Gear Review: RainSong Concert Hybrid Series CH-PA Parlor and CH-OM Orchestra
RainSong OM and Parlor guitars can be virtually immune to the terrible things that changes in climate and weather can do to an instrument.
Gear Review: Tanglewood Java Series Parlor and Winterleaf Series OM
Despite being distributed in 60 countries and receiving the “All-time best-selling acoustic guitars in the UK” award by the Music Industry Awards, Tanglewood brand isn’t a household name in the US. But that may change now that the UK-based brand of guitars made in Indonesia and China are being…
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Review: Martin’s 0-18 Is a Small-Bodied Classic
The 0-18 looks a whole lot like a 1950s or ’60s example, but it’s been updated with contemporary specs.
Gear Review: Gretsch G9511 Style 1 Single-0 Parlor Guitar
An affordable, fun-to-play small-bodied guitar with a refined tone.
Video Review: Journey’s OF660 Carbon-Fiber Travel Guitar Is Easy to Assemble and Play
With composite construction and easily detachable neck, the Journey OF660 is truly a guitar you can take anywhere.
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Video Review: Recording King Dirty 30’s RPS-7 and RPS-9 Have a Cool Old-School Vibe and Modest Price Tags
The Recording King RPS-7 and RPS-9 are modeled after Dust Bowl–era Montgomery Ward guitars, and they share some basic specs: Each guitar has a compact, style-0-sized body with a 12th-fret neck junction and a relatively long-scale fretboard, 25.4 inches.
Guild M-40E Troubadour Review
The Guild M-40E acoustic guitar is based on the 1960s-era Guild F-20 model. It is a concert-sized instrument that packs a punch, especially when plugged in.
Review: The New Bedell Revolution Parlor Is a Feast for the Ears and Eyes
A big part of what makes the Revolution Parlor such a satisfying instrument is how smoothly it plays.
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Gear Review: Luna’s New Concert-size Art Recorder Offers Smooth Playability and a Winning Sound
Right out of the box, it’s apparent that the Art Recorder is a very nice-sounding guitar. Its intonation is spot-on, and there are no dead spots on the neck,
Guitar Roundup: 3 Travel Guitars Reviewed
Scaled-down is the new “bigger is better,” a design aesthetic for guitars that are easy to transport, gig-ready, and quite attractive. These days, modern guitar players value portability in addition to tone, playability, and visual aesthetics, and the industry is responding with compact acoustic axes that travel easily, accommodate players with small hands or ergonomic challenges, fit into cramped living spaces, and suit modest budgets.
Video Review: Cort’s Frank Gambale Luxe Is a Fast-Playing Flattop
The Cort Frank Gambale signature model is a collaboration between the guitar company and the artist, who oversaw almost every detail of this guitar. Gambale, a jazz-fusion shredder who often records and performs acoustically, wanted an acoustic that played like an electric, and he has put his personal stamp on the Luxe.
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Review: Breedlove Pursuit Concert Koa Is Built from Treasured Hawaiian Tonewood [VIDEO]
With abalone purfling and intensely figured and richly colored koa, it’s a jewel of a guitar, for sure, but it's also a highly functional tool.
Review: Alvarez’s Delta 00/TSB and Blues 51/TSB Parlor Guitars Capture an Old-School Vibe
A pair of freshly made parlor guitars with a growl and bark perfect for fingerpicked blues and ragtime, conjuring up vintage sounds of the Mississippi Delta and the American South.
Gear Review: Recording King’s Harmonella Single 0 Offers a Modern Spin on a Vintage Vibe
If you’re into smallish flattops with ear-grabbing tones and pawnshop-chic looks, this budget beauty is right up your alley.
Review: Breedlove’s Journey Concert Brazilian Rosewood Is a Tonewood Treat
When I first played Breedlove’s new Journey Concert, I was reminded of the depth of sound that a set of Brazilian rosewood back and sides lends to a steel-string acoustic guitar.
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Larrivée Reissues P01 ISS Space-Station Commemorative Parlor Guitar
“It’s cool playing a guitar in space because it floats in front of you—you don’t need a strap,” Hadfield said on a 2013 Larrivée video. “But one of the weirdest things is that as you float around the room while you’re playing, you bump into things.”
Martin CEO-7 Review
In a sense, all of Gibson’s flattop guitars are indebted to Martin designs, but with the CEO-7, Martin tips its hat to Gibson. Inspired by a mid-1930s L-00, this CEO is a no-frills flattop with distinctively sloped shoulders, a 14th-fret neck-to-body junction, and a sunburst soundboard finish.
Review: Guild M-120 is a Mahogany Small-Body Guitar with Vintage Style
The M-120 is modeled Guild’s all-mahogany M-20
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Parlor Pickin’: The 2015 Guide to Buying a Parlor Guitar
Parlor guitars are finding renewed interest among a broad spectrum of players, both professionals and those looking for small, lightweight instruments to take to beach parties or campfire singalongs.
Review: Faith Releases the Impressive Mercury Parlor Guitar
Like all Faith guitars, the Classic Burst Mercury is made from solid, eco-friendly FSC-certified woods at the company’s workshop in West Java, Indonesia. It does have that imported-guitar vibe, thanks to its polyurethane lacquer finish and its chemical-rich aroma. But unlike the typical budget guitar, it’s very well-built. The frets are cleanly dressed and the sunburst finish is perfectly graduated—inside the box things are relatively neat and tidy.
Review: Recording King RP1-16C is a Honey of a Guitar
This old-style 0-size wonder packs a punch.
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Review: Taylor T5z Has Appeal For Electric Guitarists
This guitar has svelte contours, jazzy S-curve cutouts, and a slimline humbucking pickup near the bridge
Review: Yamaha’s LS16 ARE Packs a Lot of Value Under it’s Torrefied Top
The small-bodied LS16 likely owes its fine sound to Yamaha’s Acoustic Resonance Enhancement (ARE) technology, a form of torrefaction that brings a warmer, darker tone color.
Review: Collings 01 12-Fret is a Winning Parlor Guitar with Balanced Sound
A lovely little songbird, the 01 12-Fret is easy to play, responding to the lightest touch with a voice that’s sweet and complex
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Acoustic Guitar Roundup: 11 Affordable Small-Body Flattops
Here are reviews of 11 steel-string flattops priced between $350 and $800.