NGD Acoustic! Art & Lutherie

[Tig]

After much testing, the acoustic that spoke to me the most was the Art & Lutherie Spruce dreadnought. While the Seagull Coastline S6 Cedar and Yamaha FG730s were very close, the full, clear, resonate tones and incredible neck of the $360 A & L sealed the deal.

The build quality is absolutely perfect on this guitar. The tuning pegs, nut and compensated saddle, materials, and workmanship are of a much more expensive guitar, but it was the beautiful sonic expressions of the guitar that sold me.

Specs:
Back & Sides : Wild Cherry
Neck : Silver leaf maple
Top : Spruce (Pressure Tested Solid Top)
Fingerboard & Bridge : Rosewood
Finish : High-Gloss Custom Varnish Finish
Tusq® nut & saddle by Graphtech



Proudly handcrafted in Canada. :canada:

I love the SW Indian style rosette. The compensated saddle was a plus.

Full frontal nudity shot

Simple, clean bound headstock

Cherry back and sides

Baby got back!

 

[sumitomo]

Wow!She's a beauty! That is an awesome price also. Sumi

 

[Heywood Jablomie]

Congrats! I have the same thing but with the Cedar top. And I got it on sale for the ridiculous price of $250! I, too don't like the wider neck on the Seagulls, which are essentially the same guitars otherwise (I had a S6 for a while but couldn't bond with the neck). I think the tuners are a bit creaky, but the guitar still stays in tune well. IMO, the Yamaha falls far short compared to the A & L. I advise anyone in the market for an acoustic steel string would do well to check out the Godin lines (Seagull, Art & Lutherie, Simon & Patrick, Norman).

 

[Tig]

Congrats! I have the same thing but with the Cedar top. And I got it on sale for the ridiculous price of $250! I, too don't like the wider neck on the Seagulls, which are essentially the same guitars otherwise (I had a S6 for a while but couldn't bond with the neck). I think the tuners are a bit creaky, but the guitar still stays in tune well. IMO, the Yamaha falls far short compared to the A & L. I advise anyone in the market for an acoustic steel string would do well to check out the Godin lines (Seagull, Art & Lutherie, Simon & Patrick, Norman).

Hey, don't tell me about that kind of price! :thwap
The many Yamaha's I played at 2 different stores varied quite a bit in quality. The one that I really liked was great, but going 1 or 2 levels down was like night and day. The lower ones were cr@p!

 

[Heywood Jablomie]

Hey, don't tell me about that kind of price!

Sorry. I did feel a bit guilty posting that, but figgered it might be helpful to anybody who's currently shopping.

 

[Robert]

Congrats, congrats!

:canada:
:canada:
:canada:
:canada:
:canada:

 

[guitarhack]

Beautiful guitar. Congratulations.

 

[Eric]

Nice. Congrats!

I'm a big fan of the Godin companies. I think they make great stuff.

 

[hubberjub]

Beautiful. I really like A&L. I want to pick up one of their Ami parlor guitars for travel.

 

[markb]

Nice guitar. They look better natural than those odd sunbursts they do.

Hub, the Ami parlours are really good but try to find a shop with a few. I got to try 4 or 5 once and they varied a lot in sound. I'd have bought the "best" one if I hadn't had the money for a baby Larrivee. Despite the Larivee quality it was really close.

 

[hubberjub]

Thanks for the tip Mark.

 

[Heywood Jablomie]

Nice guitar. They look better natural than those odd sunbursts they do.

Hub, the Ami parlours are really good but try to find a shop with a few. I got to try 4 or 5 once and they varied a lot in sound. I'd have bought the "best" one if I hadn't had the money for a baby Larrivee. Despite the Larivee quality it was really close.

Hey! I have one of those "odd sunbursts"!

BUT, it's actually because I did what you recommended. The shop had four A & L dreads to choose from, in different finishes. I spent about a half an hour playing all four until deciding on the one I thought sounded the best, and yes, they did vary. So, the one that sounded best turned out to have the "cedar antique burst" finish - well, at least it isn't blue. I didn't let the finish influence my decision, only the tone. I do agree that the burst is pretty sloppily applied. Otherwise, the finish is quite good.

I sanded down the saddle to lower the action a bit, and the thing plays quite well.

 

[Eric]

Hey! I have one of those "odd sunbursts"!

BUT, it's actually because I did what you recommended. The shop had four A & L dreads to choose from, in different finishes. I spent about a half an hour playing all four until deciding on the one I thought sounded the best, and yes, they did vary. So, the one that sounded best turned out to have the "cedar antique burst" finish - well, at least it isn't blue. I didn't let the finish influence my decision, only the tone. I do agree that the burst is pretty sloppily applied. Otherwise, the finish is quite good.

I haven't seen one in person, but I think the bursts look pretty cool from the website. I tend to like almost any and all finishes, unless they're kind of lamely trying to copy someone else's creativity on the cheap.

I suppose that's as dangerous a statement as saying "I will never like ____," but whatever.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Nice! Congrats! That is a pretty close to vintage martin looking headstock (and bridge) they got going there. I bet it sounds and plays great!

 

[Tig]

Nice! Congrats! That is a pretty close to vintage martin looking headstock (and bridge) they got going there. I bet it sounds and plays great!

Thx! I'm looking at this guitar to be the acoustic equivalent of what the Squier Cool Vibe Strat's and Tele's are in the electric world. Really good quality for the price, as long as you choose well.

 

[kerc]

That's a beauty! Congrats.

 

[Heywood Jablomie]

Interesting....my A & L doesn't have the binding on the headstock or where the back joins the sides. The photos on the website don't show that, either. You must have the rare limited edition one.... Nice!

 

[Tig]

Interesting....my A & L doesn't have the binding on the headstock or where the back joins the sides. The photos on the website don't show that, either. You must have the rare limited edition one.... Nice!

See, that's what an extra $100 gets you. oke Ya' earned that one!

My internet shopping search found the best deal for the Spruce HG is$429, so I'm still happy with my deal.

 

[Heywood Jablomie]

See, that's what an extra $100 gets you. oke Ya' earned that one!

My internet shopping search found the best deal for the Spruce HG is$429, so I'm still happy with my deal.

No problem! Got a link?

But I did get a good price on a guitar that normally has a street price of $310 - I got lucky because my local shop decided to stop selling the A & L line, and was blowing them out.

 

[markb]

Hey, guys! Don't get me wrong on the sunburst thing. I think they look fine. Maybe not the blue ones though

 

[Heywood Jablomie]

Hey, guys! Don't get me wrong on the sunburst thing. I think they look fine. Maybe not the blue ones though

Guitars and food should not be blue!

 

[street music]

GReat buy on the A&L my son has one that sounds great. I have played several and found them them to be well worth the price.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

I took my son's S101 Standard acoustic (small size for kids, but with a truss bar at least) camping this weekend, and had a great time with it. The short scale made for some easy campfire playing. We did not have room in the car for a full size.

The reason I say this is his is a tobacco type burst, and I liked it sitting there against the green grass. Not so sure about a blue acoustic though. Maybe a pink one.

 

[Tig]

Guitars and food should not be blue!

I dunno... I've liked a few blue electrics!

 

[Heywood Jablomie]

I got an answer from Godin about the bindings:

"Recent A&L models don't have bindings on the back or headstock".

That means Tig was fortunate to get one of the previous models having this nice feature. Good for him!

 

[Katastrophe]

Congrats, man!

She sure is a beauty!

 

[Tig]

I got an answer from Godin about the bindings:

"Recent A&L models don't have bindings on the back or headstock".

That means Tig was fortunate to get one of the previous models having this nice feature. Good for him!

Wow, that is a plus! :happy
Judging by the light scratches on the pick guard, it was sitting in the show room for up to a year.

 

[Heywood Jablomie]

Hey, Tig:

What do you think of the tuning machines on your A & L? Mine suck! They "crack" off stationary like a rusty nut. Getting and keeping this beast in tune has been a pain in the tochas. I just ordered a set of Grovers for it.

BTW: Before everybody jumps in, I know all about proper winding around posts, nut binding, etc., etc. My other cheap guitars' tuners are fine; these are junk.

 

[Tig]

While they don't feel like the highest quality, they have given me no problems with tuning stability so far. I changed the strings the first day, and although my windings are not perfect, they have worked out alright.

I can see upgrading them some day, but will hold off for now. The bridge saddle still needs to be lowered. I sanded it down (the base), but not enough.