This limited-edition beauty feels like a bespoke guitar, and it truly shines whether flatpicked or fingerpicked.
Emile Menasché December 6, 2023
Ask the Expert
Martin Keith is a luthier, repair and restoration expert, and working musician based in Woodstock, New York. He’s been answering your questions about guitars and gear for Acoustic Guitar since 2019.
Here’s a guide to understanding scale length on acoustic guitars, an often overlooked design variable that has a big impact on the sound and feel of the guitar.
Touchup is one of the real dark arts of instrument repair, and one that exists in an almost entirely different universe from structural and functional repairs.
The Nux Stageman II AC-80 is an 80-watt combo amplifier that includes a Bluetooth app, among many other cool features geared towards gigging guitarists.
Rick Turner created many unique Compass Rose acoustics, but this one—regarded as among his finest—was the luthier’s personal guitar and a showcase of both his bold concepts and skilled execution.
Bob Taylor (Taylor Guitars), Richard Hoover (Santa Cruz Guitars), and Dana Bourgeois (Schoenberg, Bourgeois Guitars) reflect on 50 years of guitar making.
The Fender Paramount PR-180E is an affordable resonator that has a sweet sound and appeal for slide guitarists, fingerpickers, flatpickers, and strummers alike.
Classical guitar builder Joshia de Jonge talks about experimenting in her own shop after years of working alongside her father & other facets of a life of lutherie.
Alembic, Turner, The Dead's Wall of Sound—The late luthier Rick Turner, who died last April at 78, had such an illustrious career that to fully describe it, one would need to write a medium-size book.
When Paul Reed Smith first heard an 1800s acoustic guitar built by Antonio Torres, he knew his own steel-string guitar designs would borrow structural elements from Torres.
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.
Dive into the boutique pick market, where makers work by hand to produce flatpicks in small batches, and discover the difference these small accessories can make.
Here are some things to check if you notice something is outside of the reasonable range of intonation on your guitar and it’s off enough to bother the ear.
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.
With the top-shelf Martin Modern Deluxe D-45 and 012-28 acoustic guitars, there’s no arguing with the overwhelming quality and class of the materials and craftmanship—and depth of sound.
Here are some solutions for musicians looking for a way to play music together over the internet, hoping to be able to perform for others or just jam together.
Even with a repair or two to consider, you still stand to get more for your money when shopping used or vintage. And of course, you can’t reproduce the mojo of a cool old guitar.
How do you choose which guitars to review? Our writers are guitar fanatics, just like you. They’re always on the lookout for new or updated offerings to recommend. We’re sometimes asked why we don’t publish negative or one-star reviews – there are so many great guitars being produced today that we’d rather share our balanced opinions on the instruments we do think you should consider.
Do companies pay for you to review their instruments? No. We are proud of the firm separation between advertising sales and editorial coverage that we’ve held strong since our founding in 1990. We only accept endemic advertising – meaning, you won’t see ads for products or services unrelated to making music with an acoustic guitar; inevitably that means we’ll review products made by companies who advertise with us, but you’ll see just as many reviews by companies who do not. We have never (and will never) take money or gifts in exchange for a favorable review.
What’s up with affiliate links? There is no billionaire owner or mega-corporation behind Acoustic Guitar – your support keeps us independent and in business. When you shop for gear using one of our affiliate links, a small percentage of your purchase gets shared with us (at no cost to you) for being the one that referred you. This is one way you can support our work (learn about more ways here.) We do not select products to review based on the availability of affiliate links.
