Review: PRS SE T60E Has a Big, Even Sound
The SE T60E was designed to have a full, rounded-out dynamic range that favors the low end and midrange.
New Gear: Eastman DT30D
Eastman’s Double Top series is among the first to use the boutique-maker idea of a double top—a soundboard incorporating two outer wooden layers over a synthetic core, for enhanced sound and responsiveness—in a production steel-string guitar model.
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Guitar Review: Guild Memoir Series
Guild's Memoir series, which includes the P-240 Memoir and DS-240 Memoir acoustic guitars reviewed here, are part of the company's Westerly Collection.
Gear Review: Lâg Tramontane HyVibe 10
A collaboration between two French companies, the Lâg Tramontane HyVibe, turns the guitar’s body into a speaker that can add several different effects to your acoustic tone, loop, metronome, and interact with a smartphone app for even greater control of the preamp’s parameters.
Gear Review: PRS SE Angelus A60E
No matter how I played the Angelus, it delivered a nicely proportioned sound, with a spanky top end layered over a controlled bass and midrange. The low end wasn’t cavernous or boomy, which helped it feel balanced across the frequency range, especially useful for fingerstyle parts on open tunings and easy to control through a loud amp.
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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: Taylor Grand Pacific 717 and 517e Builder’s Editions
Both guitars will surprise longtime Taylor players, who’ll certainly recognize the premium build quality, firm intonation, and note integrity on the Grand Pacific.
Gear Review: Alvarez-Yairi Honduran DYM60HD
The partnership between Yairi and Alvarez goes back several decades, with the Alvarez-Yairi stamp reserved for Alvarez’s finest instruments. While much of Alvarez’s line is manufactured in China, the Yairi-branded guitars are made in a small shop in Kani, Japan, where modern power tools are eschewed in favor of hand tools, like spokeshaves for carving necks, and hide-glue construction is standard throughout.
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Great Acoustics: Circa Guitars Steve Baughman 7/8 Dreadnought
In 2004, the fingerstyle virtuoso Steve Baughman was visiting the Source Guitar Festival in Lewiston, Maine, when he encountered a steel-string that changed his life.
Guitar Review: Cort CJ-Retro
A quality budget jumbo acoustic-electric with fab (four) vintage looks.
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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Gear Review: Yamaha CSF3M and FG-TA Acoustics
The all-solid-wood CSF3M boasts scalloped bracing for enhanced tone, projection, and loudness; the TransAcoustic-equipped FG-TA dreadnought responds well to fingerpicking and flatpicking in standard and open tunings
Gear Review: Pre-War Guitars Model-HD
Pre-War sent a model HD (herringbone dreadnought) to AG, and I knew something was up when I saw the Harptone hardshell case.
Review: PRS SE TX20E and SE A50E Acoustics
From endpin to headstock, woodwork to hardware, both guitars showed practically perfect fit and finish, and exceptional construction and attention to detail.
Review: Taylor Builder’s Edition K14ce Grand Auditorium
Taylor Guitars has built its empire on changing how guitars are made—from the way forests are managed to instrument construction to sales. As it has shown before with its bolt-on neck and CNC-made models, players will show up if the guitars play and sound great. With its new V-Class bracing,…
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Review: Martin Model America 1 and Standard Series D-28
In an era when tropical tonewoods such as mahogany and rosewood have become increasingly regulated and scarce, it makes perfect sense to make a guitar entirely from North American woods. The Model America 1 is based on the stalwart D-18, but with tonewoods that can be found in Martin’s—or maybe even your own—back yard.
New Gear: Yamaha Billy Corgan Signature Guitar and D’Addario Care and Maintenance Kits
Yamaha and Corgan have teamed up to release a new limited-edition signature guitar, the Yamaha LJ16BC Billy Corgan Signature Model Jumbo Acoustic Guitar.
Gear Review: Guild D-55
This rejuvenated version of Guild's classic D-55 dreadnought captures many of the details of the original while offering a few enhancements.
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8 Dreadnoughts Around $500
The dreadnought is big. Outside of its portly proportions, this form remains a top-seller a century after its birth.
Video Review: Martin’s CEO 8.2 Grand Jumbo Boasts Excellent Playability and a Brilliant Voice
The CEO 8.2 feels like a whole lot of guitar. And it’s got a voice to match.
Review: Michael Kelly 3D Grand Auditorium
Classic styling and vintage sound in an affordable acoustic guitar
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Taylor 10e and 12e Academy Guitars Review
If I hadn’t had their spec sheets in front of me, I might not have known that a pair of new Taylor guitars were affordable instruments. The new Taylor Academy 10e dreadnought and 12e Grand Concert each sell for well under a grand with a deluxe padded gig bag. Both…
Video Review: Seagull’s Coastline Momentum Offers an Affordable Workhorse of a Dreadnought
This slope-shouldered dreadnought sports Adirondack spruce bracing, a compound-curve top that increases structural integrity, an Indian rosewood fingerboard, a compensated TUSQ saddle, a custom-polished finish, a double-function truss rod, and a set-neck system that resists warping and changes due to climate.
Video Review: The D-1 Authentic 1931 Is a Note-Perfect Replica of a Rare Martin Dreadnought
The D-1 is one of the latest members of Martin’s Authentic lineup, in which the company recreates its prewar designs in highly accurate detail
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Review: Taylor Introduces Upgraded Version of Its Popular 814ce
Thanks to a top-notch fretwork and a perfect factory setup, along with Taylor’s streamlined C-shaped neck, the 814ce plays extremely well—as easily and quickly as a good electric guitar. The neck’s satin finish feels sleek and comfortable as well.
