Every time we get one of Kim Walker‘s guitars in the shop, it’s like eating your mother’s cooking again, years after being a kid–and this Walker OM-40 is better than your mom’s chicken noodle soup could ever be. Everything is absolutely perfect, from the tight-grained Brazilian Rosewood back and sides (and paired Brazilian Rosewood binding) to the butter-colored German Spruce and 42-style Abalone inlay, this guitar is the ideal form of Martin’s OM size. Mahogany neck, Ebony fretboard, Walker’s floral headstock inlay and tap-tuned German Spruce top–each component is assembled in perfect harmony. One look and you can’t miss Walker’s unique glossy finishes which help make his guitars amazingly light and responsive. The tone of this instrument is rich and perfectly balanced–the kind of complex, enveloping tonality you’d expect from a 1920’s Martin. But here’s the kicker: this guitar isn’t even a year old. The response is even and finely tuned across all registers, with a razor-sharp pianistic separation of notes. The low-end is clear, the trebles crisp, and the overtones are clean, subtle, and controlled. Truly, there are very few luthiers creating instruments of this calibre in the world today–and almost none are building them as dynamic and powerful as the Walker OM-40.