MacKenzie & Marr Guitar Owners' Reviews

2022-05-02I put off reviewing my newest guitar (Algonquin 12) as I wanted some 'alone' time with the Big Al. Out of the box, Big Al, while not the biggest in size, came out with a big sound. It shines with big bass and warm mid-tones. However, the treble strings are a little thin and I don't know yet if that is the strings or just a function of the guitar's sound. What I noticed right off, was how easy Big Al was to play! OMG! Just a delight and a dream to work the fretboard, playing those 12 string songs everyone knows :-) And I've found that any song can sound special with Big Al. This guitar has brought me a ton of fun. I find that I reach for Big Al when I get that itch in the fingers to play music, even though I have a couple of old friends sitting in the guitar stand. I was so trepidatious about buying a guitar online, but I found the whole process painless and I have an incredible guitar value at a very reasonable price. Thank you, M & M!

2022-04-11Great guitar, great price.

2022-04-01Bonjour! Juste quelques mots pour vous dire que je suis un amoureux de guitares acoustiques, j'en ai eu plus de 30 dans ma vie. Je dois vous dire que j'ai eu un coup de foudre pour les guitares Mackenzie and Marr. Leur beauté esthétique, la qualité des matériaux et la gentillesse de monsieur Marr m'ont décidé à acheter une première guitare, la Opeongo. Après deux semaines de pur enchantement, j'ai compris que je commanderais une deuxième guitare: la Baby Boat. En 3 jours ouvrables, je l'ai reçue par Federal Express et après deux semaines de «réchauffement», la Baby boat a commencé à me donner une idée assez juste de son potentiel. Wow! Et ce n'est qu'un début! La preuve: j'ai commencé à mettre en vente mes guitares plus grosses et plus coûteuses! Il ne me resterait que mes deux M&M et je serais heureux! Longue vie aux guitares Mackenzie & Marr! Petit conseil: traduire votre publicité en français pour avoir une meilleure visibilité au Québec et même en France.

2022-03-14Mackenzie and Marr guitars have a curious ability to sound unique.  Some models have distinctive shapes and woods so the difference in sound is to be expected.  What about an iconic dreadnought shape with a rosewood body and an Adirondack top?  Maybe that one should sound somewhat familiar?  It doesn't. The guitar is physically lighter that some of the lookalikes.  The beautiful Bolivian rosewood body has the familiar sapwood back stripe - a combination which has become a personal favorite.  The wood is just prettier than Indian rosewood with a colorful brightness that allows the grain of the wood to shine through.  There's a new thin zipper inlay at the rear peg - a nice touch that isn't a copy of anything. The body, neck and peghead are bound in curly maple with some additional wood accents.  The abalone binding and rosette are familiar and welcome.  My spec says the fretboard and bridge are also Bolivian but neither wood matches the body.  The board is a variegated brown and the bridge looks like ebony.  It's hard to imagine a tree with such a palate of colors. The neck is the only thing left to a CNC process,  If you like the M&M neck, this will be no exception.  The tuners are Grover gold Rotomatics - I prefer the open butterbeans which reduce the weight.  To each their own, I suppose.  I was overruled. I could have written this much within a few minutes of unpacking the guitar.  The sound, however, just left me scratching my head. My old Martins D-28's are more than a little bass heavy.  Apparently it made the Hawaiian players who requested such an instrument happy,  There wasn't a bass slide guitar or bass ukulele and they had need something in this register.  Early country musicians just needed something loud and after Earl joined the Bluegrass Boys there was need of a banjo killer. The Boat isn't in this tradition. So maybe it sounds like a D-18 with little less bass and a little more treble?  That's not quite right either.  My boat is almost even across all six strings with the slightly dominate ones being the 4th and 5th.  Neither the 1st or 6th strings fall into that category.  The 28 style is all about a loud 6th.  The 18's are often VERY bright with a very strong 1st in the treble.  The Boat falls happily in the middle.  Very happily, for a singer. The guitar can be LOUD as needed but still wonderfully responsive with a much lighter touch.  The smooth string balance can be fingerpicked and resemble the sound of an old OM or 000 which is not that common in a D body size. This was the first M&M I order but the fourth to arrive.  It was well worth the wait and I'm anxious to learn what the plan is to do next.