Ashton D40 Acoustic Guitar

Top - Solid Spruce, Sapele rosette
Body - Sapele
Binding - Maple all round
Neck - Mahogany
Fingerboard - Rosewood
Machines - Chrome Die Cast
Bridge - Rosewood, bone saddle (& nut)
Tuner - Built in

Ashtons D40 is an excellent quality acoustic guitar featuring a solid Spruce top which greatly enhances tone and volume.
Nowadays solid topped acoustics tend to start in price at just under £200, £250 for a top branded guitar, so with the D40 starting at under £150, this guitar is offering very good value for money.
It's a straigh forward Dreadnaught shape, with a built in tuner, solid Spruce top, Sapele body, Mahodany neck, Rosewood fingerboard and bridge and bone nut and saddle - good specs all round.
The headstock is nicely shaped, tapering inwards with a curvy end. Faced in Rosewood with Ashtons logo in white and green Abolone on the front, the rear is a much lighter colour, with 2 rows of 3 a side Chrome die-cast tuners that work very well.
The neck is Mahogany with a nice light coloured grain. The neck has a gloss finish, as does the whole guitar. Nut width is a generous 44mm, with action as supplied from the factory pretty good at about 3mm across the board at the 12th fret.
The fingerboard is Rosewood, no gloss here of course, with large white dot position markers, fully bound up both sides in a creamy plastic.
The neck joins the Sapele, a kind of Mahogany, body at the 14th fret on both sides, and this is really just about as far up the neck as you can go, as is traditional of course. The back and sides have a light coloured grain, giving quite an attractive finish. The back is bound in cream plastic, and there is also a centre line of cream with black pinstripes on either side. Getting a bit classy now.
Ashton have fitted a useful straphook to the back of the heel joint, and also a built in tuner on the upper edge of the body.
The solid Spruce top has a very light, pale yellow colour, with a nice grain showing through. It's also bound, this time in a more classy 5 ply black and cream plastic.
There is no scratchplate, one could be fitted if you prefer, but the soundhole rosette is very smart, a simple and plain Mahogany loop with black edges. very nice.
The bridge is a dark Rosewood, and the saddle and nut are both bone, no plastic here, which helps give a strong sound, aided by the solid top as well, and the D40 sounds very impressive, good clarity to strummed chords and picked notes alike.
A very well priced solid top acoustic guitar with impressive specs, excellent sounds and plenty of playability.

From £129