Frequently Asked Questions

Both FedEx and UPS send notification emails as soon as we generate your shipping label. The initial notice states something like "billing information received" or "pickup information received". It's deceptive if you're not familiar with their system in that it quotes a delivery date and leaves the impression the package itself has been picked up.

We generate a shipping label as soon as we receive payment. That triggers the email with the tracking number. But a guitar still has to be pulled from inventory, go through a final inspection and be packed for courier pickup. FedEx requires one day notice for ground shipments so the normal time from payment to shipping is one, or occasionally, two business day(s). Meanwhile you're chomping at the bit for your new guitar and getting upset every time a delivery truck passes your driveway.

Being able to advise a customer of the location of their guitar by email is a great tool. You get a notice at every stage of the delivery cycle. But we wish the courier companies would re-word that initial e-mail to make it a whole lot clearer!

To think that only six months ago we were convinced we didn't need to offer a guitar with an electric pickup. Now half of our line (2 out of 4) has electrics and by next year we'll have some sort of electric sound enhancement in every guitar we produce.

Don't get us wrong: We still think that cutting into the solid wood sidewall of a guitar to add a squirrelly black plastic battery compartment is about as tacky as it gets. Thankfully Fishman offers an alternative. Their Sonocor under saddle pickup and pre-amp has a volume and tone control that sits hidden inside the upper arch of the sound hole. The battery is contained in a bag and also concealed inside the guitar. It's held in place by a patch of velcro.
Getting the pickup to work requires:
1. Connecting the battery to the terminals on the twisted red and black wire you should see inside the guitar.
2 Putting the battery back in the battery bag
3. Attaching the battery bag to the velcro patch. That patch will be inside the guitar - either beside the volume and tone controls or glued to the neck block.
4. Test the set-up by plugging into the amp using the jack at the endpin. Don't forget the old saying "If you can't play well - Play loud!" Have fun.

You'll need to loosen or remove the strings in order to do all that high tech stuff so why not take the opportunity to change them?

Starting in June of 2010 we're changing from the strings we initially used, D'Addario EJ11 light gauge bronze wound strings to a coated string set . We'll deliver your Tofino, Nanaimo or Dionisio with D'Addario EXP11's. The advantage of the EXP11 micro coating is extended string life.

Yes, in fact the quality of the case we supply at no additional cost surprises users. We ship all of our guitars in a premium quality arch-top hard shell case.

You bet you do - at least in the colder months! Come November the humidity where we live (Eastern Canada) starts to drop and by mid December it can be less than 40%. That means trouble for an acoustic guitar. Wood moves as it takes on and gives off moisture. That movement is across the grain. But bracing strips inside the guitar running at angles to the wood grain of the body constrain any movement of the top and back. In extremely dry conditions, as the wood contracts and begins straining against braces it has nowhere to go and eventually cracks.

This phenomenon is not unique to guitars or other wooden musical instruments. Look at an antique table. You'll likely see one or two cracks running along the length of the top. Either the leg braces or the end caps, both running perpendicular to the grain of the top, have prevented seasonal expansion and contraction and eventually the table split.

Caring for your guitar in winter and keeping it humidified is not difficult. Follow a couple of simple rules and you'll be fine.
1. Always keep the guitar in its case and keep the case closed. Don't leave the guitar on a guitar stand!
2 Humidify the guitar, either by insuring the room where the guitar is stored never drops below 40% or by using a sound hole humidifier. Music stores sell a variety of in-case humidifiers. They're not expensive and can prevent a ton of trouble down the road.

All MacKenzie & Marr Guitars come with a limited lifetime warrantee. If something goes wrong with your MacKenzie & Marr Guitar as a result of the way it was made or the materials used we fix it or replace it at no cost to you.
You can view a copy of our warrantee here.

You're very observant. Those are indeed genuine Gotoh tuners on the MacKenzie & Marr Tofino. And yes, you're very well informed. Gotohs are usually only found on very expensive guitars. We love the smooth accurate tuning, the string lock and the 16:1 ratio. Perhaps using Gotoh 381 tuning machines was a bit frivolous but in keeping with our philosophy of putting the money we save on distribution into building a better guitar it made sense to us.

We understand that ordering something as personal as a guitar over the internet is a pretty big leap of faith. Not only haven't you played it - you probably don't know a whole lot about MacKenzie & Marr Guitars. From our side of the fence we don't see either one as a problem. We love our guitar and think you will too. But if you don't - if you play it and, for whatever reason it isn't the "one" for you - send it back. We'll issue a full refund.

Whoa -- what a loaded question. Sounds like you're asking us to dis your favourite hang-out. Shame on you!
We don't want to say bad things about other companies that sell guitars but let's face it. The traditional distribution chain for musical instruments has so many layers it rivals a pre-Cambrian paleontological fossil site in the badlands of South Dakota (that was what Bruce was singing about, wasn't it?).
The typical independent music store - with dozens of models just waiting to be played - may be a great place to spend a few hours on a Saturday morning. It certainly beats mowing the lawn or cleaning up the garage. But from a purely financial perspective (accountants will ask "Is there any other kind?") it's not such a hot place to spend your money. Before those lovely guitars reached the store they went through a whole bunch of hands - importer, shipper, distributor etc, etc. And everyone who touched then slapped on a bit of coin so by the time you picked them up they had a pretty heavy coating of markup.
If we could figure out a way to distribute our guitars through the usual channels without inflating the price we'd do it. But then again, if we could figure out how to turn lead into gold we'd do that too.

You can scoop up up one of the best values in music directly from us - either by dropping by our office or by ordering a MacKenzie & Marr Tofino right on this web site or by phone at 1(514)833-8352.
If you would like to be kept up to date on the delivery of the first forty-eight Tofino acoustic guitars use the register link on the home page to sign up.