We’d take this Kim Walker 000 over an ice cream sundae any day of the week—twice as sweet and no risk for cavities. Looking about as pretty as a fresh-minted penny but played in like a 50s silver dollar, this handsomely opened up slice of traditional taste from Kim is a dyed-in-the-wool home wrecker to your current collection. Aged Sitka Spruce top, light caramel-stained Mahogany back and sides, and a dark tortoise-style pickguard with bits of Spruce peaking up through the clear bands in the guard.

The 12-fret neck carve is generously curved in the C persuasion, and the Waverly tuners operate like the well-greased machines they are. While yes, this 12-fret Style C is from 1999, it’s in superb condition with but the faintest of fret wear, great playing action, and heaps of meat left in the saddle. Kim Walker’s guitars almost never crop up on the used market, so when’s the next time you’re like to see a piece of Mahogany and Sitka juicy tone to spare like this? So are you interested yet in the intersection between treble bells and woody bark, a dash of 12-fret richness and a propensity for open tunings? Congratulations: you have arrived at your destination. Don’t forget to breathe when you play this guitar; we don’t want anyone fainting on account of our little ole’ Kim Walker 000.

Laurie Williams made his claim to fame several years ago when he discovered his legendary “Whitebait” Kauri log, which he then converted into billets for instrument making, but that’s not the only local wood (exotic for us) that Williams employs in his powerful stringed instruments. In addition to Kauri, with its warmth and great projection (like the difference between Cedar and Redwood, but amplified), he chose to construct the back and sides on this 2005 Kiwi with Taraire, a New Zealand species similar to the Rosewood family with its rich, balanced tone and workability. Under Williams’ painstaking care, these woods have been transformed into an instrument with amazing action and response, which is deeply resonant in lowered tunings like DADGAD, and has trebles with a clear, focused tone. Fingerstylists will love the easy playability of the OM-size body and the 12-fret neck and 24.9 inch scale, allowing arrangements to ring flawlesssly smooth. Safe in its Ameritage hardshell case, the Kiwi is ready to go anywhere with its rich, resonant voice.

Other keywords: lutherie, luthier, guitarbuilding, fingerpicking, alternative tonewood, gotoh