I bought this T160 Silver Creek guitar a year or so ago when it was on sale with a free case. After reading the reviews, I bought it on a whim since I already own 15 guitars. I particularly liked the 000 body size, 24 3/4 inch scale wide neck, and prefer the warmth of mahogany over rosewood. When it arrived it needed a little fret, bone nut replacement, and set-up work which was done by my friend custom guitar builder Bob Gernandt, but after that it was amazing. This guitar appears to be a copy of the Eric Clapton Martin. Another friend owns one of those and when he saw this he couldn't believe it. Of course played side by side acoustically this doesn't sound as good as the Martin, but these days I always play amplified anyway and found a few tricks that work wonders. I use Martin silk and steel strings, which really make it come alive, a Lace Sensor Acoustic Bronze soundhole pickup playing through a Boss Acoustic Simulator pedal into a small Acoustic brand B20 bass amp. With this combination, I think this guitar sounds every bit as rich and mellow as rigs costing thousands of dollars more. Maybe better. I've owned tons of guitars over 54 years including a few boutique items like a Bozo, a Gurian etc which were great acoustic guitars. Of course to get a strictly acoustic guitar that sounds truly great, you will have to spend some money. But to get an acoustic guitar that sounds great amplified, you don't. I don't care for most acoustic guitars with piezo- electric pickups and preamps because they sound too "quacky" to me. This is an amazing guitar for the money, and with a little work it can be made truly outstanding.

Been playing acoustic for 36 years finger picker. I've owned 60's epiphones, fender, 90's taylor all have gone away for one reason or another. Currently I play a 000-15 martin. Along with a few that I've built [perfer 000 or om bodies] O.K. silver creek t-160, I seen this guitar and thought for that money it must be junk! I been seeing reviews and all the high praises, so I took another look.It came on sale so now I own one. SURPRISE out of the box I thought wow that finish is thick with a few minor blems, oh well. Construction looked to be pretty nice. Replaced the strings and did a little setup but not much. Tuned and begain to play six hours past it begain to open up nicely. It is not in the league as the Martin. BUT for this price if you don't have one, get one of these silver creek guitars. They'll only get better with age and are agreat value.

Everything said about this guitar is true...it's a great guitar for the price, and even if it was twice the price I'd say the same thing. The only issues for me are: the dot inlays are different sizes...I'd rather them be the same size. Secondly, the cheap bridge pins/end pin need to be replaced with ebony ones. Thirdly, the white binding around the body looks a little cheap...it would look much better if it were just slightly less white...maybe it will change over time, but I doubt it. One major note: mine came with a bone nut and saddle. I'm not sure if they all are coming like that now or maybe someone put them on mine and returned it, not sure. Just an interesting note. It is a compensated saddle and the intonation seems perfect. This guitar favors the treble end and would be great for finger picking...it sounds really similar to my yamaha dread (all laminate) and just as good if not better than an alvarez dread (all laminate) I play often. I haven't compared it to any "high end" guitars but I've compared my yamaha to some expensive guitars and it sounded just as good if not better, so I assume this one does too (kind of a removed comparison, i know). But I like the sound, the bass doesn't overwhelm the treble...it's very well balanced and sounds good with vocals. It's nice to be able to afford a solid wood guitar...otherwise I'd have to sell an organ to get a martin, etc. Which I eventually will do, but until then this one will work.

For a little background, I've been playing for 35 years. I evolved from front porch to school assemblies to traveling with a school ensemble to (after high school) local jamboree/fire dept. benefit/pie supper (it's easy to stay booked when you play for free) type gigs. Along the way I put away the Yairi DY-45 and picked up the Strat. I eventually went full time in '87, bouncing around between theatre shows and traveling bar bands. I tired of suitcase living, forming and re-forming bands etc. in '92, and decided to get a real job. Fast-forward to 17 yrs later, I still play enough to scratch the itch & have re-discovered my 1st love, acoustic fingerstyle. I still own my '81 Yairi dreadnaught, but after much debate and research, I decided to give this T-160 a try. I am glad I did! I have never played a Martin (or any other) Triple-O before, and now I don't want to. They may very well be better, but I would bet a large sum of money they aren't 5 to 10 TIMES better, which would be the difference in price. This guitar was GOOD out of the box. Plain as expected, hence the 2.5 for features. I would have checked "N/A" if possible. Fit and finish were outstanding. A new set of Martin PB lts, saddle shave & truss rod adjustment bumped it up to REAL GOOD, but the nut slots were a little off. Took it to a Pro for that and new Ebony end & bridge pins to replace the cheapos (hence the 4.5 on Quality) that came on it. That gave it a final bump into GREAT! The tone is sweet, and very balanced, not the boomy bass of the dred. Rich harmonics and full sustain. I was impressed with the dynamics & emotion it brought out in my playing. Very easy to relay the "moods" of the song. The only A/B I can relay is against my Yairi. Tonal differences aside, two things stand out to me. First; everyone, including me, who has played my Yairi thinks it is one of the best sounding acoustics they have played. I have loaned it out for recording in the past. To my ears this T-160 sounds just as good in its own way, better in some respects, i.e harmonic balance. Second; Volume. The T-160 can get as loud as the Yairi, with the exception of that dreadnaught bass. Very surprising. On a final note, the only other person to play or hear this guitar so far, the tech that did the nut work, seemed a little "ho-hum" at the "cheap chinese copy" (he said it was at the upper end of that group, kind of a back handed compliment) when I dropped it off. When I picked it up he could not stop bragging on it, how good it played and sounded. I got a distinct vibe like he didn't want to let it go! That told me ALOT!

Just received it today. Fresh from the box the guitar sounded good. I changed the strings, nuts, saddle and pins; voila, you've gor a great sounding guitar that rivals the Martins, and for a fraction of the price. I've never played a guitar in this price range that looks and sounds this good.