Verified Owner Reviews

Buying a guitar online was nerve-wracking. I couldn't touch it, feel it, or hear it before it showed up at my door. But the moment I opened the case, that worry disappeared.

I bought the Ian Tyson Inspiration guitar and wanted to share my experience. It was hard to wait, but I let the instrument acclimate for a full day before opening the case — well worth it. When I finally lifted the guitar out, I was stunned. This is a genuinely beautiful instrument.

I tuned it up and after 15–20 minutes of playing, I already knew it was a keeper. The neck felt great — more like a Taylor, not the baseball bat neck on my old Washburn dreadnought — and the action was smooth right out of the case. I'm not a great guitarist, and honestly this guitar is better than my skill level. A couple of skilled musicians happened to stop by shortly after, and I had them try it out — both were impressed.

I also opted for the LR Baggs pickup, which added a bit to the wait, but I felt it was worth it for the flexibility. I've only plugged in and played around with it briefly so far, but what I heard sounded great. I'll update this review once I've had more time to put it through its paces plugged in.

The tone is fantastic — bright on top, with the rich, full lows you'd expect from rosewood. It shines fingerpicking, picking up every nuance, but it holds up just as well under heavy strumming without losing clarity. The Alberta Jumbo shape isn't as punchy as a dreadnought, but its softer, more subtle sounds are stunning.

Great instrument. It punches far above its price point — love at first sight, and it's only gotten better since.

So far so good with this guitar. I consider myself an expanding beginner, and this was a great step up from the entry level guitar I had been learning on. I think it's important to learn on a quality instrument especially as you progress past the beginner stages. This guitar sounds great, looks amazing, but also holds me accountable to playing cleanly. The tone sounds so great when played properly, but it lets you know when you are sloppy, which I think is a good thing. I love the looks, the case included is top notch quality, the setup was perfect when it arrived.

Love supporting Canadian companies (especially these days) and I respect the business model Mackenzie and Marr have established. Provide the benefit to the consumer not an overly crowded supply chain. This may not be made in Canada, but nothing is made in a single country anymore, so don't let this deter you.

Thanks to Mackenzie and Marr, keep up the amazing work.

The build quality (beautifully crafted), sound depth and resonance is top tier. A friend told me my Riverboat Dread sounded and looked better than his $5,000 guitar. I did however change the strings to D'Addario XS phos/brz coated 11-52 as I found the original strings (12-53, I believe) more difficult to fret and very squeaky when sliding. To my ear, the lighter strings also produced a richer sound. Regardless of some less than favorable reviews I read about the provided case, I found mine to be high quality and professional in appearance. Do not be afraid to blind order this guitar as it is everything it is acclaimed to be.

Cette Tofino 10e anniversaire est ma seconde MacKenzie & Marr, j’avais déjà une Algonquin 12. Quel instrument! La finition, la touche, l’intonation, impeccables. La qualité des matériaux, imbattable.

Et le son. Alors là, il faut l’entendre. Ça fait 50 ans que je gratte la guitare. J’ai joué d’autres acoustiques beaucoup plus chères et elles n’ont rien de plus à offrir (à part le trou dans le portefeuille) que cette MacKenzie & Marr. Un son plein, équilibré, avec des harmoniques bien présentes. Un confort de jeu et une touche parfaite.

Le résultat, tu ne voudras plus la déposer. Garanti!

This jewel is a keeper for sure. My only complaint...my guitar case did not ship with a locking key. I asked for one, but have not yet received a key yet. Hope it comes in the mail soon.

Extremely well built. Looks and sounds beautiful. Five stars, highly recommend.

The MacKenzie & Marr Riverboat ‘Just Right’ is an absolute powerhouse. It is friendly when you want it to be, but a force when you dig in. Honestly, it is unlike any acoustic I have ever played—and I have been through quite a few lately.

🎸 Flawless Setup and Extra Space
Right out of the case, the action and intonation are spot-on. Moving around the neck is completely effortless. For me, the real game-changer is the 1.75-inch nut width. After recovering from a tendon injury in my fretting hand, I needed a bit more breathing room on the fretboard. This wider spacing gave me exactly what I needed to play comfortably again.

🎼 Handles Every Style Imaginable
I play guitar completely bare-fingered with no thumb pick. Because I also play mandolin, uke, and bass, my style jumps all over the place. This guitar doesn't blink. It handles every single thing I throw at it, including:
• Folk, country, swing, and old jazz standards
• Fiddle tunes and bluegrass
• Complex (yet simple) jazz shell chords
• Contemporary and some old rock 'n' roll

🔊 Exceptional Headroom and Note Separation
MacKenzie & Marr’s description is right on the money. I used to play their Tofino model, which is great for fingerstyle, but the Riverboat has a massive amount of headroom. You do have to adjust your attack, though. A super light touch yields a gorgeous tone, but if you dig in too hard, it gets loud enough to bury your vocals. The low end is deep without ever getting muddy or boomy. Best of all, the note separation is incredibly clean, which is crucial when you have four fingers picking at the same time.

🏆 Can't Put It Down
If you are looking for an inspiring, versatile acoustic that can do it all, this is it. I can't seem to leave this guitar on its stand for more than a few minutes.

💭 The One Regret
My one regret is that my local luthier, who could have provided a wonderful custom instrument to my specifications, did not get my business.

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🤖 Note: This review was formatted by an AI assistant based directly from the notes and first-hand experiences provided by myself.
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I have owned a few 12 strings over the past 40 years of playing guitar. Including a Taylor 562CE.
I was looking at new 12 strings and nothing was feeling right or sounding right in my search.
I came across the Algonquin. Read the reviews and watched some videos on the guitar. It looked like it was just what I was looking for.
I am not one to order guitars off the internet, but I am glad that I took the chance.
The guitar is beautiful and the sound is astonishing. It is very comfortable to play.
I had my luthier put an LR Baggs Hi Fi system in as I had a new one that I decided to use.
Sound is amazing playing it through a Boss stage acoustic amp.
Thank you Mackenzie and Marr for producing such a great guitar.

I had been looking for a mahogany guitar at this price point and was pretty underwhelmed at what was offered by the big companies. I came across an ad for Mackenzie and Marr, and decided to go for this model. The build quality is excellent and is far, far nicer than anything else I looked at. It sounds lovely and is surprisingly loud. I also like the smaller size compared to my D 28. The action is a bit high for me and I will be getting that fine tuned, but it's certainly very playable. It's a great instrument that I'm sure I will enjoy for many years. Thanks Mackenzie and Marr!

I would like to split my review into two parts. The guitar and the package as a whole. I will start with the guitar and it gets a 5/5 rating. The fit and finish are absolutely flawless and the sound is well balanced, loud and rings out for days. Right now I would say the sound is right in the middle of a Mahogany and Rosewood guitar. It has plenty of midrange but has a deeper bass response than just a regular D-18 style guitar. As with all solid wood acoustics, the sound will mature as time goes on and I'm more than happy to tag along for the journey! The action was nearly perfect though I did have to adjust the nut height to my preference as I found it a bit high but that's to be expected with any brand new guitar. The only drawback is if you don't have your own nut slotting files you will have to bring it to a tech to get them to set it up for you which is an added cost. The neck is comfortable and fills the palm nicely without being too thick which makes flatpicking runs easier to execute. The tuners are smooth and work flawlessly as Grovers should. I find myself taking the guitar out of the case and resting it on my couch just to admire it because in my opinion it is the most beautiful dreadnought I have ever seen. The flamed maple binding is absolutely gorgeous, and the abalone is a great touch. It's done tastefully.

Now I want to move onto the second part of my review, the package as a whole. I give it a 3/5 rating. The case that came with the guitar, well, it's not the best. The lid doesn't align that great and I have to mess around with it to get it to close. One of the latches doesn't close great either. And the awful toxic glue smell that comes out of it is not pleasant. If you buy one of these, be prepared to invest in a higher quality hardshell case like a Gator case because the case it comes with won't cut it. BUT, you get the peace of mind that when your guitar ships, it is being sent in a hard case that protects it as it finds its way to you. You can barely find a guitar that comes with any case nowadays. Maybe the case that came with mine was overlooked and yours might be better. With that being said, people usually don't buy a guitar for the case it comes with and the guitar is by far, the best value on the market today. You would have to spend $5000 for a Martin with these specs and I'm not sure the quality would be as good as the Mackenzie and Marr Riverboat Dreadnought!