I own two Katoh Guitars: an MCG80CAE and an MCG150SEQ. While I could find fault with the MCG80CAE it's not a bad guitar considering its price point. I'm much more concerned about what you get when you spend $2000.

The first MCG150SEQ I purchased had some cosmetic issues. After throwing down this sort of money I don't think you should ever find yourself noticing a chip in the end of the fretboard material (Ebony in this case), caused by what was probably a slip of a tool when the luthier was filing down the fret wire. And there were a few smaller chips too which collectively resulted in a bit of ugliness there in the right (or wrong) light. Additionally the solitary fret marker dot, which sits at the 7th fret, wasn't perfectly round. By itself I would have forgiven this issue but it added a little to my disappointment nonetheless.

The replacement MCG150SEQ was better in the above respects, but worse in others. My major gripe is that the tuners are different. Instead of the precision tuners that the first guitar had this sample had tuners with a standard gear ratio (the same tuners that Katoh use on some of their lower end guitars). They're not bad, they're just not as good, and it's strange that there is no consistency here. I had tried a third MCG150SEQ sample before all of this which had precision tuners as well so I had expected them to be standard. It's quite a shame to have to tolerate a downgrade here in order to solve a different problem.

My next gripe is that the frets are quite rough on this sample. This obviously doesn't matter as much for classical guitars as it does for steel string guitars, but it still matters, and it's still disheartening to discover the issue on a $2000 guitar. To say the least.

All that said the MCG150SEQ is a decent sounding guitar. There's no doubt about that. It's just a shame that my enjoyment of it has to be compromised by the quality control issues that Katoh seem to have on their hands.

Approximate cost: $2000