3 minute read
Fender Paramount PD-220E Dreadnought
CHEAT SHEET
STREET PRICE: $799.99
MANUFACTURER:
Cort Guitars, cortguitars.com
Cort’s Voiced Tone VTH-77 pickups paired with custom wiring provide high-output humbucking and split-coil tones with clarity and edge from the 5-way switch.
The roasted maple neck and fretboard along with a 12-15.75” compound radius and Ergo-V profile neck encourage rapid-fire playability and enhanced comfort.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The Cort G290 FAT II is an undeniably versatile and pro-level instrument, with studio-quality tones and playability that far exceeds its competition.
GUITAR WORLD GOLD AWARD
Buzz Bin
PERFO R MANCE
Fender Paramount PD-220E Dreadnought
WHEN IT COMES to mid-priced acoustics, your choices are boundless. And to make matters more complicated, once you’ve set your sights on a particular brand or model, along comes one of your trusted guitar-playing buddies to make a strong case for another. Well, let me be that friend for a moment. Fender makes a dizzying amount of musical instruments, and if there’s one category that’s often overlooked it’s their more traditional acoustics that get passed over for their cutting-edge Acoustasonic, which has garnered a great deal of cachet. Fender aims to change that perception with their excellent Paramount Series of acoustics that are not only budget-friendly, but also include all the classic body styles of a Dreadnought, Orchestra and Parlor. For a few weeks, I was able to brush up on my (poor) bluegrass chops with the mighty Fender Paramount PD-220E Dreadnought. And after digging into its nimble playability and loud projection, I might persuade you to seriously consider this acoustic over anything else in a room full of dreadnoughts. The PD-220E aesthetics seem to draw from the Dust Bowl era of folk instruments and wouldn’t look too out of place as a guitar held by Woody Guthrie. With a choice of either solid spruce (three-color vintage sunburst and natural finishes) or solid mahogany (aged cognac burst) top, the PD-220E comes paired with solid mahogany back and sides, an ovangkol bridge, black or tiger stripe pickguard (depending on finish), bone nut and saddle, open-gear tuners and a slim-taper mahogany neck with snowflake-shaped Pearloid inlays decorating the ovangkol fingerboard. The guitar’s top displays ornate feathered-style purfling and rosette, and flipping it over you’ll find that same trimming for its backstrip. The guitar also includes a Fender and Fishman-designed Sonitone Plus preamp with soundhole-mounted controls for volume and blend. And uncommon for acoustics at this price, the PD-220E comes with a deluxe hardshell case. One of the first things you’ll notice on the PD-220E is how incredibly featherweight it is once you grasp it and how the texture of the body’s ultra-thin satin finish is not far from a raw wood feel. It’s solidly built, with a powerfully bright, mid-ranged voice that has thunderous volume for a budget dreadnought (you can most likely attribute that to its optimized X-bracing, which seems to enhance resonance and projected volume). The delightfully low-action setup combined with its fast-feeling neck is primed for fingerstyle playing and flat-picking, and there’s a pleasant brassy chime to the guitar if you pick softly. Also, the Sonitone Plus system works well in making amplified tones sweep from mellow-bodied to a bright snap using the blend thumb-wheel. As a fan of many square-shouldered classics, I can’t say the PD-220E shares the same complexity as other renowned dreadnoughts, but for its price, the Fender PD-220E is a fantastic D-style acoustic to regard because it ticks all the proper boxes in sight and sound — and that’s paramount. — Paul Riario STREET PRICE: $829.99 MANUFACTURER: Fender, fender.com
