Tofino Review 10919 Tue, 01/25/2022

I've been playing guitar since 1964, professionally since the early 70s and I'm still playing today. I have owned many guitars...some no name, some big name, and they all make good and bad. In the last number of years, with aging shoulders I have found the smaller body guitars like 000's and OM's to be more comfortable. I bought a Martin 000 and used it regularly on stage for a couple of years. Having an eye for "bling" , when I saw the Tofino X I was intrigued so I read the reviews on it and decided to buy one. Here are my thoughts. First on the downside. Communication with the company could have been better...delivery took longer than I thought it would, but some of that is where I live. I requested the action be set a certain way, as it was advertised, and that isn't the way it came. I brought it to my guitar guy and he did a set up on it. The frets also needed to be dressed and the edges filed, but I've also had much more expensive guitars that needed that right out of the box too. (Remember what I said about good and bad.) I use light stings too...10-47, so not unexpectedly the smaller body guitar doesn't have a big booming sound, but I would have been shocked if it did. Final little disappointment is the tiny print on the inside which says "made in China". I have never associated "quality" with chinese made guitars, but more in that in a minute. I could be mistaken, but I don't think this is a fact that Mackenzie and Marr advertise. Pros...regardless of where this guitar was made, the workmanship is extremely good... actually as good as I've ever seen. Salute to the Chinese Luther. I'm still getting used to the L.R. Baggs Anthem, but that's not the guitar. This is a hard guitar to put down. While not overly loud, it has an absolutely gorgeous tone. Very warm and extremely well balanced. I have since sold my Martin as frankly it's not in the same league with the Tofino X. Depending on how I make out with the L.R. Baggs set up I may or may not use this guitar on stage, but it is the guitar I pick up first...every time. I also own a Taylor T5, Godin A6 Ultra and 2 Adamas, one custom made, and a couple of Gretsch's. At the end of the day, the Tofino X will be my "keeper"...and it was only $1600.00 delivered! All things considered, It's a 5 star guitar.