Opeongo - our OO small body acoustic

Name: Opeongo - our OO small body acoustic
Brand: MacKenzie and Marr Guitars
SKU: Opeongo
Price: 949.99 CAD
Availability: In Stock

A full sound in a small guitar doesn't cost thousands anymore

Availability:
In Stock

Our artisan-crafted small-bodied OO style all solid wood parlor acoustic guitar. With 12 frets to the body and a 1 3/4 inch wide neck, Opeongo harkens back to the golden age of the steel string guitar.

Crafted from solid AAA-grade Sitka Spruce and solid Mahogany. A small guitar with a big sound.

Back and sides of responsibly harvested solid African Mahogany (Kaya Ivorensis)
Topwood is solid AAA-grade Canadian Sitka Spruce
A hand-set dovetail joint ensures full projective voicing

Suggested Retail Price:

CAD $2,399.99

Your Price:

Price:	CAD $949.99

Building a small body guitar is easy. Building one worth listening to? Not so easy. And one that is a joy to play? Even tougher.

It took us two years of experimentation and samples before we finally created a 00 size solid wood acoustic we could call an authentic MacKenzie & Marr guitar. Calling upon two highly respected luthiers, we started by re-engineering the bracing. Highly sculpted X bracing supports the top without restricting the "acoustic trampoline" of the quarter sawn Sitka Spruce. The back and sides are solid African Mahogany (Khaya Ivorensis), which suits the geometry of a small body guitar perfectly. By engineering the neck of Opeongo to transmit acoustic vibrations along its length, telegraphing them to the slotted headstock, we've expanded the resonating chamber beyond the physical confines of the body.

The overtones and sustain created by the play of space and materials belie the small body size. Hearing the true"wood" voice of Opeongo and experiencing the projection of that voice for the first time throws everyone off. Playing Opeongo is even more of a joy. Twelve frets to the body (most guitars including our other models have 14 frets clear of the body) mean less stretching and more comfortable fingering. Even barre chords become pleasurable to play (pleasurable, in this case, being highly subjective because who among us enjoys barre chords?). The 1 3/4 inch fretboard width at the nut encourages accurate fingerpicking.

As with all MacKenzie & Marr Guitars, Opeongo comes with a limited lifetime warranty against any manufacturing and/or material defects. Play this guitar in the comfort of your own home for a week. If you don't fall in love with it, we'll take it back and issue a full refund, including shipping costs.

A hard shell case is included at no additional cost with every Opeongo guitar.

Owner Reviews

Bob from Scituate

Thu, 05/19/2022 - 14:47

This is my second M&M and this one leaves me saying the same thing as the first - Wow! This little guitar is very well balanced, incredibly light and has a beautiful tone as well as great projection. I have owned a lot of guitars along the way and I have tried and tried to find a small body guitar that actually sounds like a guitar - the Opeongo is the first one that really pulls this off. I’m primarily a finger picker and light strummer, so one of the most important things to me was a 1.75” neck. This is surprisingly hard to find in parlor guitars at this price point. The neck is very comfortable which is one of the most important things for me in terms of a guitar I keep for a long time. Then there is the tone, just absolutely beautiful, well balanced and effortless - you don’t have to force the low end and it’s not that tinny, thin sound you often get at the high end on smaller guitars. Finally, aside from the guitar is the M&M service. John Marr is incredibly responsive and does a great job of helping with any questions or issues you may have. All in all, I highly recommend the Opeongo. And if you’re looking for something a bit bigger, I also have the Tofino X and that is truly a beautiful guitar. You can’t go wrong with M&M!

Timothy from Abbotsford

Wed, 05/18/2022 - 19:14

I've owned and played many different acoustic guitars over the years, and the Opeongo is my first instrument from MacKenzie & Marr. I own a Martin D18 and have had a few other Martins, Seagulls, Taylors, and assorted others. For my style of play, I prefer the parlour guitar as they are smaller and lighter, and I like the 12 fret configuration. The action is light enough, and positive up and down the fret board, with a nice feel all the way up and back down. The Opeongo is still pretty new at only 2 months old, but it has become my favourite guitar to play. It has a big sound, and is a great player for fingerstyle. While it doesn't have a bigger voice like my D18 Martin, it fills a room and sounds bigger than it is. I know it'll improve with age, too. It's very light, and small enough to let me play longer! It's a pretty balanced sound, with very decent lows, no 'muddle in the middle', and pleasing highs that ring nicely in the all-wood body. It's nice to look at, too. It's got some nice accents around the soundhole and on the back. I like the matte finish a lot, and the tuners are top-notch. It stays in tune nicely, and was buzz-free on delivery. The included case is a pretty decent 4 clasp enclosure, nicely lined that offers better protection than a gig bag and makes you feel safe about storing your guitar. I would have expected to pay perhaps $2,500.00 or more for something like this in another brand. The fact that it's built in China does not bother me, as the QC i obviously tight, and I know that M&M inspected and setup this instrument before shipping to me. I knew the Opeongos were out of stock when I ordered, so I had a little wait, but boy, was it worth it. I love this guitar. I'll consider another instrument from M&M in the future. My only regret: that I didn't add the offered pickup at the time I ordered. I will add one later locally. You can't go wrong here. There is nothing this nice at this price range on the market in your local store. If you like a parlour guitar, you will LOVE the Opeongo. Tim H in Abbotsford

Michel from St-Guy

Fri, 04/01/2022 - 10:38

Bonjour! 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.

Rocky from Cincinnati

Mon, 01/31/2022 - 22:35

This instrument is really built well. It plays very easily. The intonation is spot on. The top is starting to open up. It’s a fantastic 00 size Parlor. Very light weight. All solid woods! It’s just gettin better and the price was more than reasonable! There are great deals on guitars out there and you just found one!

BRENT from Peterborough

Wed, 01/12/2022 - 19:33

I really love the fact I can get a solid wood instrument for one thousand bucks. My favorite place to play is by the campfire, and I don't want to settle for just an inexpensive "beater" guitar. On top of that Mackenzie and Marr really nailed it when it comes to my preference and what I was looking for with this guitar. This 00 is a joy to play, comfortable with a lightweight so you can really feel the music you are playing. Soundwise the guitar is still very new and still developing character but volume is great and very responsive to my finger picking. Trebles are clear and chimy and the low end has a bit of a gritty sound I really like. Looking forward to hearing this guitar for years to come. It makes an excellent companion guitar. For the record this replaced my Martin 000-15m. Considering adding the Tofino to my collection now as well. Just want to say a special thank you to MacKenzie and Marr for their entrepreneurship, I would highly recommend these guitars to a friend.

Ian from Sechelt

Mon, 12/06/2021 - 12:48

This is my second Mackenzie & Marr guitar and I am genuinely delighted with both of them. I wanted a well made small bodied guitar with good string spacing for finger style, and a friendly neck and this one rings all those bells. I love the satin finish, and for the size of it, it has great volume. Also, M & M restrung it to my requirements. Highly recommend these guys and their guitars!

Anthony from Welland

Thu, 11/11/2021 - 11:10

My Opeongo arrived last week and I absolutely love it! The fit and finish are immaculate and the setup was perfect right out of the box. I wish I had discovered the joys of a small body, 12 fret much earlier- it is just so comfortable to play. The sound is fantastic(apart from my mediocre playing), so much tone from a small instrument. To say it exceeded my expectations is an understatement.

Alan from Toronto

Fri, 09/10/2021 - 13:43

Some people may be reluctant to buy a guitar sound-unheard, as it were, but that is exactly how I have purchased all of my guitars as I do not want a guitar that has been played by anyone and everyone in a guitar store. This guitar is great and I will buy another M&M guitar down the road.

Rick from EASTON, MD USA

Tue, 08/24/2021 - 12:17

The Opeongo exceeded my highest expectations. The small body/12 frets clear design is perfect for fingerstyle; the guitar is light and well balanced to hold. I was surprised by the complexity of the tone, the sustain and overtones. Excellent worksmanship apparant in the wood bound neck, nearly invisable.

John from Cumberland

Tue, 08/17/2021 - 12:26

The very first comment I have for this company is to praise the outstanding service. I purchased an Opeongo recently and had an issue with the guitar. Having purchased the guitar “sight unseen”, I was skeptical on how this issue would be resolved. Within hours of receiving the instrument and discovering the issue, I called the company. I spoke with John Marr directly and explained the issue to him. He immediately arranged to have the instrument looked at the very next day. He assured me if there was a problem with the instrument would be fixed on site or that if it could not be resolved immediately, it would be replaced. To be honest, that night I was questioning myself about having purchased a guitar without trying it first. And now there was an issue with the guitar. After thinking about the situation I was pretty sure I was going to return the guitar the next day when I met with the luthier. As the company has a “love it or leave it” policy. The next day I met with the Luthier from M&M a very knowledgeable, polite, friendly fellow and is truly an asset to their company. He inspected the guitar and came to the conclusion that it could not be repaired on site and had to be returned for repair. He had, along with his tools, brought a brand new Opeongo guitar just in case he could not repair the one that I had received the day before. As I mentioned earlier, I was just simply going to return the guitar. But since the Luthier had brought another Opeongo and I hadn’t had the opportunity to try one as the first one had issues, I decided to try the new one. It was set up just the way I like and the playability was excellent. So I decided to keep the new one and give it an honest try. Once the Luthier had left I went over the guitar with a fine tooth comb. Fit and finish are excellent A +. The matte finish is very appealing to me. Size and weight are perfect for me. Grover tuning machines are very smooth. The sounds, highs and lows are second to none. I love the sound ! I started playing the guitar and just couldn’t put it down ! What a fun guitar to play. This is my guitar to keep !! In conclusion, I would not hesitate to purchase another instrument from Mackenzie & Marr. They have an excellent product. The customer service is the best I have ever had or seen. A VERY happy customer John (Admin comments: The reviewer did not mention the name of the luthier. He's Jerry Greenberg. He's a key member of our team. Jerry is available to do work for individuals and can be reached at (613)636-1094.

Iain Matthews Playing MacKenzie & Marr Opeongo

MacKenzie and Marr Opeongo - Harmonics and Overtones

The MacKenzie & Marr Opeongo in Open Tuning

Cécile Doo-Kingué plays the MacKenzie & Marr Opeongo

That Was Then

Back around the turn of the century (the 20th century that is), we'd sit down in the parlor after a hard day's work and pick out a few tunes. Those small body guitars were fun to play and sounded sweet. But time marched on - obviously to a different drummer - guitars grew in size to accommodate the need for "boomer" concert hall sound and our favourite OO size acoustics followed Gene Autry into the sunset. Building small guitars with a full, rich, resonant voice became a lost art. But............

This is Now

..........everything old becomes new again. The resurgence of small parlor style guitars is (pardon the oxymoron) huge. They're showing up everywhere, played by the cool dudes and dudettes. (You don't think Rodney Crowell is cool?). We first played a modern small body guitar made by a California company, whose name, looking north across Monterey Bay, shall remain nameless. It was love at first chord. But it wasn't cheap, and we quickly realized that OO guitars were either expensive and excellent or affordable and not very good at all. We took up the challenge of blending small with affordable and exceptional. It took three years, but we did it.

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