Initial inspection showed a few tiny flaws, some of the decal around the sound hole made it to the side of the neck, a few frets were a little rough, the saddle is loose in the socket, nothing I couldn't fix easily. Moved on to setup and found a level, straight fretboard. Didn't rock my fret rocker once. Restringed her and plugged in and tuned up. So far the action is a little high but there's no fret buzz. Overall it sounds good through my interface, is pretty playable, so for the money .. I'm kinda impressed dude. For those on a tight budget but have the desire to play, don't even hesitate with this one. I have no idea how I got such an acceptable instrument for 100 bucks. I'll update this after 30 days and post my full evaluation.

I'll preface this by saying I am no expert in guitars or what aspects of construction determine quality. I am merely a dude who decided to pick up a guitar and learn the play while stuck at home.

With not much but a price point I had no idea where to start, and like any normal Amazon patron, I went to the reviews. After searching high and low, I finally came up with two guitars that fit my price range, and seemed to be well liked overall. My options were the slightly more sleek, and well known, Ibanez Talman, and this uknown, inexpensive Thinline Ashthorpe guitar with great reviews on Amazon. After a bit more research, I did what any sensible person would do. I bought both.

Fast forward a week or two later, my guitar gets stolen from the mail room of my building. Some documents and a few emails later, the sellers promptly sent a replacement, this time with Signature Required! Thank you for that!
After receiving the guitar, my initial thoughts were of the quality. You can clearly tell this isn't the picture of high level craftsmanship. There's what appeared to be finger smudge marks on the body, and the lining on the guitar was a bit rough. Overall it looks slightly cheaper then the Talman, which is to be expected.

Looks aside, this thing is great! In fact, after 2 months or so, I can tell you I have played this guitar 90% more then the Talman. The sound is great, and most importantly, it feels great to play! As a complete beginner, I am clearly not an expert at set up. Out of the box, once I got it tuned up, it played great and felt comfortable. The Talman, despite being more expensive and from a well known brand was not nearly as comfortable. The sound is great, but the action out of box was much worse than this lesser known Ashthorpe, which made playing uncomfortable, and the thought of learning much less exciting.

All in all, I cant speak for the experienced guitarist, but I would highly recommend this guitar to anyone looking to get into acoustic style guitar, without the larger body, at an amazing price point.

Thanks for making my learning experience a pleasant one Ashthorpe!

A+ guitar, and A+ seller

My Inspection and evaluation As-Received:

Sound hole label states:
Ashthorpe
Model C85
Designed & specified in Florida USA
Manufactured in China
A nylon gig bag with carry handle and two backstraps is provided
Visually there were no apparent defects or damage to parts or finish
Fretboard and both body edges were bound with white material
20 frets total
Scale Length is 25.5 inches
Fret board width at the nut is 1.730 inches
String width at the nut is 1.404 inches
String width at the saddle is 2.162 inches
The fret ends were beveled with no significant sprout evident; some of the bevel edges felt sharp and need a bit of smoothing with a fine file.
Frets were reasonably smooth and bright with a height average around 0.040 inches.
Frets were evaluated for level with a fret rocker tool (iLuiz tool); rocker error was detected at the following frets: 19, 17, 14, 9, 7; playability was not impacted so I chose not to get into fret leveling.
The saddle is approx. 0.138 inches thick with some intonation relief cuts present
Strings were installed by the seller but were set below standard pitch
It tuned easily to concert pitch E A D G B E; stick-slip on the wound G string was corrected with a correct width fret file to deepen and slant the string notch towards the tuner post. I did not inspect or file the remaining string slots.
Several tuning passes were needed as the neck settled under tension
String diameters in inches were measured with a dial caliper as follows
E 0.052, A 0.049, D 0.035, G 0.025, B 0.015, e 0.011
Fretboard relief was measured against a NeckCheck fretboard tool with 0.014 inch relief maximum found at the 9th fret.
String height ("Action") was found at the 12th fret to be 0.090 inch at bass E string and 0.070 inch at the treble E string (FretGuru 2 tool)
Electronic preamp has an easily accessed 9-volt battery. The unit has a battery test button that glows red if the battery is good. The supplied battery was in place and was covered with shrink plastic, The battery holder is cleverly designed with dimensions that only allow the battery to be inserted with correct polarity position.
Plugged in to a small practice amp the guitar made plenty of volume with the EQ sliders making noticeable changes to the sound.
Tone is good for such a low-priced guitar. This is a very good budget guitar and could be used as a knock-about guitar for travel, gigs, jam sessions.

I reset the fretboard relief to 0.007 inch by turning the truss rod hex clockwise using the supplied hex wrench
I snugged the tuning key nuts (against reports of failure to hold tune); the unit holds tune acceptably well.
I finished the edges of the beveled ends of some frets with a fine file to smooth them to finger touch.

I am not an experienced player or an expert of any sort. But since COVID I've been plugging away and enjoying learning chords and songs....not that I would play in front of anyone yet. That said, I started with a nice Fender acoustic and have no complaints. BUT, I wanted a guitar that wasn't too precious to take camping and keep in my RV when on the road so I can keep practicing. So even though my skills don't really justify a second guitar, I purchased this so I have one 'for the road' that I don't have to worry about. It shipped fast and I've only had it two days but it came well boxed and tuned right up. No packaging or damage issues. Is it as visually perfect as a more expensive guitar? Not quite, but there's nothing anyone but an expert will notice. Does it sound as good as a 2-3x as expensive guitar? Also not quite....BUT, it sounds, plays, and looks way better than anything at this price point has a right too. For a first guitar for yourself or your kid, this is ideal and you cannot beat the quality for the price. I'd buy again tomorrow. I'm hoping it stands the test of time and can withstand the rigors of the road and am looking forward to taking it camping. Even if it doesn't last forever, at this price that's OK.
One note, I purposefully got the thin body version of this because it's smaller to pack away - and as my RV friends know, size matters. If this was my only guitar or for at-home use I would get the full body size which is only an inch or so bigger but will look, feel and sound more traditional. The kit does not come with an electronic tuner device....if you don't have one you will definitely need one because you'll have a bit of adjustment to get it in tune the first time and keeping in tune requires almost daily adjustment at least where I live. You can get them for $10 and it's money well spent. Haven't tried with an amp, that's not why I got it so can't comment there. All in all, this is a great deal, nice job Ashethorpe.

This is a decent little guitar to bang on. I am a pro player and use Taylor and Fender Acoustics for live Worship. I thought why not try something on the cheaper end. See what its all about. 100 bucks is not a bad price so why not. It does sound pretty decent. Amazed how well the EQ works. Its reactive and does curve the sound nicely. It is light as expected. Lots of plastic but its 100 bucks. Love the brown color. Frets are OK. A little thin as you play up the fret board. Action needs work but was playable out of the box. Was worried about the warning that tuning could break the neck. Pretty funny, but she tuned right up. Love the shape of the head stock. A lot like Martin. It even came with a battery for the pickup. Shipped fast. This is all the good.

The bad (as expected), the strings and tuners suck. I will replace the tuners and strings and see how she holds up. But again for the price and a little fixing i think i will gig this guitar. Actually was surprised at the low end of this guitar for being a thin line. It's got decent rich resonance. Overall recommended for beginners. you can learn guitar for sure on this dude without breaking the bank. Well see how she holds up to the rigors of a gig. Thanks and good luck.