Outwardly, the ER3-N is a handsome guitar with a high-gloss finish, and nice cosmetic appointments that include abalone trim around the top and headstock, and coffeecolored binding, back strip, and heel cap. The reddish cedar top has “Solitaire” inlaid in pearl where the soundhole would normally be, and the rosewood board is simply adorned with pearl dots. The frets themselves are finished with smooth, even crowns and carefully trimmed ends. With a little more polish this would be a slick fret job.

The ER3-N feels solid and plays easily thanks to a low and mostly buzz-free action on the medium-thick “C”-shaped neck. The intonation is good, and chords and intervals sound musically tuneful as you move around the fretboard. The ER3-N delivers a big sound with the volume befitting a dreadnought-sized instrument. And because the sound port directs everything straight at your head, you never feel the need to crank your ear toward the top to hear the lows. But here’s the rub: the low-end response is weak when you’re listening to the guitar from an audience perspective. The highs and mids are plenty vibrant, but the lows are noticeably MIA. In fact, if you were to mic the ER3-N you’d probably be better off sticking the mic somewhere up near your head so as to let it “hear” the much fuller sound that you’re getting from the port.

This would seem to make the ER3-N better suited for use with amplification, and plugged into a Genz-Benz Shenandoah Acoustic Pro amp, the ER3-N indeed sounded full and natural, and could be played quite loud without feedback. I had to lower the midrange slider to reduce some of the honkiness, but other than that, getting a good sound was only a matter of setting the amp’s controls essentially flat and adjusting the volume and effects levels. The ER3-N is fairly priced for what it offers, and would be a good choice for live playing, whether you use an amp or go direct into the P.A. Boulder Creek has done an excellent job of incorporating this novel bracing design in a guitar that—aside from the absence of a soundhole—looks and feels very traditional and is a lot of fun to play.