The first aftermarket review is going to be about the 2024 Cozart Electric acoustic single cutaway resonator.
I have been playing it a lot so there are some observations since I wrote the original review. I had noted that the ergonomics were pretty good and that's still basically true except I'm not sure how the guitar was sitting on my lap during the first review. It now sits a little further back, kind of like how an Epiphone Casino rests on my leg. It makes it feel like it's going to pop upwards instead of down.
In other words, it's the opposite of neck dive. I solved that by holding it like a Flying V (between the legs). After that, it became easy to play. However, it did change the feel of the neck from the standard 12-14 fret type resonator to a longer scale. Maybe like a telecaster, I guess.
In terms of the resonator sound, it never changed. It's about the same as it was. There are two things about a resonator cone. One, the most important thing is that it produces a lot of volume. Second, there is a certain tone that one associates with the resonator. The Cozart is quiet, about as loud as a semi-solid. It’s a little louder with finger picks or a regular plectrum. As far as the sound, it pretty much sounds like a resonator, albeit a quiet one.
I've noticed that the playability is affected somewhat by the biscuit bridge because if you play hard, it can knock the E string off the fret board. You have to play it carefully. If you've got the action high for slide, then I think you can bang away at the thing. In my case, I keep the string height lower so I can finger pick it.
As far as the biscuit bridge, there’s been two string changes. It’s not incredibly hard; it strings like a banjo or Archtop with a tail piece. However, the first time that you take the top off and remove the bridge to do anything with it, you'll find that when you put it back in, it doesn't sit like it did before. In other words, it's going to buzz.
So, my case, and maybe this isn't true for all of this model, is that you have to do a little shimming on the side to push the biscuit up against one of the sides of the hole that the biscuit resides in (That's the best way to describe it, I guess). Other than that, it's pretty much your standard biscuit bridge. You might be tempted to cut some string notches into it. That’s an individual judgment. I personally don't.
If you have to do any work on the bridge, like to lower it, the piezoelectric strip has to be seated back in correctly. If not, it simply won't pick up sound. You'll have to go back into the cone and adjust it. So you have to be careful with that. Removing the cone is easy but the screws are small and the drilling of the holes are OK but not precise like in a more expensive guitar. It’s a good idea to be patient and put the cover back on slowly.
As far as the “blend” sound, which is the sound produced by combining the piezoelectric and the regular neck pickup, it's close to a standard resonator tone. However, the tone reminds me of semi-solid because this guitar is really somewhat like one. Most resonators have the cone built into a hollow body. This one is built into a solid body. There’s a large hole for the resonator cone and the rest of the body is solid.
So, you've got basically a solid guitar with a very large hole that happens to be covered with a resonator cover and a small cone. That gives you a mild resonator tone, certainly enough to be identifiable. However, a lot of the tone, particularly up past the 12th fret, will probably remind you more of a semi-solid guitar.
All in all, I do like the sound. If anything, I prefer it because the tone is a little different and the sustain is sweeter. I'm used to the size and the way it fits.
The Cozart is basically your classic short-scale guitar, and as such easy to play. This is definitely a guitar that doesn't feel more and more flawed as time goes by.
