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

Rich from Boston

Thu, 02/18/2021 - 15:15

All my life I wanted a solid wood guitar, but the cost of a Gibson or Martin et al. was out of range for a hobby guitarist. I took a chance on this brand and I couldn't be happier. An elegantly crafted instrument. “It stays in tune!”

Charles from Amma, WV, USA

Tue, 02/16/2021 - 12:49

I'm 78 years old, 5 ft 2 inches tall, with corresponding short arms and a body that's not very flexible. I also have short and very thick fingers. I wanted a smaller guitar (that I could reach around comfortably) with a short neck (so I could reach the end) with a wide neck (room for those fingers). The Opeongo gave me all I wanted plus the sound of a larger, more expensive guitar. No adjustments in "action" had to be made out of the box and it came in a much higher quality case than I expected. However, I would gladly pay more for one just like it that delivered even higher quality sound (probably not possible).

Douglas from Roxbury

Thu, 02/04/2021 - 11:28

Sounds great and plays even better. I love mine.

Mike from Gabriola

Thu, 02/04/2021 - 11:28

Well, 6 months or so ago I bought a Tofino Limited Edition and love it totally. Wrote a review on it. Today (only 10 days after ordering) I received my Opeongo 00 Acoustic parlour guitar. Based on the Tofino, I just had to get this one and man it is beautiful and sounds great. Everything about the Opeongo is top-notch. Right out of the pro four latch hard shell signature case it was in tune and the action was perfect. I've played it now for about an hour and absolutely love it. Easy to play and true the entire neck with an unbelievable loud full sound for a smaller body guitar. Living on a Gulf Island off the BC Canadian west coast I'm in a lot of ferry line ups so you'll see me in the back seat playing this guitar. To be buying guitars without seeing, touching or playing them seems nuts but I took a chance on the Tofino and now feel I don't need to go anywhere else. To me that says a lot about quality, sound, look and price. I'm already thinking of buying the Ian Tyson or the Grand Manan and I only just got the Opeongo today. After a year of Covid isolation and not going out for dinners, shows and concerts etc., I find I've saved enough to justify just one more guitar....ha ha.

Allen from Sydney

Thu, 11/12/2020 - 16:19

Have to say this guitar is amazing incredibly light and resonant ! Beautiful tone and the playability is off the charts . I have. Even using a tonerite device on it when not playing to help with the breakin I can honestly say this guitar has blossomed I’m very short period of time incredible instrument I could not be happier !!!!!

Peter from Penn Yan

Tue, 11/03/2020 - 12:12

The instrument is beautiful to look at and hold. Tone is as sweet as I was hoping for, and sound projection and clarity are outstanding for a parlor guitar. I wear hearing aids, and often they make stringed instruments sound harsh and full of overtones. That is not the case with this guitar. The Opeongo sounds FAR better than a $4000 hand built parlor guitar that I played recently, with its exotic hardwoods and high-end tuners, and is actually nicer to look at as well. I love the beautiful and sturdy hard shell case. I find the action a bit high at the 10th fret, but don't play up the neck all that much.

Steven from Astatula

Sat, 10/10/2020 - 10:33

This guitar is SWEET! Wonderful tone! Long sustain with delicate overtones. Perfect intonation. And so playable! It plays as easily as my SG. And it's beautiful to look at and to hold. I was so impressed with the Opeongo that I also bought the Ian Tyson Limited Edition!

David from BAR HARBOR

Thu, 10/01/2020 - 09:58

Only good things to say about this fine instrument! Have had it awhile now and play it almost every day. My daughter has been staying with us for some of the quarantine times this Summer and had to pull it out of her their hands mare than a few times. The more it’s played, like most instruments the better and sweeter it sounds. Easier to play, barre chords and palm mute than my other steel string guitar.

Karl from Lowbanks

Mon, 09/21/2020 - 09:03

I played a little guitar 50 years ago and after retiring I bought myself a decent guitar for Christmas last year. I was quite enjoying learning to play again when I saw an ad for Mackenzie & Marr guitars and decided to go for it. What an awesome instrument. Its beautiful to look at,has great sound and is so easy to play, even barre chords. It's the one I always pick up so I sold my "decent" guitar

Richard from Conway

Thu, 09/10/2020 - 16:04

Got a buddy that was checking out your Ian Tyson model recently and wanted to know what I thought. "Beautiful guitar at a good price AND a return policy..BUY IT" was my reply while twisting his arm. Then I made the comment "If I ever bought one, I'd pick the Opeongo". After he ordered his guitar, which arrives in November he ordered ME the Opeongo which arrived last Thursday! When I opened the custom case I was struck by how beautiful it looked. The size, shape, slot head, and OMG THE TRIM ties everything together. Love the fact that it wasn't made to be cute or fancy. The very clean looking top will age well, bringing out the grain more. The open pore sides and back AND the overall lack of a high gloss reminds you that it IS crafted wood. I believe this also keeps the sound of the woods purer! Also the pick guard is thankfully NOT installed because it looks awesome without it and since I'm not a strummer, I don't need it. As I picked it up it was very light and balanced. With ANY instrument, getting into a good, useful playing position is crucial. The size and feel of the body and neck would feel comfortable on a couch or resting on the right leg BUT this isn't how I would suggest playing it. After playing it for a bit I noticed that holding it lighter, more in a classical position and away from my belly there appears another voice which adds so much to the overall dynamics. The sustain and volume is surprising and it's voices are versatile and unique. Depending how you play it, you can coax the sound to suit your needs. No...it isn't a heavy strummer or a hard flatpicking guitar but I was playing old timey music, classical, churchy, and blues with it sounding appropriate. The biggest surprise was when I used a capo! I noticed that it STAYS IN TUNE. I'm one of those nitpickers that hear when something is out of tune. I use the capo most of the time so I'm used to the "tricks" of sweetening the sound after the capo is put on. I was shocked when I didn't "need" to. The action is perfect and I can cleanly play things on the Opeongo that I cannot play on my other guitars. If I had my druthers I would like the neck to be an 1-7/8". If I had a better left hand position instead of a "hillbilly" wraparound thumb position I might feel differently. The shallow neck profile is enough different that I have to adjust for this. Wishlist: I think that a double high strung 12 string in this size would be an awesome instrument! My rating on the Opeongo out of 5 stars is a 4.99!

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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