Review: Collings Debuts New Series with the Striking OM1A Hill Country
Designed to be "just a guitar—simply in its purest form, open and woody,” every inch of the OM1A HC speaks to lutherie at its finest.
Review: Vintage Guitar Authority George Gruhn Rewrites the Rulebook with His Bold New Versitar Design
Based on the Tacoma models that Gruhn designed back in the 1990s, the Versitar series deconstructs and reconstructs many of the touchpoints of traditional flattop design, like the neck joint, fret count, bracing, soundhole position, and more
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Review: Bourgeois’ Touchstone OM Vintage/TS is a Brilliant New Guitar with an Old Soul
The Bourgeois Touchstone OM Vintage/TS is a collaboration with Eastman Guitars that has resulted in an excellent tradition-inspired guitar with a relatively affordable price.
Review: The All-Koa Taylor 724ce Is a Stunning Grand Auditorium Guitar with Exceptional Warmth and Balance
Our reviewer found the Taylor 724ce to be an exceptionally comfortable instrument with an easy-playing neck and a resonant feel whether fingerpicked or flatpicked.
Review: Eastman’s E20OOSS/v Small-Bodied Acoustic Has Great Tone and Luxurious Touches
The Eastman E20OOSS/v is a 14-fret acoustic guitar with a slotted headstock, all-solid-wood construction, and luxurious details—plus it's got great tone and playability.
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Review: Taylor American Dream AD27e Flametop Exudes a Relaxed Class
It’s no accident that Taylor calls its recent line of more affordable guitars—including the AD27 reviewed here—the American Dream series. All of the instruments are built at Taylor’s Southern California factory. With prices ranging from roughly $1,500 to $2,200, the series hopes to be the budget bridge that allows Taylor aspirants to grab the brass ring without falling into the abyss of debt.
Review: Revival’s RG-26M Is a Compact, Affordable Mahogany Guitar That Delivers Good Tone and Playability
Revival's RG-26M is a handsome, comfortable, all-mahogany guitar that delivers a very nice sound for an irresistible price.
Review: Breedlove Pursuit Exotic S Concert Edgeburst CE Features Sustainable Tonewoods
The Breedlove Pursuit Exotic S Concert Edgeburst CE, constructed with responsibly-sourced woods, is an attractive and well-made guitar at a reasonable price.
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Review: Santa Cruz Guitar Company Happy Traum Signature Model HT/13
Beautiful. Resonant. Comfortable. Balanced. Sweet. Loud! These were the words that immediately came to mind as I played the Santa Cruz HT/13 guitar for the first time
Guitar Review: Martin’s New GPC-13E Is a Fine-Sounding Acoustic-Electric That’s Ready for the Road
The Martin GPC-13E acoustic-electric guitar is an easy choice for players needing a reliable, handsome instrument that sounds good acoustically and plugged in.
Guitar Review: Gibson’s 50s LG-2 Pairs Vintage Vibe with Modern Playability
The new 50s LG-2 is no exception. As soon as I picked it up, this guitar felt instantly familiar, and it was easy to imagine that I was holding a new old stock guitar, straight from the 1950s. After years of trying out heavily played vintage models, I feel like I know well just how this guitar will age after years of playing.
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Guitar Review: Martin’s Radical New Acoustic-Electric SC-13E Uses Innovative Construction for Playability and Tone
Martin's affordable new SC-13E acoustic guitar boasts a fresh, out-of-the-box redesign—even flying in the face of Martin’s usual traditional glued dovetail joint!
Gear Review: Collings 001 14-Fret Acoustic Guitar
It sure makes gratifying sounds while in the driver’s seat, but all of the 001’s good qualities shine even brighter from the audience’s perspective:
Review: The Acoustic-Electric D’Angelico Premier Series Tammany LS is a Whole Lot of Guitar for the Money
For $300 street, this is a quality guitar that delivers across all ranges and has good built-in electronics.
Gear Review: Taylor Builder’s Edition 324ce and 816ce
For the new Builder’s Edition collection, Taylor master guitar designer Andy Powers has selected various models—from the 300 series up to the 900 series—and outfitted them with a variety of pragmatic and experimental upgrades.
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Gear Review: Preston Thompson 000-14SBA
Carrying on the work of company founder and namesake Preston K. Thompson, who died April 11, 2019, the small cadre of builders at Preston Thompson Guitars, in Sisters, Oregon, is one of those teams that’s capable of delivering extraordinarily crafted steel-strings time and again, and this Thompson 000-14SBA is one of those fine instruments.
Gear Review: Martin OM-28 Modern Deluxe
The Martin OM-28 Modern Deluxe is a lightweight orchestra-bodied guitar, with a blend of vintage and modern features that merge to form a unique, cutting-edge composition.
Gear Review: Iris Guitar Company OG Standard
The Iris’ terrific-feeling neck, with a perfect rounded-C profile that’s .880 at the first fret, split the difference between skinny modern and vintage hefty.
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Gear Review: Farida Old Town Series OT-65 Wide VBS and OT-25 NA
Farida's latest offerings are contemporary takes on a couple of wartime Gibson models: The OT-65 Wide VBS, inspired by the popular Gibson J-45, and the more petite 00-size OT-25 NA modeled on the lesser-known Gibson LG-3.
Gear Review: Collings C100
When you think of the Collings guitar company, one of the things that stands out is nonpareil workmanship. The new C100 is certainly no exception. Although it’s not a fancy guitar by any means, everything about it shouts “quality.” The mahogany back, sides, and neck and Sitka spruce top are…
Review: Washburn Solo DeLuxe Auditorium and Grand Auditorium
Washburn summons the past and looks to the future with two new guitars.
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Review: Martin 000-15M StreetMaster
As you might expect from an all-mahogany guitar, the StreetMaster has miles of clarity and focused fundamentals, and a strong midrange with a dry throatiness on the lower mids.
Review: Collings Julian Lage Signature OM1 JL
Throughout the history of guitar making, collaborations between luthiers and guitarists have influenced the discipline and produced spectacular instruments. A brilliant example of this practice is the new Collings Julian Lage Signature OM1 JL, based on a deep exchange of ideas between the late builder and company founder Bill Collings and contemporary guitar phenom Julian Lage.
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.
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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…