Atkin The Forty Three review

Alister Atkin makes superlative guitars inspired by classic heritage models. Here’s his 1940s ‘workman’ acoustic

Atkin The Forty Three review
(Image: © Future / Olly Curtis)

Guitar World Verdict

The Forty Three is an artisanal slope-shoulder dread' with 1940s charm by the bucketload. Its bold voice will satisfy strummers and Delta blues cats alike, but also make fingerpickers alive to its charms.

Pros

  • +

    Impeccable build.

  • +

    Lovely attention to details.

  • +

    Big and boisterous tone.

  • +

    It's versatile.

  • +

    Great playability

Cons

  • -

    The Gibson it’s modelled after is still available.

You can trust Guitar World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

There’s no disguising the influence of Gibson’s ubiquitous J-45 on The Forty Three from Atkin. As any connoisseur of acoustic guitars will know, from the model’s outset Gibson never stopped tinkering with its appointments, until recently mostly to its detriment. 

But with The Forty Three, Alister has settled on what many believe is its finest incarnation. This particular set of features arrived a year after the model’s 1942 debut. 

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