Art & Lutherie AMI Cedar

I have been looking for a parlor sized guitar for some time now. This was what the doctor ordered. The fret board scale size is not too far from my strat and other electrics, which allows for an acoustic alternative practice of chord "shapes", without re-training the fingers to make the big stretch of full-sized classical models.
I appreciate the simplicity of this instrument which, in fact, contributes to its sound. No-name, but excellent tuners are very smooth, precice and keep it in-tune. I hope they keep these in future production.

I tried it's brother (or sister) model; the one without the solid cedar top. The cedar is warmer and more resonant. One can't expect too much bass from any guitar this size, however the Ami Cedar compares to models many more times it's price.

Previous complaints about the rosette have obviously been addressed (Art & Lutherie have been listening to the customers). My Ami Cedar, purchased in July 2005, has a nice wood marquetry in-layed rosette. No paint-on here.
The neck and intonation are flawless. Frets are laid nicely with absolutely no sharp edges commonly on some other modestly priced guitars. The only defect on careful exam is a tiny chip out of the bridge. This will undoubtaly add to its character (and the many future nicks and scratches) when I take this little gem with me on my travels.

Time will tell. After owning other guitars that gave way to poor construction detail, I was careful to notice that this is very carefully crafted. No sloppy glue inside, well plaed cross bracing. I would expect that the Ami will hold up well with just a little care. The gig bag was definately a bonus for carting it about to the beach, etc.

No personal experience, however I have been observing (and trying out) this manufacterer and it's products in stores only to see the quality is maintained or improved over the years. This is very encouraging.

I wanted a small lap-sized guitar to encourage more practice and to take along with me on trips. The Ami cedar provides this along with excellent quality, which makes playing it a pleasure.

Handmade in Quebec Canada, with 95% indiginous wood product. Makes me proud to see yet another North American product competing in the global market.

Parlour guitar - about the same size as a classical.

Solid Cedar Top - Laminated Cherry sides and back, rosewood freboard and a compensated bridge. No scratchplate.

Sunrise - dark orange sunburst - soundhole rosette is cream so doesn't stand out as much as with the other colours - trim is cream also - looks really quite nice.

Am not a fan of the supplied strings - replaced em with Martin

At this price it's never going to be over loaded with features, but everything does what it supposed to do and the fit and finish is better than my Yamaha costing over twice the price.

Sounds pretty and bright, took a while to adjust to the bass not booming out like it does from my dreadnought. Had to adjust my playing a bit to get a nice sound.

Nice looking little thing - i got the sunrise. Position dots on the top of the neck had been laquered over. Fit and finish on the whole is tidy - i have seen alot worse on more expensive guitars.

Finish on the Bridge looks a bit thin, fretboard could probably do with an oil.

Action is a bit high ish - but i want this for slide playing so is perfect for what i want - still playable as is.

I think A&L are aware of the thin finish complaint, as mine came with a 'Thin Satin Finish for Improved Tone' label hanging off a tuning peg.

Came with a nice little gig bag too, which i wasn't expecting - so was an added bonus.

Seems well built enough to last.

Don't know

A pretty, nice, small parlour guitar - i went on an Acoustic Blues Guitar course where the instructor played a small bodied Martin which was about 9 million years old. He recommended getting a smaller bodied guitar for playing slide on (and it would double as a travel guitar). I went to look at one of these on the strength of the reviews here and i am not disappointed. My Yamaha Dreadnought is 14 years old from new and i expect this will stay with me also. I am not a fan of very expensive guitars that im too scared to drop etc.. Am looking forward to next summer so i can take it camping.

Pass me the bottle neck..............

An extremely basic small bodied guitar. Very thin finish, but that adds to the very alive feeling of the guitar. The tuners work well, seldom goes out of tune. The scale length is great for a guitar this size, just slightly shy of what I would consider full scale. The nut and saddle are fabulous and add to the great sound of this guitar.
Everything about this little guitar is there for the purpose of making it sound and play great, if you don't have one, get one.

There is nothing in this body size with the exception of an old Martin parlour to compare it to. The sound and volume are amazing for such a little guitar. It has a very nice even tone, great for finger style or flat picking and I play a bit of everything on it. How they got it to be so loud I haven't been able to figure out. If it was Brazilian it would make sense, but it would cost a fortune. They offer the guitar with electronics built in and I am looking for one. I have (don't tell my wife this) about 70 guitars, this is the one that sits in the bedroom close enough to play.

The action is perfect. If it had steel strings it might seem a bit high but with the nylons it is designed for, it is PERFECT! The whole thing is put together extremely well, I even like the thin finish. The painted on rosette is the worse thing about the guitar, they could have put a simple binding strip around the sound hole, charged another $75.00 and I still would have bought it. I have actually entertained the idea of sanding off the rosette and doing just that but I worry about screwing up the great sound. The neck is like an old Martin, feels great.

While basic, this is a very well made guitar, everything about it seems to work as if someone said "How can we make a really great guitar for $200." and decided to sacrifice showiness for sound and playability. It feels like it will last forever.

I can't imagine ever needing it.

I have been playing for 35+ years and the only thing comparable was a prewar 0 Martin I owned until someone offered me MONEY for it and I foolishly sold it. I love this guitar and all my friends who have played it want it. It's impossibly fun to have such a diminutive instrument put out so much great sound.

A&L Ami Cedar, bought to use as a travel guitar in 2001 at Sylvan Music in Santa Cruz while on a trip there. I don't remember how much I paid, but it was probably more than the previous reviewers. I had previously tried other travel guitars, but they all had problems. The Tacoma Papoose started to come apart after 6 weeks--and sounded tinny. The Baby Taylor had an unstable neck and was not loud enough. The Green Mountain child-size guitar had a very narrow neck, and the company had gone out of business before I could order the replacement neck that they had advertised in national-circulation magazines.

The Ami Cedar I found has a lovely reddish-brown finish, although the painted-on rosette and "binding" make the instrument look rather tacky. However, the neck and action are very good, and have rather a Martin feel.

The other features are as listed in the preceding reviews, including the solid cedar top.

I saw the little thing in the shop, and I picked it up to try it. It reminds me of my very first guitar, a little Silvertone that my parents ordered from the Sears Roebuck catalog, but it sounds and plays a whole lot better.

Sound: 9. For its size and price, it is incredibly good sounding. I play mostly with a flatpick: old-time, swing, and ethnic music. I was amazed at how much sound came out of this little package. Three years later, I'm still impressed. It is balanced, has reasonably good bass, and clear treble notes.

I'd give it a 10 except for one oddity. The B-flat note below middle C (concert pitch, not guitar notation) has some minor distortion, no matter where on the guitar it is played: on the G string, 3rd fret; D string, 8th fret; or A string, 13th fret. Some anomoly in the construction of this particular guitar, I guess. It doen't really bother me.

The tuners are basic, but work fine. I've never had to adjust the truss rod. Considering the price range, I'll give it a 9. It has a compensated saddle, but I still had problems with B string intonation until a luthier pal of mine showed me how to put a tiny piece of wood under the string close to the nut. I slipped a little chunk of toothpick under the string there, moved it back and forth until the intonation was right, and it's fixed. My common sense tells me that this shouldn't work beyond first position, but it does, even with a capo up the neck. Go figure...

This is a very light guitar, but seems to be well-built. I bought it for traveling, and I would also play a gig with it. I had the latter idea in mind, and I went so far as to have the shop install a Fishman pickup under the saddle on the spot because they agreed to do it while my wife and I went to lunch. When I returned, it was done, and the plugged-in sound was (and is) very good indeed.

I've been playing for 46 years. I have far too many guitars, both acoustic and electric.

The Ami Cedar is a great value, and is the best travel guitar that I've found. If I lost it, I'd go to a shop that had both the Ami Cedar and some Larrivee parlot guitars, and I'd do a side-by-side comparison. Chances are I'd buy the Ami Cedar again, because the low price makes me more likely to take the guitar with me on trips.

I've taken the guitar on many airplanes with no problems. I've played it in France, Greece, Istanbul, and around the USA. I like the fact that it was built in a village in Quebec, a place that I'm fond of. It's an instrument that is great for hotel rooms, I've taken it into classrooms to play for kids, and with the pickup, I can go onstage, plug in, and do some live performing.

Canadian made by La Si Do (makers of La Patrie and Godin).

This is a parlor sized classical guitar. As simple as it gets (a previous review bagged on it because it didn't have strap buttons--THIS STYLE OF GUITAR IS NOT SUPPOSED TO!!! also, only an idiot would put a scratch gaurd on it. it would deaden the sound.). But, it's SUPPOSED to be simple. The tuners work well and stay in tune very well. The neck is a dream!!!

This guitar sounds AMAZING for the price!!! It sounds like a $1000+ guitar, but costs under $200. Buy one, NOW!!! It has amazing and well balanced sound. But, play it as it is intended to be played.

This is intended to be played with fingers, so I have grown my fingernails out, to use as "picks" like a classical guitarist would. Now that they are long enough and properly shaped, I can say the sound, which was great, is now one of the best sounding guitars I have ever played, let alone owned. Once again...It cost under $200!!!

On it I play everything from finger-style blues, to classical (I always wanted to learn classical, that is why I looked at this in the first pace). This thing inspires me to be very creative. Take "Purple Haze," a song I've played for 25 years, for instance. I really hadn't done anything different with it for years, just used it as a mammoth solo song. Now, I have created a way of playing it in a different position, that I never thought of before. What I'm trying to say is that, after 25 years + of playing guitar, I got stagnant. This guitar inspires me like no other guitar EVER has!!! Did I mention that it cost under $200?!?!?!

The guitar was set up great. I did think it was "dry" when I got it, so I gave it a lemon oil treatment and put it in a case with a humidifier. Since it is winter and dry here, I keep a humidifer in it and due to my love of this guitar, will always have one in it. I lemon oiled it again yesterday, 2 months after the first time. (I am a believer that lemon oil should be used periodcally to wipe guitars down, body and fretboard. It improves the sound and neck feel--A word of caution----DON"T use too much!!!! You don't want binding or frets popping out of place!!!

The only bad thing from the factory was that the screws for the tuning peg plates were not screwed in all the way, and were put in at funny angles. But this is a budget instrument. You can't expect perfection. Also the painted on "rosette" is sort of cheesy.

This guitar sounds great live (I use a clip on microphone). I use it without a backup. As mentioned in an earlier review, the top can scratch easily. However, cedar is a tone wood. They used it becaues of it's tone/cost ratio (rember this cost under $200). Cedar is soft. I'll take the eventual scratch and not worry, because the monster tone of cedar makes up for it's softness. I think, with care, this guitar will last forever. Since this is now my favorite guitar, I will take great care of her.

I have been playing since around 1978 or so. I have played in numerous bands, and solo. I have owned too many guitars to mention. This, however is a guitar I plan to not get rid of. If it were lost or stolen, I would certainly get another, but, since it didn't cost much wouldn't upset me for too long. While purchasing this, I compared it to a La Patrie classical, Alvarez classical (in the same price range, +/- $100) and a $1000+ Ramriez. I closed my eyes while playing all of them. On both this guitar and the Ramirez, I didn't make any mistakes, while testing each for about 15 min. They both sounded great!! Since the Ami cost way less.....it was no decision. THIS COULD BE THE BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK GUITAR EVER MADE!!!

Made in Canada by LaSiDo, this is a parlour-sized guitar, very small and light (less than 2lbs). Solid cedar top (hence the name), laminated back & sides. Natural finish.
Open-backed 3-in-a-row-type machine-heads, 12-fret neck. C-profile neck. Compensated saddle.
Minor gripe - there are no strap buttons.

Bright, but well-balanced, and a surprising amount of overall volume & bottom end for the size. Responsive.

Ideal for fingerstyle and single-note playing, both accompanying songs and solo guitar pieces.

The action when new seemed a little tough, but after putting a set of medium light strings on it was fine.
No obvious flaws.

Pretty solid, overall.
However, the top is very delicate, and if you're not careful the wood will get marked, even a relatively gentle tap with a fingernail will make a mark. So handle with care, unless you like the "worn look". Or do like I did and stick a scratchplate on ASAP.
The tuning pegs are perfectly adequate, but don't feel quite so solid as I'd like.

I think it's guaranteed for a year. I haven't had to deal with the manufacturer.

I've been playing a Fender dreadnought for a long time, but was looking for a second guitar more suited to fingerstyle playing, and somewhat smaller and lighter.

The most appealing thing about it is the size and lightness of it. It's absolutely no hassle to carry around, it's nice and cosy to play curled up on the sofa. The name Ami does sum it up well, this is a very intimate guitar.

But it's is also a seriously nice-sounding and very playable instrument- the depth and volume of sound is amazing for such a little guitar, and way more than you'd expect for something at this price. It's ideal for delicate styles of music- but it also has plenty of volume and projection. The sound is precise, balanced and not too overpowering. It records nicely, and also fits in very well when playing with other guitars.

The downsides are the lack of strap buttons and the delicacy of the wooden top (I found a scratchplate essential). One thing I didn't think about was whether the soundhole would fit in a magnetic pickup - it doesn't, or at least it didn't before I had it enlarged.. ouch! If you just wanted a guitar to play at home these probably wouldn't be issues. However, with a little modification, it's now a perfectly giggable guitar.

For a guitar of this type, it is very desirable, and the value for money is exceptional (it would be a good guitar at twice the price). Which is just as well, because I don't think you'll find many of them for sale second-hand.

Okay, this is a cool one. It is a parlor size guitar (24.9" Scale) with the requisite small body and 12 frets to the neck. It is made of almost entirely Canandian woods, and is made by La Si Do (Seagull and Godin). It has a solid Cedar top (hence the Cedar in the name), Cherry Veneer sides and back, a maple neck with a walnut bridge and fingerboard. The neck fits my hand well, and is a standard C shape. The satin finish makes it play fast and smooth. It also has a very elegant (and well made) compensated saddle and vintage style (3 and 3) one piece open tuners. It is finished in what I call a vintage satin blue burst. It has cream binding and simple inlays, with a nice cream rosette as well. My AMI came in a very simple backpack/gig bag and it fits in the overhead comparment on a plane!

Considering the size and price of this guitar, the sound is unbeatable. It is extremely well balanced, full, rich, and bright, and seems to react well to different types of strings. It is also, suprisingly loud. I am using it primarily as a song writing guitar, but if I need to do some rhythm recording, I will certainly use it. I would say that this is a fingerpickers dream, but I use it primarily for flatpicking and it sounds great for that too... Just too good for this price range. If it cost $700, I might give it a 9.. but at $165 it absolutely deserves a 10.

Finish is a little thin, but otherwise the guitar is very well made an very well put together considering it's price. The action is very stable and very nice, and the compensated saddle is perfectly intonated (then again, there are only 12 playable frets to the body, so it is a little hard to check). The wood is great, and I tend to think of finish flaws on a guitar like this as a good thing, just the beginnings of character. I hope to play and own this guitar until it completely falls apart (and given La Si Do's reputation, I might not make it that long).

I have only had it for 2 months, but so far so good. I don't really plan to use it a gig, but the hardware is up to it. I think it will see a lot of campfire and living room time, as well as a bunch of flying, and I think it will hold up wonderfully!

It is hard to find information about this company in the country, but I succeeded. I don't have a warranty (that whole international thing is kind of a pain... bought it in Canada, live in the US..) but I don't expect to ever need it.

As an aside, I bought this guitar over Christmas. I was on a ski trip with my parents to Whistler, and I didn't have a guitar I felt like subjecting to the baggage handlers. I got to Whistler, and sought out a place to rent a guitar for the week, and I found this baby at Whistler music. I played it for a while, talked price, and decided that spending the extra cash to buy it was better than renting a POS yamaha (which, if I were a music store owner at a ski area, is what I would rent to). I flew home with it, and it now hangs on a wall hanger next to my bed. I play it all the time, especially when I am having sleep issues. Love it, and Whistler music is a great store! I am very pleased to have a guitar that plays and sounds great, and cost so little. Look out Martin and Taylor, La Si Do is coming!

Overall, well made, inexpensive (as opposed to cheap) guitar, that sounds and plays great. This blows away baby taylors, martin backpackers and every other small acoustic I have ever played (even, IMHO martin 000 series). Find one if you need one, or even if you don't, it was $165... that's cheaper than several of the pedals that I own for my electric rig!