Frequently Asked Questions

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, the company. 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 even pay the return shipping charges. When we get it back in our warehouse in the same condition as when it was sent we'll issue a full refund. All we ask is that you make your decision within a week of receiving your guitar and hold onto the shipping materials until you're sure you no longer need them.

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.

Yes we sell guitar to US based customers. In fact as word about our guitars spreads we're getting more and more inquiries from south of the border.

If you live in the US you'll pay the price of the guitar plus the shipping costs as calculated when you place an order but there will be no other hidden charges or fees. We arrange to pay all customs duty and brokerage costs for you. You'll never see a bill for either.

At the present time we work exclusively in Canadian dollars. Your credit card company will convert the payment into US dollars at their current conversion rate. That rate varies from day-to-day but because the two currencies are so close to each other in value the difference will be extremely minor. If the Canadian dollar continues to rise and passes parity with the US dollar we'll set up separate pricing for US customers so they aren't penalized by the currency difference.

Down the road we're planning on opening a US warehouse - likely somewhere in New England. But until that day arrives we'll absorb the cost of cross-border business for our American Customers.

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?

The pickup and preamp we use in all MacKenzie & Marr guitars requires a 9 volt battery. The most common reason for not getting audio output is that the battery is either not installed or still covered with the protective clear plastic casing. Because we refuse to cut a chunk out of the guitar's sidewall we've elected to use the Fishman Sonotone system which has a battery bag inside the guitar - usually attached to the neck block just forward of the sound hole. Check to make sure there is a battery in the bag, the battery still has a charge and the red and black twisted pair wire is securely attached to the terminals.

If the battery is fine the problem may be as simple as raising the volume. Both tone (bass to treble) and volume are controlled by small wheels on the control module located inside the top half of the sound hole.

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 October the relative humidity where we live (Eastern Canada) starts to drop and by mid November it can be far less than the 40% required for safe guitar storage. That means trouble. 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.

A couple of caveats:
Don't count on a furnace-attached humidifier to keep your guitar above 45% relative humidity. It won't happen despite what the company that installed it told you! You need in-room or in-case humidification.
Spend $20 and buy a hygrometer - and then calibrate it! Knowing the exact humidity in your guitar room is critical to controlling it. Small hygrometers are not expensive and the Internet has dozens of sites that show how to calibrate them. The best investment you can make!

All MacKenzie & Marr Guitars come with a limited lifetime warranty. 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 warranty here.

You're very observant. Those are indeed genuine Gotoh tuners on the early MacKenzie & Marr Tofinos. 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.

In April of 2011 we began a running change - switching from Gotoh 381s to a new tuning machine of our own design. We wanted to increase the turning ratio. 16:1 is better than anyone else offers in this price range but we found a way to get 20:1 without an increase in cost. The fact that the factory that makes our new tuners is across the street from our guitar factory is an added plus.

It seems that every performer you see is using a cutaway guitar on stage leaving the impression must be significantly better than full body acoustics. Not so fast pilgrim. What you see is not what you hear. Cutaway guitars have one significant advantage but also one noticeable drawback.

First - the advantage: If you're playing style calls for a lot of finger work high up the neck a cutaway gives your hand a few extra frets. That's great for reaching the really high notes but no benefit at all if you play primarily below the 10th fret.

The drawback? Acoustic guitars rely in part on the interior body characteristics to deliver sound. Changing either the size or the shape alters the sound. Either the timbre or the volume will be different. Cutaway guitars, ours included, have slightly less bass response. Some musicians see that as more balanced. Others find the sound too bright (too much treble).

So why are so many professional musicians playing cutaways? In a word? Electrics. Back before pickups, pre-amps and on-stage amplifiers were the norm for acoustic players you never saw pros using cutaway bodies. But the ability of modern electronic sound enhancement to boost bass and alter the sound profile of an instrument pretty much eliminates the downside of a cutaway in a performance situation.

If you play on-stage, do a lot of lead guitar stuff and rely on your amp to shape the sound of your guitar a cutaway is a great body style and our Dionisio is a superb choice. On the other hand, if you rarely electrify (all of our guitars come with on-board pickups) and want a bit more bass response we suggest Tofino or the Ian Tyson Ltd. If you really! want bass you may want to take a serious look at the coming Naked Lady.

No one is disputing the personal nature of a guitar. As with most musical instruments there's a strong bond between the musician and his/her guitar. But that has little to nothing to do with where a guitar is purchased. We think there's a strong argument (or two) favouring on-line shopping.

We speak with players who swear the only way to make an educated buying decision is to spend time in stores playing a variety of different guitars. There's certainly something to be said for comparison shopping but in test after test we found that after playing two or three guitars most players lost all perspective - forgetting how some felt or sounded and confusing features of others. Greater choice in every case lead to greater confusion. To add to the frustration you're playing the guitars in a store - where the acoustics are either artificially rigged to sound good or other players are overriding your picking. When you buy a MacKenzie & Marr guitar you have it for a full week - to play and, if you desire, to compare to other guitars in the privacy of your own home. Your friends can try it and give you feedback and no salespeople are hovering over you pushing for a sale.

Convenience and comfort of on-line shopping alone usually lead to sound buying decisions but there's a kicker to considering a MacKenzie & Marr guitar. We're different than any other store - on-line or bricks and mortar. Our guitars come from the factory to our warehouse to our end users - you! We run a lean operation with no distributors, no dealers, no bloated distribution channel and the associated need for credit managers, salespeople, trade show costs etc etc. That means hundreds - often thousands - of dollars in savings.

We're using 21st century technology to put old fashioned, hand-crafted solid wood guitars the in the hands of savvy musicians. Try doing that without the Internet!