What is it?

We recently looked at Taylor’s revised and updated 324ce Grand Auditorium acoustic and heard how the company is continually reviewing and tweaking its instruments in the search for sonic nirvana.

We saw that designer-in-chief Andy Powers had taken his innovative V-Class concept a step further, instigating scalloped bracing to reduce mass, but maintain strength. Then there was a new neck-adjustment system that sees simple tweaks to the angle of the neck in order to maintain a comfortable playing action. And we were also introduced to a new acoustic guitar pickup system, the Claria, aimed at producing the best possible plugged-in tone for live use.

We were impressed, concluding that the changes to the 324ce’s manifest has “paid dividends” and nodded in agreement in the direction of Taylor’s claim that the instrument is “its most plug-in-and-play version” of that particular model.

Naturally, when you’re a fast-moving, upwards-spiralling manufacturer such as Taylor, a practically continuous programme of re-evaluation of the catalogue is going to be whirring away in the background. And so it is no surprise that the 324ce doesn’t stand alone when it comes to the production of new and exciting twists from the Californian maker.

Enter the 710e, a deep-bodied square-shouldered dreadnought, which Taylor claims “offers a playing experience that combines traditional acoustic sound with modern innovation”.

It’s part of Taylor’s Gold Label Series, introduced around a year ago, which draws inspiration from past eras of traditional, non-cutaway acoustic guitars; hence a ‘new’ body shape in the company’s range. And you can’t really get any more traditional than a dreadnought, can you?

But what’s all this ‘deep-bodied’ designation about? Obviously it’s there to add punch and heft to the guitar’s sound, but is it all that new? If you take Martin’s D-28 as an industry standard then we’d be looking at a body depth of 123mm, whereas the 710e comes in at a smidge under, at 122mm.

On the other hand, a D-28 has a lower bout of 397mm and the Taylor comes in at 403mm. So deep and wide seems to be the order of the day with the 710e, promising a robust volume level with good bass and singing mids.

But let’s not skip ahead too far; if the 710e is a nod of the head towards celebrated acoustic designs of yore, we’d better have a quick look in the builder’s yard to see exactly how traditional things are.

To begin with, we have a torrefied Sitka spruce top, backed with East Indian rosewood and so we are spot on, as far as tradition is concerned as this mimics, again, the D-28’s winning formula. While we’re here, it’s worth noting that the 710e’s top wood is very attractive with plenty of shimmering chatoyance that dances when the light hits it.

Currently, of course, the colour is a very pale amber, but is sure to darken to that more familiar hue as the years pass. The Indian rosewood is no slouch in the looks department, either, with a nice straight grain pattern and that distinctive chocolatey bloom.

The body is bound, front and back, in black and white, the pattern reflected in the rosette. The pickguard is a ‘firestripe’ pattern and the bridge and string pins are Honduran rosewood.

Moving on to the neck, we have tropical mahogany, with an incredibly subtle scarf joint below the headstock. Turning the guitar over, we find a West African Crelicam ebony fingerboard with what Taylor refers to as “cream dot” inlays in all the accustomed places.

The headstock has Taylor’s own tuners and the new-old Taylor logo – we’re used to seeing the distinctive ‘block’ logo from Taylor, but more recently we’re seeing this new cursive variation, which looks ‘old’ in the manner of Gibson’s earlier acoustics.

Other highlights include the aforementioned Action Control Neck mentioned earlier, whereby your action is kept stable via a simple adjustment through the guitar’s soundhole.

A simple bolt on the neck block will tilt the neck to compensate for climate irregularities – think Fender’s neck-tilt idea. Add to this another variation on Andy Powers’ V-Class bracing – here it’s fanned to “increase volume and sustain”.

The final piece of the puzzle is the LR Baggs VTC pickup and preamp system, with controls secreted within the upper arc of the guitar’s soundhole. So the guitar is all set and ready for the stage, but first we’d better explore its unplugged voice and find out how it handles.

Specs

• PRICE: $2,999 | £3,275 | €3,199 (inc hard case)
• ORIGIN: USA
• Type: Dreadnought
• Top: Torrefied Sitka spruce
• Back/Sides: Indian rosewood
• Max Rim Depth: 122mm
• Max Body Width: 403mm
• neck: Tropical mahogany
• SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5 inches)
• TUNERS: Taylor Nickel with nickel buttons
• NUT/WIDTH: White Tusq/44.5mm
• FINGERBOARD: West African Crelicam ebony
• FRETS: 20
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: Honduran rosewood with Micarta saddle/56mm
• ELECTRICS: LR Baggs Element VTC
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 2.08/4.6
• LEFT-HANDERS: Made to order only
• FINISHES: Gloss
• CONTACT: Taylor Guitars

Build quality, usability and sounds

We’ll never tire of saying how user-friendly Taylor acoustic necks are. It really is like shaking hands with an old friend every time. And it’s good to note that Taylor has decided not to go ‘full vintage’ and change the profile to one of the more vintage-inspired chunky variations. In any case, the neck here is that familiar C-shape, the satin finish adding that essential finishing touch for neck excursions.

We should mention the 45mm nut width, too, as just a couple of millimetres here makes an enormous difference to fingerstyle players. Needless to say, sitting down with a dreadnought is not to everyone’s taste as they do tend to be a bit of an armful, but we’re happy to report that the 710e is very well balanced and comfy either sitting or standing.

With everything shipshape in the feel department, it’s time for those first exploratory chords. Now, it’s very hard to sum up the sound of a dreadnought. We’d even question whether there is a definitive dreadnought sound. Is there that much of a similarity between Gibson’s J-45 and Martin’s D-28, for instance?

The characteristics they share would be a robust midrange with plenty of volume and a good amount of bass – and that’s virtually what we find here, give or take. If you take the aforementioned models as a reference, we’d say that the 710e lacks some of the ‘woodiness’ of the J-45 and leans more towards the sing-song musicality of the Martin.

There’s certainly a lot of volume to hand and without that dreadnought muddiness that you sometimes find in the lower midrange. Plenty of sparkle at the top end as well. We tried a range of campfire chords, a bit of fingerstyle, a smidge of blues and the only bluegrass licks we could remember and everything passed muster with panache.

Plugged into our Boss Katana-50 EX on the Acoustic setting, the 710e came to life. This writer’s acid test for plugged-in acoustics is the intro and verse to Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here. If that particular combo of plectrum-fuelled blues and lusty chords sounds stadium rock-worthy, then you’re on to a winner. And let’s just say the Taylor shone like a crazy diamond…

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

Guitar World verdict: Naturally, this level of build quality and sound performance doesn’t come cheap and $2,999/£3.2k might be a determining factor in one’s prospective purchase stakes.

If you did decide to go down the deep-bodied Taylor dread route then you’d be getting a fine, gig-ready instrument with a very good array of sounds on tap as well as premium build quality. And you can’t really say fairer than that.

Hands-on videos

Empire Music

Alamo Music Center

Guitar Center

• "Crisply built and shines like a gem on the live stage": Taylor 314ce Studio review
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

What is it?

Faith’s latest entry in its PJE Legacy range is, we’re told, an all-rounder: “Big enough to perform well unplugged but small enough to be used on stage for long periods by players of any stature,” states the website.

It certainly sounds like a good proposition to us, but dig a little deeper and we find that designer Patrick James Eggle has taken the renowned OM body shape and tweaked it to his own taste, based on his own Linville model from his acoustic-building era.

In essence, the body width of 400mm (15 inches) is the same as Faith’s Venus model, but, to quote the company once again, “its overall contour is somewhat more refined”.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the brand, Faith acoustic guitars first appeared in the marketplace around the turn of this century.

The design team is helmed by Mr Eggle, and they have won a shelfload of awards for best in breed ever since launch. The FG4 Earth we have before us inhabits Faith’s slightly higher tier of Legacy models, but it still retails at the £1.5k mark and includes a rather posh-looking ABS hard case to protect your investment.

Add to that the fact the instrument is stage-ready with a Fishman Flex Blend system, combining an under-saddle piezo with an internal condenser microphone, and the FG4 would appear to be a one-stop shop for your mid-priced acoustic needs – whether you’re looking for a sofa buddy or a get-up-and-go open-mic companion. But that’s enough of an introduction from us; time to zoom in for a close-up on the finer details.

Faith guitars have always had kerb appeal. And, opening the FG4’s case, it’s apparent that a lot of creative thought has passed its way – not just from the general design point of view, but also the aesthetics of the fixtures and fittings, which have a definite ‘pick me up’ lure.

As you’ll have gathered from the guitar’s full name, its finish is satin throughout and this is not only for purely artistic reasons, there’s a function here, too. Faith tells us that the finish allows the tonewoods present to work at a premium level.

And if you’re curious as to what those woods are, the top is torrefied Sitka spruce. In other words, it’s gone through a drying and heating process whereby the wood dries out more thoroughly in order to ‘age’ the wood and deliver a more vintage-inspired tone.

It’s not a new process, for sure, but one that has had the nodding approval of builders big and small across the globe, and who have universally claimed that, yes, there is a difference in tone.

The spruce is supported by mahogany for the back and sides, set off with the contrasting flamed-maple binding. Add in the multi-hued abalone rosette and a scratchplate of unspecified wood (that looks like figured ebony to us) and there’s no doubt that the FG4 is dressed to impress. The neck is mahogany, with an Indonesian ebony ’board that is bare of the usual position markers on top, save for Faith’s signature mother-of-pearl ‘F’ at the 12th fret.

In all, there are 20 very nicely polished and well-seated medium frets that have been smartly finished with no discernible sharp edges. Both the 45mm nut and saddle are unbleached bone, the former expertly cut, the latter sitting in a Macassan figured ebony bridge. The tuners are Grover Rotomatics featuring very subtle matte-black buttons.

All well and good, of course, and acoustic players everywhere will agree that the sum of the FG4’s parts should add up to an extremely capable instrument. But the fun doesn’t end there: if your acoustic world extends to playing in a band or being a regular at open mic spots, then you’ll definitely be interested in the Fishman Flex Blend acoustic guitar pickup and preamp system.

This entails not only an under-saddle piezo but an under-bridge-mounted condenser microphone with its own blend control set into the upper bout, too, along with the regular volume and tone rotaries. There’s also an onboard tuner that mutes the output when activated to ensure that keeping everything harmonious remains a strictly private player experience.

Everything about the general build quality is typically fine and dandy as we would expect, having seen some very good instruments coming out of Indonesian workshops recently. So the next thing to do is strum a few chords and see how everything sounds.

Specs

• PRICE: $1,979 | £1,565 | €1,831 (inc hard case)
• ORIGIN: Indonesia
• TYPE: OM cutaway
• TOP: Torrefied Sitka spruce
• Back/Sides: African mahogany
• MAX RIM DEPTH: 111mm
• MAX BODY WIDTH: 400mm
• NECK: Mahogany
• SCALE LENGTH: 650mm
• TUNERS: Grover Rotomatic 18:1 nickel
• NUT/WIDTH: Bone/45mm
• FINGERBOARD: Indonesian ebony
• FRETS: 20
• BRIDGE/SPACING: Macassan figured ebony/55mm
• ELECTRICS: Fishman Flex Blend with condenser mic
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 1.95/4.3
• LEFT-HANDERS: Not for this model
• FINISHES: Satin
• CONTACT: PJE Guitars

Playability and sounds

Not only is the FG4’s satin finish pleasing to the eye, it’s also a very pleasant tactile experience, inasmuch as the guitar feels very nice in the hand.

Naturally, the finish extends to the back of the neck, which will help with those rapid barre-chord changes by presenting a minimal drag factor for the left hand. The neck itself is a fairly slim and shallow C profile, which sits at that precise point where it’s neither too skinny nor too chunky.

A lowish action means there is little resistance for the fingers while playing chords or single notes, and both give a good account of themselves with chords sounding full and single notes singing out exactly as they should.

There’s a good amount of snarl to the bass register, sitting beneath a full midrange and sweet trebles. We tried a variety of different styles – a bit of bluesy fingerstyle, chordal strumming with and without a pick and so on – and the FG4 dealt with everything we threw at it like an absolute pro.

Plugged in, the Fishman Flex Blend was a new pickup system to us. There are three rotary controls that deal with volume, tone and condenser mic blend.

The tone control gives a flat EQ when fully anti-clockwise, whereas in the middle of its travel it thickens up the midrange, and at the top (fully clockwise) it scoops some of the mids out for those busy strumming sessions. Furthermore, press and hold the volume control and it activates the onboard tuner; do the same to the tone control and it reverses the phase. Very neat and compact.

In practice, the controls work precisely as described, and we discovered that we had a whole range of sounds available to us with the guitar plugged into our Boss Katana-50 EX Gen 3’s acoustic preset. The mic adds some necessary ‘air’ to the audio signal, complementing the under-saddle piezo perfectly.

In short, what Faith said about this instrument being something of an all-rounder is shaping up to be bang on the button.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★

Faith’s PJE Legacy FG4 Earth sits at that price point where it’s well above and beyond the budget range and, at the same time, well below the boutique and bespoke world.

And it fits in that midrange niche very well, ticking all the musical boxes necessary for a workmanlike, no-fuss instrument that is particularly able for both living room and gig duty, as well as giving a very good account of itself through an amp or PA.

Guitar World verdict: For any singer-songwriter, busker or open-mic-night trooper it really has everything going for it. Or if you’re in a band where you cover a couple of acoustic songs per gig, it has all bases covered.

Hands-on videos

Faith Guitars

• “The tuning did not need tweaking for the entire time we spent trying to avoid playing Stairway To Heaven”: Faith Eclipse Venus E/Cutaway & Neptune E/Cutaway 12-String review
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

Cardboard has become a weirdly talked-about tone-material in recent years, and now the brains behind the viral cardboard electric guitars has returned for its latest wood-less creation – the world’s first acoustic electric guitar made of cardboard.

In the past, we’ve seen Cardboard Chaos – the joint venture between Ernest Packaging and Signal – partner with the likes of Fender on Telecaster and Stratocaster-style guitars, as well as a bass, which have been played by everyone from Robby Krieger and Billy Gibbons to Keanu Reeves to Dweezil Zappa.

Now, the cardboard enthusiasts have unveiled the result of their latest collaboration with famed guitar builder Gabriel Currie – the world’s first archtop acoustic electric jazz guitar to be made almost entirely from cardboard.

The project has been a long time coming. The idea of an archtop of this ilk has been in the minds of the Cardboard Chaos team for “over a decade”.

To bring it to life, the jazz guitar began life at the Ernest Packaging innovation lab in Southern California, carving bodies, backs, sides and necks out of poly and paper. The lab’s leader, Mike Martinez, had to “push cardboard to its absolute limits” so he could pass the production baton onto Currie.

From there, Currie of Echopark Guitars – who has built instruments for Josh Homme and Steven Tyler – took it past the finishing line, but not before rethinking his approach to guitar-making: “Everything I thought I knew, I put aside,” Currie says of the build.

The guitar was inspired by a vintage Benedetto jazz box, of which the team had schematics and blueprints to study going into the process.

It’s something of an engineering marvel, built from countless resin-coated molds, a delicate archtop construction, lattice-style reinforcement and a neck made from mostly solid resin with paper as a binder. Throw in some electronics and you have a fully playable, fully functioning archtop made from cardboard.

“Chaos is an understatement when you set out to make an arch-top acoustic guitar out of cardboard,” a press release says.

“What comes out the other side is the world’s first Cardboard Acoustic Guitar that actually slays,” adds Signal, one of the driving forces behind the project.

“Not a prop. Not a joke. A real deal, jazz-style cardboard guitar that rings, sings, and proves what a small crew of friends with ridiculous ideas can pull off when they decide to bend the rules on purpose.”

Like the cardboard guitars to come before it, the Echopark Cardboard jazzbox will be put to use in an upcoming Cardboard Session.

Keep your eyes peeled on the Cardboard Sessions YouTube series for when it drops.

NAMM 2026: Ibanez and Polyphia virtuoso Tim Henson have reprised their successful partnership with two new versions of his immensely popular electric-nylon signature guitars.

The TOD100N and TOD100FMN come waltzing with new Fishman pickup systems, tonewoods, and looks, looking to go one better with this next generation of guitars.

Henson’s first signature nylon-string electric acoustic, the Ibanez TOD10N, arrived in late 2022 and was crowned Reverb's best-selling acoustic of 2023.

It's since started a nylon-string revolution, with Tosin Abasi's namesake brand now throwing its hat into the ring with a jaw-dropping seven-string electric nylon. It’s clear the Ibanez-Henson partnership wants to remain ahead of the curve with this drop.

Cue upgraded electronics with the TOD10N's Ibanez AEQ210TF preamp ousted in favor of a Fishman Acoustic Matrix undersaddle pickup – prevalent across both new models – while sapele back and sides are replaced with okoume, a mahogany-like tonewood commonplace across the Ibanez range. The new pair is distinguished by their tops. That’s solid Sitka spruce for the TOD100N, and flame maple for the TOD100FMN.

It's not a complete refresh, however. Its rosewood binding and its C-shape nyatoh set-in neck survive the revamp, while its 22-fret fingerboards, decorated with Henson's gorgeous Tree of Death inlay, are now made of ebony, which comes in for rosewood.

That's the same tonewood trade for its bridge – rosewood out, ebony in – while both guitars share the same fan bracing and chambered body designs and come with D'Addario XTC45 strings, as opposed to Henson's signature set from Ernie Ball.

There’s no mention of price at the time of writing, but it would be surprising if they dwarfed the circa $700 price tag of its predecessor, which also got a left-handed release in July 2024. That means we might be looking at a similar wait for left paw-friendly models.

“I wanted an acoustic guitar I could play more technical riffs on with the same ease an electric guitar would provide,” Henson told Guitar World of the guitar's conception.

“I was extremely impressed with the craftsmanship, especially in comparison to its predecessor, the SCN500. It was a lot lighter and felt a lot more ‘alive,’ as it has a chambered body. The TOD10N uses Ibanez’s FR shape, so imagine a hollowed-out version with a classical headstock.”

The nylon-string beauty has been a barnstormer, with new editions more than welcome. But the wait for the previously teased Tim Henson eight-string electric goes on.

Keep your eyes on Ibanez for more information in due course.

NAMM 2026: The much-rumored Tosin Abasi nylon-string electric guitar, which has been in development for three years, is finally here.

Much like any other Abasi model, it reinvents the nylon-string as we know it through a collaboration with Yamaha-owned classical and Spanish guitar experts, Córdoba, marking the first time Abasi Concepts has ever collaborated with another firm.

Abasi had previously teased the Abasi Stage 7 in a Guitar World interview at last year’s NAMM show, where he stated that, “It’s basically an attempt to create a nylon-string instrument that [takes] a lot of the same design concepts from [other Abasi Concepts guitars] – multi-scale, thin-bodied, ergonomic – but it's for guys who maybe aren't traditional classical players, but do want a nylon-string guitar for recording and specifically for stage.”

At first glance, the Abasi Stage 7 is truly a meeting of the minds. It draws inspiration from Córdoba’s flagship Stage solidbody nylon-string guitar concept and Stage pickup system, and pairs it with Abasi Concepts’ Larada ergonomic platform.

Described as a “unique 7-string instrument” tuned from B to E, the model was specifically crafted with resonance, low-end response, and rich tones in mind, as showcased by its extensively chambered mahogany body with custom internal bracing.

Ergonomics are prioritized via the 24 fanned frets, a compound radius fretboard, and a satin neck finish that guarantees “exceptional range, intonation, and playability.”

Additional features include an oval sound hole on the side of the instrument, a mahogany flat C-Shape set neck with a rosewood fingerboard, black top purfling, and a Fusion Fan headstock with a rosewood overlay. Inlaid Córdoba and Abasi logos cement the collaborative spirit, while a rosewood bridge with a bone saddle and a bone nut wrap add further flourishes to this inventive guitar.

So what's under the proverbial hood? Turns out, all Abasi Stage 7 guitars come equipped with Córdoba's Stage Pickup System, co-developed with Fishman. Thanks to an under-saddle transducer with internal body sensors, the model delivers the quintessential nylon-string tone without the “quack” associated with piezo pickups.

A professional-quality preamp with side-mounted Volume, EQ, and Body Blend controls round up this guitar's keen specs. And in true Abasi form, the model is available in cool Ziricote, Acacia, and Whiteburst finishes.

As Yamaha Guitar Group describes it, “The Abasi Stage 7 defines a bold new direction in nylon-string guitar design – modern, ergonomic, and unapologetically performance-driven. It invites a new generation of forward-thinking players to explore nylon-string tones and make them their own.”

Priced at $1,499, the Abasi Stage 7 is now available for pre-order.

Head to Abasi Concepts to find out more.

Nuno Bettencourt has launched the website for his new guitar company, Nuno Guitars, confirming that he has two electro-acoustic guitar models in production, alongside the already announced electric models.

The Extreme virtuoso announced his surprise departure from Washburn, with whom he had been for decades, last year. The news confirmed widespread speculation that the mystery axe he played at Back to the Beginning was indeed part of a new solo venture – and Washburn had no idea the brand existed.

Now, in a reel posted to his personal Instagram page, Bettencourt has given fans a first look at his surprise acoustic build, dubbed the Lusitano, which is available in two configurations.

Said to “blend traditional acoustic tone with Nuno’s personal design vision,” there’s talk of “clear articulation, warm lows, and balanced projection.”

The standout aspect of the Lusitano, which is named after a noble Portuguese horse breed, is its dual soundhole design. The traditional soundhole beneath the strings flanked by two custom F-holes that trace the shape of the guitar’s Grand Auditorium body. It’s coupled with soundhole-mounted Volume and Tone controls.

Another notable feature is its Mother of Pearl Portuguese Cross fret markers, capped with a Portuguese national emblem inlay at the 12th fret. The white binding against its black body is pretty neat, too.

The two models – the AS and SL, which are priced at $1,199.99 and $599.99, respectively – are distinguished by those two price points. The AS serves up a solid mahogany body with a solid spruce top, a quarter-sawn okoume neck, and an ebony fingerboard with 20 Nickel Silver frets.

Elsewhere, its ebony bridge is the same for both models, and both are also equipped with chrome die-cast tuners, 43mm bone nuts, and under-saddle piezo pickups, as well as a soundhole-mounted preamp.

There isn't, then, a great deal of difference between the two models, although the AS comes stored in a hardcase, while the SL settles for a deluxe gig bag.

In his Instagram reel, Bettencourt says that, across the Nuno Guitars range, “there’s a price range for everybody.” A look at its new website confirms that it is largely the case.

All model names also derive from horse terminology, apart from the N4, which is a reissue of his Washburn signature guitar.

The premium Thoroughbred models are priced at $4,999.99 apiece, with the mid-tier Stable line ranging between $3,299.99 and $2,799.99. The Colt series starts from $1,199.99 and rises to $1,299.99.

All models are now available for pre-order, with the acoustics shipping in May, and various lead times on the electrics – Thoroughbreds are hand-built over a 6-12 month period.

See Nuno Guitars for more.

What is it?

Yamaha will shortly be celebrating 10 years since it introduced its first TransAcoustic guitar at Summer NAMM in 2016, back when the guitar world circled the new technology with great suspicion.

Was this a novelty? A passing phase? Or could it be seen as a serious instrument that might find space on a professional stage? After all, an acoustic guitar that could generate its own reverb and chorus without any external effects being called into play seemed like some kind of a bizarre magic trick.

But it worked. And the sound it produced was simply uncanny. That same guitar world listened and ultimately nodded in approval.

Since then, the technology that was turning heads a decade ago has been reworked to include more onboard effects in the shape of delay and, unbelievably, a fully functioning looper.

Furthermore, the effects are now all editable via an app – the TAG Remote – that connects to your guitar via Bluetooth and enriches the nature of the effects by offering control over parameters and reverb types.

So how does it work? Is there some sort of dark art at play here? Let’s let the boffins at Yamaha explain: “Two actuators installed on the inner surface of the guitar resonate in response to the vibrations of the strings,” they tell us. “The vibrations generated by the actuators are then transmitted to the body of the guitar and to the air in and around it. This results in authentic reverb, chorus and delay sounds that actually radiate from within the body.”

We’ve encountered TransAcoustic guitars in the past, and spending time with the technology won us over. It really is something that you need to hear for yourself to appreciate – and a good place to start is by watching the video that Yvette Young did for Yamaha, demonstrating the TAS3 C’s looper. We’ll eat our hat if you’re not impressed.

But, of course, this clever stuff is all well and good, but what about the guitar that’s playing host to Yamaha’s cunning? It’s clear the company knows a thing or two about making top-notch guitars and so expectations here are very high before we’ve even played a chord.

The guitar just has that look about it, with a subtle sunburst to its nicely figured Sitka spruce top. And the rest of the construction details spell out a quality build, too, with mahogany for the back and sides, the grain of which is all but obscured by the dark finish. The mahogany theme continues with the TAS3’s neck, which is topped off with some very nice-looking open-backed tuners.

Turning the guitar over, the fretwork on the ebony ’board is right up to standard with an expertly cut nut and very well-finished frets. The face of the fretboard is left plain, without any position markers, but pearloid dots along its edge will aid navigation more than adequately.

If you’re curious about what the circular inlay below the soundhole is, it’s all to do with the looping function – and it’s time to start exploring that and the other onboard effects right about now.

The inner workings of the instrument that generate the effects are hidden inside. And instead of the usual volume and tone controls that would be mounted on a standard electro-acoustic, there is a port for the rechargeable battery on the upper bout near the neck joint and a control panel to take command of the effects. These comprise reverb, delay, chorus and looper around a central on/off button.

However, a couple of the controls have a secondary function – for instance, you hold the reverb button to put the looper into standby mode, then begin playing and tap the circular inlay to stop recording. Pressing the chorus button will stop playback.

This might sound like a faff for an acoustic player who may be used to just plugging in, setting a volume level and getting on with it, but electric players will feel at home as plenty of effects units on the market have similar multi-functional controls. And while it may not seem intuitive, spending a short while with the helpful – and delightfully clear – manual will set you straight.

Apart from the effects, the TAS3 has a built-in tuner and a battery level indicator to ensure you know when you need to top up the power. Another thing that is common with much of today’s guitar tech is Bluetooth connectivity.

Once you’ve downloaded Yamaha’s TAG Remote app, you merely press-and-hold the looper button to get connected.

Once again, this might deter a few technophobes, but the benefits of connecting to the app are, by all accounts, worth it because it gives you the opportunity to customise your effects levels, swap reverb types, recall loops and so on.

It goes without saying that investing a little time scaling the slight learning curve involved here will lead to exploiting the instrument’s capabilities to the full. And that sounds like time well spent to us.

Specs

• PRICE: $1,899/£1,393 (inc hard gig bag)
• ORIGIN: China
• TYPE: Concert cutaway
• Top: Sitka spruce with ARE treatment
• Back/Sides: Mahogany
• Max Rim Depth: 115mm
• Max Body Width: 380mm
• Neck: Mahogany
• Scale Length: 650mm (25.6”)
• Tuners: Open gear Champagne‑Gold
• Nut/Width: Urea/44mm
• Fingerboard: Ebony
• Frets: 20
• Bridge/Spacing: Ebony/54mm
• Electrics: TransAcoustic (System 76) with reverb, chorus, delay, looper, line out vol, tap sensor. Bluetooth audio facility and downloadable iOS/Android compatible TAG Remote app for parameter editing
• Weight (kg/lb): 2.6/5.9
• Left-Handers: No
• Finish: Natural (as reviewed), Sand Burst – gloss with matt neck
• Contact: Yamaha

Playablity and sounds

Returning our attention to the instrument, the TAS3 feels good straight out of its Yamaha-badged custom hard bag. The only thing that would lead you to suspect that the guitar itself is not the full story is the slight increase in weight – a tad more than you’d expect from a standalone acoustic.

The neck is a plentiful C profile and very comfortable in the hand and, despite the heft of the body, balance is good, both sitting and standing. Exploratory chordal strums reveal a sweet sound with a good mix of treble and bass.

Concert-bodied acoustics tend to avoid an inclination towards the boominess sometimes found on their bigger-bodied counterparts and that’s very much the case here. Fingerpicking sounds good, too, and so we were particularly interested to hear what the electronic side of the guitar adds to the picture.

Navigating through the effects is a simple task. The reverb is an immediate favourite for what it adds to the sound-picture, giving it a very professional, produced sheen.

Chorus on an acoustic is very much a Marmite situation: you either love it or hate it. Yet here it offers additional depth and shimmer to strummed chords.

Delay does exactly what it says, layering even more production value to the overall output, and the looper (once you’ve acquired the knack of hitting the circular sensor on time to switch off record mode) provides even more functionality.

Employing the app means that the reverb can be switched between Hall, Room or Plate, delay settings can be fine-tuned, and so on.

In fact, everything here is set for a player to either sit in the living room with a wonderfully produced-sounding acoustic or even attend an open mic night and play in front of a mic and achieve a similar pro effect.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

Whereas you may feel that the whole TransAcoustic thing is a novelty item and not aimed at being a serious performance tool, we’d urge you to put aside any of the preconceptions you might have and try one.

Yamaha has really thought the whole situation through admirably with an acoustic that sounds and plays really well on its own, with the electronic side of things adding a functional bonus on top.

Guitar World verdict: A fully produced pro-sounding acoustic in your living room without having to daisy-chain effects or lug amps about all for a smidge under £1,400? As a practice tool alone, that’s well worth the ticket price. But master the magic within and the sky’s the limit.

Hands-on videos

Yamaha

• Best acoustic electric guitars 2025: electro-acoustic picks for every guitarist, whatever your budget
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

In 2019, Fender launched a product that revolutionized the acoustic guitar space – the American Acoustasonic Telecaster.

At the time, Fender's then-CEO Andy Mooney said, “This is the first time in Fender history an acoustic guitar will take top billing at NAMM.” The hybrid model bridged the gap between traditional electric and acoustic offerings, successfully blending analog and digital technologies to offer not only different acoustic voicings, but also unmistakable and highly versatile electric tones.

“On the acoustic side, I was not happy with how little artist adoption that we were getting,” Mooney says of the project's inception during the new episode of Guitar Center’s Inside the Noise with Gabe Dalporto podcast. “Martin and Taylor are great, great brands, and any number of great artists have used them over the years.

“And so the brief I gave to the product team at that time was, on the one hand, extraordinarily simple but extraordinarily difficult, which is, make an acoustic guitar the way that Leo would have made it. So that took us down a path.”

As Mooney recalls, the team was encouraged to adopt Leo Fender's avant-garde way of thinking, and confront questions such as, “‘Where are the controls going to be? Is it going to be a set neck? Is it going to be a bolt-on neck?’” and, more importantly, “‘What is it that Leo would have done in today's age, that's not out there on the market?’

“Everything's electrified. It has to be, because they're [artists] on stage,” Mooney continues. “What we said is, 'What if we could give them 10 great acoustic guitars with electronics that would enable them to use pedals?' Because that's one of the issues with acoustic guitars on stage: feedback with pedals.”

Mooney divulges that it was an intensive two-and-a-half-year design project, during which the Fender team worked closely with Fishman to develop the electronics, which supercharged the Acoustasonic's hybrid tone and feel. The electric-style tones, though, came as something of a surprise.

“They [the team] took me through the acoustic voicings, and they said, ‘Listen to this.’ And then it was an electric guitar. How did that happen? It was a really happy accident,” he recalls.

“As we both know, guitar players are very reluctant to change, and we never expected the Acoustasonic to be an overnight success, but it's really gratifying now to see folks like FINNEAS or Jack White now asking for custom variations of that,” Mooney continues.

“So we're starting to see the type of artist adoption that we wanted, and we've got the line in various price points so that people can come in at more accessible price points and experience the instrument for the first time.

“So I think that's one of the big things [in terms of wins] for me, because the acoustic category is as big, if not bigger, than the electric category.”

Fender has recently announced that Mooney will be retiring after 10 years at the top, with Edward ‘Bud’ Cole, head of Fender Asia Pacific, taking the reins as the brand’s new CEO on February 16.

The first time I had a pickup fitted to an acoustic guitar was a disaster. I didn’t know any better.

It was an instrument that I loved and I had been looking forward to an amp’d up version of its voice, maybe a splash of reverb, some delay – keeping it tasteful, of course. Instead, what I got was the malignantly ugly quack and logarithmic anti-dynamic range of a primitive under-saddle pickup. Marvellous.

Upon discovering that the installation had also affected the acoustic sound, I ripped it out with my bare hands and vowed never again. It was at that moment that I joined the legions of acoustic guitarists searching for a workable, musical plugged-in sound.

I recognise that some readers will be hoping for hard and fast answers to this puzzle. I don’t believe there are any – I’ve looked. There are no shortcuts, either – I’ve looked there, too. What I can offer is some advice from my own experience and that of other guitarists I have spoken with.

Prior to the one-two punch of Tracy Chapman’s debut album and Eric Clapton’s MTV Unplugged, the acoustic guitar had languished in the hair-metal doldrums for years, consigned to duty as a laminated stage prop to be wheeled out for the erogenous moments, and sadly not everyone was writing ballads of the calibre of Extreme’s More Than Words or Mr Big’s To Be With You (that Paul Gilbert solo remains a sublime masterclass).

A common element of the above examples is a distinct lack of the plastic piezo ping that children of the ’90s had learned to accept as inevitable. Instead, these recordings have a natural sound – actual air molecules being shifted by a braced wooden soundboard. Just delicious.

There remains a place for that piezo voice, though. In a loud band context very few systems can provide the volume necessary while remaining resistant to feedback like an under-saddle pickup.

There are even some (admittedly rare) musical contexts where the sound just works: imagine the dark majesty of Wyclef Jean’s 911 recorded on a Fylde Oberon or a pre-war D-45, rather than a Fender Stratacoustic – all wrong.

Animal Magnetism

While initial forays into acoustic guitar amplification such as the Gibson ES-150 and Martin D-18E (which coincidentally was used by Tracy Chapman long before Kurt Cobain got his hands on one) featured magnetic pickups, it wasn’t until the advent of Jim Kaufman’s Sunrise design in the 1980s that a soundhole-mounted humbucker became a serious option for players such as Michael Hedges, Richard Thompson and Phil Keaggy.

Hot on its heels came Mike Vanden’s slimline Mimesis model – now made under licence as the Fishman Rare Earth in a variety of permutations – and the LR Baggs M1A with its floating coil, which can pick up body taps as well as the string sound without the feedback potential of an internal mic.

Soundhole acoustic guitar pickups have several advantages; the initial attack is a lot more rounded and warmer than a piezo, but sometimes that translates into a voice that’s closer to that of an archtop than a flat-top. They are also a strong choice for players dealing in extended techniques such as tapping and slapped harmonics – in particular, they eliminate problematic wolf tones from tapped notes on the 12th fret.

By the late ’90s, acoustic guitarists had a dizzying array of choices and custom hybrid systems comprising multiple sources had become de rigueur.

It was not unusual to see an instrument with more than one output jack. Internal mics by Sony and DPA were also popular with players such as Isaac Guillory and Pierre Bensusan – in conjunction with a piezo or soundhole humbucker. But without a feedback buster, they could be asking for trouble. Ironically, the quest for a natural sound increasingly meant filling a guitar with wires, batteries and circuit boards.

Under the Bridge

The burgeoning global acoustic music scene and resulting spike in interest in luthier-made steel-string guitars of the early 2000s provided fertile ground for a renaissance in pickup technology.

While some companies pushed things to extremes with complex active electronics, multi-band EQs and blenders and so on, others concentrated on simplicity. Enter the under bridge-plate transducer.

This technology had been around since 1963 in the form of the Barcus Berry ‘Bug’. It was revived with the creation of the now legendary FRAP transducer system beloved of Neil Young, but these were expensive, fiddly and often overly dependent on active preamps to kick the required amounts of arse/ass. The same was true of the first generation Trance Audio Amulet.

The now ubiquitous K+K Sound Pure pickup was first developed in 1996, but it took a little while for the acoustic guitar community to catch up. This elegantly simple system is based on three sensors mounted under the bridge plate and it allows the true voice of a fine handmade instrument to shine through with an expressive dynamic and timbral range – which is ideal for fingerstyle players.

I was intrigued to hear from Andy McKee that he is now using the passive version in all his Greenfield guitars through a Neural DSP Quad Cortex when playing live.

Alan Gogoll also favours this design in his new Åstrand guitars signature model. Other similar systems such as the McIntyre Feather and Dazzo offer their own tweaks and have found vocal supporters clubs on guitar forums around the world.

And in the End

Amplifying an acoustic instrument is always a fine balance. Much depends on the player and instrument in question. There are now more options than ever, and even cheaper systems can work well.

The most natural sound may not be the most practical, but if you think of a pickup as a camera lens and decide what aspect of the guitar you want to focus on, there will be something out there that does the job!

Three modern acoustic guitar pickup systems

K+K Sound Pure Mini ($172/£130)

Regarded by many modern fingerstyle players as a vital part of their sound, this bridge-plate-mounted transducer system has become the industry standard for a natural, woody plugged in voice.

Responsive and musical, the Pure Mini is an ideal choice for high-performance luthier-made guitars – on its own or as part of a hybrid solution.

K+K Sound

NV Tone Swan ($286)

Made in Ukraine, this soundhole-mounted condenser mic system delivers the sort of extraordinary detail and nuance you’d normally expect from an external studio mic.

Lightweight, easy to install and well made, the NV Tone Swan has already been seen in the guitars of extraordinary players such as Antoine Boyer and Kent Nishimura.

NV Tone

LR Baggs Anthem SL ($229/£249)

LR Baggs has been a major player in the acoustic pickup world for decades, and while its revolutionary M1A humbucker is a solid choice, the Anthem SL hybrid system combines the volume level potential of an under-saddle pickup with a Tru-Mic condenser mic mounted under the bridge plate. Active electronics with minimalist controls – and why not!

LR Baggs

• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

Ibanez is continuing to leverage off the success of Tim Henson’s hugely popular nylon-string signature guitar by giving its standard-run FRH version an exotic tonewood and finish update.

The Polyphia fretboard burner first released his nylon beauty, the TOD10N, in 2022 and in 2023 it became one of the year’s best-selling guitars. The following year, Ibanez tapped into its success with the Henson-esque FRH10N, while months later, a left-handed version was finally let out into the wild.

The recipe of the build was an instant fan favorite. Now, some more adventurous colorways – which give Henson's own model a serious run for its money – have been introduced to the lineup.

Cosmic Blue Starburst Low Gloss and Wine Red Low Gloss finishes headline the changes, with the omission of Henson’s Tree of Death fretboard inlay design – which can also be found on his electric signature, the TOD10 – a sad but understandable one. Acrylic and abalone block inlays feature instead.

Comprising sapele back and sides, a quilted maple top, C-shaped set-in nyatoh neck, and 22-fret rosewood fingerboard, the acoustic electric guitar benefits from an undersaddle Ibanez pickup and AEQ210T preamp with an onboard tuner. It's powered by a 9V battery which is accessed by a screwed-in compartment on the back of the guitar.

Elsewhere, there's a rosewood bridge, bone nut, and Gold Classical tuners for a traditional look. Other key features from its predecessor, including its modified FR hollow body with fan bracing, designed to accommodate high fret access and a side-mounted sound hole, to encourage warm and natural tones, remain. They were key in making this such a successful build, pairing the playability of electric guitars with the sonics of classical guitars.

The Ibanez FRH20QMN is available now for $635/£569. Head to Ibanez for more.

Meanwhile, an eight-string version of the TOD10 has been teased, and Polyphia have revealed some of the guests featuring on their forthcoming album. Henson says their producer has been “coming up with the most insane sounds you've ever heard.”

They've promised the album will be “heavy” with “lots of eight-strings”, and baritone guitars will feature, too. We hope Scott LePage's stunning, and potential-signature X-type axe also plays a role.

What is it?

Epiphone has certainly upped its game in recent years. Whereas we were once used to seeing bargain-basement copies of famed Gibson originals, these days the brand has clearly been rummaging through its parent company’s history books to produce some extremely worthy replicas of time-honoured and highly sought-after guitars.

Hooking up with Gibson’s Custom Shop has provided us with era-specific editions, such as a 1959 Les Paul Standard, a 1959 ES-355, a 1942 Banner J-45, plus Firebirds, Flying Vs and Explorers.

Some die-hard critics have whinged a little about the price hike needed to produce Epiphone guitars that feature USA parts and electronics, solid woods and so on. But we remain with eyebrows raised at the output that has landed with us so far and consider the price tags reasonable in view of what exactly is on offer.

Okay, so we have identified the occasional flaw but, in general, everything has been pretty much in tip-top shape.

So when Epiphone told us there were six new Inspired By Gibson Custom acoustic guitars waiting in the wings, breath in these parts became somewhat bated. After all, we agreed that the Banner J-45 we reviewed was a tough one to let go at just under $1,299/£1,200. It really was that good (as the 5/5 score also demonstrated).

What is really intriguing about the trio we’re looking at today is that each comes with a little bit of historic detail. For instance, take the Pre-War SJ-200. Why this particular period? Well, when the model first appeared in Gibson’s catalogue in 1937, it had a back and sides made from rosewood and, thanks to a knock-on effect from the 1929 financial crisis in the US, only a handful of Gibson’s costly flagship acoustic ever saw the light of day.

In 1947, after supply shortages post-WWII, backs and sides were changed to maple. This means the rarer early pre-war models have become the most sought after on the collector’s market. And even 1940s SJ-200s go for around $/£15,000-plus today, so making the original spec available at a tenth of that price is very sound reasoning in our book.

We’ll look at each of these guitars individually as they are all quite different. And seeing that we’ve already begun talking about the SJ-200, we might as well start there first.

Pre-War SJ-200 Rosewood Reissue

Gibson’s history reveals that, on release, the SJ-200 “quickly earned the title ‘King Of The Flat Tops’ due to its superior sound, physical size, outstanding projection and majestic appearance”. And it certainly is something of a whopper – the ‘SJ’ in the model designation stands for ‘Super Jumbo’, after all – with a maximum body width at a very fulsome 427mm (16.8 inches).

But Gibson is right about the majestic appearance, with gold Grover Imperial tuners, real mother-of-pearl ‘graduated crown’ inlays, ornate pickguard and two-bar ‘moustache’ bridge. The pre‑war-style script logo on the headstock is a nice touch, too.

We’re reminded that this was the instrument – a ’65 borrowed from Mickie Most – that Jimmy Page used on Led Zeppelin’s first album for the acoustic tracks Babe I’m Gonna Leave You, Your Time Is Gonna Come and Black Mountain Side. Jimmy is on record saying that Mickie’s came with a tune-o-matic bridge, a Gibson experiment that only lasted for a couple of years.

Epiphone’s homage is a looker in every sense of the word. But so much for cosmetics and ornamentation, it’s time to take a peek under the SJ-200’s bonnet.

We’ve already seen that we have rosewood for the back and sides and this is complemented by a “thermally aged” spruce top, meaning the wood has been heat-treated to simulate the drying-out process that would normally take years, if not decades.

The neck is a two-piece maple affair with a rosewood ‘stinger’ to the back of the headstock. The bridge is ebony, with mother-of-pearl inlays, and both string saddle and nut are bone.

It’s interesting to note that Gibson’s paperwork for each instrument states that the Epiphone models are “inspired by” the originals, as opposed to being historically accurate dead-ringers.

The history books tell us that the 1937 models came with an adjustable bridge and a scale length of 660mm (26 inches) as opposed to the static bone saddle and 648mm (25.5 inches) we find here. In fact, the SJ-200 went through several iterations in its youth, with the spec only relatively recently settling down to the guitar we know today.

Like its siblings, this SJ is kitted out with an LR Baggs Bronze Element VTC under-saddle pickup and preamp, with the controls accessible via the soundhole.

1960 Hummingbird Reissue

Switching over to the first of our two ‘birds’, the timestamp here is the beginning of the ’60s and a whole new era in music and guitar players alike. Arguably, Gibson’s most revered of its high-end acoustic guitar range, opening the Hummingbird’s case was like greeting an old friend.

Gibson’s first square-shoulder acoustic to enter its catalogue, the Hummingbird was seen in the hands of the new breed of ’60s guitarists, notably Keith Richards and Brian Jones of The Stones and, coming more up to date, Joe Bonamassa, Gillian Welch and Thom Yorke. Second only to the J-45 as a do-it-all workhorse, this ’Bird was known for its ability to handle virtually anything from energetic strumming to sensitive fingerstyle.

Epiphone’s tribute captures the moment with a fine-looking Cherry Sunburst finish – poly here, of course – fancy pickguard, mother-of-pearl split-parallelogram inlays, bound rosewood fingerboard, gold tuners and the ‘proper’ headstock shape.

Once again we find a thermally aged spruce top, but this time the back and sides are mahogany, as is the one-piece thermally aged neck. Bridge pins, string saddle and nut are all bone and the ‘belly up’ bridge itself is rosewood.

In contrast to its two companions, the Hummingbird’s scale length is 629mm (24.75 inches), which is more familiar to players who pack a Les Paul and, again, if you’re thinking of taking the Hummingbird to your next gig, it’s stage ready with that LR Baggs Bronze Element VTC.

1963 Dove Reissue

Our third glimpse into Gibson’s acoustic past comes in the form of the Dove. First introduced in 1962 as the company’s second square-shoulder acoustic, our Epiphone model is, according to the spec, “a stunningly authentic recreation of the iconic early Dove models from 1963”. Why not 1962? That’s not clear.

The Dove was partnered with some impressive names from the pop and rock world, too, with artists such as Elvis, Tom Petty and Alex Lifeson among its many fans, but it perhaps doesn’t quite have the same legendary status as the other two models here.

Its spec is similar to the Hummingbird, save for the fact the Dove’s back and sides are flamed maple, as opposed to mahogany or rosewood. We’ve also returned to the longer 648mm (25.5-inch) scale length, as opposed to Hummingbird’s shorter version.

A closer look at the body woods reveals that the top is, as before, thermally aged spruce, but this time the finish is Natural and so more grain information is evident. There’s a slight mottling to the top – we’re not clear whether this is a clear coat of poly that hasn’t been evenly applied, or just that the torrification process sometimes produces this effect. In any case, it’s only slight and miles away from a dealbreaker.

The maple is gloriously stripy on the sides, but the back shows only a slight rippling effect. The Dove has a one-piece mahogany neck with an Indian rosewood fingerboard, mother-of-pearl split-parallelogram inlays, and Kluson Waffleback tuners with metal keystone buttons.

As far as decorative features are concerned, the Dove-style pickguard is a work of art, with the mother-of-pearl dove reflected in the bridge.

Needless to say, electronics are courtesy of an LR Baggs Bronze Element VTC once again. So the next stage is to hear how these historic reissues sound in action.

Specs

Epiphone Pre-War SJ-200 Reissue

• Price: $1,499/£1,399 (inc case)
• Origin: China
• Type: Super Jumbo
• Top: Thermally aged spruce
• Back/Sides: Rosewood
• Max Rim Depth: 123mm
• Max Body Width: 427mm
• Neck: Maple
• Scale Length: 648mm (25.5”)
• Tuners: Grover Imperial
• Nut/Width: Bone/44.2mm
• Fingerboard: Ebony
• Frets: 20
• Bridge/Spacing: Ebony/55mm
• Electrics: LR Baggs Bronze Element VTC
• Weight (kg/lb): 2.5/5.6
• Left-Handers: Yes
• Finish: Vintage Sunburst

Epiphone 1960 Hummingbird Reissue

• Price: $1,299/£1,099 (inc case)
• Origin: China
• Type: Square-shoulder dreadnought
• Top: Thermally aged spruce
• Back/Sides: Mahogany
• Max Rim Depth: 123mm
• Max Body Width: 404mm
• Neck: One piece mahogany
• Scale Length: 629mm (24.75”)
• Tuners: Epiphone Deluxe with green keystone buttons
• Nut/Width: Bone/44.91mm
• Fingerboard: Indian rosewood
• Frets: 20
• Bridge/Spacing: Rosewood/56mm
• Electrics: LR Baggs Element Bronze VTC
• Weight (kg/lb): 2.08 /4.6
• Left-Handers: Yes
• Finish: Heritage Cherry Sunburst

Epiphone 1963 Dove Reissue

• Price: $1,399/£1,099 (inc case)
• Origin: China
• Type: Square-shoulder dreadnought
• Top: Thermally aged spruce
• Back/Sides: Figured maple
• Max Rim Depth: 121mm
• Max Body Width: 404mm
• Neck: Thermally aged mahogany
• Scale Length: 648mm (25.5”)
• Tuners: Kluson Waffleback with metal keystone buttons
• Nut/Width: Bone/42.9mm
• Fingerboard: Indian rosewood
• Frets: 20
• Bridge/Spacing: Rosewood/55mm
• Electrics: LR Baggs Element Bronze VTC
• Weight (kg/lb): 2.1/4.8
• Left-Handers: Yes
• Finish: Natural
• Contact: Epiphone

Playability and sounds

Returning to the SJ-200, and before we’ve even played a note, our attention is drawn to the weight and bulk of this guitar. As far as the actual proportions are concerned, well, it is what it says on the tin – a Super Jumbo.

So you’d expect a guitar with that designation to be something that’s a bit of a lapful. A lower-bout body-width of the aforementioned 427mm is certainly not for the faint-hearted, after all.

Where the weight is concerned – all 2.5kg (5.6lb) of it – we suspect this is down to the fact that timber can swing between super-light to 1970s Les Paul Custom super-heavy, depending on what manufacturers have in the factory at the time. So your experience here could vary. Aside from that, it’s a big guitar and so it’s going to weigh in more than, say, a dreadnought or OM.

Epiphone describes the neck profile as being a “round D” and at 22.3mm deep at the 1st fret it certainly feels quite chunky. Action at the 12th fret is slightly higher than we’d choose – at just under 3mm on the bass side, if your preferred string-height is lower, the saddle would need a minor adjustment.

The nut could probably have done with a few more minutes on the workbench, too, as a couple of the strings were a little ‘sticky’ on tuning and some of the slots were cut too high.

However, when we played our first chord, all the minor niggles vanished as the SJ showed its true character – it’s loud, proud and possesses all of that wonderfully woody depth and tone for which this model is renowned.

And for only a fraction of what the Gibson equivalent would cost, too. If you were looking for those Jimmy Page Led Zep I acoustic tones, they’re all here – and you’d be ready to take centre stage, thanks to the onboard LR Baggs Bronze Element VTC.

Freeing the Hummingbird from its case, its dreadnought body size, lighter weight and shorter scale-length all deliver a sense of compactness, after the bulk and weight of the SJ.

The neck profile here is what Epiphone enigmatically refers to as merely “rounded”, but we measured the 1st-fret neck-depth at a substantial 23mm. A close look at the nut revealed the Hummingbird has fared better than its bigger sibling, but, alas, the action is still higher than we would like.

Once again, though, sitting and playing the instrument turned out to be easily on a par with what we found on the SJ. It sings. Simple as that. Volume and power is combined with that familiar woody sweetness and authority throughout the range and it certainly doesn’t suffer from a lack of bassy grunt, either. It definitely has that Gibson vibe to the sound, but for only a fraction of the cost.

The Dove sits well in line with its two partners in that the action is on the high side, but the cut of the nut is definitely the best of the three. And with a 1st-fret neck depth of 21mm, we’re back to a slimmish C profile – although Epiphone still refers to it as simply “rounded” here, too.

Sound-wise, that maple back and sides, and possibly the longer scale, brings brightness to the sound picture, but all the power that we’ve already met from the other two guitars is still present. It’s as if someone has turned up the treble control on your amp a little, that’s all. Otherwise, it’s a similar ride to the others.

The LR Baggs acoustic guitar pickup system is common to all three and it proved a faithful companion to have onboard, giving a very good representation of the guitars’ acoustic characteristics.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★☆

It’s difficult to know where to start when summing up these three new Epiphones. However, the first thing that springs to mind is the value for money when compared with their Gibson forebears.

Each of our Epiphones give a very good account of themselves in the sound stakes – the SJ and the Hummingbird probably neck and neck for their rich and sonorous acoustic sound. The Dove slips very slightly behind due to its more trebly response not being to everyone’s taste. But this is only by a little, and let’s not forget that sound can be very subjective.

Then there are the niggles. We would say that if these guitars have been set up to a factory standard then it needs reviewing because lower actions on acoustic guitars are largely what’s expected these days. A little more care with cutting the nuts wouldn’t go amiss, either. It must be emphasised, however, that both these factors could easily be sorted at point of sale since.

Guitar World verdict: Many guitar shops have their own in-house tech to put things right with he setup, so you’d end up with an extremely nice acoustic guitar at a very affordable price. As always, it’s very much a case of seeking these new models out and auditioning them for yourself. You might just find you’re as impressed as we were.

Hands-on videos

Epiphone

Thomann

Sweetwater

• “Makes you forget the fact that one of these will cost you a fifth of what you’d pay for something with the Murphy Lab moniker”: Epiphone Inspired By Gibson Custom 1962 ES-335 Reissue review
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

Martin has recently upgraded its Standard Series. Gone is the ‘Reimagined’ moniker but retained are all of that range’s upgrades, plus many more that are significant for looks, playability and tone.

”One of the key updates,” says Martin, “is the use of Sitka spruce Golden Era [GE] top bracing, as featured on the Modern Deluxe Series. It offers a more vintage, ‘breathy’ tone with enhanced sustain.”

Along with this comes a GE modified low oval neck profile, “optimised for vintage appeal with minimal increase in total mass”. Other playability enhancements include a thinner fingerboard with comfort bevelled edge, and more smoothly contoured belly bridge with bone (or sometimes ebony) pins.

Aesthetic updates include a long diamond volute, angled bone nut and a sleeker-looking heel.

A big usability hike is that the jack socket, end-pin and flip-top battery compartment are mounted on a plate at the base of the body. So no more scrabbling around trying to fish out that dead battery.

The OM-28’s staple ingredients remain, of course, such as Indian rosewood back and sides, Sitka spruce top, ‘select hardwood’ neck, an ebony ’board with abalone ‘diamonds and squares’ inlays, ebony bridge, herringbone purfling, rosewood headstock overlay, and gold transfer decal. Tuners are Waverley-style open gear.

LR Baggs’ renowned Anthem system combines a studio-quality condenser mic with Baggs’ Element pickup to provide a transparent tone that’s good enough to plug directly into a recording desk or to supply a brilliantly balanced out-front sound.

While Martin’s 000 and OM models share the same body shape and size, the OM’s scale length is 645.2mm (25.4 inches) compared with the 000’s 632.5mm (24.9 inches).

That extra half an inch provides a slightly tauter feel, for a snappier tone with strong lows and mids but plenty of top to cut through. Fingerstylists love OMs for their clarity and projection, plus the wide 44.45mm nut. But they remain great strummers, too.

The thinner, bevelled-edge ’board and lower action, plus all the other little tweaks that Martin has applied, leave the smallest ever quality gap between these instruments and Custom Shop models costing way more. While four grand is no snip, this is everything one could want in a top-grade electro-acoustic guitar.

• The Martin Standard Series OM28E is out now, priced $3,899/£4,099. See Martin Guitar for more details.
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

What is it?

Taylor never stands still for long and the company’s ongoing mission to review, upgrade and remodel its inventory is typical of a brand that is intent on remaining at the cutting edge of acoustic guitar design and manufacture.

According to our records, the last time the 500 Series enjoyed a refresh was in 2022. Three years later and there’s movement within the line once again.

The 500 Series has proved to be a popular one among players internationally and so it’s really no surprise that change is afoot in this quarter. Furthermore, the Builder’s Edition we see here is a rather splendid-looking beast with considerable visual impact from the moment it’s drawn from its hard case.

We’ve seen plenty of Builder’s Edition instruments from Taylor pass through these pages before, celebrating models from the catalogue with upgraded features and constructional fillips such as bevelled arm rests and refreshed tonewood partnerships.

Of this particular 514ce, Taylor says: “The Builder’s Edition 514ce Kona Burst embodies Taylor’s commitment to innovative craftsmanship, player-friendly guitar designs and sustainable sourcing.” Interest piqued? So is ours.

First of all, though, and in order to appreciate the embellishments present in its slightly more lavish companion, we’ll just take a look at what the standard 514ce comprised in terms of its sum of parts, as it will then provide a context for the changes Taylor has made to the model’s spec.

Taylor has always held conservation close to its heart and painstakingly sought out woods from sustainable sources, and the outgoing 514ce’s back and sides tonewood is a great example of this.

Here, it was red ironbark, sourced from urban trees in California that were reaching the end of their city life. It’s a wood that, according to Taylor, has “the warmth and clarity of Indian rosewood”, and that “strummers will appreciate the volume and projection, while fingerpickers will enjoy the definition and dynamic range”.

Paired with torrified Sitka spruce for the top and master builder and company CEO Andy Powers’ revolutionary V-Class internal bracing, we found a real musical chameleon in our hands.

Its sound has warmth but with the necessary balance and brightness to cut through in a stage environment, a situation that is further enhanced by its Expression System 2 internal pickup and preamp. In truth, the Builder’s Edition is going to have to take some long strides, sonically speaking, to beat what we’ve heard so far.

It’s a very easy guitar to play, too. We’ve often waxed lyrical about how Taylor’s neck profiles make a player – who is perhaps more used to playing electric guitar then they are acoustic – feel immediately at home and such is the case here. Good looks, good sounds and an easy ride. We really couldn’t ask for much more.

So let’s see what’s cooking with the Builder’s Edition. Obviously, the actual Grand Auditorium body profile is consistent between the two models, but otherwise the changes come thick and fast.

For starters, there’s the warm look to the Tobacco Kona Sunburst, which gives the guitar a sort of Gibson J-45 kerb appeal, although the sunburst here is perhaps a little more reddish-brown than on a J-45. It’s a good look, but if a sunburst finish is a total dealbreaker for you, then there is a natural finish Builder’s Edition on offer, too.

The top is, as with its sibling, Sitka spruce, but the spec we have available doesn’t disclose if it has been subjected to the torrification process – and it’s darned hard to tell from just the appearance of the wood itself. For the back and sides, Taylor has gone for Shamel ash, another urban timber from trees that are needing removal owing to age or safety concerns.

This particular timber is sourced from West Coast Arborists, a company that specialises in tree maintenance in cities across California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas. Taylor tells us that Shamel ash “produces midrange power and balance comparable to Honduran mahogany”, a bold claim, seeing that Honduran mahogany is hailed as a prince among tonewoods.

If it can live up to the claim, this is timber recycling at its finest hour. Under close inspection, the timber has a lively grain pattern similar to that of figured maple, but it’s all but hidden by the dark finish, which, to be honest, is really a bit of a shame.

The Builder’s Edition appointments are more pronounced at the guitar’s body end with chamfered edges, plus mahogany forearm and cutaway bevels, and so playing comfort has been optimised.

The mahogany neck and West African Crelicam ebony fingerboard and bridge are common to this model and its 514ce sidekick, but tuners here have been upscaled to Gotoh 510 Antique Chrome, which offers a little vintage chic to the overall picture.

Onstage duties are managed by Taylor’s proven Expression System 2, but first things first: it’s time to listen to what the upgraded 514ce has to offer acoustically.

Specs

• Price: $3,499/£4,019 (inc case)
• Origin: USA
• Type: Grand Auditorium
• Top: Sitka spruce
• Back/Sides: Shamel ash
• Max Rim Depth: 112mm
• Max Body Width: 402mm
• Neck: Tropical mahogany
• Scale Length: 648mm (25.5”)
• Tuners: Gotoh 510 Antique Chrome with antique chrome buttons
• Nut/Width: Graph Tech Tusq/
  44mm
• Fingerboard: West African Crelicam ebony
• Frets: 20, medium
• Bridge/Spacing: Ebony/56mm
• Electrics: Expression System 2
• Weight (kg/lb): 2.13/4.7 
• Options: Builder’s Edition 514ce in Natural costs £3,899
• Range Options: The Legacy 514ce (£3,899) combines Western red cedar with neo-tropical mahogany, X-bracing and LR Baggs Element VTC electronics
• Left-Handers: No
• Finish: Tobacco Kona Burst gloss 
• Contact: Taylor Guitars

Playability and sounds

Once again, Taylor’s super-friendly neck profile offers us a warm welcome on freeing the guitar from its case, the matt finish to the back of the neck aiding smooth sailing up and down the fretboard.

Initial strums reveal a surprise in that Shamel ash does indeed seem to inhabit the same sonic space as a good mahogany; there’s that distinctive dry, woody flavour to open chords.

There’s plenty of midrange punch, too, with volume to spare. Everything from gentle fingerpicking to abandoned chordal strumming is ably catered for, with a bass response that sits in between a dreadnought’s bloom and an OM’s slightly more compressed output.

Generally speaking, the Builder’s Edition is extremely well balanced with no evident peaks or troughs detected during our play test.

The Expression System 2 proves its worth once again when we plugged the guitar into our trusty AER Compact 60 acoustic guitar amp. Despite what might appear to be only scant control over the sound with volume, treble and bass rotaries, everything we needed was there.

With only a very slight amount of tweaking, we were able to conjure up everything from good ol’ rock ’n’ roll to sensitive fingerstyle with no trouble at all.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

Okay, so at a price tag that clocks in at just over £4k, this isn’t a purchase that you’d enter into without giving it a lot of thought and a long audition beforehand.

But real quality of this nature rarely comes cheap, and when you consider that you’re getting something that runs the gamut of acoustic styles as well as a strum ’n’ go no-fuss pickup system, it’s definitely worth some serious thought.

Guitar World verdict: The red ironbark variation is still out there for as long as stock lasts, and if the frills like a bevelled armrest and chamfered edges don’t bother you, there are probably bargains to be had. It might be a slightly different hue, sonically speaking, but the build and sound quality is all there.

Hands-on videos

Alamo Music Center

PMTVUK

Empire Music

• Best high-end acoustic guitars 2025: 10 of the most lust-worthy instruments for guitarists
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

What is it?

Taylor's acoustic guitars are clean-cut, original and (most of the time) their sound owes little to the past. The benefits of that approach are all to be found in this neat and sleek Grand Auditorium cutaway 314ce Studio — but also one or two of the drawbacks.

So who is Taylor aiming at with this guitar? One clue is that, while relatively simple cosmetically, the 314ce Studio is built with solid woods throughout, rather than cheaper laminates. In fact, Taylor states that this model is now “the lowest-priced gateway to the solid wood experience,” though at $1,999 it’s hardly a beginner’s model. Think of it as a beckoning invitation to buy your first “serious” Taylor, if you will.

Specs

• Launch price: $1,999/£1,979
• Type: Six-string Grand Auditorium electro-acoustic guitar
• Made: USA (neck made in Mexico)
• Top: Torrefied spruce
• Back and sides: Sapele
• Neck: Neo-tropical mahogany, satin finish
• Scale length: 648mm (25.5”)
• Tuners: Taylor nickel
• Nut/Width: White NuBone/42.86mm
• Fingerboard/Radius: West African Crelicam ebony/15"
• Frets: 20
• Bridge/Pins: West African Crelicam ebony/Black ABS plastic
• Electronics: Expression System 2
• Left-handers: No
• Finish: Natural (as reviewed), Shaded Edge Burst ($2,099)
• Contact: Taylor Guitars

Build quality

To keep the price tag tempting, not all of this guitar is made in the US — the neck is manufactured over the border at Taylor’s Tecate factory in Mexico before the 314ce is assembled at the Californian El Cajon facility. Taylor’s sapele is used for the back, sides and the neck, instead of the increasingly expensive mahogany that it resembles. However, with a rich, auburn color and attractive grain stripes running through it, the sapele used on this guitar certainly doesn’t look like a cheap option.

Turning our attention to the top, we find a solid spruce soundboard that’s been heat-treated using a process called torrification. This roasting technique was developed to give brand-new spruce tops similar tone and stability to those of vintage guitars that have settled and mellowed for decades.

Other standout details on the 314ce include a slightly narrowed neck, which we measured at 43mm (1 11/16th inches) at the nut, which might be Taylor’s attempt to make the guitar more user-friendly to players crossing over from electric. Supporting the spruce top, we also get Taylor’s V-Class bracing system and finally, there’s Taylor’s simple but dependable 3-control ES2 pickup system aboard.

The gloss finish of the top is gleaming and mirror-flat, while the satin-feel neck is tactile and silky to play. That’s a good start and plays to Taylor’s strengths in making impeccably turned out, detail-driven guitars. Fretwork is similarly tidy, while the rolled-in (subtly bevelled) edges of the fretboard give the neck a comfortable, played-in feel.

Playability and sounds

Strumming the 314ce Studio reveals a bright, breathy and clear voice with piano-like composure — and that finely intonated character really helps reveal harmonic detail when playing chords with ringing open strings. No particular era of music or acoustic heritage is evoked, just a harmonious modern voice that’s quite neutral in character.

One thing we’ve noticed in the past about V-Class braced guitars, however, is that you seem to trade just a little bass for the other virtues it offers (sustain, improved intonation higher up the neck) and even our shallower-bodied Martin 000-14 had a touch more low-end than the 314ce Studio.

Detuning to DADGAD fills things out nicely, however, and despite that slightly narrow neck, the fantastic intonation and silvery voice could make this a fingerstyle player’s dream. The ES2 pickup system is the jewel in the crown here, though. It does a beautiful job of turning all that clarity into a focused but attractively natural amplified voice.

Verdict

Combined with Taylor’s slinky playability, the ES2 makes the 314ce a serious live performance tool. Overall, it adds up to a rather charming package that, while not cheap, is fairly priced (with premium gig bag included), crisply built and shines like a gem on the live stage.

Guitar World verdict: An agile acoustic with a sparkling voice at an attainable price, the Taylor 314ce Studio proves a worthy investment for home, studio and especially, the stage.

Hands-on videos

Acoustic Letter

• Taylor Gold Label 814e SB review

What is it?

Every guitar player should have at least one nylon-string guitar in their collection. Even better is a nylon-string acoustic-electric that can hold its own amongst other amplified instruments on stage.

The Cort Sunset Nylectric DLX leans more towards the electric than acoustic side of the spectrum with its chambered solidbody design, but that makes it a great choice for electric players who want to explore the nuances and expressiveness of a nylon-string instrument without having to adapt their playing style too much to a traditional classical or flamenco guitar.

Specs

• Launch price: $999/£572
• Type: Thinline cutaway-electro nylon-string
• Top: Flamed Maple Veneer on Solid Sitka Spruce
• Back: Chambered mahogany
• Neck: Mahogany, bolt-on
• Scale length: 648mm (25.5”)
• Tuners: Classical open-gear with ebont buttons
• Nut: Graph Tech Tusq / 48mm
• FIngerboard: Ebony, 15.75″ radius
• Frets: 22
• Bridge: Ebony with Graph Tech Tusq saddle
• Electronics: Fishman S-Core VTB, Volume, Treble, Bass
• Left-handers: No
• Finish: Tobacco Sunburst Gloss
• Contact: Cort Guitars

Playability and sounds

Featuring a chambered mahogany body with a solid Sitka spruce top covered with a flamed maple veneer, the Cort Sunset Nylectric DLX looks more like a steel-string acoustic-electric or even a solidbody electric (minus the pickups and electric hardware).

The bolt-on neck joins the body at the 16th fret (instead of the 12th), and a deep cutaway and contoured neck-body heel joint provide unrestricted access to the entire fretboard. The body width measures slightly more than 1.75 inches, so it even feels like an electric solidbody instrument.

However, the Nylectric’s slotted headstock, ebony bridge with tie block and mahogany neck with a relatively flat radius (15.75-inch), ebony fretboard with 22 medium-profile frets, 25.5-inch scale length and U-shape profile provide familiar nylon-string aesthetics.

The nut width, which measures 1-7/8 inches is slightly narrower than a traditional classical guitar to allow electric players to adapt to the neck more easily. Internally, the top is fan braced to provide similar sonic characteristics to a traditional acoustic nylon-string guitar.

The built-in Fishman Sonicore under-saddle piezo pickup/preamp system is designed specifically for nylon-string guitar to preserve natural resonance and expressive nuances.

Controls consist of volume, treble and bass knobs, with the EQ allowing players to dial in more presence to cut through a band or warmth for fuller-sounding solo performances.

Thanks to its chambered body design, the Sunset Nylectric DLX can be played unplugged at a decent volume level for practice, although by no means does its purely acoustic sound compare with that of a finely crafted classical or flamenco instrument. However, the bass is nicely round and full-bodied and the treble is sweet and expressive.

Those acoustic tones provide a solid foundation for the Cort’s amplified tones, which is where the Nylectric shines. The chambered body provides “air” and resonance that makes each note sound lively and three-dimensional instead of dry and flat.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

The pickup can handle rather aggressive flamenco strumming techniques without distorting or compressing the tone, although it may not be responsive enough to body slaps to please an Andalusian purist.

Although the Nylectric sounds more than good enough on its own, it really shined when it was processed with a touch of room reverb, which brought the sound even closer to that of a mic’d classical guitar.

Guitar World verdict: The Cort Sunset Nylectric DLX is an ideal “gateway” instrument for electric players who want to add nylon-string classical/flamenco tones to their stage and studio repertoires.

Hands-on videos

Cort

• Córdoba Stage review
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Harley Benton has tipped its aesthetic hat to Gibson’s J-45 acoustic guitar with its latest uber-affordable acoustic electric guitar, which offers plenty of tasty features for its humble price tag.

From Tom DeLonge-esque Strats to double-necks inspired by SGs and sub-$200 resonators, the Thomann-owned brand is famed for its budget builds – and the not-so-nicely named HBJ-45E SBK stays true to that narrative.

Sporting a solid Sitka spruce top, a pickup/preamp system with a three-band EQ, and a built-in tuner, it’s certainly well-kitted out. But while cosmetically it gives off the charm of Gibson’s famed workhorse acoustic – save for its lack of pickguard – there are plenty of touches that see the guitar veering down its own lane.

The round shoulder dreadnought has an ovangkol body, which is an African relative of rosewood that helps keep the cost down, as well as a more traditional mahogany neck. Its fretboard is made from blackwood, said to offer glassy tones and plenty of sustain, while cream binding juxtaposes its black body finish for a classy look. Those looks are rounded out by simple dot inlays and a natural finish for its headstock.

The neck joins the body at the 14th fret, so upper fret access shouldn't be too much of a chore, and a graphite nut and nickel tuners hope to offer fairly reliable tuning stability. Its bridge is also made from ovangkol, which Harley Benton says improves resonance and sustain.

The guitar is crafted to a 25.5” scale and offers a 43mm nut width and 356 mm radius. That should make it a comfortable strummer for beginners and seasoned veterans alike.

An own-brand HB-03 pickup system, as its maker says, means this should be “ready for the stage right out of the box”. Controls for Bass, Middle, and Treble sit with the chromatic tuner on the side of the side of the body. There's a minuscule but effective screen at the top of the control panel for players to swap tunings on the fly.

Of course, considering it has a humble $228 price tag, its specs were never going to be out of this world, but the cheap gear maker is once more making some interesting, cost-cutting choices without harming the overall effectiveness of the build.

The firm, which seems to drop new cent-saving six-strings every five minutes, has come under scrutiny in recent times. That prompted YouTuber and metal guitarist Maxxxwell Carlisle – who does admittedly have a signature guitar with the HB – to dispel the two biggest myths surrounding its often-crazy low prices. See its new $140 Strat, which has an effects unit built in, for evidence.

Ultimately, though, the spec sheet offered for the price here definitely has its appeal. With budget gear, something has to give, and the features, largely, have remained impressive. In fact, it could yet be a key player in the budget beginner acoustic market.

Indeed, as Harley Benton says of the guitar, “If you’re looking for an acoustic to accompany you in the studio, on stage, or just honing your skills at home, [it] is ready for any occasion.”

The Harley Benton HBJ-45E SBK is out now and is priced at $228.

Head to Harley Benton to learn more.

In the UK, Faith acoustics are everywhere. The chances are if you see a busker in town, an acoustic player at an open mic, or an artist in concert at a local theatre, they will have a Faith in hand.

And for good reason. Faith’s brief has always been to provide a quality, all-solid wood, acoustic guitar at a reasonable price point, with good looks and great tone as a given.

But the acoustic world doesn’t stay still for long, and Faith’s stage-ready Eclipse models have just undergone a serious upgrade to make them better than ever. Faith’s Patrick James Eggle tells us more.

Can you explain more about the origins of the Faith Eclipse series?

“The Eclipse was one of the earliest models and it was originally conceived as a stage guitar. A workhorse instrument to look good under stage lighting while staying within the remit of Faith, which is not to embellish them too much with expensive inlays and what have you. [The idea was to] have a fundamentally well-built instrument using the right tonewoods and proper construction.”

Apart from the more obvious upgrades such as the forearm bevel, you’ve upgraded the pickups as well.

“Yes, we chose the Fishman Ink body preamp system, which marries an undersaddle piezo pickup with a magnetic body sensor under the bridge plate. We did some tests and I listened to a few.

“Don’t ask me to go too deep into the technical side because it’s generally not where I do my thing, but it seems to add an overall richness to the amplified tone.”

Have there been any structural changes under the hood?

“No, the bracing remains the same and all the fundamentals are [pretty much] unchanged. We’ve basically replaced the abalone rosette and the 12th-fret inlay with maple instead. So it looks kind of visually striking and goes with the forearm bevel.

“But it also means they’re entirely free from animal products; hopefully that will be a bonus and a good thing.”

Looking at the Neptune, it’s not a large-bodied instrument like a lot of 12-string guitars tend to be.

“I don’t think you necessarily need a whopping great big body. Obviously, the larger the body, the more bass you add and arguably a bit more volume. But a smaller body is a more mid-focused sound.

“I think the main thing I’ve found over the years with 12-strings is just getting the balance right with the neck, you know? Getting the string spacing right and all that so you can play the six courses of strings with relative comfort and ease – because it doesn’t come naturally to everyone.

“For years, the only 12-string acoustics I got my hands on, the necks always pulled off after a bit. I earned a lot of money replacing them! I just remember them being extremely cumbersome and uncomfortable to play. So the challenge is just to get the actual balance right so it physically works yet is quite ergonomic.”

Are there any changes to the bracing pattern for the 12-string?

“It hasn’t got extra reinforcement in it. I think that the X-bracing is slightly less scalloped, and I think the cross braces behind the bridge are larger as well. So you might describe that as extra reinforcement, but I don’t think there are any extra braces in there.”

Where acoustics are concerned, there are two schools of thought on how the neck should be attached to the body: dovetail or bolt-on. You’re an advocate of the latter for the Faiths aren’t you?

“Yes, bolt-on neck, glued-down fretboard. And that was part of the original redesign of Faith, probably 19 years ago now.

“A few years before that, I had worked doing guitar restoration and repairs and I’ve reset a lot of necks – acoustic guitars with dovetail necks. You steam them out and you find that a lot of the dovetail joint is full of wooden shims and glue and air. It looks tight and perfect from the outside, which is great…

“But, actually, when you steam it off, you realise that isn’t the full picture, and I don’t believe that can give you a good transmission of sound or is good for the instrument. If a dovetail joint is a good dovetail joint, then fantastic; I don’t have a problem with it at all.

“But I think it’s easier to get a tight, good join [with a bolt-on] than it is with a dovetail. I’m not saying dovetails are worse; I think they’re fantastic when they’re done properly.

“The other thing was that, at the time, we were using a satin-finished neck and a gloss body. So you can finish the neck and the body separately; you can fit them first to 90 per cent of their fit, and then spray them separately, polish the body, satin-finish the neck, and then do the final fitting right at the end, so you get a nice, clean join. I’ve never seen a reason to change it.”

What about the future for Faith? Is there anything on the horizon that you can share with us?

“Nothing I can tell you about at the moment. But you’ll be the first to know when there is!”

• You can find out more about the current range over at Faith Guitars.
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

What is it?

It’s nothing new for Gibson to release budget-friendly versions of its mainline models. Just look at the J-100 – a leaner, meaner take on the original Gibson super-jumbo that reveals the concept in action as far back as 1939.

Perhaps we’re more familiar with those ’50s and ’60s stalwarts the Les Paul and SG Junior, each one a perfect example of how to execute the strategy brilliantly.

But let’s also not forget the less than stellar ES-325, The Paul and SG-100 from the inauspicious ’70s, or the now-collectible Depression-era Recording King and Kalamazoo brands that the company produced. We could go on, but you get the picture.

To this celebrated and not-so-celebrated roster we can now add the J-45 and Hummingbird Specials, pocket-conscious versions of two of Gibson’s most lauded acoustic guitars. The range also includes the parlour sized L-00, but it’s the former pair we’re looking at today.

Following Gibson’s tried-and-trusted formula, while the timbers used may not be the absolute pick of the crop such as you’d find on Custom Shop models, they are all solid with both instruments’ backs and sides hewn from genuine mahogany, and with tops of Sitka spruce with scalloped spruce X-bracing.

A new wood to us, though, is utile, also known as sipo, which is used for the necks of both Hummingbird and J-45 Special. The Wood Database informs us utile is a West African timber that sits in the broader mahogany family and shares similar working characteristics.

Coming from the Latin word utilis, meaning useful, perhaps we’ll be seeing more of it on guitars as genuine mahogany becomes scarcer.

Fretboards remain 304.8mm (12-inch) radius Indian rosewood, not laurel or pau ferro as we’ve often seen elsewhere, and both bear 20 standard frets. The Hummingbird’s fingerboard, although usually bound in white plastic, is left bereft here, which is normal on the J-45, of course.

But while this guitar can boast real pearl dots, the Hummingbird is given celluloid parallelograms (they’re proper shell on mainline and Custom Shop instruments). This is a bit of a shame, since mother-of-pearl is a charming feature on full-fat Hummingbirds and other great Gibbos. But it would up the price considerably, so we appreciate Gibson’s motives here.

One thing of note is that both of these acoustics sport slightly shallower depth bodies than their regular counterparts. Gibson calls this ‘concert depth’. It’s not much, only 19mm give or take, down from 125mm (4.92 inches) to 106mm (4.2 inches), but sound-wise the company says it tightens up the bottom-end, making it leaner but without turning the sound thin or shrill.

Naturally, our J-45 follows its 1942 forebear’s round-shouldered look, while the Hummingbird has the model’s usual squared-off top bout, the first Gibson acoustic to do so when released in 1960.

Both guitars come with the traditional ‘belly up’ rosewood bridge and intonation compensated Tusq saddles, nickel-plated Grover Rotomatic tuners, Tusq nut, plus the excellent LR Baggs Element Bronze undersaddle pickup with soundhole volume control.

Finish-wise, our Gibsons come in traditional nitrocellulose lacquer, albeit ‘thin skin’ satin. And while there’s something very cool about this workaday approach on the J-45’s classic ‘tobacco sunburst’, the Hummingbird Special’s red-to-yellow shading really is rather garish.

It’s the only thing that looks a bit cheap here and is the very aspect that doesn’t need to be, since it would be so simple for Gibson to tone it down a shade or two to create a far classier impression.

The two guitars’ necks are attached to their bodies with a classic compound dovetail joint using hide glue. This means they can be easily removed should resetting or other work be required further down the line.

All in all, they are built well and look tidy inside and out. The fact that they’re cheaper by Gibson standards and come stage-ready means you needn’t worry too much about the odd ding or dent while the guitars are out there earning their keep.

Specs

Gibson J-45 Special

• PRICE: $1,999/£1,699 (inc gigbag)
• ORIGIN: USA
• TYPE: Round-shouldered steel-string flat-top acoustic with pickup
• TOP: Solid Sitka spruce
• BACK/SIDES: Solid mahogany
• MAX RIM DEPTH: 106mm
• MAX BODY WIDTH: 406mm
• NECK: Utile, SlimTaper profile
• SCALE LENGTH: 629mm (24.75”)
• TUNERS: Grover Rotomatic – nickel‑plated
• NUT/WIDTH: Graph Tech Tusq/ 43.82mm
• FINGERBOARD: Indian rosewood with pearl dot inlays
• FRETS: 20, medium
• BRIDGE/SPACING: Rosewood ‘belly-up’ style with compensated Tusq saddle/54mm
• ELECTRICS: LR Baggs Element Bronze with soundhole volume control
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 2.077/4.58
• OPTIONS: None
• RANGE OPTIONS: The mahogany/spruce L-00 Special (£1,699) is the smaller-bodied parlour style model which also comes with the LR Baggs Element Bronze pickup
• LEFT-HANDERS: N/A
• FINISHES: Satin Vintage Sunburst (as reviewed), Satin Wine Red – ‘thin skin’ nitrocellulose
• CONTACT: Gibson

Gibson Hummingbird Special

PRICE: $2,199/£1,899 (inc gigbag)
ORIGIN: USA
TYPE: Square-shouldered steel-string flat-top acoustic with pickup
TOP: Solid Sitka spruce
BACK/SIDES: Solid mahogany
MAX RIM DEPTH: 106mm
MAX BODY WIDTH: 406mm
NECK: Utile, SlimTaper profile
SCALE LENGTH: 629mm (24.75”)
TUNERS: Grover Rotomatic – nickel‑plated
NUT/WIDTH: Graph Tech Tusq/ 43.82mm
FINGERBOARD: Indian rosewood with pearloid split parallelogram inlays
FRETS: 20, medium
BRIDGE/SPACING: Rosewood ‘belly-up’ style with compensated Tusq saddle/54mm
ELECTRICS: LR Baggs Element Bronze with soundhole volume and tone controls
WEIGHT (kg/lb): 2.22/4.89
OPTIONS: None
RANGE OPTIONS: See J-45 Special
LEFT-HANDERS: N/A
FINISHES: Satin Vintage Cherry Sunburst (as reviewed), Satin Wine Red – ‘thin skin’ nitrocellulose

Playability and sounds

While this writer was talking to a legendary UK luthier at the recent Birmingham Guitar Show, he agreed that Gibson acoustics have always had a wonderfully earthy and organic sound, and continue to have their own voice despite alterations to bracing pattern, build changes and other factors.

Today’s bracing is tighter and less splayed than on vintage examples, providing a more focused midrange compared with older instruments, which usually sound bassier. So will our slightly more svelte duo display even more of this lightness and possibly project a bit more? Before we find out, let’s see how they feel.

Other than the fact that they look totally different – one a dark sunburst acoustic with sloping shoulders and the other toting a square-topped body and blingier inlays – there’s a whole lot in common here.

The woods, hardware, electrics and so on are identical, but it’s in the necks and therefore each model’s playability where the differences lie.

While the J-45 Special’s neck is Gibson’s much-loved SlimTaper profile, measuring around 22mm in depth at the 1st fret and 24mm at the 10th, the Hummingbird has a round profile with 23mm and 25mm measurements respectively.

Nut widths are identical and at 43.82mm (1.725 inches) are wide enough for fingerstyle but not so stretchy as to put off the strummers, something at which both our guitars traditionally excel.

In the hand the J-45 feels the more modern of the two due to its gentle C-shaped carve, the Hummingbird’s having a little more meat on the shoulders. It feels very close to this writer’s own Custom Shop Hummingbird that’s used regularly on theatre shows, is a breeze to play and never becomes tiring.

The good news is that both instruments came out of their soft-shell guitar cases perfectly set up and welcoming to play.

And there’s no doubting that they have that signature Gibson tone. We’d actually been playing the guitars for a good 30 minutes before the penny dropped that they were a smidge shallower. It makes them a little more comfortable while seated and noticeably more so when playing standing up.

We’d agree, too, that there’s a tad more focus in the tones, especially that of the J-45, which perhaps provides the fingerpicking element that some say Gibson’s don’t have (tell James Taylor, John Renbourn, Jimmy Page and Bob Dylan that!).

They do sound a good deal different from each other, too. Who knows how much influence the square or round shoulders have on the tone? But the Hummingbird is definitely the fatter and warmer of the two, making it a brilliant strummer, while the J-45 is possibly the better all-rounder as it responds well to picking, too. As usual, these things are subjective so you’ll have to try them for yourself.

LR Baggs’ Element Bronze is a fine piece of kit: it’s simple to use, has a beautiful flat tone that sound engineers love, and is unlikely to cause feedback issues.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★

It can be tricky evaluating a brand’s more cost-conscious guitars when you’re used to playing the top-end stuff. For example, the Standard versions of our two models street at about a grand more; Custom Shop beauties come in at almost three times the price.

So let’s applaud Gibson for getting USA-made instruments down to this price point while making them fun to play and providing both with real musical personality. It’s after sitting and playing them for a while when each guitar’s character emerges and it all begins to make sense.

The Hummingbird’s fatter neck is in no way a hindrance. In fact, a chunkier profile can often prove less tiring than a skinny stick of a thing.

So we enjoyed its more old-school feel and even wondered if the bigger neck and that little bit more air in the body due to those broader shoulders might be providing the extra warmth it definitely exhibits. It’s certainly the more mellifluous toned, which makes it seem the better of the two straight out of the box.

However, our J-45 Special, while initially having the less impressive voice, comes into its own once you give it a chance to speak.

You’ll soon discover it enjoys fingerstyle and seems to project more like an OM or 000-size body. Its more slender neck profile, with a little less meat on the shoulders, also means guitar capos are easy to fit and fingerstyle jaunts further up the frets feel unencumbered.

We’ve said it before, but while all acoustic guitars will do all things, some will definitely do certain stuff that little bit better. So were we needing a great strummer, we’d pick up the Hummingbird, and for a good all-rounder, it would be the J-45.

Guitar World verdict: In the final analysis, while the odd corner has clearly been cut, remember these are true Gibsons with all the individuality that this brand exhibits, arguably over all others. They’ve definitely fulfilled their ‘good guitar on a budget’ remit and, although we weren’t so sure at first, it looks like we might just have made a couple of new best friends.

Hands-on videos

Guitarist

Gibson

Guitar Center

• "With effortless playability, charming good looks, and a distinctive sound, it's no wonder the J-45 is still going strong over 80 years after it was first introduced": Gibson J-45 Standard review
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

What is it?

Fender's Acoustasonics have been around long enough for the message to be clear; these guitars are not the best of both worlds. But they are a unique meeting of them that blurs some lines between electric and acoustic guitar sounds. It won't ever replace your Tele or Taylor, but for some players it'll be a more practical performance solution and unlock different kinds of inspiration at home. But it was always for a price some of us were simply unwilling to pay.

Fender CEO Andy Mooney suggested a change was coming to me as far back as 2022 and my initial assumption was that this meant a more affordable Southeast Asian Acoustasonic would be a Squier. Now the Cor-Tek-produced Standard series has proved that is not the case, and of all the talking points that series is bringing with it, the $599 Acoustaonic Tele and Jazzmaster are the most notable.

The Standard treatment means Acoustasonics are suddenly $600 more affordable than the next (Player) model – that's a quantum leap in guitar market terms that opens it as an option to many more players. And with a price cut something has got to give – or more, some things.

I've played nearly every main iteration of the Fender Acoustasonics so far, from the Ensenada-made Players to the California-constructed American series and even the Finneas signature model; I've reviewed many of them. Now I'm here to find out what features the more affordable Standard Acoustasonic Telecaster jettisons compared to the Player and American models that came before, and what it can offer players in its own right.

Specs

• Launch price: $599/£549/€649
• Made: Indonesia
• Type: Six-string hybrid acoustic-electric guitar
• Body: Nytoh with solid Sitka spruce top
• Neck: Nyatoh, Modern Deep C
• Fingerboard: Rosewood, 12" radius
• Scale length: 25.5"/647mm
• Nut/width: Graph Tech TUSQ / 42.86mm
• Frets: 22, medium jubo
• Hardware: Standard standard cast with Hex buttons, roswood bridge, black plastic bridge pins,
• Electrics: Fender Acoustasonic Shawbucker humbucker; Fishman under-saddle transducer
• Controls: Master volume, Blend
• Weight of test model: 4.13lb/1.87kg
• Left-handed options: No
• Finishes: Black (as reviewed), Aged Natural, Honey Burst
• Cases: Not included
• Contact: Fender

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★☆

The Black option of the Standard doesn't feature the inlaid printed top onto solid spruce with natural wood forearm contour, mahogany back and sides of previous models. Instead goes for a fully-finished nyatoh body with solid Sitka spruce top.

In black satin here it's ultra sleek to behold and some may well prefer the lack of contrast between top and sides. And they can have that with the Aged Natural and Honeyburst finishes.

The grain of the nyotoh is visible through the Black finish on the back and sides, plus around the soundhole, but not on the top. I prefer the grain and find the black satin top finish is a magnet for fingerprints and marks. Such is the price for black finishes of this kind, and I'd be extra careful as marks will show up readily from rubs onto other surfaces. Still, I'd expect a lot fewer problems of this nature with the Aged Natural and Honeyburst finish options.

The neck grain is less pronounced than my previous Acoustastonic experiences too – less tangiably… woody, but still smooth and very much inviting. Indeed, the feel here is appealing thanks to a build that doesn't feel like a poor relation. More a smoother one.

Acoustasonic necks are a huge part of the appeal; Cor-Tek has done us proud here with rolled edges (like the electric Standard Telecaster, Fender isn't saying they're rolled but they feel it) and a reassuringly dark rosewood fretboard (and bridge). Fender could have gone for laurel like the Standard electric guitar range here and most wouldn't have been surprised, so I'm pleased they went for the higher spec.

The action is lower than some Acoustastonics I've played but still higher than I know these guitars can comfortably go. I know this because I've tweaked the Micro-Tilt on Acoustasonics before – a wonderful kind of adjustable shim design from Fender's 'eventful' '70s years that allows you to fine-tune the neck angle. Such is my vocal enthusiasm for this feature that my colleagues now premptively roll their eyes whenever I merely say the words 'micro' and 'tilt near them'.

With no adjustable bridge here it's doubly important. While there's a little leeway in personal preferences with truss rod changes for neck relief, the Micro-Tilt allows you the only other means of action change beyond a different string gauge (this comes with gauge 11 Fender acoustic strings.. You just need to loosen the two bolts either side of the Micro-Tilt hole before any hex key adjustments are made.

Another returning feature from the Player models is the 9-volt battery – accessed via a small door on the rear of the body. The American Series USB charging has its drawbacks - you can't change a rechargeable internal battery over in a gig situation. But moreover here, with no digital processing on these Standard models you should be getting far more than the approximate battery life of 20 hours the Player series could deliver.

How much? Fender isn't shouting about it, but we asked for confirmation from the company and it's up to 65 hours – now that's a significant jump, illustrating just how power-hungry the DSP of the Player series 'Acoustic Engine' is.

Playability

Playability rating: ★★★★★

As I've already alluded, this guitar provides a really positive playing experience. And I think that's very much the case whether you're coming from electric or acoustic guitar to this model. The satin urethane finish of the nyatoh neck is silkier than the grainier Player and American models' mahogany. It's different, not inferior. Both feel great combined with the 12" radius rosewood fingerboard.

The low-medium action out of the box will suit many but I can't resist tweaking the Micro-Tilt adjustment to get things a little lower, and compensating with the neck relief after. It pays off again. The novelty of being able to do faster runs comfortably with low action on an 'acoustic' guitar will never get old for me, and I wager I won't be alone. And Fender may call the neck carve 'Modern Deep C' but it's not that much deeper than the C-shape Fender necks I've grown up with.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★☆

I can't imagine anyone is buying this guitar to only play it unplugged but after trying a few Player and American Acoustasonic Telecasters in recent years, I think this test Standard model has the least projection of any I've spent time with. Now that's not to say any are approaching even parlour guitar output, and the Jazzmasters still seem to be the best for a fuller unplugged sound, but this test guitar sounds slightly quieter than the Player Tele examples I've strummed. But, some context is required.

While my experience suggests the mahogany back, sides and neck contribute to a better unplugged sound, the Stringed Instrument Resonance System (SIRS) that acts as a soundhole here certainly plays its part in delivering an unplugged response that's still beyond what I'd expect from the dimensions of this guitar's body. And it's still fine for playing around the house… or wherever else you want to play. Like the Acoustasonics before, this is still a great candidate for a great couch guitar, except this time it doesn't cost north of $1,000.

Plugged in is where the Standard's proposition can really be tested. Fender has stripped back the price – but has it gone too far here paring back the sounds too? My quest to answer that hones in on a central conundrum I've found with all Acoustastonic guitars to date – do they sound better through a PA/acoustic amp or an electric guitar amp? Well, perhaps there's another way.

We'll get to that. Rest assured the Standard Acoustastonic really pairs things down on the options side – but the result isn't the sparcity I was fearing. It's… focused?

Back in 2019, the American Series guitars felt like a lot to digest at once when we were all still getting our heads around the concept Fender was introducing to us. This is simple – you blend between an undersaddle piezo acoustic pickup, and a Shawbucker humbucking magnetic pickup. The only other control is a volume – something that's kind of redundant beyond me only ever turning it up or off. You won't be controlling gain on the humbucker here.

Two pickups with one control. And it would be great if Fender had brought in a detent to tell the player when the Blend control is at halfway, as it is, you're really judging by ear when some indicator would be useful as a landmark on a pot that should get a lot of action when you play plugged in. In addition, a separate tone control is probably asking too much, given the lack of one on any previous iteration.

With none of Fishman's 'imaging' that allows for the piezo signal to be mixed with IRs of specific acoustic shapes being mc'd, a lot is resting on the undersaddle piezo here. It does a fine job – with more low end than you might imagine. While there's no substitute for the physically of a 'real' acoustic guitar – and I A/B with my own Fishman Sonitone-equipped Sigma Dreadnought and Baggs M1A-equipped Auden Julia – the Standard Acoustasonic sounds beyond its comparatively diminutive dimensions.

As I try it through a Line 6 Powercab and the Headrush FRFR Go cab I recently reviewed before I have to send it back, there's no place for this piezo to hide – no reverb, completely flat EQ. I'm pleased by the lack of compression quack and low-end definition. But there's also no denying it sounds significantly better this way than through a guitar amp, while the Shawbucker here suffers from a low end drop as I turn the Blend knob.

Its chime and bass thump returns when I plug into my Supro Delta King 12 tube amp, while the piezo loses its hi-fi depth. None of this will be surprising at all to players; it has always been this way for acoustic and electric guitar pickups. But as I blend between the extremes to explore the spaces in between, the ideal amp is less certain. Throw in some light tremolo for movement on chords and it's a pretty unusual sound in my usual world – darker than my soundhole-pickup acoustic in a pleasing way, going further towards the Shawbucker for leads and arpeggios. But should players have to choose between the best way to amp this guitar?

Not necessarily. I think Acoustastonics really lend themselves to use with pedals more than traditional acoustic guitars – they're certainly more feedback-resistant. A clean boost can help with the low-end drop-off for the Acoustasonic Shawbucker through the PA, but a multi-model amp modeller like a Helix, Quad Cortex or Tonex could allow an instant switch between an acoustic premp or tube amp emulation to suit your needs at the time.

Anyone expecting the Shawbucker to be able to switch up to heavier rock rhythm tones will be disappointed, but that's always been the case with the magnetic pickups on these guitars. Instead, think of it as a hybrid acoustic voice. And I think the blend for singer-songwriters and supplementary guitarists in cover bands is a really useful asset.

Verdict

A musician friend of mine recently told me how they'd noticed more and more players using Acoustasonics for local pub gigs. I expect that to increase now. And I'm not so sure it'll only be younger players adopting this more affordable version either; the appeal of hybrid playability and sound isn't tied to a generation. And while there will be expectations and open-mindedness in the mix here when it comes to who this guitar may appeal to, it really doesn't sound like a Telecaster.

I think looking at the Acoustasonic Standard as an acoustic guitar with more scope is the best way to avoid disappointment. And I will say the same for all the Acoustasonic models released so far. What it doesn't offer in onboard EQ control or twang it can deliver with upper fret access and the means to blend in a magnetic pickup to complement as required. It's a middle way rather than a Swiss Army guitar. Something that may inspire players to explore effects more than they may have considered before with a more traditional acoustic guitar.

The form factor here is a bigger deal than perhaps I've given it credit for in the past – for players who need an acoustic sound in a band, and may rarely touch the blend control, the Acoustasonic Standard still provides a very accessible form factor that could be great for singers who don't want the phyiscal depth of a more traditional parlor, concert or dreadnought shape. The Fender Highway Series has already approached this in its own way, but is higher in price, and doesn't offer the same enhanced upper fret access.

The real cause for celebration here is the price. This and the Jazzmaster are by far the most significant Fender Standard models as they represent a $600 lower threshold for players compared to the next option; the Player Acoustasonic.

This feels and plays very much like the Acoustasonics I've enjoyed in the past and I'm glad more people will be able to sample that. There's nothing directly comparable in terms of quality and combination in this price range either.

So let's take stock. You lose the Fender nice soft case of the Player, the Fishman 'imaging' and overdriven voices and arguably, based on my experience, a better unplugged performance. But honestly, I don't feel that adds up to $600. Perhaps it will for others. But I would choose these Standard models over the Player options if I were new to the Acoustasonic. And they make fantastic house guitars too.

Guitar World verdict: This may be the most affordable Fender's Acoustasonics will get, and the good news is it holds its own. Streamlined, yes, but the core hybrid experience and appeal is very much here.

Also try

• “For all those who’ve lambasted the Standard Series before playing one – you’re going to have to eat your words”: Fender Standard Telecaster review

Martin has given its Junior Series a wholesale reboot, equipping a number of its humble acoustic guitars with new functional specs and electronics.

In a bid to elevate its Junior collection to new heights, Martin has treated its sub-$1k workhorse six-strings to a handful of updates. But the firm is keen to stress this isn’t just a light dressing: this is a top-to-bottom overhaul.

“Refreshed, refined, and ready to go wherever the music takes you,” Martin says of its updated Junior lineup. “This isn’t just a makeover. It’s a full-on glow up.”

Chief among the new appointments is an extended 24.9” scale length that can be found across the entire new-for-2025 family, which currently comprises eight distinct models. Before, Martin’s Junior acoustics all had shorter 24” scale lengths, which were perhaps more befitting of the ‘Junior’ tag.

Nevertheless, this move has been badged as “a big step up that gives players that familiar Martin feel they all know and love, all without sacrificing the comfort and portability that made these guitars favorites in the first place.”

All eight also now come equipped with improved Martin E1 electronics, while all new additions to the range – such as the D Jr E StreetLegend burst – add all-new tonewoods configurations and aesthetics to the range.

Other universal appointments include faux abalone inlays, compact Junior body sizes, and gently beveled fingerboard edges, as well as a combination of solid spruce and solid sapele tonewoods that are paired with Richlite fretboards.

These are shared across the eight-strong drop, highlights of which include the aforementioned D Jr E StreetLegend Burst, which offers a heavy relic’d finish; the 000 Jr E Sapele, which is new to the range; the D Jr E dreadnought; the 000C Jr E Bass; and more.

“The refreshed Martin Junior Series is all grown up – and more ready than ever to go wherever the music takes you,” Martin says. These guitars and basses are your perfect companions for couch sessions, jam nights, and road trip singalongs. The Junior Series delivers signature Martin sound in a size that fits your life.”

It looks like a worthy follow-up to the original Junior Series, and considering we dubbed the DJR-10E from 2020 as “the perfect acoustic for just about anyone” in our review – and named it the best all-round acoustic electric on the market – this new crop looks very appealing indeed.

Prices for the new Junior Series start from $699.

Head over to Martin to find out more.

What is it?

Lloyd Baggs is best known for designing industry standard acoustic guitar pickups such as the Anthem, Session VTC, HiFi and HiFi Duet. But, in fact, Baggs comes from the world of high-end lutherie, creating instruments for Ry Cooder, Jackson Browne, Janis Ian, Graham Nash and other great artists.

And it was watching Cooder struggling to amplify his Martin that set Lloyd on his new career path. “I saw Ry’s pain in trying to amplify his acoustic,” Baggs reveals. “It was pretty brutal, so it has become our quest to make amplifying an acoustic as easy, pleasurable and simple as it is with an electric guitar.”

Thinline electro-acoustics have been around for years, notables being Gibson’s Chet Atkins SST, the Godin Multiac (which Baggs had a hand in creating), Fender with its Highway and Acoustasonic series, and many others.

But after years of creating some of the world’s favourite acoustic pickups, Lloyd has returned to guitar building, combining his luthier’s knowledge with innovations in acoustic amplification that have since occurred, many of them his own.

The result is the new AEG-1. There are three different top options available: Natural Engelmann Spruce, Torrefied Sitka Spruce (as here) and Sunburst Sitka Spruce.

After much experimenting, Baggs devised a solid plywood frame into which the guitar’s top and back are inset, with the neck separately bolted into place.

“On a regular acoustic guitar the neck is actually held in place by the top and back,” explains Lloyd. “Take the back off and it’ll collapse. Since the AEG-1’s neck is only attached to the frame, it allows us to tune the top and back independently. Tuning the back allows us to really enhance the lower frequencies.”

The instrument’s multi-laminated poplar ply is made in the USA. “We started out using Baltic birch, but that stuff’s really heavy,” Lloyd continues, “whereas the American-made poplar ply is light, strong and stable.”

The AEG’s evolution reminds us of Les Paul’s experimentations with his ‘Log’, chopping up guitars to make prototypes until something works.

“Every couple of years I would take a few days out and try to figure out how to get rid of the ‘banjo’ sound that you can get with an electro-acoustic,” Baggs states.

“When Covid hit, the guys in the shop said, ‘Why don’t you build a guitar?’ So I hollowed out a solidbody, put a really good top on it and a really good pickup in it, and it was good but not exactly thrilling.

“So I cut down a cheap 000-size Chinese guitar to the thickness of an acoustic-electric, then put wood around the inside lining to simulate what a hollowed-out guitar’s sides would be, and stuck the back on.

“That sounded really good, so I did some tuning and when I got the frequency of the back below that of the top, it started to get a really nice bass. I then laminated a bunch of plywood, and on our CNC we cut out the first bodies and it was, ‘Oh, this works!’”

The ply frame is machined so that its laminated lines are exposed around the guitar’s edges. There’s also an attractive forearm chamfer, like you’ll find on certain high-end acoustics. The faux soundhole is a circular slice of the poplar ply, with the ‘rosette’ a sunken recess between this and the top itself.

Our example features a back of handsome Indian rosewood, and it all makes for a good-looking, if futuristic, take on the electro-acoustic theme. Four hefty bolts hold the medium-C-profile African mahogany neck in place; atop this sits a bound Indian rosewood fingerboard with 20 medium-fine frets, and the headstock holds six fully enclosed, cream‑buttoned tuners.

Internally, the AEG-1 is braced in a regular scalloped ‘X’ pattern, with a bridge plate that carries the pickup sensors and microphone. Baggs has chosen to fit his ready-made HiFi Duet, with its twin sensors and Silo mic all attached to the plate (a removable circular wooden disc on the rear allows access if required).

“Since our iBeam, we’ve been trying to make a bridge plate pickup that works,” reveals Lloyd. “There’s a bunch of them out there, but they’re not very dynamic and they feed back early. The HiFi has all the advantages of an undersaddle pickup, such as feedback resistance, stability, dynamics and presence, but it’s non-invasive: you just stick it on and drive it away.”

To control all this, the system’s discrete studio-quality preamp is mated to a side-mounted panel housing volume, tone, pickup/mic balance, phase inverter and battery life indicator.

The AEG-1’s overall level of construction is exactly what you’d expect from a Korean-made instrument, with a flat, high-gloss poly finish and everything confidently put together.

Specs

• PRICE: $1,599/£2,015 (inc gigbag)
• ORIGIN: Korea (by Crafter)
• TYPE: Thin-bodied, cutaway electro-acoustic
• BODY: High-quality plywood poplar frame (made in USA), w/ solid Sitka spruce top w/ scalloped bracing, Indian rosewood back
• MAX RIM DEPTH: 60mm
• MAX BODY WIDTH: 394mm
• NECK: African mahogany w/ medium ‘C’ profile
• SCALE LENGTH: 651mm (25.63”)
• TUNERS: Closed-back
• NUT/WIDTH: Composite/43mm
• FINGERBOARD: Indian rosewood, wooden dot fret markers 406mm (16”) radius
• FRETS: 20, medium
• BRIDGE/SPACING: Indian rosewood bridge w/ composite saddle/55.1mm
• ELECTRICS: Custom LR Baggs HiFi Duet w/ HiFi bridge plate pickup and Silo microphone, side-mounted control panel w/ volume, tone, mic/pickup balance, phase invert button, and low-battery warning light, powered by single 9V battery
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 2.721/6
• OPTIONS: None
• RANGE OPTIONS: As above but w/ torrefied Sitka spruce or natural Engelmann spruce top
• LEFT-HANDERS: No
• FINISHES: Natural Engelmann Spruce (as reviewed), Torrefied Sitka Spruce, Sunburst Sitka Spruce
• CONTACT: LR Baggs

Playability and sounds

Due to the way the heel attaches to the poplar body frame, it’s a chunky affair, but you can get pretty high up on the neck if need be. With its satin finish, the neck feels reassuringly meaty in the hand, and the action is low and comfortable straight out of the quality padded gigbag.

Unplugged, the sound from the AEG-1 is surprisingly fulsome and acoustic-like, with plenty of volume and no hint of boxiness. Plugging into an AER Compact 60 set flat, the response is pure and natural.

Setting the guitar’s volume and tone to taste and experimenting with the microphone blend control reveals a set of acoustic tones that are warm and clear, but even at its extremes there’s nothing unpleasant.

We settled on the pot set at around two-thirds of its sweep, which added a lively breathiness to an already convincing acoustic tone.

We encountered no feedback issues, and are confident that an AEG-1 would give even the most complex of live acoustic guitar rigs a run for its money.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

“We’ve always had a sneaky jealousy for electric guitar companies,” confesses Lloyd Baggs. “Any 12-year-old kid can go into a guitar store, plug in an electric guitar and have a big grin on his face. But amplifying an acoustic is more like going to the dentist for a root canal. So we wanted to build a guitar that, when you closed your eyes, you were hearing a real acoustic.”

And we can only conclude that LR Baggs has done just that! It’s several hundred more than even a US-made Fender Acoustasonic, but while there’s no magnetic pickup for those electric tones, we really like the simpler, uncompromising proposition the AEG-1 offers.

Guitar World verdict: It’s hard to successfully describe ‘tone’, but if you’re a gigging acoustic guitarist you need to get down to your nearest dealer to try an AEG-1 soon. We think you’ll be bowled over. We were.

Hands-on videos

LR Baggs

Trey Hensley

Aaron Short

• “This is the most appealing combination of sounds I’ve heard on an Acoustasonic Player model to date – but there are still caveats”: Fender FINNEAS Acoustasonic Player Telecaster review
• Best acoustic electric guitars 2025: electro-acoustic picks for every type of player
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

Following the ST-JAMster’s debut just last week, Harley Benton has been doubling down on more budget-friendly releases. Now, the brand has just launched the Nashville-Nylon BK, which appears to be a more affordable take on the likes of Tim Henson's signature nylon-string acoustic-electric, the Ibanez TOD10N.

Building on Harley Benton’s Nashville Nylon series, this model promises to be “a classical guitar for the modern era, with all the specifications expected by the seasoned player, but with all the comforts and conveniences of modern guitars.”

So what can we expect from the Nashville-Nylon BK? The slimmed-down body is made from mahogany with a spruce top, while the jatoba wood fretboard features 21 frets and pearl dot inlays.

As the name suggests, it’s kitted out with nylon strings – specifically, D'Addario Pro Arte. Design-wise, it sports a gloss black finish, further accentuated by cream binding – with the gold-plated deluxe tuners and Western-style soundholes all contributing to the model’s contemporary look.

Aesthetics aside, according to Harley Benton, its standout feature is its integrated piezo pickup system, which includes separate controls for volume, bass, and treble – allowing players to finesse their tone and make the most of the guitar’s inherent “warm and resonant” tonal quality.

The Nashville-Nylon BK will set you back $270 and is currently available from Thomann. For more information, visit Harley Benton.

Beyond the folk, flamenco, Latin, and classical music worlds, nylon-string guitars have recently experienced a renaissance, with virtuosos in the instrumental and prog-leaning spheres – such as Animals as Leaders' Tosin Abasi and Polyphia's Tim Henson – helping them reach a whole new audience.

High-profile releases include Henson's TOD10N, while Tosin Abasi has continued to tease his highly elusive Abasi Concepts nylon-string – and shared details about what to expect from the final release.

Donner is certainly no stranger when it comes to tweaking timeless electric guitar designs (look no further than the DST-600 for proof), but for the HUSH I-PRO, the firm clearly had a different objective in mind: to create the ultimate travel guitar and best all-in-one music creation companion.

And, from the looks of things, it’s a brief that has been nailed. The HUSH-I PRO electric acoustic guitar heralds from Donner’s advanced R&D team, and is the result of an independently developed audio algorithm – featuring a H1 chip – that supports and offers next generation tonal performance.

As a result, the algorithm means the guitar offers multiple onboard effects modes, including overdrive, compressor, boost, modulation (chorus, phaser, tremolo, flanger, autowah), delay (analog, echo, dual, lo-fi) and reverb (room, hall, spring, cloud, shimmer).

When it comes to tone, the Donner HUSH-I PRO also comes equipped with a number of ‘Legendary Tone Simulations’ for easy switching between its eight onboard acoustic guitar tone presets. These are paired with 20 IR slots, 18 factory presets and a built-in lithium battery.

All of the above can be tweaked and dialed-in via the onboard control module that sits atop the solid mahogany body. Here, parameters for Air Boost and Tone Boost sit alongside universal Edit, Select, Value and Master controls. There’s also USB-C and headphone jacks, buttons for Bluetooth connectivity and preset saving, and a screen that lets you know what you’re doing.

It’s rather incredible that all of the HUSH-I PRO’s tonal magic has been packaged into a guitar that is as portable – and well-equipped – as this one.

In all, the guitar weighs just 1.7kg (approx. 3.7lbs), and has a futuristic headless design that makes use of a central mahogany body paired with detachable ergonomic zinc alloy quick-release stands. Other components include laurel or maple fingerboards, and stainless steel frets.

With its abundance of varying tones and inspirational catalog of sounds, the HUSH-I PRO might not just be the most complete all-in-one travel guitar currently available, it may also be the most inspiring – suitable for everything from home practicing to performing and recording sessions.

The HUSH-I PRO comes complete with a gig bag, strap, monitoring headphones, cleaning cloth, USB cable and guitar picks. It is available now in natural wood and white finishes. for $399.99.

Shop now at Donner.

What is it?

“Gold Label” is a designation usually found on an upper echelon of “vice” products like spirits and tobacco, but considering the addictions many of us have to guitars it’s perfectly fitting that Taylor gave the “Gold Label” name to its latest collection of upscale acoustic guitars.

Taylor describes the Gold Label Collection as instruments with an “old soul,” but it has developed a ton of new features to accomplish that.

The Taylor Gold Label 814e with its mid-size new Super Auditorium body style and luxurious appointments is the kind of acoustic that’s perfect for snuggling up with in your favorite leather chair, a glass of Scotch and a fine cigar within reach.

So, what exactly is new about the Gold Label Collection guitars? First is the Super Auditorium body style, which comes in about the middle in overall size dimensions in the entire Taylor lineup, slightly longer than the Grand Auditorium and smaller than the Grand Symphony.

It’s a full-size guitar that measures 16 ¼ inches across the lower bout and is 4 ½ inches deep, but it doesn’t feel unwieldy or bulky. Its beautifully rounded curves evoke many of Gibson’s coveted vintage Depression-era flat-tops.

Also new is the fanned V-Class bracing pattern with braces affixed by old-school hide glue and a long-tenon neck joint where the neck is attached to the body without glue.

Also of note, the headstock shape and Taylor logo are markedly different from current Taylor guitars – signifying an exciting new change and musical voice for this collection.

Tonewood options for the Gold Label Collection are Honduran rosewood or figured Hawaiian koa for the back and sides, with all current models having a torrefied Sitka spruce top. The neck is finely crafted from neo-tropical mahogany with a West African Crelicam ebony fretboard.

That sounds like one hell of a prix fixe menu, and indeed the quality and combination of those woods make a wonderful recipe for tasty tone.

Built-in LR Baggs Element VTC electronics preserve all the personality and nuances of the guitar’s natural acoustic tone, making for an equally pleasant experience when plugging in.

We were sent the “SB” model with Honduran rosewood back and sides, and featuring a honey-amber hued sunburst finish with a warm, smoky glow.

Filigreed “Continental” mother-of-pearl inlays decorate the headstock, fretboard and pickguard, contributing an elegantly understated vintage visual aesthetic that complements the natural beauty of the wood grain.

The Gold Label 814e’s neck is sort of a modern interpretation of a pre-war neck, featuring a modern slim profile with a shallow curve and just the slightest hint of a “V” peak near the center.

The action is super-comfortable, making it easy to play all the way up the neck to where the body meets the neck at the 14th fret with solid, precise note definition and no fret buzz.

Specs

• Launch price: $4,699/£4,499/€5,529
• Type: Super Auditorium acoustic guitar
• Top: Torrefied Sitka spruce with fanned V-class bracing
• Back and sides: Honduran rosewood
• Neck: Mahogany, with long-tenon joint
• Scale length: 25.5"
• Fingerboard: West African Crelicam ebony with filigreed “Continental” MOP inlays, 15" radius
• Frets: 20
• Nut/width: Tusq/44.45mm
• Bridge/Saddles: Honduran Rosewood “Curve Wing”, bone
• Electronics: L.R. Baggs Element VTC
• Hardware: Gotoh 510 tuners in Antique Chrome with ebony buttons, faux Tortoise Over Ivoroid with Engraved “Continental” Motif
• Finish: Sunburst [as reviewed], Natural
• Case/gig bag: Taylor Deluxe “British Cocoa” vinyl hardshell guitar case included
• Contact: Taylor Guitars

Playability and sounds

The Gold Label 814e is truly a new guitar with an old soul. Its punchy bass, singing mids and shimmering treble remind me of smaller L-2 flat-tops from the early ’30s, only the Taylor is like the 4K Dolby Atmos version compared to the Gibson’s DVD resolution.

The sound is focused, loud and dynamic with sweet harmonic overtones and rich, reverb-like resonance. The balance between single-note lines and chords is remarkable, almost like having a sound engineer riding faders to match levels.

Although the Gold Label 814e is not inexpensive, it’s also not overly expensive and it provides excellent value for players looking for a top-quality acoustic with sound quality that will mellow and mature gorgeously over the years to come.

Even brand new from the factory it is exquisitely touch-responsive, delivering notes with full body even when the strings are delicately stroked or plucked. It also has a distinct rich character that’s instantly classic – as ideal for blues fingerstyle as it is for more modern rhythmic explorations.

The LR Baggs Element VTC system keeps up no matter how hard or soft you play, never getting overdriven when the guitar is played vigorously and remaining whisper quiet when the strings are silent.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★★

Guitar World verdict: The Taylor Gold Label 814e provides tones that are as dazzling and warm as its upscale, classic looks. Built from top-quality tonewoods with innovative new features and meticulous craftsmanship, it’s an investment-grade, pro-quality guitar that will provide decades of playing enjoyment before it becomes a treasured family heirloom.

Hands-on videos

Alamo Music Center

Empire Music

Michael Watts

• "With an incredibly smooth, fast-playing neck and low action right out of the factory, there’s little to dislike": Taylor 414ce review

Gibson has unveiled the Acoustic Specials range, which offers fresh, lower-priced takes on three of the firm’s most beloved acoustic guitar shapes.

New for 2025, the Acoustic Specials series has been marketed as a new initiative from Gibson to bring USA-made, handcrafted acoustics to all-new accessible price points, and while they still weigh in at around the $2k mark, they notably represent the most affordable US-made acoustics that Gibson currently has on its books.

Indeed, before the $1,999 L-00 Special showed up, the nearest priced alternative was the L-00 Studio Rosewood, which is available for $2,299. It’s a similar story for the $1,999 J-45 – which was previously accessible for $2,399 – and, perhaps most intriguing, the $2,199 Hummingbird.

Hummingbirds are rather pricey instruments, and before this particular drop the most affordable example Gibson offered was the $3k Hummingbird Studio.

It’s a rather enticing move to say the least, and it all makes for rather interesting reading. These are by no means wallet-friendly prices for a lot of players, but the move to bring genuine hand-crafted USA Gibson acoustics – constructed direct from the Bozeman factory – to all-time-low price points is a nice strategy to see.

As mentioned, there are three models in the drop, all of which favor classic neck profiles, mahogany back and sides, satin nitro finishes in either Sunburst or Wine Red, and L.R. Baggs electronics.

Each model comes fitted with rosewood bridges, a Sitka spruce top, traditional scalloped X-bracing and 12” radius rosewood fingerboards, as well as Grover Rotomatic tuners, TUSQ nuts, bridge pins and saddles, and the aforementioned L.R. Baggs Element Bronze under-saddle piezo pickup.

Of course, there are also a number of model-specific specifications, such as the Hummingbird’s elegant extended pickguard design – a “simplified version of the world-famous Hummingbird graphics” – and pearloid parallelogram inlays.

“Handcrafted at Gibson Acoustic in Bozeman, Montana, by the expert luthiers at Gibson, these guitars offer premium, USA-made Gibson acoustic craftsmanship at an exceptional value,” Gibson writes.

Head over to Gibson to find out more.

Orangewood has come under fire on social media for its Juniper family of rubber bridge acoustic electric guitars, which have been accused of being a “blatant lazy rip off” of the instruments developed by Reuben Cox of Old Style Guitar Shop.

The firm first unveiled the Juniper range last year, when it looked to capitalize on the growing popularity of obscure rubber bridge guitars – instruments that have been championed by the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Taylor Swift and more, and beloved for their unique muted tone.

Indeed, the rubber bridge guitar boom has been one of the most permeating trends in the gear world, and it’s one that can be traced back to the innovations developed by luthier and Old Style Guitar Shop owner, Reuben Cox.

Cox’s custom-made instruments, which are available directly from his LA store, have been played by – and starred in the music of – some of the biggest rubber bridge acts to date, and were even the subject of a documentary back in 2022.

Cox’s rubber bridge guitars were also the source of inspiration for Orangewood’s own Juniper family, which received an expansion in January this year in the form of the Juniper II and Juniper II Baritone.

However, in recent days, they have drawn the ire of some players on Instagram, who have accused Orangewood of “ripping off” Cox and Old Style with its own rubber bridge catalog.

The physical rubber bridge is just one of the similarities between the Juniper and Old Style builds, though: both also feature a Hot Rail pickup built into the body of the acoustic, just above the soundhold and below the fretboard, and have trapeze-style tailpieces.

Artists Mason Stoops and Hand Habits (Meg Duffy) are among those highlighting the current sentiment against Orangewood’s Juniper line. On an Instagram story that shared a picture of the Juniper collection, Stoops wrote: “Just Orangewood shamelessly ripping off a small business/builder.

“If you have a conscience and want a real rubber bridge guitar consider supporting Old Style Guitar Shop.”

Duffy, meanwhile, shared screenshots of an email exchange they had with Orangewood, in which they write, “All due respect, this is spineless and just a blatant lazy rip off.

“Like if you’re such a fan why not just let them exist at Old Style and support small business? Why mass produce something and why take credit for something you blatantly just copied?”

Duffy’s email thread with Orangewood looks to have been instigated after the guitarist requested to be taken off the firm’s Artists page.

Stoops and Duffy aren’t the only ones to voice their disapproval of Orangewood’s Juniper line, either. Other commenters take issue with the fact the company hasn’t credited Old Style Guitar Shop or Cox in the inspiration of the Juniper line.

Now, there are after-market methods for fitting your own rubber bridge – from cheap tennis accessories to rubber bands and beyond – and other firms like Waterslide Guitars provide retrofit rubber bridges, but in terms of buying stock instruments, Orangewood is undoubtedly the biggest player outside of Old Style to do so.

To that end, there are those on the other side of the conversation who appreciate the Juniper range. For some players who are unable to purchase Cox’s custom instruments directly, the Orangewood Juniper may represent the most accessible entry point into the world of rubber bridge guitars.

It's a world that people clearly want to enter, too – after Orangewood unveiled the $395 Juniper, the first run sold out within days.

Whatever the case, Cox himself has previously waded into the conversation surrounding rubber bridge spin-offs, once writing on Instagram: “Hey friends, lots of inquiries about the many rubber bridge copies out there in guitarland.

“Despite the striking similarities, OS was not involved with any of them. Some are super cool, others not so much.”

Visit the Old Style Guitar Shop Instagram page for more.

Guitar World has reached out to Old Style Guitar Shop and Orangewood for comment.

After announcing their unexpected partnership early last year, Gibson and Brian May have unveiled their first collaborative signature guitar creation – and it’s not a Murphy Lab Red Special.

Instead, the legendary Queen guitarist has been honored with a 12-string SJ-200 acoustic guitar.

When May and Gibson first confirmed they would be working together, many speculated that the partnership would lead to Custom Shop (and maybe even Epiphone) recreations of the iconic Red Special.

Hype was further fanned when May himself revealed to Guitar World that reissues of the DIY guitar he made with his father were indeed on the cards, but it seems we’ll have to wait a little longer for a Gibson Red Special.

For their first drop, the pair have instead prioritized a 12-string SJ-200, which was designed specifically for May after he required one for tour. However, it’s quite unlike your standard 12-string – not only are 12-string SJ-200s exceptionally uncommon, this particular example has also been altered to suit May’s personal strumming style.

As May explains in a press release, his signature SJ-200 flips the 12-string script on its head by reversing the order of the octave and regular acoustic guitar strings.

“The idea for this guitar came when I needed a 12-String on tour, and the one I was accustomed to wasn’t performing right on stage,” May explains. “The guys at Gibson very kindly said, ‘We’ll make you something special that you can use on the tours.’

“One of the things I asked for was for the octaves to be placed around the other way from where it is normally done, because I like to pick upwards and hear the top notes when I’m playing. I like to hear the high octave coming through as then I can play tunes on it.”

A bevy of top-notch tonewoods form the foundation of May’s first Gibson, with AAA rosewood back and sides lining up alongside an AAA Sitka spruce top that boasts an elegant Vintage Sunburst finish.

Elsewhere, there’s a rosewood fingerboard with agoya shell eight-point star inlays, a planetary themed pickguard designed by May, and gold Grover Mini Rotomatic tuners, as well as a solid rosewood moustache bridge, walnut stringer and Fishman Matrix electronics.

All in all, it’s a very pretty SJ-200 indeed, but as May is quick to point out, it’s also a display of refined acoustic guitar engineering. The decision to reverse-mount the strings – so the thicker-gauge strings are on top of the thinner octaves – is a small but influential decision that will have a huge impact on its tone and playability.

As Gibson puts it, it lends itself to “a distinctive sound that’s unlike other Gibson 12-String acoustic models”.

May, unsurprisingly, is impressed: “If you look at this guitar, the beauty of it, and the beauty of the sound, and look at the science in this guitar, look how much technology and craftsmanship has gone into this guitar.

“Gibson was able to put the universe on it in a figurative way and the planet Mercury is here, and that is a little nod to a friend of mine that is always with me.”

“As a trailblazing sound pioneer, trendsetter, and one of the most influential musicians of all time, it’s an absolute privilege to be collaborating with Sir Brian May,” says Cesar Gueikian, CEO of Gibson, of the new release.

“Brian’s impact on music and culture is second to none and was a transformational influence on my personal music journey. We are deeply honored that Brian has trusted Gibson with this SJ-200 12-string guitar, and we are excited to finally bring it to music lovers around the world.”

Only 100 of these 12-string SJ-200s will be made, and they’ll be available for $7,999 via the Gibson Garages in Nashville and London, and on the Gibson website.

Head over to Gibson to find out more.

Cort has turned its knack for quality yet affordable guitar builds to the acoustic guitar world once more, and believes its new Essence series delivers “quintessential classic acoustic guitars”.

Two body shapes – Grand Auditorium and OM Cutaway – feature, with the South Korean luthier championing the tone and price points of the new instruments.

Not wanting to shout the news humbly, Cort is calling the Essence-GA-4 “the perfect Grand Auditorium acoustic” thanks to its deep body, extra-narrow waist, and 45mm width at the nut.

Meanwhile, the Essence-OC-4 offers a shallower body to create “a closer connection” between the instrument and the player, with a 43mm nut primed for the singer/songwriter market.

Torrified solid Sitka spruce tops and top bracing feature on both models, with Cort’s Aged to Vintage construction methods helping achieve “the big and open tone of older, highly sought-after acoustics,” despite its shiny newness.

Essence series necks, backs, and sides are cut from mahogany for rich, tonal warmth via “robust midrange and bright highs,” with 20-fret rosewood fingerboards bolstering sustain.

Elsewhere, there are sharply dressed herringbone rosette and purfling accents, bone nut, and saddles, and vintage open-gear tuners with wood patterns accentuating semi-gloss, and classic Black Top Semi-Gloss finishes available.

The acoustics are electrified for on-stage performances and busking alike – just don’t run into the police like Ed Sheeran recently did – via Fishman Presys VT EQ systems and Fishman S-core pickups.

The systems are installed inside the body of the guitar rather than needing to be cut into the body for a sleeker design that doesn’t blemish the natural flair and resonance of the instruments.

A simplified control interface of singular Volume and Tone controls underscore the “crisp” sound of the guitars, which come with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze Light .012-.053 acoustic guitar strings. These, Elixir boasts, offer sparkling sounds and extended string life.

“The Essence Series exceeds in playability, looks, and affordability,” adds Cort.

The Cort Essence series of acoustic guitars are available to order now and are priced at $449 apiece.

Head to Cort for more.

The drop follows Cort bringing the unsung solid cedar tonewood to affordable acoustic guitars late last year, while its new Abstract Delta and Modern Black models deliver on its masterpiece promise.

What is it?

If you want that “symphony orchestra in your hands” sensation that only a 12-string acoustic can provide, my mantra is “go big or go home.”

That usually means a jumbo or dreadnought model. If dreadnought is your preference, a Martin 12-string guitar is a wise choice as they not only invented and perfected the dreadnought acoustic but they’ve also been making 12-string acoustics longer than any other company on the market today – just over 60 years, as a matter of fact.

The Martin D-X2E Brazilian is an affordably priced 12-string acoustic-electric guitar that delivers incredible value and should induce serious consideration from guitarists looking to add some 12-string magic to their stage and studio performances.

You may have read the word “Brazilian” then looked at the price and wondered if Martin have lost their minds by offering a Brazilian rosewood guitar for less than $700.

Actually, the back and sides are made of HPL (high-pressure laminate) formulated to provide performance similar to Brazilian rosewood as well as the uncanny look of Brazilian from its dark chocolate hues to distinctive stripe grain patterns.

The money Martin saved using HPL gave them more leeway to build the D-X2E 12-string with an upgraded spruce top featuring a satin finish and scalloped spruce braces.

Martin is more secretive about the material used for the neck, fingerboard and bridge, cryptically describing it only as “select hardwood,” but it looks and feels great and seems more than up to the job at hand.

Playability and sounds

The D-X2E 12-string comes strung with extra-light phosphor bronze strings, which play comfortably. The 25.4-inch scale length, 1 7/8-inch nut width and slim PA neck profile combine to provide comfortable playability with ample room between the individual string courses to facilitate clean chord fingering.

The Martin D-X2E 12-string delivers classic Martin 12-string dreadnought tone with full-bodied bass, rich mids, jangly treble and reverb-like resonance. It sounds equally great accompanying a solo folk singer as it does in a full band context adding sparkle when layered with an electric rhythm guitar, doubling melodic lead lines or taking an acoustic lead spotlight.

The built-in Martin E-1 electronics are uncomplicated and deliver clear, natural amplified tones. Volume and tone controls are concealed within the soundhole above the low E string along with a phase switch and switch for the built-in chromatic guitar tuner, with its display located below the high E string.

Verdict

Guitar World verdict: The Martin D-X2E Brazilian 12-string is the perfect affordable choice for guitarists who want to add an acoustic 12-string with classic tone to their rig. The built-in electronics are an unexpected bonus that add even more value to the guitar’s studio and stage versatility.

Specs

Launch price: $749/£699
Type: 12-string acoustic electric guitar
Top: Solid spruce
Back/Sides: Brazillian rosewood pattern HPL
Bracing: Scalloped X-Pattern
Neck: Select hardwood
Frets: 20
Fingerboard: Select hardwood w/beveled edge and Style 28 dot inlays
Scale Length: 645mm (25.4”)
Nut Width: 44.45mm (1.75")
Electronics: Martin E-1
Contact: Martin Guitar

Hands-on videos

Martin Guitar

• “This super-playable, stage-ready electro is hard to put down”: Martin X Series GPC X2E review

NAMM 2025: Fresh from launching its new Indonesian-made Standard line, Fender has also unveiled Standard versions of its innovative Acoustasonic electric-acoustic guitars – bringing us the most affordable take on the model yet.

As such, it appears to be an instrument tailored towards less experienced players, but with a greatly reduced outlay – coming in at $599 compared to the circa $1,999 price of the premium builds – will help appeal to players intrigued by the guitar’s concept as well.

For the uninitiated, the Acoustasonic series takes hybrid electric and acoustic guitars to the next level, marrying electric-inspired body shapes, namely Stratocasters, Telecasters and Jazzmasters with an acoustic-inspired build driven by an acoustic engine and noiseless magnetic pickups.

Billie Eilish's maestro brother, FINNEAS, and Jack White have since been bestowed with signature takes on the recipe.

As mentioned, the latest takes on the formula hail from Fender’s Indonesian facility, which appears well-suited to the task, having excelled in handling affordable semi-hollow style builds in the past, not least the recent Fender Tom DeLonge signature Starcaster.

Initial launch information is a little on the sparse side, but it is confirmed that there are two Standard models to choose from, in the form of Tele and Jazzmaster shapes.

There's no Strat on the roster yet, which is a little surprising give this is Fender, after all, but tells us something of what it thinks will most appeal to players shopping at this price point.

Like the premium models, both guitars offer a braced solid Sitka spruce top, and a fully chambered body, while pickups are said to be “Fender and Fishman designed”, though we can’t confirm the exact models at the time of writing.

The on-board analog electronics include Volume and Blend controls as Fender promises “the familiar playing feel of Fender icons”. One thing that is clear from the pictures is that Fender has opted to drop the three-way selector switch found on its higher-priced builds.

Both models are offered in Black, Aged Natural, and Honey Burst finishes.

The Acoustasonic concept has seemed to outperform expectations since its launch, catching the ear of a new generation of players, in the process.

FINNEAS, whose totemic work with Billie Eilish, Demi Lovato saw him became the first recipient of a signature Acoustasonic last year, explained why the build struck a chord with him.

“I was first introduced to the Acoustasonic guitar in 2019 when I was on tour with Billie, and I played it at every show that year,” FINNEAS said, when his signature was announced.

“I’m a big DI guy. I don’t have any amps on stage, I don’t have any amps in the studio, so to me how it sounds plugged straight into an audio interface or a PA is what I’m looking for.”

“The dual personality of the Acoustasonic Standard equips players with a versatile spectrum of acoustic and electric tones in a single creative tool,” says Fender. “It sets the Acoustasonic experience.”

The Fender Acoustasonic Standard Series is set to launch in April and will be priced at $599.99 apiece.

Head to Fender for more information.

What is it?

As we reach the second quarter of this century, it seems that nothing is safe from the ‘smart’ revolution. What started with our phones and TVs has made its way through our rigs and, now, the movement that we’re calling ‘The Internet of Strings’ has reached our acoustic guitars.

“About bloomin’ time!” we hear you cry. Because it’s true, no good music has been made on an unplugged steel-string. Ever. You can’t even hear it over a drummer and, frankly, we don’t know how the dreadnought ever made it this far…

In case AI and interconnectivity have stifled your perception, we are, of course, being sarcastic. Plus, the ‘smartification’ of our strummers isn’t exactly new, either. Lava Music has been around since 2013, and the Lava ME Air we’re looking at here is the latest in its now fairly substantial lineup of acoustic guitars. Unfamiliar? Here’s the nutshell.

It’s a carbon-fibre bodied acoustic, with a ‘honeycomb bionic’ structure. This combo serves up a few benefits. It’s lightweight and it increases strength and rigidity for durability and near-impervious defence against the traditional acoustic guitar’s biggest enemies: temperature and humidity fluctuations. Finally, carbon fibre is also pretty good at resonating and projecting sound.

Using a shorter 597mm (23.5-inch) scale length, the fingerboard is made of HPL (High-Pressure Laminate), just as we’ve seen on plenty of Martin guitars before, and – while not everyone’s cup of tea – it does have the bonus of removing inconsistencies while also putting up a fight against humidity changes.

As well as the non-traditional looks and materials, the Lava ME is packing electronics that aim to bring the acoustic guitar into the 2020s.

A magnetic pickup is nestled at the body end of the ’board; just as we’ve seen with Yamaha’s TransAcoustic range, it’s also home to digital effects. You don’t even have to plug in to hear them! Add Bluetooth connection to the Lava+ app and an internal rechargeable battery (via a USB-C), and the Lava is looking rather smart indeed.

Playability and sounds

Getting started with the manual, website and Lava+ app, you’ll find it’s all very Apple-inspired.

Words such as ‘unibody’, overzealous inter-capped naming, and even the finish names (our review model is Silver, but it also comes in the oh-so-Cupertino Space Black). But get past that and keep your mind open.

Strumming our first chords, the tension from the strings at a shorter scale took a bit of adjusting to – barre chords felt slightly fatiguing and our hands got a bit cramped.

Once you’re over that, the next thing you’ll notice is just how smooth the tuners are, followed by the sound. Unplugged, it’s not an unpleasant response, but it’s also not particularly characterful, either. This isn’t a bad thing, but don’t expect us to reach for the usual lexicon: it’s an even, balanced, almost lab-grown flat response. Not too bright, not too bassy.

The fun really begins when you engage the effects, which include chorus, delay, reverb, auto-wah and pitch-shift. These are controlled by three knobs on the guitar’s shoulder. The control on the far right switches through presets with a press (and serves as the volume control when plugged in), while the other two controls are assignable.

Each of the presets blends two effects, and out of the box the controls are already assigned to common parameters such as delay rate or reverb mix. Start playing unplugged and you’ll probably grin the first time you hear your sound swirling and repeating its way out of the soundhole.

It’s addictive – and they sound good, too. We did experience some digital noise when switching between presets, mostly due to killing reverb and delay tails abruptly.

Plugged in, we can blend between the blade-style magnetic pickup and a rather vaguely described ‘acoustic simulation’ via a soundhole-mounted volume wheel. There’s no latency with the latter, and to our ears it certainly doesn’t sound synthetic.

The magnetic sound is decent, too, with a bit more brightness and the midrange brittle sound that we’d expect. Of course, the effects are also routed through the output, so you can make use of them in a live setting or, ironically, enjoy your acoustic guitar through your headphones.

Verdict

Overall, the Lava ME Air surprised us. What ran the risk of being a toy-like guitar actually proved to be some serious fun, and the fact that we found ourselves immersed in the sonic side of it long enough to make us late for our deadline is probably the biggest benchmark.

Is it perfect? No, but it kept us playing. And in a world where ‘smart’ things turn our attention away from instruments, we can’t say fairer than that.

Specs

PRICE: $/£499
ORIGIN: China
TYPE: Electro-acoustic ‘smart’ guitar
TOP: AirSonic carbon fibre composite w/honeycomb bionic pattern
BACK/SIDES: AirSonic 2 carbon fibre composite
MAX RIM DEPTH: 65mm
MAX BODY WIDTH: 325mm
NECK: Airsonic 2 carbon fibre composite
SCALE LENGTH: 597mm (23.5”)
TUNERS: Lava zinc 20:1, 3-a-side
NUT/WIDTH: Synthetic (PPS)/43mm
FINGERBOARD: HPL composite, 400mm (15.75”) radius
FRETS: 17
BRIDGE/SPACING: HPL w/ synthetic (PPS) saddle/55mm
ELECTRICS: Magnetic pickup, on-board effects, 3x controls, USB charging, output jack
WEIGHT (kg/lb): 2.1/4.62
OPTIONS: N/A
RANGE OPTIONS: Lava ME 4 Carbon (£1,249), Lava ME 4 Spruce (£617), Lava ME Play (£489)
LEFT-HANDERS: No
FINISH: Silver, Space Black
CONTACT: Lava Music

Hands-on videos

Lava Music

Mr Black

Patrick Breen

• Lava Music Blue Lava review

NAMM 2025: Ibanez has begun rolling out its 2025 roster of instruments, and while its newly developed AZ Standard models are serving a wake-up call to the mid-priced electric guitar market, its new Blackout series of acoustic guitars represents one of its more inventive releases.

The range is inspired by the brand’s popular Iron Label series of metal guitars, which are typically decked out with high-gain pickups, shred-ready necks, and extended ranges. It’s a left-field starting point for acoustic guitars, yet Ibanez has managed to make that work in its favor here. And yes, there’s a seven-string acoustic among the bunch.

Aesthetically, their heavy metal lineage comes through via all-black finishes and black hardware – because color is for the weak – while all three have been saddled with top-end electronics.

The range comprises two six-strings in the AEWC621 and TCY621, while the seven-string electric-acoustic is called the AEG721.

Look past those browser-generated-password-names, though, and the three models boast high-end electronics and “in-demand woods” – including purpleheart, which is something of a rare breed on acoustics.

The AEG721 ($599.99) is crafted from Sapele back and sides, a spruce top, and a three-piece Comfort Grip neck made from maple and nyatoh – Ibanez's go-to mahogany alternative – for its 25" scaling.

Macassar ebony has been chosen for its bridge and fretboard, with a Fishman S-Core pickup and an Ibanez AEQ-SP2 preamp with an onboard tuner making up its electronics.

It also features Ibanez Advantage bridge pins – which are easier to take out and put back in, while a special bulb end stops players from pushing them too far into the guitar – black die-cast tuners and a black dyed bone nut and saddle.

The AEWC621 ($599.99), which unsurprisingly sports an AEWC body shape, offers similar specs. While its neck is strictly nyatoh, it reprises the same 25" scale, hardware, and electronics, save for the omission of Advantage bridge pins.

Lastly, the TCY621 ($374.99) tries to be the black sheep, headlined by a Talman double cutaway body with a neck joint at the 16th fret.

Sure, the sapele and spruce construction remains, but there's an Okoume neck, a purpleheart fretboard and bridge, and an Ibanez under-saddle pickup partnered with the same AEQ-2T preamp as it vies to be a little different.

The model is rounded out with black die-cast tuners and Advantage bridge pins.

It’s not every day that a trio of electric-acoustics inspired by grunting metal beasts snake their way into the marketplace. Ibanez's eyebrow-raising juxtaposition, though, adds some variety to proceedings.

Head on over to Ibanez for the full lowdown.

NAMM 2025: Faith has upgraded its Eclipse series of electro-acoustic guitars with enhanced amplification and greater note expression to help elevate its staple six-strings to new heights.

Having extended its Nexus acoustic guitar range in April, the British luthier has since turned its attention to the fan-favorite Eclipse range, unveiling new editions that are “designed to be the ultimate stage guitars”.

The Eclipse’s onboard electronics have received a powerful upgrade thanks to the incorporation of Fishman’s Ink Body preamp system, which comprises a piezo pickup and a body sensor.

This nifty one-two of tech, Faith says, “not only elevates the amplified sound to incredible new heights but also allows for greater note expression whether playing chords or complex fingerstyle pieces.”

Moreover, the preamp’s Body control feature gives players the freedom to dial in the bridge-plate-mounted sensor. This dictates how much body and percussiveness the guitar will deliver when hooked up to an amplifier.

The guitars are built from a classic blend of solid spruce tops and solid mahogany back and sides, but for the first time the firm has bestowed its newest acoustics with a figured maple ergonomic forearm contour.

Aesthetically, it harmonizes with the instrument’s figured maple binding, while functionally the contour helps maximize comfortability, especially over long playing sessions.

The employment of an Onyx-Black finish and carefully applied clear lacquer help “tame the tonewood’s natural resonance”, giving greater balance and focus to its resulting tone.

In a bid to improve the sustainability of its manufacturing processes, Faith has ensured the Eclipse models are free of animal products. As such, traditional abalone and mother-of-pearl rosette and logo materials have been replaced with figured maple. A tree will also be planted for each guitar sold thanks to its partnership with the charity, JustOneTree.

Its revamped specs are rounded out with Grover Rotomatic machine heads and Macassan figured ebony fittings.

Choose from three body shapes across the series, all of which include cutaways for easy upper fret access.

The Faith Eclipse Venus ($1,539) has an OM/Auditorium body shape, while the Faith Eclipse Neptune (also $1,539) is a Baby-Jumbo, and the Faith Eclipse Neptune ($1,699) is a 12-string Baby-Jumbo.

Check out Faith Guitars for more information.

Gibson has introduced the latest evolution of one of its most enduring acoustic guitar designs by unveiling a quartet of new Hummingbird EC models – which feature rare body cutaways.

The Gibson Hummingbird needs no introduction. First launched in 1960, the classy acoustic was considered to be Gibson’s first Martin-esque square-shouldered model, and is up there with the likes of the SJ-200 and J-45 as the firm’s most popular acoustic innovations.

However, over the decades, the Hummingbird – immediately identifiable from its elegantly styled pickguard – has largely arrived with the same fully fleshed-out body dimensions, save a very brief, now-discontinued run of streamlined Hummingbird Pros from 2017, which ditched the elegant pickguard design and opted for that body cutaway.

Now, Gibson has made its most iconic acoustic “more versatile and expressive than ever” by equipping its legendary six-string with a super-rare cutaway – while retaining its original aesthetic DNA.

Here, they’ve been drafted in to provide “an extended range of expression” and while cutaway dreadnoughts aren’t a new phenomenon for Gibson – just see the Songwriter model, for example – this latest update marks a pretty big update to the time-tested and Hummingbird design.

As mentioned, four distinct models have been unveiled to roll out the new-look design. Across the board, L.R. Baggs electronics, SlimTaper mahogany necks, rosewood fingerboards, and Sitka spruce tops can be found, as can Grover Rotomatic tuners, Mother of Pearl parallelogram inlays, TUSQ bridge pins and saddles, and belly up rosewood bridges.

Naturally, a handful of model-specific specs have also been added. The Hummingbird Studio EC is the most accessible of the bunch (though still weighs in at $2,999) arriving with a Tri-Burst Satin finish, and mahogany back and sides. It also offers streamlined single-ply binding and a 16”-radius fingerboard.

The Hummingbird Standard EC and Standard Rosewood EC, meanwhile, offer Heritage Cherry Sunburst and Rosewood Burst colorways, respectively, and offer multi-ply top and back binding, gloss nitro finishes, and 12”-radius fingerboards.

The Standard Rosewood EC also ups the ante by offering rosewood back and sides, compared to the regular Standard EC, which has mahogany alternatives.

Lastly, Gibson’s exclusive Ebony-finished Hummingbird Standard EC conforms to the Heritage model, offering mahogany back and sides, multi-ply top and back binding, and a 12” ’board. The Ebony and Heritage models are priced at $3,999, while the Rosewood variant bumps that up to $4,599.

“The Gibson Hummingbird is known for its versatility,” Gibson writes. “It has always been equally well suited for strumming first-position chords and taking the spotlight for picking lead lines. The Hummingbird has become more versatile and expressive than ever with the introduction of the Hummingbird Standard EC.

“With the addition of the cutaway on the Hummingbird Standard EC, the access to the upper frets is significantly increased, making this the Hummingbird of choice for lead players and others who require increased note range and enhanced expressiveness.”

Head over to Gibson to find out more.

Fender Finneas Acoustasonic Player Telecaster: Need to know

A signature Acoustasonic?
This is Fender’s first Acoustasonic signature model, and the first to offer an onboard effect. While many players might assume that the Acoustasonic is a hybrid electric and acoustic guitar designed primarily for live use, Finneas O’Connell – collaborator/producer/multi-instrumentalist with sister Billie Eilish and now solo artist too – has praised Fender’s acoustic-electric guitar as a go-to studio instrument. And Fender has now decided to recognise his loyalty to the hybrid guitar cause with the FINNEAS Acoustasonic Player Telecaster.

How is this model different to the standard Fender Acoustasonic Player Telecaster?
Apart from the new Cappuccino Fade finish, the key differences here are a Tim Shaw-designed Shawbucker magnetic humbucker instead of the usual single-coil found on the regular Acoustasonic Player Telecaster. The addition of a blend-in chorus effect for two of the guitar’s six different 'voices' is surely the biggest news of all here. For this, something has to give, and it’s the standard Player’s ‘Lo-Fi Clean and Crunch modes from the ‘unaffected’ piezo’.

But doesn’t this guitar have an undersaddle piezo too?
It does, or a ‘transducer’ as Fender describes it in the manual. But like previous Acoustasonics, the piezo is used in combination with a kind of modelling / imaging for acoustic voices that are based on the miked sound of traditional acoustic shapes and woods (like a mahogany dreadnought).

Here we’re offered three of those voices, instead of the usual two and it’s this feature, along with the chorus effect that will be the real decider for non-Finneas fans choosing a Player Acoustasonic model. Here's how the six different voices on this model line up, with the guitar's blend control allowing you to choose between them, or mix the sound together:

Position 1 (Shawbucker): Clean Electric with blend Chorus – Clean Electric

Position 2 (Piezo): Rosewood Dreadnought acoustic – Mahogany Small Body acoustic

Position 3 (Piezo): Mahogany Dreadnought with Blend Chorus – Mahogany Dreadnought

Fender Finneas Acoustasonic Player Telecaster: Specs

Launch price: $1,400/£1,199/€1,399
Made: Mexico
Body top: Solid Sitka spruce
Back & sides: Solid mahogany
Neck/shape: Mahogany/ Modern 'Deep C' / Satin urethane finish
Scale/length: 25.5" (644mm)
Nut/width: GraphTech Tusq / 1.6875" (42.86 mm)
String spacing at bridge: 52.5mm
Fingerboard/radius: Rosewood/12"
Body depth: 45mm
Finish: Cappucino Fade
Bridge/pins: Rosewood/GraphTech Tusq
Tuning machines: Fender Standard Cast/Sealed Staggered
Controls: Master volume, Blend, 3-way selector
Electronics: Under-saddle piezo, N4 Magnetic Acoustasonic Shawbucker
Weight of test model: 5lbs/2.26kg
Case: Deluxe 1225 Gig Bag
Left-handed options: No, only the (discontinued) American Acoustasonic Telecaster
Contact: Fender.com

Fender FINNEAS Acoustasonic Player Telecaster: Build quality

I'll cut to the chase here, I have some mixed feelings about the Cappuccino Fade finish of the Acoustastonic inlay that covers most of this Tele’s top. The transition from white to Cappucino is slightly more abrupt than I hoped and is less forgiving (read: a little more yellowish) at some angles in daylight than the press pics suggest.

However, that’s the thing about guitar finishes isn't it; one player’s Sunburst is another’s… You get the point. It’s not unappealing, and more of the golden blend comes through under lower artificial light, but it might put some people off – as aesthetic elements can do. Fender might have missed a trick when they didn’t design Acoustasonics with interchangeable fascias in mind…

Elsewhere, it’s a fine example of an Acoustasonic Player Tele; a guitar tasked with winning a wider customer base in 2022 after two years of pricier US models. Though it lost some of the acoustic voice options, the Player series actually brought a preferred change with a 9-volt replaceable battery power setup for its active circuitry. This was in place of the rather impractical internal rechargeable battery of the American Acoustasonic models (including the Californian-made Ltd Edition Satin Arctic White Finneas Acoustasonic that’s released alongside this guitar) that can't be swapped out in a gigging situation if you run out of juice and has to be charged via a USB cable.

There’s been continued debate about who the Acoustasonic is aimed at – and the answer could be anyone who likes the idea of electric-style playability and form for their amplified electro-acoustic sounds. Players who are perhaps less inclined to see guitars as unique, mystical mojo-delivering vessels and more as tools that need to aid live practicality and the creative process.

For Finneas that need from his Acoustasonics extends from the studio to the stage. For the rest of us, the home is also an area of focus, as I’ll explain later.

Though the neck is a Modern C found on Fender Player electric guitars, it’s a ‘Deep’ version of the carve, compared to the more conventional neck found on the electric Telecaster Player II model. The satin urethane finish on the back is still hugely appealing; a combination of smoothness and grainy goodness that just feels right.

The body shape here is obviously the familiar Tele outline and control layout that’s been proved right for decades, with the ‘Waterfall’ soundhole design of the series' Stringed Instrument Resonance System that left some purists aghast when the American version of the Tele became the launch Acoustasonic in 2010. It delivers a decent amount of acoustic output from a body of this size, though nothing in the realm of a traditional flat-top steel-string.

Fender FINNEAS Acoustasonic Player Telecaster: Playability

With no individual saddles and an asymmetrical acoustic bridge design you’d be forgiven for thinking you're stuck with the stock action from the factory unless you get the sandpaper out on the saddle or call a tech. But the revival of Fender’s ‘70s Micro-Tilt feature allows you an adaptable shim to alter the guitar's neck angle (accessed via a small hex key in the neck plate after you loosened the rear two neck bolts).

In my experience with the US and Mexican-made Acoustasonics I’ve reviewed in the past, this underrated feature allows for a lot of leeway in tweaking the action. I’ve managed to get it surprisingly low. With no uneven frets significant enough to spoil my fleet-fingered fun!

I’ve found Acoustasonics are addictive house guitars – an acoustic with electric accessibility that’s just so easy to pick up and play on the couch, without some of the louder projection that might annoy others around me. And that’s very much the case here, but with it’s boxy unplugged output, it’s a pretty pricey luxury to only use it that way. I’m intrigued as to how Finneas’s spec pans out in this new spin on the Tele model.

Fender Finneas Acoustasonic Player Telecaster: Sounds

Again, I’ll cut to it – the 'Lo-Fi' sounds have consistently been the least essential Acoustasonic voices in my experience, whether American or Player model. A gnarlier piezo tone is often the very thing I’m trying to get away from with amplified acoustic guitars – it can be too brittle despite the advantages of cutting through in the mix. So on paper, an extra sound to dial in some more ‘realistic’ acoustic timbre with the piezo is appealing here, especially as two of those voices allow me to blend in chorus too.

In addition, the comparatively girthier charms of Acoustasonic Shawbucker that debuted on the Jazzmaster model, are another trade I’m happy to see over the original Tele Player model's single-coil offering. Though that model did offer the choice to blend in an overdriven voice, it's now chorus that can be added.

And so it proves that this is the most appealing combination of sounds I’ve heard on an Acoustasonic Player model to date – but there are still caveats. Would I like the American model’s body sensor pickup for an even more ‘acoustic’ feel with percussive potential? Absolutely, but that’s currently reserved for the significantly pricier Californian models.

The bigger question mark that hovers over the Acoustasonic is amplification. Its multi-purpose strengths can also be a double-edged sword, as my testing reminds me.

There’s a lot to consider when it comes to how an Acoustasonic guitar can be employed; I am using an FRFR Line 6 Power Cab 112 to simulate a PA, a Fender Deluxe Reverb for a guitar amp, with a selection of overdrive, reverb and delay pedals to explore this hybrid guitar's versatility. In addition, I’m also running the Finneas Acoustasonic Fender Player Telecaster into GarageBand via a Universal Audio Volt 1 audio interface to try out the kind of DI experience Finneas has used his Acoustasonics for.

The best case scenario is using the Acoustasonic Shawbucker pickup through a guitar amp, and the piezo voices through a full-range/flat-response cab to capture more of their detail. That scenario kind of flies in the face of the idea that this guitar can switch effortlessly between acoustic and electric voices, but it still can pull hybrid duties, it’s just you’ll have to compromise getting the best frequency response for each specific pickup source.

One way to get the better of both worlds is using a pedal amp and IR on for the Shawbucker position and switch it off through an FRFR speaker or PA for the acoustic voices, then you’ll still need to boost the signal for the flat response side so the transitions aren't too abrupt – not exactly seamless switching. However, there are no rules to how you use this guitar…

I prefer the low-end response of the Shawbucker here over the standard Acoustasonic Tele Player model pickup, and it feels less of an abrupt switch with the piezo voices. Especially as you can switch from positions 1 to 3 with the same chorus blend offering some consistency.

It’s important to stress to newcomers that this is a fourth-generation Fender noiseless pickup designed for an electric voice for this particular acoustic guitar, rather than the more dynamic response and output of a traditional electric guitar humbucker. And unlike an electric guitar, the volume control here can’t dial down your gain either – it simply turns the whole output down.

For someone who isn’t a fan of chorus on acoustics unless I’m playing ‘80s power ballads, Finneas has shown me he’s on to something with this. Dialled in just under halfway on the blend knob (you’ll have to guess as there’s no markers, which I think would be useful on this control) you can add some movement and sustain to parts, without going full Purple Rain. But even at full it’s a tasteful dose of modulation that’s bright enough to pop in a mix and light enough rate to veer short of tacky.

The scope widens with the middle position voices – a rosewood dreadnought and mahogany small-body that can be switched to position 3’s mahogany dreadnought with chorus for an instant change of texture. The rosewood dread' has the biggest, bass-heavy tone here that I think is best suited to solo performance, whereas the mid-cut of the mahogany-based voices could work better in a band mix through a PA or FRFR cab.

Fender Finneas Acoustasonic Player Telecaster: Verdict

There are players who will never be sold on the Acoustasonic idea, and that’s fine – there are people who don’t like Les Pauls and Strats too. But this is the most useful mix of sounds I’ve heard on the Player side of the line. Especially for solo artists looking to expand their sounds without a pedalboard.

Outside of recording studios and in the wider market, the conversation about Acoustasonics as a recording tool has felt a little niche. Why go direct when you can mic a proper acoustic? Well, going direct and speeding up the workflow for demoing and even layers in the final tracking has long been a thing – and is becoming more prevalent with a generation of artist/producers less tied to the conventions of genre and traditions on how guitar tones should be generated. The direct sounds are indeed pretty good here too – and so much easier than setting up a condenser mic in a less-than-ideal room and waiting for the traffic outside to die down. Add in some compression and amp plugins, and the scope widens further.

If I have one consistent concern with the Acoustasonic project, it’s the price. On the one hand, it is what it is - some models are beyond budgets. We know we don't have access to everything. The cost of entry is not about to go down for an Acoustasonic, despite murmurings a couple of years ago. The manufacturing process is more involved than Fender’s Player electrics but it seems a real shame to me that the younger generations who might be the most open-minded to this hybrid guitar are probably priced out of it.

As it stands this costs $200 more than the standard Player Telecaster; $1,400 is not an affordable guitar. Whether it’s worth the extra will, for those looking to invest in a Acoustasonic Player Telecaster, rest on the appeal of the chorus effect and the Finneas finish, but the Shawbucker is certainly a sweetener.

Guitar World verdict: The inclusion of onboard chorus and more acoustic variety in place of the brasher piezo tones of previous Player Acoustasonic models proves an appealing combination here – but it still comes at a relatively high entry price, especially for younger players.

Fender Finneas Acoustasonic Player Telecaster: Also try

Fender Finneas Acoustasonic Player Telecaster: Hands-on videos

Fender

• Fender Acoustasonic Player Jazzmaster review

Although not as well known as its more famous cousins, the J-45 and the Hummingbird, the Epiphone Masterbilt Texan could be just the thing if you want the look and feel of a Gibson round-shouldered dreadnought but prefer a longer scale length. Famously used by guitarists like Paul McCartney, Peter Frampton, and Noel Gallagher, the Texan is no stranger to the hands of legendary players despite not carrying the full-fat Gibson logo on its headstock. 

With its ultra-thin nut width and longer scale, the Texan first appeared way back in 1958, manufactured in two factories in Philadelphia and Kalamazoo. The original model was classified as an Advanced Jumbo rather than the round-shouldered dreadnought we see now, but that was just Gibson’s way of labeling their dreadnought guitars. 

It was a unique proposition at the time and it’s now got well over 60 years of history to add to its mystique. But should you be picking it over a J-45 or Hummingbird? I got hands-on to find out. 

Features

The round-shoulder dreadnought shape is designed to deliver a more balanced tone than those acoustics with square shoulders, and the Texan is constructed with a solid Sitka spruce top and solid mahogany back and sides. My review model comes in a classic Faded Cherry, giving more than a hint of Hummingbird with its glossy finish and Tortoise pickguard. The neck is glued in via a dovetail joint, a standard process for acoustic guitars.

The mahogany neck features a SlimTaper 60s ‘C’ profile, with a comfortable 43mm nut width for easy playing. The 2-inch radius laurel fretboard is marked with those distinctive mother-of-pearl parallelogram inlays, giving you 20 medium jumbo frets to play across. A GraphTech NuBone nut completes the neck appointments.

The 3 by 3 Wilkinson Deluxe tuning machines come with ivory buttons, while at the other end, you’ve got an advanced jumbo reverse belly bridge and a bone saddle. It comes with two strap buttons pre-installed, too, which is great for gigging acoustic guitar players. Sure to further delight live players, you also get a Fishman Sonicore under-saddle pickup with a Fishman Sonitone preamp and soundhole-mounted volume and tone controls.

Build quality

Examining the Texan in detail, I found the build quality to be fantastic. It’s a solid-feeling instrument that’s really well put together, with the only blemish my eye could discern being a slight lump of gloss applied near the side dot at the 19th fret of the guitar. Those great-looking parallelogram inlays are laid perfectly, as are the body binding and rosette, and it’s a gorgeous guitar that isn’t too gaudy.

The battery pack inside the soundhole has a cable running to the controls mounted on the top, which is a little unsightly as it runs across the view through the soundhole. Probably not a deal breaker, but some might like it tucked away out of view, and it’s something you could do yourself once you’ve taken the strings off. The battery location might also be an issue for live players should you need to perform a quick swap.

Playability

Picking it up to play, the first thing I notice is that slim neck profile. It feels great in your hand, giving a little bit of heft but feeling nice and slinky. You need that heft as well because the string tension at standard tuning feels quite high. Bending requires a lot of force and it took a little while for my hands to get used to it coming from my more regular electric guitar playing.

The string spacing feels equally comfortable whether you’re playing arpeggios with a pick or fingerstyle, and you can feel that string tension at your picking hand too. It made me lean towards playing harder as there’s not as much give in the strings, which could be good or bad depending on your preferences and playing style. I liked it, as I prefer a decent amount of tension in my strings so I can hit harder. 

Sound quality

The Epiphone Texan is a glorious-sounding acoustic guitar and it sustains for days. The whole construction resonates beautifully when you strum it hard, delivering loads of low-end energy that’s never overpowering. The fact that it encourages you to play loud due to that high string tension really plays to its strengths, delivering a loud voice that’s lovely and warm. It’s balanced too, never sounding like the bass strings are getting in the way of the higher strings and vice versa.

The open strings ring out nicely without ever becoming overpowering, great for the drone-based riffs and arpeggios that I’m so fond of. Combined with that everlasting sustain you can build licks up gradually and create some fantastic dynamic guitar tones. 

Playing nearer the bridge delivers a lovely ‘plink’ to your picking if you’re looking for a slightly more restrained and exotic tonality and picking all across the soundhole can give you a huge variety of sounds.

Final verdict

For less than a grand, you’re getting a lot of acoustic guitar with the Epiphone Masterbilt Texan. It’s a bit of an outlier versus the more popular J-45 and Hummingbird, but if you don’t fancy a shorter scale or the Hummingbird is a little too garish for your tastes, it’s a brilliant acoustic in its own right.

The high string tension won’t be a match for everyone, so it’ll suit those players who like to hit hard and make their guitar really shout. Overall though it’s got a beautifully balanced acoustic voice that’s equally adept with strumming and fingerpicking, so if you’re after something that’s a little different from the rest, I can highly recommend the Epiphone Texan

Specifications

• TYPE: Round-Shoulder Dreadnought
• TOP: Solid Spruce
• BODY: Solid Mahogany
• NECK: Mahogany
• NECK PROFILE: SlimTaper 60s C
• SCALE LENGTH: 647.7 mm / 25.5 in
• FRETS: 20, Medium Jumbo
• HARDWARE: 3x3 Wilkinson Deluxe tuning machines with Ivory buttons, Advanced jumbo reverse belly bridge
• PICKUP: Fishman Sonicore
• LEFT-HANDED: No
• FINISH: Faded Cherry (as reviewed), Antique Natural Aged
• CONTACT: Epiphone

In 1994, Bob Taylor introduced an acoustic body shape that would quickly become one of the best-selling on the market: the Grand Auditorium. Now one of Taylor’s most popular and recognizable models, the Grand Auditorium has been praised for its versatility. Sitting comfortably between the bigger, boomier dreadnought and the more compact Grand Concert – favored by fingerpickers – the Grand Auditorium was designed to offer the best of both worlds.

Today, Taylor offers 12 different series featuring the Grand Auditorium shape. From the entry-level 100 series to the more expensive-than-your-first-car Presentation series, there are far more options available compared to 1994. However, it’s the 400 series where our review guitar sits. Alongside a shorter scale Grand Concert 412ce and a brand new round-shoulder dreadnought – 417e – the 414ce is the series' GA option.

The Taylor 414ce is the brand’s most affordable Grand Auditorium that features a fully solid Sitka spruce top and rosewood back and sides. Unlike the more experimental woods found in the 300 series or the innovative choices in the 500 series, you won’t find another fully solid spruce and rosewood model until you reach the 814ce.

Priced around $/£2,500, the 414ce appeals to serious working musicians seeking a versatile workhorse with intricate aesthetics. It could also attract intermediate players looking for a beautiful, lifelong acoustic. For the purpose of this review, I was sent a natural version of the 414ce by Taylor. Typically, the 414ce is offered in a gorgeous sunburst finish by default. However, the natural top is available as an option via official Taylor dealers; it's just not available directly on their website.

Over the course of a few weeks, I put the 414ce through its paces – here’s exactly what I thought of this remarkable Taylor acoustic.

Build

As mentioned, the 414ce opts for tried-and-true tonewoods: a solid Sitka spruce top paired with a two-piece Indian rosewood back and sides. Finished in Taylor’s signature gloss, it is not only a stunning, traditional-looking acoustic but also durable enough to shrug off a few bumps and dings. The body is accented with white binding on the top and back, adding a clean aesthetic pop. Other pleasing body features include a faux-tortoise shell pickguard and single-ring agoya shell rosette, culminating in a truly classic look and feel.

The West African Crelicam ebony used for the bridge and pins extends to the fingerboard, a hallmark feature in Taylor guitars. On our review model, the ebony was rich and deep, exuding a classy, high-end feel. The intricate inlays in Italian acrylic, a new addition to the 400 series, add a decorative touch that is repeated on the headstock, bringing subtle cohesion to the design. It's one of those guitars that is hard to take my eyes off – on the rare occasions it was not in my hands.

Rounding off the guitar is a Neo-Tropical mahogany neck with black binding and a smooth satin finish. The headstock is equipped with six 'standard paddle' tuning pegs, as Taylor calls them. While they may not be the flashiest, their performance is anything but subtle. In fact, I don’t recall needing to adjust the tuning once after it was set, even when experimenting with alternate tunings – they performed heroically. If you are looking for a sturdy, zero-hassle gigging acoustic, the 414ce should be near the top of your list.

Playability 

Moving onto playability, straight out of the case, the 414ce played impeccably. Taylor has always been a brand that has championed comfortable and smooth playability. An ethos that began with founder Bob Taylor and elevated with current CEO Andy Powers, the 414ce epitomizes this.

The slim, satin-smooth neck has an almost electric guitar-like feel, making everything from strumming cowboy chords to playing bluesy licks up and down the neck incredibly easy. It offers zero resistance and encourages hours of playing. Also, the frets were bright and polished, allowing the strings to glide over them with minimal friction during bends.

Moreover, the setup was perfect upon arrival – about as low as possible without any hint of string buzz, even when digging into chords. I can’t imagine many players who wouldn’t appreciate this setup; it was that agreeable. Even the factory-coated D'Addario XS 12-53 strings feel incredible and complement the player-friendly setup admirably.

Thanks to the low action, comfortable neck, and Venetian cutaway, playing at the 12th fret and beyond was much easier than on other acoustic guitars I’ve tried. The 414ce is perfect for acoustic covers of electric songs, even making soloing a breeze if that's your style. Plus, with such a brilliant setup, tuning stability was never an issue – even when I was using a capo.

Tone

Couple the playability with the 414ce's impressive breadth of tones, and it’s easy to see why the Grand Auditorium is lauded as the “Swiss Army knife” of acoustic guitars. This tonewood combination is a favorite for a reason. The solid Sitka spruce top delivers articulate yet smooth high end, making the treble notes of a G chord feel incredible.

The harmonic overtones from the solid rosewood back and sides culminate in that “sound in your head” acoustic tone that many other brands struggle to achieve. The low end, while not as prominent as a larger-bodied acoustic, is incredibly warm – never intrusive or murky, which is often the case with larger guitars. To my ear, our review 414ce has a slightly scooped midrange that pairs beautifully with my voice, allowing for ample space for vocals.

Under the hood, the 414ce features Taylor’s V-Class bracing, a development introduced by Andy Powers. While reading about the impact of bracing on an acoustic can be informative, nothing compares to the experience of picking up a 414ce – it’s abundantly evident. Without wanting to sound too much like Spinal Tap, the sustain is simply incredible; it feels as though this guitar never wants to go silent, always giving life to each note you play. As for projection, the 414ce doesn’t fill the room like a comparable dreadnought, but that’s not its intent. Instead, it offers enough volume and spread to showcase a wide spectrum of frequencies when you start to dig in.

When it comes to electronics, the Expression System 2 does a fantastic job of capturing the guitar's natural sweetness. The control panel is designed to blend in nicely, but don’t be fooled – it’s an active system that lets you boost frequencies instead of just rolling them off. With simple Bass, Treble, and Volume controls right at your fingertips, making adjustments on the fly is a breeze. My only tiny gripe? There’s no built-in tuner. While you’ll probably have a tuning pedal for live gigs, having a built-in tuner would definitely be a handy backup.

Final Verdict 

The 414ce offers everything you could want in a versatile acoustic guitar. With an incredibly smooth, fast-playing neck and low action right out of the factory, combined with the guitar’s resonant, sustained tone from the fully solid Sitka spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides, there’s little to dislike. Add the discreet yet versatile Expression System 2 pickup, and you have a high-end workhorse guitar that looks as impressive as it sounds.

Specifications

• Body Shape: Grand Auditorium
• Body Top: Solid Sitka Spruce
• Top Bracing: V-Class
• Back & Sides: Solid Indian Rosewood
• Neck: Neo-Tropical Mahogany
• Scale Length: 25.5" (648mm)
• Nut Width: 1-3/4"
• Fingerboard: West African Crelicam Ebony
• Fingerboard Radius: 0.840” at 1st fret, 0.868” at 9th fret
• Frets: 20
• Finish: Gloss
• Bridge: West African Crelicam Ebony
• Tuning Machines: Standard Paddle
• Contact: Taylor Guitars

Solid, robust, and effortlessly cool, there are only a handful of acoustic guitars that are as iconic as the Gibson J-45. Whether it's being played by Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Slash, or Billie Joe Armstrong, this legendary round-shouldered dreadnought is instantly recognizable. The "workhorse" model was introduced way back in 1942, and while it has gone through a few minor tweaks and revisions over the years, for the most part, it has remained relatively unchanged.

The solid mahogany back and sides and a solid Sitka spruce top deliver the famed tight, low-end, and laser-focused mid-range that the J-45 is known for, creating a timeless tone that transcends generations and musical genres. Of course, the body is then wrapped in the now historic sunburst finish, making it unmistakably a J-45.

This contemporary iteration also features a mahogany neck with a comfortable slim taper profile, rosewood fingerboard, and compound dovetail neck joint. Rounding out the spec sheet is the renowned LR Baggs VTC acoustic pickup system, which turns this beloved studio acoustic into a reliable stage companion.

Build quality and design

Despite being offered in no less than ten different finish options via a slew of Gibson.com exclusives, ranging from Cherry and Wine Red to Honey and Blueberry Burst, for me, there is only one colorway that does the J-45's elegant silhouette justice: Vintage Sunburst. Thankfully, that's precisely what I have here.

The vibrant orange hues of the 'burst finish are only enhanced by the lustrous shine of the nitrocellulose lacquer that covers the entire instrument. This acoustic is simply gorgeous. Looking past the finish, underneath is a solid Sitka spruce with a remarkably straight, pinstripe grain pattern that emphasizes the quality of the wood used to construct this beautiful guitar.

Turning the guitar over, it's a little trickier to see the timber underneath the dark coloring of the back and sides. That said, a quick peek inside the soundhole reveals everything is as it should be. The rich, solid mahogany looks every bit as good as the spruce used for the top.

Ornamentation is fairly minimal on a J-45, with a relatively basic rosette, multi-ply binding, and tortoiseshell pickguard. Yes, the workhorse may be less ornate when compared to its flashier big brothers, the Hummingbird or Dove, but this understated look is all part of its timeless charm.

Thankfully, my review model has no defects or finishing flaws that would detract from its handsome, good looks – something that's not always the case with Gibson, even at this price point.

Playability

Moving on to playability, it's safe to say the J-45 Standard does not disappoint. Opting for the fairly standard slim taper profile found on many Gibson models, this acoustic feels familiar and inviting and is incredibly easy to maneuver and handle.

The neck here isn't too fat or too thin, and relatively even as I make my way towards the 12th fret. Of course, as expected, the J-45 sports the typical 24.75" scale length of other Gibson guitars, as well as 20 "standard" frets that are well polished and expertly installed.

Just like the body, the neck is finished in full nitro lacquer. Now, I did experience a slight "stickiness" to the back of the neck for a good while after receiving the guitar. This is an issue I've experienced a couple of times with brand-new Gibson instruments, and while it was slightly annoying, it did disappear after a few plays.

The J-45 is a round-shoulder dreadnought, and while it certainly isn't a small guitar, the body never felt intrusive or cumbersome. In fact, it's actually a very comfortable guitar to sit with. It's very lightweight, too. For me, the J-45 is just as comfortable as a sofa companion, as it is draped around my shoulder at an open mic.

Sound

Tonally, the J-45 produces a rather unique sound. Bold, characterful, and fiercely cutting, this classic Gibson sound is just as recognizable as its distinctive aesthetic. It goes without saying that this guitar is loud, but for me, the J-45's tone is more than simply bags of volume.

Yes, there is plenty of headroom in this acoustic, and no matter how hard I hit the strings with a pick, the top never compresses too much, resulting in an open sound that fills the room, but this acoustic's mid-range is its secret weapon. The earthy and woody mid-frequencies are what allow this guitar to sonically slice through even the densest of mixes, meaning you'll always be heard no matter what else is going on.

The lows are relatively tame, never sounding too boomy, while I found the high frequencies to be bright and almost modern in their sheen. Thanks to its traditional hand-scalloped X-bracing, each note rings out true and clear, with a piano-like percussive nature to single notes.

Turning my attention away from the acoustic tone, and I'm happy to report that the J-45 sounds just as good plugged in as it does au naturel. Tucked away out of sight is the LR Baggs VTC acoustic pickup system, and it does a valiant job of retaining the tonal character of the unplugged J-45. The guitar's power and sonic balance are represented incredibly well here, and without the scratchy top-end, you typically find with other under-saddle transducers.

Final verdict

There is a lot to love about Gibson's iconic J-45, and this modern version certainly lives up to the history that surrounds this legend of the acoustic world. With effortless playability, charming good looks, and a distinctive sound that is instantly recognizable, it's no wonder that the J-45 is still going strong over 80 years after it was first introduced.

Specifications

• Body Style: Round Shoulder Dreadnought
• Back & Sides: Solid Mahogany
• Top: Solid Sitka Spruce
• Bracing: Traditional Hand-Scalloped X-Bracing
• Body Finish: Gloss Nitrocellulose Lacquer
• Neck: Mahogany
• Profile: Slim Taper
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Tuning Machines: Grover Rotomatics
• Under Saddle Pickup: LR Baggs VTC
• Case: Hardshell Case
• Contact: Gibson

Taylor Guitars is celebrating 50 years of acoustic guitar craftsmanship with the Legacy Collection – a quintet of guitars that honor its heritage with contemporary flourishes.

Of the bunch, three are reimagined 800 Series builds, uniting rosewood and spruce tonewoods in an effort to revamp the spirit of some of founder Bob Taylor’s earliest designs.

The collection is completed by a duo that shines a spotlight on the Grand Auditorium body shape, which has become Taylor’s most successful creation over the last half-century. Those instruments have been pivotal in defining the Taylor sound.

Inspired by Bob’s original builds, the five-strong Legacy Collection, Taylor says, “reflects the full scope of our history by blending foundational design elements with key developments along the way”.

The Legacy 810e ($3,399) centers around a dreadnought body shape and X bracing for “exceptional volume and projection”. Solid Indian rosewood back and sides, and a Sitka spruce top, are paired with an LR Baggs Element VTC under saddle pickup and soundhole-mounted controls.

A contemporary Taylor neck and straight-ear peghead shape helps merge the old with the new, while the aesthetic flourishes – including a three-ring rosette in green abalone and mother-of-pearl inlays – are smart and understated.

The Legacy 815e ($3,399) and 855e ($3,499) models, meanwhile, are six- and 12-string versions of the same recipe, utilizing rosewood/spruce tonewood combinations for its jumbo body shape, classic mustache bridge, and straight-ear pegheads.

The same under saddle pickup returns, with Bob Taylor's preferred X bracing pattern featuring on the non-cutaway acoustic-electric. The 12-string edition has been championed for its “exceptional octave shimmer”.

Final touches come via non-engraved Large Diamond fretboard inlays in mother-of-pearl, ebony bridge pins with green abalone dots, a faux-tortoiseshell pickguard, and nickel tuners.

Things get a little different with the grand auditorium models, with the Legacy 514ce ($3,399) pairing solid mahogany back and sides with solid Western Red cedar top. By comparison, the Legacy 714ce ($3,499) swaps mahogany for Indian rosewood but keeps the cedar top.

They both feature Venetian cutaways, the same electronic appointments of its siblings and are voiced with X bracing. For the 514ce, that pattern Taylor used throughout the '90s and '00s has been utilized, and combined with its modern neck shape for a contemporary twist.

The 714ce, then, sees a more traditional bracing approach for “a richly textured sound that adapts effortlessly across genres and playing styles”.

The 514ce gets classic detailing via faux tortoiseshell binding and a matching pickguard, Small Diamond fretboard inlays in mother-of-pearl, and a three-ring rosette in green abalone. It's rounded out with ebony bridge pins with green abalone dots and gold Taylor tuners.

The sleek stylings of the 714ce include black binding with black and white pinstripes, dotted inlays in green abalone, and a matching three-ring rosette. There are also ebony bridge pins with green abalone dots, a faux-tortoiseshell pickguard, gold tuners, and a gloss body with a satin neck.

“Something sort of magical happened in me at 50 years,” says Bob Taylor. “All of a sudden I thought I could legitimately talk about a legacy. Our guitars were always changing and advancing. The guitars we made back in the day were the wellspring of the designs of these guitars.”

The first 100 of each model feature an interior label personally signed by Taylor founders Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug.

Head to Taylor to discover more.

Yamaha has ushered in a new era for its TransAcoustic range with the unveiling of the TAG3 C, treating its forward-thinking acoustic guitar design to an upgraded spec sheet.

First introduced back at NAMM 2016, Yamaha’s TransAcoustic collection was one of the first examples of quasi-smart guitars to hit the market, and offered a host of built-in effects using tech that had previously been rolled out in its piano range.

Over the ensuing years, Yamaha has slowly introduced new shapes and styles into the broader lineup, but has never tinkered with the original blueprint. Until now, that is.

The new-for-2024 TransAcoustic ups the ante on almost every level. Sure, it brings back the on-board effects – reverb, chorus and delay are all present – but goes well beyond that by adding a looper and Bluetooth audio capabilities into the mix.

That means, thanks to the looper, players can jam over impromptu melodic ideas and stack “an infinite number of layers”, which can be controlled via the circular capacitive tap control that’s positioned just under the soundhole.

The loops can then be managed via the iOS/Android compatible TAG Remote mobile app, which also grants access to greater in-depth parameter control, as seen in the demo video above.

Notably, some rather comprehensive parameters – including Time, Decay, Feedback, Low and High Damping, and EQs – are all accessible via the app.

As for the Bluetooth, it means the TransAcoustic can now be used as a de facto Bluetooth speaker, using vibrations of the internal actuators to project streamed audio in such a way that gives it “a realistic sound that brings music to life”.

Those actuators are also behind the effects processing in the TransAcoustic. Installed on the inner surface of the guitar, they respond to the vibrations of the strings, and the resulting vibrations are then sent to the body of the guitar to produce the desired sound.

There’s also a lithium-ion battery that offers five-and-a-half hours of play time, and can be recharged using the magnetic charging port on the upper bout.

All of these gadgets are at the mercy of the acoustic’s modest onboard four-button control panel. Here, the effects, looper and Bluetooth pairing can all be controlled, adjusted, and manager.

And then there’s the build. Even with all its gadgets and gizmos under the hood, the TransAcoustic offers a solid build comprising a solid Sitka spruce top, solid mahogany back and sides, and a mahogany neck, as well as an ebony fretboard and ebony bridge.

The acoustic market is certainly seeing a rise in “smart” guitars at the moment, and it’s a trend that has exploded in recent years following the arrival of LAVA Music and its various effects-loaded, touchscreen-equipped instruments.

Now, it seems Yamaha has updated the TransAcoustic range in response to the growing enthusiasm for such instruments, producing a design that does an admirable job of combining the performance of smart guitars with the look and build of more traditional acoustics.

“Yamaha’s newest TransAcoustic guitar pushes creative boundaries by providing reverb, delay, chorus, looper, and Bluetooth capabilities right at your fingertips,” the firm writes. “The entire creative process of listening, playing, and creating is brought together in a single guitar.”

The TAG3 C is priced at $1,699, and will be available in Natural and Sandburst colorways.

Visit Yamaha to find out more.

L.R. Baggs – best known for its acoustic pickup innovations – has debuted a new acoustic-electric guitar in the shape of a sleek, forward-thinking design dubbed the AEG-1.

Prior to his focus on pickups, the firm’s founder and namesake, Lloyd Baggs, initially had a background in high-end luthiery, building instruments for the likes of Ry Cooder, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, and Janis Ian, so in some ways the new launch – while unexpected – marks a full circle moment for L.R. Baggs.

That said, the AEG-1 is hardly looking backward. Even a cursory glance at the instrument tells you that this is not your usual acoustic-electric build.

In the place of the traditional soundhole is a ring cut, while its slim profile and specially-constructed plywood sides look thoroughly contemporary. L.R. Baggs says the reduced depth is possible thanks to a new (patent-pending) neck support system.

“It frees the guitar’s top and back from the need to support the neck,” explains the firm’s press release. “This allows us unprecedented freedom to voice the top and back to maximize the acoustic response, achieving a full-bodied sound from a thin and comfortable design.”

We’re unsure of the specifics of the design at this point, but you’d be forgiven for thinking this comes from a somewhat similar headspace as Fender’s slimmed-down Highway Series acoustics, appearing to share that rounded carve to the sides and what looks like a recessed bevel to hold the top and back in situ.

L.R. Baggs says its innovative build means more of the strings’ resonance is transferred to the top, “resulting in a wider dynamic range, greater tonal depth, enhanced low-frequency response, and improved tuning stability.”

It is, of course, equipped with L.R. Baggs’ HiFi Duet pickup system, which is mounted inside the guitar under the bridge plate alongside its Silo microphone – and, judging from the fast picking demos from Trey Hensley, sounds the part for it.

“My desire to faithfully amplify the acoustic guitars I was building as a luthier led to the creation of our pickup company,” says Lloyd Baggs.

“It became my life’s work to eliminate every obstacle to playing live acoustic guitar easy, inspiring, and fun. The AEG-1 is the realization of this philosophy and I’m incredibly proud of this instrument. I hope it brings you inspiration and joy for years to come!”

Options include a choice Torrefied Sitka Spruce, Natural Engelmann Spruce, and Sunburst Sitka Spruce tops, all priced at $1,599.

The AEG-1 will be available from November 1. Head to L.R. Baggs for more information.

When Polyphia released Playing God in 2022 – a song that gave fans a glimpse of Tim Henson's elusive new Ibanez nylon-string model – it proved to be a huge hit.

It was the perfect springboard for the launch of what was revealed to be Henson’s signature nylon-string electric acoustic, the Ibanez TOD10N, a year later, which subsequently became Reverb's best-selling acoustic of 2023.

Now, Ibanez has released the TOD10NL, a left-handed model that extends the love to the lesser catered-for lefties – even if it arrived some 14 weeks after a miniature version, modeled by Henson’s dog on Instagram.

A thin, modified FRH-bodied build with fan bracing, it is made from a solid Sitka spruce top and sapele back and sides.

It features a 22-fret walnut fretboard emblazoned with Henson's eye-catching Tree of Death inlay design, and a C-shape nyatoh neck – all the same specs that made the rightie model so popular.

Its sleek design is iced with a walnut bridge and gold classical tuners, with its tones ushering out from a Fishman S-Core pickup and augmented with Ibanez's AEQ210TF preamp with an onboard tuner.

The pickup is active, so a 9V battery is a requirement, but well worth it for an authentic-sounding nylon that benefits from the thin, speed-friendly genetics of an Ibanez electric guitar.

The Ibanez TOD10NL is available today and costs $699.99. As with the right-handed version, it is only available in Transparent Black.

Jump on over to Ibanez for more information.

In related Polyphia guitar news, Henson's fellow riff-maker Scott LePage has teased a stunning all-white Ibanez Xiphos signature model.

Over 40 years, Fender Japan has built a cult following that goes well beyond its home country and has become renowned for its forward-thinking takes on the Big F’s classic builds. The popular Hybrid II series is the line that has come to best represent that ethos in recent years.

Now the firm has announced its 2024 additions, with six new models that feature a generous application of quilted maple, Orange Drop capacitors and different pickup configurations.

Indeed, four of the six newbies see their alder bodies adorned with quilted maple and, as such, you can now get a Strat, Tele, Jazzmaster and Jazz Bass with the prized tonewood. 

Changing the body from straight alder to an alder/maple combination will obviously alter the sound of those builds, likely making for a more resonant response compared to the normal construction.

It also offers significant visual flair, thanks to that sought-after grain pattern on the quilted maple – and the latest Hybrid IIs make the most of it with some killer new finishes, including the jewel-like Red Beryl and the tropical ocean tones of the Aquamarine.

For our money, though, the ghostly Larimar [inspired by a gemstone only found in the Dominican Republic, don’t ya know – Ed] takes the prize for pure spectacle – ethereally fading to white around the edges of the body.

The line is completed by two new Strat variants, which bring humbucker configurations to the line for the first time. As is the case across the 2024 models, these use newly designed custom-voiced Hybrid II pickups (although there's not a whole lot of info out there about these).

Other notable common appointments include modern C-shaped necks, plus upgraded components like the aforementioned Orange Drop capacitors and Pure Tone output jacks (a clever, four-point contact design that offers a rock-solid grip).

Finally, we can’t help but note the similarity between that Forest Blue HSS Hybrid II Strat and Yamaha’s top-end, Japanese-built Pacifica Professional (particularly with that covered humbucker). 

There’s also a Jazzmaster finish displayed on the site (albeit still unlisted on the product page) that appears to use a flame maple top and recalls the sandy look of the Pacifica Pro’s Beach Burst. 

Whether or not it’s a case of Fender flipping the script when it comes to ‘borrowed’ inspiration (there are just a few Fender copies out there, after all), it does at the very least seem to be evidence of a trend in Japanese guitar aesthetics, if nothing else.

Bassists, meanwhile, have the option of alder-bodied four- and five-string Jazz Basses, which offer a sustain block beneath their vintage-style bridges.

“Made in Japan Hybrid II is a series that is worthy of being called a ‘hybrid’ as it retains its vintage look while incorporating modern specs that are versatile enough to suit any player or genre of music,” says Fender Japan [translated]. 

“We have created a product that combines playability and instrument tone that suits any guitarist or bassist, whether rhythm or lead, and is made in Japan and has many fans around the world.”

Prices start at approx. $923 (¥139,700) for the humbucker Strats, through to $1,127 (¥170,500) for the quilted maple-topped Jazzmaster.

For more information on the 2024 Hybrid II line, get your translation tools at the ready, and head to Fender Japan.

It's worth noting that some of the Hybrid II models have found their way outside of Japan, so there is hope for the rest of the world actually getting their hands on these. Fingers crossed…

NAMM 2024: Four NAMMs (and seemingly a lifetime) ago, Martin unveiled one of the most game-changing instruments in its storied history, the SC-13E. 

Fully defying those who might have seen the near-200-year-old company as being typically too traditional in its builds, the SC-13E featured a bold cutaway – granting players unprecedented upper-fret access – and Fishman MX-T electronics.

Two years later, the company took the well-received SC shape a step further, adding new finishes and options to the SC-13E, and unveiling a new, lower-cost model – the SC-10E.

Seemingly keeping with a pattern of twos, Martin has now further expanded the SC line with two new models – the SC-18E and SC-28E. 

Most notable about these new builds is that they come in at significantly higher price points than their siblings. Though there might be a bit of sticker shock at first, the devil's typically in the details with premium builds, and the SC-18E and SC-28E are no exception.

SC-18E ($3,599)

There are certainly plenty of similarities between the SC-13E and SC-18E: the same unmistakable S-13 fret cutaway, spruce top, and ebony bridge, a 25.4", 20-fret ebony fretboard, Tone Tension X bracing, nickel open gear tuners... 

Where the SC-18E sets itself apart, though, is the tonewood department. Rather than koa fine veneer, as they are on the SC-13E, the 18's back and sides are made of mahogany. 

The electronics, as you might expect, have also been beefed up – with a choice of Fishman's higher-end Aura VT Blend or LR Baggs' Anthem systems taking the place of the lower-end Fishman MX-T system found on the 13.

Additionally, the SC-18E comes with a molded hardshell case, in lieu of the soft-shell case (or soft gig bag) that accompanies the SC-13E.

SC-28E ($3,999)

Otherwise the same as the SC-18E, the SC-28E takes the tonewood game a step further still, with a back and sides made of East Indian rosewood.

We loved both the SC-13E and SC-10E, and can't wait to see what the new models bring to the table, sonically. Either way, this'll undoubtedly be one of the biggest acoustic launches at this year's NAMM show.

For more on these and all of the company's new products, visit Martin.

If you’ve had the chance to sit down and tap into your inner Southern blues icon on a cheap resonator guitar, you’ll know their shonky charms cannot be replicated. As such, the announcement that Harley Benton is debuting a new acoustic-electric resonator – the Custom Line N-150CE NT, priced at $199 at that – seems like good news.

This is all in keeping with what we’ve come to expect from Harley Benton – the firm is the affordable in-house brand of European mega-retailer Thomann – but it also has a reputation for punching above its price point.

Certainly, on paper, the specs look decent enough: it’s a mini Jumbo body format, with a sapele body and Okoume neck. Both of those tonewoods are common affordable substitutes for mahogany in lower-end guitar builds and are generally accepted to achieve a similar warmth and resonance to the real thing. 

Then there’s a purple heart fingerboard, which has a rosewood-like look but is similar to hard maple in its tonal characteristics, plus 20 medium jumbo frets and a 43mm bone nut. 

Cast your eyes around the shoulders and there are some subtle f-holes cut into the singlecut body, alongside a Rising P3004 mini humbucker, should you want to augment the sound from the JM-02 cone with some plugged-in tones. 

The chrome hardware, including some tastefully minimal volume and tone control knobs, plus DLX die-cast tuners, sets off brilliantly against the shining cone and the chocolate tones of the wood grain – and it’s all given a smart outline thanks to the ABS binding. 

We can’t tell you what it sounds like, yet, but it’s a promising spec for such a low price point, and it looks like it’s put the budget where it counts, i.e. the resonance – and with the bone nut and smart tonewood choices it's looking good on that front.

Either way, in the era of $1,500 Epiphones, $200 is a crazy price and, frankly, even if it’s poorly finished, there is certainly room for a bit of imperfection when it comes to making rough-edged blues, country and folk – all of the places in which a resonator typically finds its feet. 

Even taking into account the EU to US postage costs, we think this could win a few hearts. The price point (with postage) almost halves that of the current go-to entry level resonator, the Epiphone Dobro Hound Dog – and, as such, could prove a huge temptation for anyone taking their first steps to dobro-style prowess.

If you want more information on the Custom Line N-150CE NT, head to Harley Benton.

Not too long ago, LAVA MUSIC once again proved why it’s leading the way in acoustic guitar innovation with the unveiling of its overhauled LAVA ME 4 range.

Comprising the futuristic LAVA ME 4 Carbon and more traditionally styled LAVA ME 4 Spruce, the brand’s latest lineup introduces a host of new performance upgrades that take the platform to all new heights.

And that’s saying something. As Guitar World Tech Editor Paul Riario explains in the demo video below, LAVA guitars – specifically, his LAVA ME 3 and BLUE LAVA models – have been his go-to pick-up-and-play instruments for some time.

“Why is that, you ask? Lava guitars are perfect because of their compact sizes,” Paul explains. 

“Another important reason is that the guitars come complete with built-in effects, a looper, a bunch of musical grooves and drum patterns you can record with, and interactive practice apps where you can measure your performance and progress, and so much more.”

LAVA MUSIC builds on this already solid foundation with its LAVA ME 4 range. Both guitars introduce the upgraded HILAVA 2.0 operating system, which places a greater emphasis on creativity, collaboration and community.

Accessed via the touchscreen, the software gives players access to a huge suite of built-in effects, as well as a Learn App, Effects App and LiveDrums App, the latter two of which can be controlled by LAVA MUSIC Wireless Live Pedals.

Other highlights from the new software include the Improv and Respond Improv features found in the Create App, through which players can browse a huge assortment of backing tracks to jam long to, record over, and respond to other LAVA players wirelessly.

The Carbon edition also utilizes a truss rod for greater stability and flexibility, and uses an advanced SHARC DSP chip for even faster audio processing. 

In comparison, in an effort to introduce a more classic vibe, the Spruce model offers a spruce top and HPL back and sides – an ideal choice for combining state of the art tech with old-school aesthetics.

Riario’s verdict? Well, glowing: “My LAVA ME 3 guitars have been my musical sketch pads for inspiration when creativity strikes.

“The LAVA ME 4 guitars – the more affordable Spruce series and the durable Carbon Fibre series – are immersive guitars that are like nothing else. 

“With an integrated touch screen and music driven apps, I guarantee they will engage your musical creativity and expressiveness in innumerable ways – whether you perform with these guitars live or create music at home. Not to mention they are a great deal of fun to play. Definitely check it out.”

If you want to know more about these products, head over to LAVA Music.

LAVA Music’s name often comes up during conversations surrounding the modernization of the acoustic guitar, and for good reason.

Over the past few years, LAVA Music has been at the cutting edge of guitar innovation, releasing a suite of powerful, feature-packed and touchscreen-equipped instruments that redefine what is capable with an acoustic.

Now, the company has reached new heights with the all-new LAVA ME 4 – a collection of upgraded guitars that are the ultimate all-in-one stop for creativity, versatility and durability.

Two versions of the new acoustic have launched the range – the LAVA ME 4 Carbon and LAVA ME 4 Spruce, both of which introduce a host of game-changing new features and functional developments that take the LAVA Music range to new heights.

In the video below, you can watch YouTuber, guitarist and influencer Jimmy Franklin unbox and review both models.

There are a few key updates that set the LAVA ME 4 Carbon guitar apart from its predecessors. In terms of build, a new truss rod structure is utilized in the carbon fiber guitar for increased strength and tuning stability while maintaining stiffness and reliability, with an enhanced FreeBoost 3.0 system offering larger, deeper effects sounds.

This model also comes loaded with an advanced Sharc DSP audio chip, which recruits a 32-bit floating point processor to deliver seven-times fast audio-digital signal processing so you can process effects without a hitch.

Speaking of effects, the LAVA ME 4 Carbon comes loaded with the HILAVA 2.0 system. Available as an update for older LAVA Music models, the new operating software (accessed through the touchscreen) has a refreshed feel and look, with a greater emphasis on collaboration and community.

Some highlights of the system include the Improv feature in the Create App – through which you can explore hundreds of backing tracks to jam along to, record over and respond to other players wirelessly – as well as the Learn App, Effects App and LiveDrums App. The latter two can also be controlled by floor-based pedals, as explained in the video above.

“That’s so good looking,” Jimmy says in his unboxing, which includes demos of multiple different effects. “It’s cool as hell. I've been playing with this for a total of 10 minutes, and I’m already able to access all this, which is absolutely incredible.”

The LAVA ME 4 Carbon is joined by the Spruce version – a more conventionally-flavored version that offers a spruce top and HPL back and sides. It’s the ideal choice for those looking to harness LAVA Music’s innovative features while retaining a traditional aesthetic, with the guitar also offering full HILAVA 2.0 capability.

“All in all these are really sweet guitars that are just insane learning tools, insane gigging tools, insane creativity tools,” Jimmy concludes. “You could take this thing absolutely anywhere, and above all, for something that is so modern and so sophisticated, it was so easy for me to use right out of the box. It’s a great thing for any musician of any level to try out.”

The LAVA ME 4 Carbon and Spruce start from $699 and $1,099, respectively.

Prices for individual products in the LAVA line are as follows:

LAVA ME PLAY 36" with Lite Bag = $399

LAVA ME 4 36" with Space Bag (Carbon Fibre Series) = $1,099

LAVA ME 4 38" with Space Bag (Carbon Fibre Series)= $1,199

LAVA ME 4 36" with Lite Bag (Spruce Series) = $699

Effects Pedal = $99

LiveDrums Pedal = $99

Pedals Set = $180

Click this link https://shence.lavamusic.com/t/ZK to learn more details about this guitar.

We’ve long maintained that Japan gets all the coolest Fender electric guitars. Unafraid to experiment with aesthetics and specs, The Big F’s Japanese division takes the kind of risks we just don’t see from Fender USA, and often with drool-worthy results.

Yet many of these instruments are limited solely to the Japanese market, meaning they rarely venture outside their country of origin. Which is why Fender Japan’s latest launch is so exciting.

This month, Fender unveiled an exclusive finish, Sakuraburst, for its latest Made in Japan Hybrid II Stratocaster Limited Run. The stunning ’burst design is inspired by Japanese cherry blossom (cherry trees are also known as sakura, dontcha know), but the most notable feature of this model is its availability: last April, it was a Japan-only online exclusive. A year later, it’s available in Europe.

For anyone lusting after Fender Japan’s exquisite instruments, that’s an exciting development. Particularly as it’s newly listed on Fender’s UK and Europe sites alongside the Hybrid II HSS Stratocaster (a Strat with a reverse Tele headstock, first made available in Japan back in May 2022).

Fender CEO Andy Mooney was candid about Fender Japan’s plans in our exclusive interview earlier this year, stating, “We’re going continue to develop MIJ guitars for outside of Japan,” but these latest developments point towards an increased likelihood of these guitars at the very least reaching Europe – hopefully the USA is next.

Anyway, back to the Strat at hand. Besides the can’t-look-away finish, the Sakuraburst is, on the surface, a pretty regular Stratocaster. You’ve got your alder body, modern C-shaped maple neck with satin finish and 9.5”-radius rosewood fingerboard with narrow tall frets.

The key differences lie in the Hybrid II Custom Voiced single coils, which promise higher-output tones to befit the modern appearance, while the two-point tremolo and vintage locking tuners are a premium touch. There’s adjustment of neck and bridge/middle pickup tones via the two tone controls, too.

It’s likely the Sakuraburst’s availability outside of Japan is something of a test bed for future releases, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed it sells well, because we’d sure love to see some of Fender Japan’s more daring creations make their way to these shores – we still daydream about the high-spec Elemental Series on a regular basis.

The Made in Japan Hybrid II Stratocaster Limited Run Sakuraburst is available now in the UK and Europe for £1,299 (approx $1,600) – see Fender.com for more info.

Jordan Rudess is best known as the keyboardist for prog-metal icons Dream Theater, but did you know he’s also a budding (and rather incredible) guitar player? And given his predilection for far-out, cutting-edge sounds, it’s hardly surprising that when it comes to guitars, he’s a big fan of LAVA MUSIC’s revolutionary LAVA ME 3 acoustic-electric.

“To me, it makes a whole lot of sense,” he says of the LAVA ME 3.

As most guitarists know by now, LAVA MUSIC boasts a range of innovative acoustic-electric guitars that combine top-notch sound with modern construction approaches and technology-forward features. But none of the company’s offerings are quite as head-turning as their LAVA ME 3, the best-selling acoustic-electric amongst LAVA MUSIC’s smart series. 

The radical model boasts a three-and-a-half-inch multi-touch display screen that aims to make the guitar “as intuitive as a smartphone,” and we’d say the LAVA ME 3 achieves this and more, adding in effect pedals, a looper, a tuner, an audio recorder and other tools, all housed in a lightweight and travel-friendly carbon fiber-built body. 

At the heart of the LAVA ME 3 is its proprietary HILAVA operating system, which supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, cross-device syncing, and enhances its empowering apps through constant updates. 

Notable apps in the guitar include Effects – empowered by 50 audio algorithms – which lets users visually tweak a range of onboard sound effects, each of them powered by LAVA MUSIC’s FreeBoost 2.0 and easily customizable, and Loops, which contains a library of built-in grooves of different music genres and supports overdubbing up to three tracks continuously. 

You also get a Practice app with five practice modes that offers instant feedback to playing and detailed report after practice; a Tuner app with support for alternate tunings; a Tempo app where you can set BPMs by scrolling or tap-tempo, and which offers four different click sounds; and a Recorder app for easy recording and editing of song ideas.

In fact, Rudess reveals in the above conversation with Guitar World Tech Editor Paul Riario at this year’s NAMM convention, “The demo that I’m doing at NAMM, I actually have my backing track file in the guitar, which is really fun.”

Which, Rudess continues, speaks to the truly innovative nature of the LAVA ME 3. “It actually does more than one would think,” he says. “You pick it up and you go, ‘Oh, it’s got built-in effects and chorus and reverbs and flangers and all this stuff. Then you start scrolling and you go, ‘Wait a minute – I can message somebody over this thing?’ Or, ‘I can choose these drum loops?’ ‘I can upload my file to the cloud?’ It’s pretty crazy. The more time I spend with it, the more time I’m going, ‘Wow, this thing’s awesome!’ ”

To spend some time with the LAVA ME 3 yourself, head to LAVA MUSIC.

Since Fender debuted its American Acoustasonic Telecaster back in 2019, few, if any, subsequent guitars have been able to match its scale of innovation. Part electric, part acoustic, and with a pioneering electronics set and wholly unique approach to tone, the flagship Acoustasonic marked a genuine step forward in guitar design.

The Acoustasonic range continues to grow to this day. After following up the Tele with American Acoustasonic Stratocaster and Jazzmaster models, the Big F then made the ground-breaking format more affordable with the Player Acoustasonic Telecaster and Jazzmaster. 

Simply put, the Acoustasonic has become one of Fender’s most popular and biggest-selling instruments of recent times – so much so, in fact, that the company has now vowed to continue its quest in pushing the boundaries of guitar design by taking the Acoustasonic to new heights.

In an upcoming interview with Guitar World, Fender CEO Andy Mooney spoke of the company's commitment to the Acoustasonic catalog, hinting at a desire to “explore both ends of the continuum” and make it even more affordable than the Player iteration in the future.

But, perhaps even more notably, Mooney also revealed Fender has already been exploring the possibility of taking new body shapes to the Acoustasonic range – body shapes that might include classic acoustic guitar silhouettes.

When asked if Fender had plans to expand the Acoustasonic family, Mooney told Guitar World, “Absolutely, and in more than one way, without completely spilling the beans.”

Elaborating on the cryptic tease, the Fender CEO went on to reflect on the origins of the Acoustasonic catalog, and revealed how the inception of Fender’s hybrid guitar was in part born out of an appreciation for popular Taylor and Martin guitars that were seeing stage action.

“I think we're going to explore both ends of the continuum,” Mooney noted. “We're also going to look at different body shapes. 

“When we first we even talked about doing Acoustasonic,” he continued, “my viewpoint was, what an artist would use on stage today – which would largely be Taylor or Martin – was a great acoustic guitar, louder. One voice, louder. 

“If you're a very accomplished touring artist with a road crew, you can afford to have six or seven guitars every night on stage. But if you're not, having some flexibility in the electronics was really a benefit – as well as being lightweight, easily playable – and so that was part of the brief. 

“That has really struck a chord with people. They really like the tonal flexibility, and the fact that you can use it with effects pedals and get feedback. 

“But the body shapes, as an acoustic guitar, you either love it or you don't. So I think giving people options with a more traditional shape on an Acoustasonic platform is something that we're exploring.”

A move towards more traditional acoustic shapes makes sense, given the guitar itself is effectively an electric/acoustic hybrid loaded with a range of versatile electronics. Likewise, the Acoustasonics themselves provide genuine acoustic tones, so having an aesthetic more in keeping with this tonal capacity is a no-brainer.

Having said that, a dreadnought-shaped or parlor-sized Acoustasonic might still be a ways off, with Mooney asserting that any conversations surrounding these eye-opening instruments are in their very early stages.

Furthermore, this open-ended tease also leaves the door open for more electric body shapes to be introduced. We don't imagine we're alone in thinking a Mustang or Meteora Acoustasonic would make for a tantalizing addition to the range.

As for the other end of the “spectrum," Mooney went on to say how a more price-accessible Acoustasonic could emerge in the future – though not under the Squier umbrella – as Fender looks to make its innovative six-string a genuine instrumental option for both pros and beginners alike.

“We want to do what we would naturally do, and have an opening price-point version, with even simpler electronics,” Mooney commented. “Some of the things that I thought might be detrimental to the guitar are actually turning out to be positives.

“The low volume output when played entirely in acoustic mode is turning out to be a plus, because people who are not comfortable [playing] like the fact it’s not as loud, and people who are pretty professional keep their significant others happy when playing it at home.

“If we can make it more price-accessible, we think people who have an existing repertoire of guitars will add it into the repertoire as something different: ‘I want to try it, but I don’t want to spend $2,000 to do it. But if I can get it for under $1,000, then I’m gonna give them a shot.’

“Also for younger players coming in, who can start on an entry level Acoustasonic and move up. We’re very committed to the Acoustasonic platform.”