Behind the Scenes in April

We occasionally receive an email from one of the MacKenzie & Marr Clan asking why we don't post news updates more often. Our first knee jerk response is to point out that with a small line of guitars that are constantly oversold we really don't have a lot to say. After all, how many times can you say "sold out again" without sounding totally annoying?

But we took a look at our daily work schedule and realized there are lots of things happening at MacKenzie & Marr Guitars, some of which are worth talking about. So we've committed to posting periodic updates on the goings on behind the scenes here at World Headquarters. We hope you enjoy sharing the ups and downs of a couple of 60 year old kids as we muddle our way towards building a guitar company.

The New Guitar

From the day we launched MacKenzie & Marr Guitars the number one email request we've received has been for a guitar with on-board electonics - a pickup and preamp. With orders for Tofino coming in faster than we could produce guitars it didn't make sense to add a second model. We'd have to go through the whole testing and development cycle and then squeeze production into an already tight schedule. On the other hand we relished the challenge.

We decided that if we were going to add electrics we'd do it in a cutaway which meant rejigging the bracing pattern and the modifying the dimensions of the body - which, in turn meant multiple samples - which drove the factory nuts. But in the end we got what we wanted. A cutaway with the same tonal depth as our full body guitar - the same responsive trebles and the same full base.

Shorter and wider at the lower bout by 1/2 an inch than Tofino and with a Fishman Sonocore pickup and pre-amp, Dionisio, named after Dionisio Point on Galiano Island, joins the MacKenzie & Marr line of cedar top acoustics with a limited late summer production run. If you've been waiting for our cutaway now is the time to order yours!

The (almost) New Guitar

April started off with high hopes for a new guitar factory we'd discovered earlier in the year. The work they do is amazing. The sample guitar we commissioned ( and christened Opeongo) looked like an $8,000 custom acoustic, played like an $8,000 custom acoustic but unfortunately it was missing a whole lot of bottom end and sounded more like a $500 Norman. Don't get us wrong. We like Normans. They're good value for the money but we've got a reputation for delivering guitars that sound WAY better than they cost so "good value" doesn't cut it for us. Besides the guitar would have to sell for almost double our Tofino. The materials and workmanship justified the price. The sound didn't . We needed to fix it or move on.

Enter Tony Karol. Tony is one of a handful of luthiers who hand make absolutely superb guitars - the kind you'd trade family members for if Tony took family members as payment (He doesn't as far as I know?) He spent some time with Opeongo and suggested a number of things - from bracing to finishing - that should be different. We sent his specs to the factory and (fingers crossed) expect to receive a much improved sample this summer. If it sound like it looks and plays it will, thanks to Tony be a real winner! Have a look at his web site to get an idea of how lucky we feel to have his input.

The Owners' Circle

If you're one of the select few who own a MacKenzie & Marr guitar we'd like to invite you to visit "The Owners' Circle" - a section of the web site devoted to