling off and there was a loose fret high up as well as glue oozing out around the purfling on the inside (not that most Takamine G-Series guitars don't have excess glue as well).

Anyways, they basically had to send it back and that was the only one in stock so I don't think I can make an accurate assumption based only on the feel of the neck. I was wondering if anyone has bought or played one of these Teton guitars and if they seem to all be that poorly constructed or if I just was lucky enough to try one that got missed during final inspection. Any insight would be nice

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Axes:
Ibanez RG7321
Ibanez RG320FM
LTD GUS600
Kramer Striker
Acoustics:
Art & Lutherie CW Antique Burst
Stupid Ovation CC
Washburn 12 String
Amps:
Randall Colossus Head
Randall Century 170 Cab/Head
Fender Acoustasonic

IbanezDudeCK

^Bump^

Again, has anyone played a Teton acoustic yet?

__________________
Axes:
Ibanez RG7321
Ibanez RG320FM
LTD GUS600
Kramer Striker
Acoustics:
Art & Lutherie CW Antique Burst
Stupid Ovation CC
Washburn 12 String
Amps:
Randall Colossus Head
Randall Century 170 Cab/Head
Fender Acoustasonic

BlackbirdPie

A guitar with a single problem may certainly not be indictative of a whole model line or brand, but a guitar with three problems?

If it is yellow like a lemon, looks like a lemon, and tastes like a lemon then...

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I'm the only player to be sponsered by 7 guitar companies not to use their products.

TetonGuitars

I am a representative of Chesbro Music Co. the owner/manufacturer/distributor of Teton Guitars. So that answers one misconception that the store passed on to you; Teton Guitars are not designed by the guys at Takamine but by Chesbro Music Co.

We are sorry that you first experience with Teton Guitars was not favorable but hey stuff like this happens. To find out more about the guitars, head over to www.tetonguitars.com, you can check them out and listen to sound samples.

We also encourage you to go back to the store or another store around you and encourage them to bring a few in for you to try. Other stores have had a lot of success with the Brand and we actually have had relatively few returns on the guitars from other stores.

We hope this answers some of your questions.

cincol

Huh. Hate to dig up a dead thread but there doesn't seem to be much info about these guys so it's probably worth it. Funny thing about what the OP's wrote, I played my first Teton yesterday in a small local shop and had a nearly identical experience. I too really liked how it sounded - more so than any other acoustic in the store - and it also had a lifting bridge. I didn't stare at the frets too long but this one also had either a high fret or a hump in the fretboard around the body join. Can't say anything about the excess glue situation. Like the OP I mentioned the bridge (etc.) situation to the tech guy and he pulled it out of circulation, presumably for return. But unlike the OP's store mine had three or four and the others seemed better, if not the body style I'm looking for. Guess they haven't dealt with their manufacturing problems and/or quality control issues yet. Then again, there's no telling how long this one had been sitting in the store so it my have been a leftover from before things were straightened out... if they were, that is.

I wonder about them being made in China - on one hand they pretty much have to be at that price, but on the other hand, we see Chinese guitars without any major problems all the time. The big Chinese instrument makers obviously know how to put something together so that it'll pass muster and these problems seem indicative of a small manufacturer which hasn't yet developed the necessary methods and practices to turn out a consistent product. This may not be the case at all, but I'd say that wherever the manufacturer is it seems they're either having trouble with volume production methods or materials.

Regardless, it's a real shame. As I said, I liked the sound better than that from any of the big names I played at the same time, regardless of cost. The only thing even remotely in my price range that I thought sounded comparable was one of the cheap Taylors I played at a different store a few weeks ago, and if Teton can ever get themselves straightened out I may end up with one.