Music Mart have reviewed the Ashton Dualler in their April 2007 issue:
Ashton, based out of Alexandria in Australia,
are rapidly expanding their business,
producing all manner of musical equipment
under the motto of “designed by musicians for
musicians”. The range includes not just guitars,
basses and amplifiers but also violins, drum
kits, keyboards, and PA systems. Their mission
seems to be to offer affordable quality in the
entry-level market and ‘more bang for your
buck’ as the Americans would say.
The Dualler’s body shape is very
comfortable to play and despite the
pronounced top left upper bout, the Ashton
Dualler doesn’t dig into your chest and
rests snuggly over your thigh. Ergonomics
are always an important feature when you
practice with a guitar for a protracted period
of time! The neck and headstock are slightly
heavier than the body but there isn’t much
neck dip and it’s easy to compensate.
The neck is sleek
and comfortable with
a semi-circular profile,
with an equally good,
flawless finish on the back
and sides. For a guitar in this
price range, this is exceptional
as you usually find some
area where the finish isn’t quite
100 percent. In fact, the finish is
so good you can only just make out
where the two pieces of wood join almost
seamlessly at the back. The top is beautifully
rendered in a navy blue that fades out to
near-black with beige binding at the edges
and a mother-of-pearl-style decoration of
concentric rings around the soundhole.
Inspecting the Dualler minutely,
the only minor quibble that
could be found on the entire guitar (inside or out)
was a slightly rough finish to
the very edge of the inner
soundhole rim, but you
have to be looking down
into the guitar to even spot
this. With this relatively
minor exception, the Dualler
actually looks and feels like
a premium priced-guitar,
which is remarkable at this
price point.
The interior of the guitar
is well finished too and has
no problems and there is an
excellent job done on the
fretboard. The dot inlays
are to be found near the
edge of the fretboard rather
than their usual location
in the middle, presumably
so they’re closer to
a beginner’s eye line. The
fretboard would be pretty
ideal for beginners both in
terms of the generous nut
width (42mm) and its very
comfortable fretboard.
The Dualler is one of Ashton’s most
expensive models of
acoustic guitar. Their
range starts from the
DM27 priced at £79 which amazingly
also includes the Prener built-in tuner for that
price. The main differences between the DM27
at one end of Ashton’s acoustic range and the
Dualler at the other are the Dualler’s five-band
EQ, XLR output and most important of all, the
dual pickup system, involving a combination
of a magnetic soundhole unit and piezo
undersaddle.
Ashton Dualler Performance
For looks and quality of finish, the
Ashton Dualler is a fierce competitor in
the marketplace and it’s certainly more
worthwhile than ever now for anyone buying
their first acoustic guitar to shop around
as it’s simply amazing what you can get for
your money these days. You’re no longer
consigned to having to buy the horrible brown
wooden guitar with frighteningly cramped
string spacing of the ‘70s — spend between
a hundred and two hundred quid and you can
get something decidedly decent for your cash.
The Dualler is no exception and provides
a warm, balanced tone that is excellent for
strumming chords, with good separation
between the highs and lows. The low-end
has a reasonable woody, hollow bass,
which seems to improve further when
amplified. It doesn’t really growl though,
it has more of a smooth mellow low-end
sound. The high-end is ultra-piercing with
lots of reverb although possibly could use a little more sustain.
It’s certainly a very versatile guitar in
terms of the styles you could use it for — it
would work well as a folk instrument, as an
alt-rock strummer or even for a neo-classical
arpeggio-based player that prefers steel
over nylon. For the money, it definitely offers
a decent tone which many acoustics priced
over £300 would be hard pressed to compete
with.
Admittedly, the fretboard does produce
the odd squeak as you’re shifting at speed
between chord changes, but if you’re careful,
you can virtually eradicate this. In some ways,
this is a good thing as it does force you to play
well and really listen to your playing, as well
as building some good habits and discipline
in a beginner. On the flip side though, speed
merchants might eventually want to upgrade
to something a little less sensitive — the
fretboard is rather prone to squeaks like when
playing fast D-shape chord progressions on
the E, B and G strings.
When amplified, the Dualler really is
something special. Those occasional squeaks
vanish entirely and you’re left with just the
warm, rich, and resonant chords delivered
with some satisfying sustain. The amplifier
also seems to bring out those high notes, and
harmonics are delivered effortlessly.
When playing with all the equalizer controls
set to half way, you do need to be a little softer
on the higher E and B strings or these can
dominate during arpeggios.
This is where the dual pickup
function earns points by
enabling you to switch over
to Piezo mode using the Blend
control, which makes for a more
delicate arpeggio. Coil mode at
the opposite end of the sliding
Blend Control does seem to
increase the volume a fair bit but
has the benefit of adding some
warmth and greatly enhancing
the sustain. Notes decay slowly
then seem to come back for
a slight second encore before
they finally retreat!
Conclusions
Ashton’s Dualler represents
excellent value for money, with its
combination of bass, mid, treble,
presence, plus blend control
over the dual pickups giving you
considerable scope to customise
your sound the way you like it.
The magnetic soundhole pickup
can also be raised and lowered to the player’s
preference and the built-in tuner is an obvious
bonus, saving the inconvenience of plugging
into an external tuner. For £129, what more
could you want?
Music Mart April 2007