2002 Olson SJ Brazilian/Cedar

If the finish here is satin, then the voice of this Olson is pure velvet. We put this 2002 SJ through every tuning, every genre, every combination of picks and nails we could think of, and each time the voice remained clear, strong, and articulate. The full effect of the classic Olson sound in a Brazilian–Rosewood-and-Cedar package. James Olson has only ever used a satin finish on an extremely small number of his guitars (read: fewer than five to date), further setting this SJ apart from the crowd.

This one’s been babied since birth and has practically no play wear across the body or the neck. In spite of that, the voice is delightfully opened-up and consistent; if played gently the treble overtones swell, if played with gusto the bass revs its engine but doesn’t drown out the other registers. We’re basically looking at fingerstyle perfection with six strings (and oh yeah, an L.R. Baggs LB6 pickup! And a sweet TKL tweed case!). This particular Olson was originally built for none other than DADGAD extraordinaire Pierre Bensusan, and you can see Pierre’s name written on the top if you look inside with an inspection mirror. Hence the satin finish (and maybe we’re projecting, but this Olson does sound stellar in open tunings like DADGAD).