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If we could play Kim Walker guitars all day, trust us, we would. Kim’s instruments are what we like to call Universal Favorites: there’s enough of a vintage air to appease the staunchest Martin-phile, more than enough clarity and control to make the fingerstylist drool, and a rich resonance and sonority for the guitarist who craves the modern flavor you find from the finest luthiers active today like Ervin Somogyi and Jeff Traugott. Case in point: our 2009 Walker OM in Mahogany and Adirondack Spruce.

Kim’s Mahogany guitars don’t sound like Mahogany guitars. Or rather, they do have the woody crunch and attack of a Mahogany instrument, but somehow Kim fuses that flavor with a bit of the Rosewood propensity for overtones and dark bass. The result is a voice simultaneously sonorous and punchy. Check out the demo for a hint of what we mean by that. The aesthetic is understated, so the natural beauty of Mahogany and Adirondack are on high display here. These unassuming appointments give this Walker OM the character of the quiet kid in the corner whose got the voice of an angel. All you have to do is put pick or fingertip to string, and this OM will sing the pants of a trouser salesman.

Walker has once again closed his waiting list (just too many on the books already!), so this is a rare opportunity for you to snag one of Kim’s maestro works without the ten year waiting list—if it ever opens up again! Lutherie beauty like this won’t linger for long.

Incredibly rare, we’ve landed one of the 30 guitars Linda Manzer built in collaboration with Pat Metheny for their Signature 6 Limited Edition run. This beauty is like new, features Indian Rosewood back and sides and a German Spruce top, and the ergonomic features Metheny uses on his own Manzers. There’s the namesake Manzer Wedge and Venetian Cutaway, and added to that we have a groove carved into the heel, coupled with a thumb rest on the bass side, to coax the player’s left hand just a smidge closer to those uppermost frets.
The inlays across the headstock and fretboard are matched with the orange Calton flight case, and each of these 30 guitars is inlaid in a pattern unique to this run. The inlays were executed in conjunction with master inlay artist Mark Kett. Further, Linda used Copper for the side dots, and inlaid a Diamond at the 7th fret dot to boot. Linda also collaborated with Tony Duggan-Smith for the final setup and fretwork on each. This is number 13 of only 30, and we really can’t say when next we’ll see one of these guitars come up on the used market.