MI Pro

Release Date	Out Now
Vendor	Westside, Yamaha, Tanglewood, Acoustica, Barnes and Mullins, JHS, Headstock

SECTOR GUIDE - Acoustic Guitars

A well-made acoustic guitar is a wonderful thing. The simple act of strumming, say, the chord of C on an instrument that has been crafted from carefully selected tonewoods with a scientific attention to detail, but an artistic flourish reveals the musicality that is so attractive about the guitar as an instrument in the first place.

Hidden resonances and harmonics dance around more freely than on an electric; once you graduate to a certain part of the acoustic guitar market, past the two bob guaranteed not to crack first guitars, you begin to understand just why it is that six strings have loomed so large over Western culture for the last century.

Past the £500 mark, the acoustic guitar market holds a sort of fascination that many are unable to shake.

Non-guitarists never seem to understand why those with an affection for axes continue to collect many more instruments than anyone could possibly need.

The simplest explanation to this lies in this area of the market: two different instruments, of a similar price but, say, differing body shapes, or even simply a different neck profile, will guide the player’s hands to new directions that perhaps haven’t been found by those hands before. At which point, the credit card is once again flexed and a valuable addition is made to an already sizeable collection.

Currently, the acoustic market is in fine fettle, thanks in no small part to a generation of guitarists who are returning to the grass routes of their instruments perhaps 30 years after first picking it up (and maybe not playing one at all for 20).

Although the next year will be coloured by a credit crunch, there is still plenty of disposable income, amongst certain groups, that is destined to be spent on a good quality acoustic to bring those who left rock n roll far behind back to the fold, albeit with an acoustic twinge.

Martin has, of course, been making guitars since well before rock n roll was thought of as a good idea. Over the years it has become more than simply a manufacturer though, thanks to its many and varied innovations.

Take, for example, the dreadnought: nowadays, a generic term for what you might call a Type 1 acoustic guitar, the shape is so well known and popular that it’s hard to imagine a time it wasn’t, but such a time exists, and it existed before Martin decided to invent it.

When it comes to the acoustic guitar, Martin is such a revered name not simply because it has been in the business for so long, but because it has consistently produced guitars that you would (and many players regularly do) sell your granny for.

Looked after by Westside in the UK, Martin is still a go-to name for players looking for a serious instrument that not only sounds good now but will still sound good when its current owner is in a box in the ground. With so much on offer, it is hard to single out Martin models individually, although 00 and 000 shapes are currently enjoying something of a renaissance, whilst Martin dreadnoughts still remain the first choice of many who are keen to get to grips with their distinctive tone.  
Another manufacturer that throws itself into the task of creating beautiful sounding and playing guitars is Yamaha. A continually growing presence in the guitar market, Yamaha’s guitars are beautifully thought out.

Cutting edge electronics, a varied range to suit everyone from the electric player who likes to have an acoustic strum every now and again to the hardcore finger-style folk nut, great finishes and excellent build quality; Yamaha on the headstock more often than not represents a sound investment, a guitar that both retailers and customers alike know will provide superb value for money.

Its flagship L-Series features three body shapes, dreadnought, folk and mini jumbo, and all feature enlarged ‘C’ shaped neck blocks for greater neck stability, 90 degree non-scalloped bracing and larger ebony bridges ensuring efficient tone transfer to the guitar’s top. Engelmann spruce tops and solid rosewood back and sides are supplemented by laminated, vintage style ‘V’ profile necks, with the laminated construction designed to offer great strength and stability as well as tonal shaping due to the use of different woods, ensuring that the L series holds its position at the top of Yamaha’s acoustic tree with good reason.

Originally a house brand for Montgomery Ward, Recording King is a brand that has its roots deep in the golden era of acoustic guitar manufacturing, taking its lead in that respect from Westside stablemate, Martin.

Having been re-launched for the 21st century, Recording King’s instruments are produced to exacting pre-war specifications, and have been designed to possess not only the aesthetic appeal, but the construction quality, ringing sound and general I-want-one-of-those appeal of the originals. With every detail of the guitars painstakingly crafted to ensure a playing experience as close as you can get to the 1930’s without stepping into a time machine, there is clearly a market for them, and one that is hungry for authentic looking, sounding and playing instruments.

The Contemporary series with abalone is a great example of what Recording King does best; authentic pre-war features, such as a bevelled pickguard, ebony fretboard and slot-through bridge work together with a wider 1.25-inch nut perfect for flatpickers and singer songwriters that these instruments are so well suited to.

Over the last few years, Tanglewood has gone from strength to strength, growing into a major force in this part of the market. As shown by this year’s MI Pro retail survey, Tanglewood is now mixing it up with the big boys and taking a sizable chunk of the over £500 market.

Having built a reputation for well made, honestly priced instruments that are hugely popular not only amongst the buying public but amongst retailers themselves, Tanglewood has become a fiercely competitive international brand with plenty to shout about. The Tanglewood Heritage range made a big impact on the survey, and it is easy to see why. The TW1000-H-SRCB, for example, is a stunning guitar, with intricate binding and vintage style tuners that scream class, and a bright singing tone that is immediately appealing.

Combining distinctive Tanglewood characteristics with an air of classic familiarity, it is easy to see why this brand has made such a significant leap into this part of the market.

Equally, the auditorium style TW60-SC-VS-B, just nudging the £500 mark, is a distinctive guitar that stands out a mile from similarly priced competitors thanks to unique styling and a vintage style finish that is both contemporary and rooted firmly in tradition. As is the company’s policy for maintaining margins and shunning eBay sellers – a great way to keep the traditional indies on side.

While not new to the market, the Stanford and BSG guitar ranges have been chugging away and pushing increasingly into the marke, courtesy of Acoustica up in Yorkshire. Stanford guitars come in two ranges, the Performer and the Artist in dreadnought and OM and roundshoulder dreadnought styles, with the Artist range offering vintage styling as well. These are Czech made instruments and they not only have that distinctive Czech edge to their tone, but in an understated way, they are pretty exciting to look at, too.

With sitka tops and mahogany or rosewood back and sides, the Performers range up to £649 at retail and the Artists from £865 to £1,500.

BSG guitars take the Czech ethos a step further, using high grade, attractive woods (such as walnut and big leaf maple) to make some truly stunning looking guitars and great sound and playability. Full solid models start at £999, although customers can take advantage of half solid models from £799.

As a name that regularly cropped up in MI Pro’s retail survey, Faith is undoubtedly an acoustic guitar manufacturer on the up and up. With the likes of chart topping Coventry tykes The Enemy bringing the brand onto huge stages across Europe, Faith is becoming one of the key acoustic brands here in the UK.

With Patrick James Eggle gently steering things, the quality of the higher end instruments has never been in doubt, and as its profile grows, surely so too will its already burgeoning fanbase.

The FMVHG, from its Hi Gloss series, features Engelmann spruce top, rosewood back and sides, and an attractive ebony fingerboard and bridge, and is a good example of the sort of singing tone and easy on the eye looks that has helped bring the brand to prominence.

Headstock has been taking care of Ibanez here in the UK for some time now, and the well-established and popular brand continues to sell through well. Of interest in its ranges at the moment are the AWS1000ECE and AWS1150ECE, both striking new products, with the AWS1000 featuring a sitka spruce top and mahogany back and side, whilst its brother the AWS1150 sports a cedar top and rosewood back and sides.

Both include on-board pre-amps and tuners, and are accompanied by a hard case. Vintage also has a couple of offerings in this area of the market, such as the V1700-12, a striking 12 string in natural finish, with spruce top and maple back and sides, nicely complemented by some tasty binding and a mahogany neck. Grover tuners and a 648mm scale make this a sturdy and easy to play instrument, and with buckets of sustain to back up its good looks, JHS is onto something of a winner here.

In the acoustic guitar market and indeed across the whole industry, the bar has been well and truly raised for manufacturers. Customers now expect more for their money: better built instruments, with more interesting features and a higher build quality and attention to detail than ever before.

With budget instruments now such excellent value, it has become harder for the non-discerning eye to figure out just what it is that makes a £700 acoustic better than a £150 one; and so, as the market becomes more demanding, so have manufacturers become more attuned to its needs.

Questions of tone, of style and of simple quality are blown away as you move up the price scale. The likes of Martin and Yamaha, whilst catering to a wide market, still leave potential customers in no doubt of the difference between a cheaper instrument and one that might carry a slightly heftier price tag.