Northwood R80-MJ

The NORTHWOOD R80-MJ is a mini-jumbo hand-made in Canada by John McQuarrie.
It has a beautifully golden, bear-claw spruce top, a closely grained, attractive, Indian rosewood back and sides, a one-piece, quarter-sawn Mahogany neck, with ebony bridge, bridge-pins, fingerboard, tuner buttons and veneer to the headstock.
The body has rosewood binding, which is unusual for a rosewood B&S guitar. The binding however, has black & white lined purfling, either side of it, which emphasises the binding and gives an unusual, yet attractive look to the guitar.
The head and neck are bound in ivoroid, which again, I found unusual, with the body having wood binding. But fortunately it has an aged, off-white colouring and looks fine.
The abalone headstock logo, fret-markers and rosette are all discreet and tasteful, much to my liking.
I???m unsure of the make of the machineheads. They look like Grovers but have the Northwood logo on them.
The guitar comes installed with a Fishman Matrix Natural 2 pickup system. The active preamp is connected to the jack socket, with no external controls.
The guitar came with Elixer, 12-53, 80/20, nanos on. I usually, much prefer the PB versions but these seem to quite suit this mini-jumbo. I???ll try the PBs next though. The supplied case is a very heavy duty, classic looking affair. A bit weighty but tough.
Approximate dimensions are:
Nut width ??? 1.75 ins., Scale ??? 25.6 ins., Lower bout width ??? 16.2 ins., Upper Bout width ??? 11.7 ins.,
Waist width ??? 9.5 ins., Upper Body depth ??? 3.9 ins., Lower Body Depth ??? 4.5 ins.

This may only be a ???mini-jumbo??? and although it???s dimensions aren???t that much larger than my OM and 000 guitars, it has a much bigger sound than they. With a deep bass, sparkling highs and a large presence, the R80-MJ still manages to keep the sound focused. You don???t get lost in a wash of sound, like you can with some jumbos.
The MJ does lack some of the intimacy you get with the smaller guitars, both by it???s physical and sonic presence. It???s acoustic tone is very well suited to vocal accompaniment, or would mix well with 1 or 2 other instruments. It???s acoustic tone is a little large to fit in with a lot of other big sounding instruments, although of course, amped up, external equalisation could make things work rather nicely
I have yet to test the pickup out properly. Through a small combo it gives a reasonably natural sound.

From the shop, the Northwood came with a very solid, low action.
With the guitar's slightly longer than usual scale length, the string tension is slightly increased, allowing a very low action to stay buzz free, even when really digging in, with your pick.
being handmade, the fir and finish is flawless, as far as i can determine. A beautiful, high quality, strong guitar.

As said under fit & finish, this is a guitar that is built solidly, to suit all occasions and levels of player skill. An acoustic guitar built with high levels of quality and very fit for purpose.

Just one email to John McQuarrie, who answered quickly and very peronably.

The Northwood, finger and flat picks equally well I find. Yes, like a lot of jumbos, the R80-MJ is a strummer???s dream come true. Yet there is a lot more to it than that. It has a complex nature and takes some discovering, tonally. The more you dig-in and try different ideas, the more you find that which it does best.

This really is a different beast from my other guitars. I???d got very used to their size and sound. The Northwood has challenged me again. It???s a bold and powerful guitar, that needs a little taming. But in the time I have had it, we have got used to each other, with some very pleasurable results, both in playing and composing. When I went out looking for a new guitar, I wanted something classy but different to me. The Northwood R80-MJ is all that and more. There???s a lot more to discover yet. And I???m looking forward to it.