With its C-shaped mahogany neck and radiused fretboard, the Stage handles more like a semi-hollow electric than a traditional classical or flamenco guitar.
Both models stick to the strengths and depart from the script in terms of our preconceived ideas about the J-45 shape.
James Rotondi July 14, 2023
Ask the Expert
Martin Keith is a luthier, repair and restoration expert, and working musician based in Woodstock, New York. He’s been answering your questions about guitars and gear for Acoustic Guitar since 2019.
Should you be concerned about string tension on parlor guitars from the early 1900s? Considering that very few of these instruments have truss rods, it’s a valid worry.
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Our reviewer found that for a big guitar with a big sound, the Takamine CRN-TS1 also offers an intimate quality that rewards an uncluttered approach, where notes are given the time and space to linger.
Should you be concerned about string tension on parlor guitars from the early 1900s? Considering that very few of these instruments have truss rods, it's a valid worry.
Our reviewer found the Taylor 724ce to be an exceptionally comfortable instrument with an easy-playing neck and a resonant feel whether fingerpicked or flatpicked.
Celluloid rot, the degrading of the plastic used for the binding on vintage guitars, is a common occurrence. Here we take a look at why this deterioration happens.
Since his retirement in 2018, former C.F. Martin & Co. mainstay Dick Boak has continued hand-building instruments like this dreadnought-ukulele-small-bodied-guitar trio.
Touchup is one of the real dark arts of instrument repair, and one that exists in an almost entirely different universe from structural and functional repairs.
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Rick Turner created many unique Compass Rose acoustics, but this one—regarded as among his finest—was the luthier’s personal guitar and a showcase of both his bold concepts and skilled execution.
Bob Taylor (Taylor Guitars), Richard Hoover (Santa Cruz Guitars), and Dana Bourgeois (Schoenberg, Bourgeois Guitars) reflect on 50 years of guitar making.
The Fender Paramount PR-180E is an affordable resonator that has a sweet sound and appeal for slide guitarists, fingerpickers, flatpickers, and strummers alike.
Classical guitar builder Joshia de Jonge talks about experimenting in her own shop after years of working alongside her father & other facets of a life of lutherie.
Alembic, Turner, The Dead's Wall of Sound—The late luthier Rick Turner, who died last April at 78, had such an illustrious career that to fully describe it, one would need to write a medium-size book.
When Paul Reed Smith first heard an 1800s acoustic guitar built by Antonio Torres, he knew his own steel-string guitar designs would borrow structural elements from Torres.
The Eastman E20OOSS/v is a 14-fret acoustic guitar with a slotted headstock, all-solid-wood construction, and luxurious details—plus it's got great tone and playability.
Dive into the boutique pick market, where makers work by hand to produce flatpicks in small batches, and discover the difference these small accessories can make.
How do you choose which guitars to review? Our writers are guitar fanatics, just like you. They’re always on the lookout for new or updated offerings to recommend. We’re sometimes asked why we don’t publish negative or one-star reviews – there are so many great guitars being produced today that we’d rather share our balanced opinions on the instruments we do think you should consider.
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