Fylde Orsino

I picked up my Fylde Orsino about 10 years ago, for the secondhand price of ??750, (they retail new at ??1495), & I traded in an Ovation Custom Balladeer to get it, as an injury to my hands made the Ovation neck to tight to get around.

Its made of Mahogany (back & sides), with a cedar top & rosewood fingerboard, no frills, a very understated looking guitar.
The neck is flat & wide, but never uncomfortably so, & lends itself very well to fingerstyle.

I've since had a piezzo undersaddle pickup fitted, and although without a built in pre=amp, i run it through a Trace Elliott TA-100R Acoustic combi amp, which gives a great sound. Mostly, i play unplugged , the pickup is there just in case it's needed.
This guitar has no bells & whistles, but just everything you need for a very playable guitar with a great sound.

These guitars are often advertised as having a very responsive sound when played quietly, thats true, but i must admit to often being quite heavy-handed & the sound is very full, warm, & well balanced, with bucket loads of sustain. Not overly jangly in sound, but then thats not really expected from a Mahogany/Cedar construction.
Teasing all the harmonics can take a bit of getting used to, but the sounds are all in there, & a little time, effort & experimenting will get this guitar singing, be patient. It's worth it.

Mine had been somewhat neglected when i bought it, so i had some work done, sorting out the action & a re-fret, & it's now got a great action, all the way up the neck, & both chords & lead runs are easily achieved. The neck is wide with a very comfortable feel, i have large hands & very long fingers, & the neck feels like it could have been custom built for me.
Smaller-handed friends who have played the box also find the playability excellent.

It's a really well made guitar, as it should be for the price. Although i mainly use the guitar in my studio, i know i could totally rely on it in a gig situation & have done so on occasion.

A really great guitar, with a very usable sound across a whole range of styles. I play blues, jazz, funk, folk & anything else i can think of, and the Orsino handles it all in an understated way, without the guitars personality ever taking over.

14 fret rosewood fretboard acoustic, solid honduras mahogany neck, back and sides and western cedar front, elixir 12 guage strings factory fitted. Very warm coloured woods all over. Plain decor (monochrome purflings etc), understated and I find this pleasing to the eye, though the plain looks won't suit those seeking visual impact. Quite glossy finish to the wood. Chrome gotoh tuners. Size probably closest to OM as narrow waisted, but otherwise dreadnought dimensions.

I mainly play fingerstyle and do gentle finger strumming to vocals. It's very warm, and straight from the box new it had a lovely balanced tone (slightly low mid-range at purchase, but after very little play that's changing to a very full tone indeed). The treble end is wonderful, barely any brushing of these strings brings out this incredible clear sound, not loud, 'over-bright' or brassy, just very, very clear, definite and positive. Gives you great confidence to play with a light touch but probably not great for heavy handling. For me personally it had a much better, more balanced tone than Lowdens and others of twice the price. Even though the whole thing feels very solidly made, when handled, the body is very light and it comes 'alive' when played (the sustain is becoming amazing as I play it more!). For my style I couldn't imagine better.

Top notch quality feel, flawless finish despite the simplicity. Not flashy, in fact it's not in the least ostentatious, but if it's the sound you're after rather than the look, this one can't be faulted in my humble opinion. The action is fine, but definitely likes to be played close to the frets or it buzzes in a fairly unforgiving way if played anything other than very gently.

Feels so well put together. A solid feel, everything feels robust but the body is incredibly light so the neck feels a bit heavy by comparison.

The gloss finish is immaculate when new, but watch how you handle it as I sense the finish may mark fairly easily - one minor ding to the finish when the case lid came down quite lightly on the edge of the gloss and left a little 'milky' looking blemish.

Not yet had for long so can't vouch for longevity but feel alone suggests the whole thing will stand the test of time.

Not yet tested the warranty, but Roger at Fylde was very helpful as were the guys at Forsythes in Manchester at point of sale. Roger was able to recommend the Orsino over the phone based just on my description of how I play. I tried many, many Fyldes, Lowdens and other top notch overseas makes and wouldn't swap this for the world, Roger was dead right and it's the cheapest of the ones I tried too! Nice not to be over-sold more than you need.

In terms of overall happiness, could I give it 11 out of 10? It's better than I hoped, for a lot less money than I was prepared to pay. You just know when you got it dead right because you just can't put the thing down and end up coming downstairs at 3am just to play a bit more! Ok, so I've only had it for weeks, not years and yes, it's probably a honeymoon period, but hells teeth, this is fun! (Knocks spots off my other guitars including a 25 year old beauty).

I'd sum it up by saying 'solid feel, sober looks, stunning sound - a guitar for life, hopefully'.

Please check the Fylde for full specs. Cedar top, Mahogany back & sides, 3/4" nut. Between an OM and a dreadnaught in size. Very simple decoration, which I like.

I bought this guitar as I wanted that mahogany/cedar sound. It's quite warm and gentle, and not too refined. Great for finger style, not brilliant for strumming with a pick (but usable). A haunting sound that really gets under your skin, and supports a voice well. The reason I got one was that a few years ago I tried one out in a shop and couldn't get the sound it made out my head...it's marvellous and quite unique.

Bought used off Ebay. With terrible high action initially which was easily sorted out by my guitar tech into a fantastic, easy to play, med-low fingerstyle action. Very well made guitar, good woods, lovely close grained top. Quality.

A tough guitar. Built to last

I emailed Roger Buknall at Fylde, re. pickups. He replied within a few hours. Outstanding.

This is a great guitar. Sounds great, plays easy, built well, looks cool, and it has a totally unique sound. What more do you need? They're great value, around ??1000-??1200 new, and I picked this one up used for less than half that! (an absolute steal for a guitar of this quality). I also own a vintage 1934 Martin 00018 longscale, and a custom rio/adirondack Brook Taw. These are amazing (and expensive) guitars, the Orsino stands up against them really well. And for certain songs I'd pick the Orsino.

This guitar is about 2 years old. Hard to check as it does not have a serial number. It is a solid Red Cedar top with Mahogany back and sides and a one piece mahogany neck with a rosewood fingerboard. The neck is bolt on but not for cost reasons, Fylde say they use this construction method to make the neck / body join wood to wood and thus to improve the sound. It works to my ears.
Simple classic construction with no bells and whistles just good old fashioned quality. It is roughly dreadnought in size and has a zero fret which is a little bit unusual but helps with intonation and action improvements.
The guitar is well presented and came with a Hiscox Case.
I've rated it a 7 due to its limited features but in reality it does not need anything else however some people may prefer a fancier looking guitar.

The sound .....WOW. It is a living thing and the notes just ring and ring. You can feel the body vibrating and pushing the notes out. It is very responsive and can deal with subtle playing pick softly and then dig in and the sound really changed and gives great light and shade to your playing. I'm still learning how to get the best out of it.
I think you get the best out of it using your fingers it still projects and play it harder and, as I said before it responds. It can cope with a pick but to my ears loses a little bit of definition. It may be that I just haven't got my technique correct.
It is wonderful for chords and as I use open tunings it's ability to sustain notes makes it ideal for this purpose. Drop tunings still sound full and firm and not flappy like some guitars. Single notes are also well defined and you can play lead lines which really project.
I love it.
Given it a 9 as I haven't tried every guitar yet so there may be something bettewr out there.

I bought this second hand and it was delivered by post on the coldest night we had. I let it settle in the room for a few hours and then unpacked it. Guess what? It was still in tune. Impressed I was.
The action is great in fact maybe too good as it is difficult to play slide due to the low action. Again I may have to look at my technique.
The inside is one of the neatest I have seen and shows the attention to detail. Even the end grain at the neck joint has a little plate to cover it, a small detail but a nice touch. The simple dots to mark the fret positions are neat and the finish is excellent.
It just looks quality and this is one of Fyldes cheaper instruments.

I've only used this at home but I've changed tunings with no problem. Using a capo does not present a problem and it feels comfortable to play. I am thinking of putting a pickup on it but I have not made my mind up as to which type. Once I decide I would have no hesitation using this live.
It has no strap button at the neck so I would have to put that right.

I've exchanged emails and they have been quick to respond and offer advice on pickups and putting another strap button on the guitar.
They have made the point that it is my decision which is fair enought.

I've been playing about 30 years mainly electric. I own 2 yamaha acoustics but one of those will have to go. I use a 1964 strat which I love and the Orsino looks like it may become my acoustic strat. Thers something about plain no nonsense guitars that appeals.
It may be the last guitar I buy ( Thats just in case my wife reads this )
I love it and would hate it to break or get stolen.
Only thing it needs is a pickup.

made in the Lake District, England. Its Fylde's no-frills guitar so there's no bell's & whistles, except Fylde's patented SoundSpell technology creating a habitat for wood sprites within the grain for maximum enchantment.

Top - Western Red Cedar, Back&Sides - Honduras Mahogany, Neck - One piece Honduras Mahogany, Fingerboard & bridge - Indian Rosewood, pearl position markers, Wood Sprites - West Cumbrian Vocals, Tuners - Chrome plated Gotoh, Bindings - Black ABS, black and white purfling lines on front. Case - Hiscox Liteflite

for specs see www.fylde-guitars.co.uk

Gorgeous is the only word. Fylde describe it as warm & full and its very much so. Its not a sharp sound. Its nothing like playing a conventional Martin-style spruce top; it doesn't have that trebley steel twang. Its incredibly sweet with the depth and fullness of a classical guitar. But unlike other cedar & mahogany guitars i've tried this doesn't sound dull or muted, just soft & rich, with a range of tones and dynamics i'm still exploring, long sustain and harmonic overtones. And its loud.

Things that could be better... basically, my playing! At the moment, the sustain and harmonics can get in the way my fingerpicking clarity in some tunes, the 3rd & 4th strings could be more assertive, and the bass strings, while not muddy, could be sharper. The guitar can do this but i've yet to ask it nicely enough.

I tried several sets of strings before i was happy. The Light set it was fitted with hid its tone entirely. The Heavy set i swopped to were too tough but blimey the harmonics! Like playing at a harp convention! The Mediums saved my fingers but lost too many of the ghost harps. I settled on Medium-Heavy, of the brightest tone i could find, which was Martins.

If you're after a guitar for fingerpicking with a rich, warm, clear tone and lots of responsive potential this might be it. There's magic is this Orsino. I'd spent 6 years searching for a steel string under #1000 and got this for #600 (shop-damage and two part-exchanges considered) but it retails for around #1,200 so can't be compared to what i'd been looking at. At that sort of price i think you should support local luthiers and save all that air pollution. I've played Brooks Guitars (based in Devon, lovely workshop, you can stop off on your way to Cornwall!) that are also wonderful instruments. I compared the Orsino with Martin's of similar retail prices (D16's i think) as i find their fretboards the most playable. There was very little in it, but the Orsino's sound was far more involving. I remain enchanted

Very plain and simple this is Fylde's entry guitar
Red Cedar top, Mahogany back and sides, Mahogany neck.
Hiscox case.
Nothing fancy no cutaway no inlay no nothing.

This guitar suits any style.
The sound is heavenly! I have a 2K Goodall and this guitar is just as good.
Wonderful sustain, great ringing tones, harmonics complex the works!

Everything was perfect.

I believe Fylde has excellent craftsmanship, I am sure this guitar will last.

Fylde guitars are plain amazing. The best bang / sound for your buck.
They seem to take simple materials and get amazing results.
This Orsino really just sounds incredibly superb.