This is quite simply one of the finest guitars we've ever had in the shop. Al and I are just smitten with this little beauty. African Blackwood in the hands of Capetown, South Africa builder Marc Maingard just makes perfect sense. Marc seems to know how to extract the absolute best from a tonewood that is held in the highest esteem. Long used for woodwind instruments, African Blackwood is very difficult to find in wide enough pieces for guitar. Even in Africa it's extremely rare because the trees tend to split in the center leaving only small 3" or 4" pieces. Here we have a beautiful 2 piece back and magical tone. Complimented with Armrest and Ribrest bevels, this 000 is the ultimate in comfort, but you still get a huge voice. It's loud, strong and sweet as black courant preserves. If you've been searching for a small body guitar that has it all and then some, be sure to look and listen to this one in detail
This is quite simply one of the finest guitars we've ever had in the shop. Al and I are just smitten with this little beauty. African Blackwood in the hands of Capetown, South Africa builder Marc Maingard just makes perfect sense. Marc seems to know how to extract the absolute best from a tonewood that is held in the highest esteem. Long used for woodwind instruments, African Blackwood is very difficult to find in wide enough pieces for guitar. Even in Africa it's extremely rare because the trees tend to split in the center leaving only small 3" or 4" pieces. Here we have a beautiful 2 piece back and magical tone. Complimented with Armrest and Ribrest bevels, this 000 is the ultimate in comfort, but you still get a huge voice. It's loud, strong and sweet as black courant preserves. If you've been searching for a small body guitar that has it all and then some, be sure to look and listen to this one in detail
"We went for it all on this Maingard 000. We asked Marc to make it really special. He hunted and found us a 2 piece set of African Blackwood, and trust us this wood is much harder to get than even Brazilian Rosewood. We asked for a 12 fret with dual bevels, the venetion cutaway, a custom heelcap and we even added a red perfling line throughout the guitar on the top, back, sides and headstock.This adds a lot of beautiful character to this guitar. We knew it would sound great, but Marc really outdid himself, this guitar is astonishing. The voice has it all, it's sweet but powerful, clear but energetic, crisp but full and deep. African Blackwood has a very special voice all it's own that is full and rich with haunting low mids and bass and fat trebles. If you could have just one guitar for the rest of your days, this would make you smile daily" - Paul Heumiller
"I love the 12-fret 000 size for fingerstyle guitar. This one is even better than the last one. It's one of the best sounding guitars I've played. And with only light scratches on the pickguard, it's practically brand new." - Al Petteway
"My stream of consciousness take on this beauty... warm and lush (even creamy) in the bass and lower mids... punchy in the upper mids (with a quick response that's never harsh), beautifully balanced across the entire frequency spectrum, clear and bell-like in the trebles. Paul's right, this could be someone's only guitar and they'd be really happy. (Wish it were mine.) I play a mix of fingerstyle, single lines, strummy chords, and I like to dig into the basses for some funk. This guitar does all of that extremely well. It's also gorgeous and it plays like a dream. " - Al Schlimm