The jumbo arrived this morning and regardless of a few little things that won't bother me, I'm very happy with it. The tone is what I hoped for, a bit bass oriented without necessarily going as far as the typical Martin BOOM, but bassy when strummed. On the other hand, this thing is sweet when finger picked up the fretboard. For someone like me, it might be the ideal combination. I really think I lucked out.
The neck profile, something that is always a concern with my big hands, is comfortable. The neck appears a bit dry, so I'll remove the strings and give it some Dr. Duck's Axe Wax this evening to moisten it. The snowflake inlays are very nicely done without any apparent filler or superglue marks around them. There is no fret sprout at all and no buzz from what is a really good setup straight out of the box. Given a couple days in my 55% RH music room, we'll see how it settles in, but as we used to say in the military, "Confidence is high..."
If I had to be skeptical about anything, it would be the saddle, which doesn't appear to be bone, as advertised. By domino effect, that would make me wonder about the nut and pins, but I can deal with all that myself. I have never seen bone cut into the little square corners where slots are made for intonation adjustment. This looks like plastic, with the little tilted walls to accommodate the strings that need to be accommodated. There is also what looks like the little piece of slag where the saddle was once attached to the tree during the molding process. For the way it plays and sounds, I'm certainly not going to send it back or bust anyone's chops over something like this. I have bone blanks and probably a Tusq saddle or two at home. It'll be fun to experiment, but as is, this is well worth the money.
The only other thing about it, not that I dislike it at all, but that I find different, is the finish. Instead of what I typically think of as a brown sunburst, this is more of a black and yellow. I just looked at it again and I'd have to actually say it's such a dark brown that it looks black, but it's a two tone burst like an old Fender Strat I once had. I was a bit taken aback when I opened the case, but it's just so different from anything else I have. I think I'll grow to like it pretty quickly. It might even take a couple hours until I go home from work!
The case is simply cool as hell. The antique brass colored hinges against the olive tweed fabric and leather trim, (OK, genuine immitation leather), is just such a cool look that I think people will notice how different it is and want to see what's inside that monstrously large case.
One thing a friend in another forum suggested that just isn't true is that this guitar doesn't feel heavy or over-built at all. It feels no less sturdy than my Taylor dreadnaught and it's not as light as my Martin dreadnaught, but it's not as heavy as my Takamine 12 string. In general, I'd say it is on the lighter side of average, which leaves me with hope that the tone will only improve over time. Volume is not incredible like my Martin... this is no cannon... but it doesn't get muddy when I beat on it, so strings, saddle and playing time might even improve that a bit. My Martin has had quite a few years thrown into it, so it has a big headstart.
In conclusion, I stand by my original gut feeling that this would be one hell of a good deal to grab one from MF while you still can. Personally, I'm going to watch for more of the GAD series to see where the prices go and grab what I can when I can.
Excuse me now please... I'm going to go play my new guitar... and try to make it look like I'm working. (It's a good thing I run this place!)