Verified Owner Reviews

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.

________________________________________
🤖 Note: This review was formatted by an AI assistant based directly from the notes and first-hand experiences provided by myself.
________________________________________

This gorgeous OM-size guitar is never leaving my family. After 3 days I already have it willed to my son. It’s made out of tone woods to die for: The top is AAA Adirondack Spruce like all the pre-war Martins that ring out like the bells of Notre Dame. The body and sides are Bolivian Rosewood, which easily lives up to the old Brazilian legends, and perhaps even a little more. The grain is insane, with colors that are exciting, and the natural spline up the book-matched back is a modernistic free-form tying it all together. The craftsmanship on the gluing, forward scalloped braces, and structural perfection have an old-world purity that for some reason reminded me of a Stradivari Messiah violin; even though made by humans, it’s slightly otherworldly. The real quill – the sound – is as promised, with the reverb, sustain and tonal nuances that keep the last single note resounding for 6 seconds, and the harmonic overlay of the strings in play have that orchestral quality that you get from $4,000 to $6,000 big name guitar-makers. It’s slightly heavy requiring a strap if you’re performing or standing, and it’s built like a German submarine; if you take it on tour, you’ll break the tour and not the guiar. The flame maple binding everywhere gives it that all good wood magic, and the green abalone purfling is elegant without being obvious guitar bling. Is it the “Best guitar in the world?” I think it will be close when this beautiful box plays in and loosens up. Right now it’s certainly among the finest I’ve ever strummed or picked. If the devil is in the details, this is one Hell of an instrument!

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!

I was hoping for decent quality guitar at a price I could afford. What I didn't fully expect was a finely crafted instrument of exceptional quality but that's exactly what I got. I couldn't be happier with the Algonquin 12 string. Both in playability and build quality. Truly a fine instrument. Right out of the case, very well set up and fantastic playability. I'm loving the low action and smooth well shaped neck. My other guitars are looking at me like, hey remember us? Nope 😍. I would highly recomend to anyone one the fence. The 7 day return policy is really nice for peice of mind but honestly, they can have this guitar back when they pry it from my cold, dead hands. Thanks MacMarr amazing job!!

The build and sound on this guitar is incredible. Well worth the wait! Awesome!!

I spent several days deciding which model I wanted. I decided on the River Boat Just Right. I waited a month between the order and the arrival. During that time I spent a lot of time looking at pictures and reading descriptions. When it finally arrived I was absolutely stunned. The materials, the finish, the fit, everything was as described. The sound is strong, balanced and full either with or without the pickup. I would compare this favorably with guitars costing 3 - 4 times as much.

A beautiful guitar was delivered to me on the 8 July 2026.
My grandad was a master carpenter and on my father's side was a shipbuilder NFLD fisher man grandad. They knew about woodworking on farms and in an inaccessible inlet by land. Improvise adapt overcome accomplish the job. I took it with me in the Can. Army.
I do see considerably higher quality in fitting and it comes out in the tone. I've fixed and played the elcheapo entry level and the odd Fender, and mostly I own what I can afford &1000 to 1200$ guitars. I love going to a guitar shop and playing those hi end guitars. Let's be honest, don't we all??
But I've found crucial if a guitar is played,really played, and the player loving the experience, is a good 2 hr setup.
My Diosonisio sound great out of the box. That tone!
The strings were no long time in transit corroded, but I changed them anyway. Took off, they looked 11-52. I like 13-56 gauge. Try that and see what sustain you get?
That question of setup?
I tried adjusting the truss rod some, a little more than 3/4 turn. Action was quite good.
But two days later, a bit of fret buzz.
I'm going to get it dialed in. Maybe with just .07" + difference neck to 14th fret and lower the bridge. But in 3 more weeks.
I bought new guitars they need days to be acclimated to where you play if you want that clear action..
If your touring I'd pick something that would be easier to do without if damaged or stolen.
I'd have to say at this price point it's the greatest boxer that ever lived according to Mohammed Ali,,,Sugar Ray Robinson.
I've named mine Sugar Ray. The welter weight heavy weights can't fight.
THANKS
Wolf

The Baby Boat needs time to open up. My advice to owners is to play often and longer and be patient. I purposely waited 4 weeks before writing a review. I had read that Adirondack is stiffer than Sitka spruce, which is the wood used for the other acoustics in my collection. The natural properties of Adirondack plus the full gloss finish means that this guitar will blossom over a much longer time period, likely years. In the first 2 weeks, the tightness of the sound was pronounced. With daily playing (about 1-2 hours/day), in the fourth week, a sweeter and fuller sound started to emerge accompanied by genuine joy in playing this beautiful instrument. There is nothing 'small' about the sound from this small body guitar, being much louder and richer than a similar guitar that I own in Sitka from a major manufacturer (that cost 3 times as much).