Norman B18 6-String

Features, if you are looking for a strictly acoustic guitar, then it has everything you need. The person who I bought it from made me a humidifier on the spot with a sponge and a little plastic card holder. Where I live, he said, that it is so dry that even the manufactured humidifiers don't work well enough.
Mine is a tobacco burst solid top cedar.

For me, it is perfectly suited. I just want something that will fill the home with pleasant music. It does just that with a warm full sound.

Where I bought it, the shop owner filed the fretwires down a little. so far it has been very playable.
I am an intermediate guitar player, but I get frustrated when I play cheaper guitars. I have not been frustrated yet.
What I think is amazing is, it came in tune, and I have never had to tune it, once. I have never experienced this before. Everytime I check to see if it is in tune, it is. I actually find it kind of eerie.

It almost seems too solid for a guitar. I have always thought of them as being delicate, yet it seems very durable.

Lifetime warranty.
The place where I bought is probably the best and most helpful place to buy a guitar in my state.

For the price it almost seems like it is too good of a guitar. I have been very pleased with the purchase, and will probably only buy guitars made by Godin (Norman, Godin, Art & Lutherie, Seagull) in the future. However, this guitar may be the last guitar I ever buy.

Made in Quebec, solid Cedar top, unknown make of tuners, came with Takamine case and strap

I played, and was very attached to a hand-me-down Epi for 15+ years until the neck seperated last month. I reglued it, and it is okay now, but in the meantime I picked up this Norman on Craigslist for $175. The sound is incredible with these unknown strings, but I am getting ready to change to Martin M-50s. So far, I would say the sound is rich.

Very solid construction, but the finish is very "soft". The person I bought it from scratched off some spots of varnish from the back of the neck from some rings she wore, and there are some "strum scratches" on the front. I am very careful with it, but I have already dinged it up in a few spots.

Bought it used

Ive been playing for 20 years at a rudimentary level. Lately I have just become more serious. This guitar is awesome compared to my early 1980's Epi hand-me-down. If it was lost I would probably buy something else used, or a top-dollar Martin if I get a raise.

Made in Canada. Solid cedar top, laminate wild cherry sides and back. Burgandy satin finish. Closed no name tuners.

I love the sound of a cedar top. Bass is not as heavy as with spruce but tends to be mellower.

I bought it used did not adjust anything. The guitar had a couple of dings from being played but was overall a beauty.

Cedar tops are notouris for getting dinged if you look at them wrong but the Norman is a dependable back up to my Seagull M6 gloss. I replaced the machine heads with Schaller minis not that it needed it but was a definite upgrade.

Never had a problem with anything from Godin. Will usually answer you within 24 hours.

I have been playing for over 30 years. I own 13 guitars 8 of them are from Godin (Seagull, A&L, La Patrie, Simon & Patrick and Norman brands). This company's line of guitars are more comparable to the level above what they are priced at.I definitely would get another if anything happened to this guitar.

Spruce top, laminated cherry body and sides, mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard.
Finished in a very light lacquer, like a satin finish. Painted rosette and no pickup.
Nice top and neck woods, the back and sides don't look like real wood. At this price, I'm not too worried though

Very rich and woody tone, has a 'play me' vibe that makes it difficult to put down. Records very well.

After putting on a set of 12s the neck started to go south, to the point that it was totally unplayable. The dealer I bought it from work with the service agent for the UK (Jimmy Egypt, wonderful chap) who sorted it within a few days.
Intonation and action are now fine, the workmanship seems very good for the cash.

After getting the trussrod sorted, seems to be fine. The top can be badly dented by looking at it the wrong way, its almost like balsa wood! The rest of the construction seems fine though

Great service from the UK agent's repair chap, a couple of days tops for a trussrod tweak

Great to play, wonderful sound, nicely put together, good service backup. The finish is super fragile, but dings add character to a guitar and it must benefit the sound a great deal. Would be happy paying over twice what I paid for this guitar.

Standard features. Nothing fancy. Not even anything that could be described as a real finish on the top. So, in other words, its just about as perfect as you can get. Just wood and strings. Who needs that other crap messing up your tone and jacking up your price? But I'll still give it a 7. Because while it might be my prefered set up, most people would probably prefer a gloss finish or some fancy inlays.

No doubt about it. Though I must be frank, I got a really nice peice of wood. I was in the market for a much pricier guitar. I tried out martins and taylors, and some pricier normans, but then I picked up this baby. Its tone was fuller and sweeter than any of the $3,000 guitars I played without question. Just enough brightness to make each note sparkle, but it maintains that warm, resonant, woody sound that makes you want to play all day. NO joke, all of my guitar playing friends gasped when I strummed the first chord. My roomate with a martin relt incredibly ripped off.
I play everything, alot of fingerpicking, alot of blues, even the occasional D-tuned Dashboard confessional song. It can not only take it all, but it sounds amazing while doing it.

The action was perfect. Nice and low, but nothing close to fret buzz at any point. The neck is straight and the intonation is perfect. The tuners hold up really well, I barely ever have to tune it. It took me a couple days to be sure that the back was in deed two peices of wood, it was THAT hard to tell. The finish is beautiful, just a slight satin gloss over the natural wood. Wouldn't have it any other way. Beyond that it just feels like a quality guitar. It definitely has the workmanship of a martin, even if it doesn't have the fancy stuff. But once again, for that reason, I'll give it an 8. I love it, but most people would want a fancier finish.

I've played it live on several occasions and it has done beautifully each time. It will definitely last. But, that said, this definitely isn't a beater guitar. The lack of finish makes it extremely vulnerable to dings and dents. Not to mention dry air damage. I keep mine in the case with a humidifier whenever I'm not using it. And when I pull it out, I make sure not to hit anything whatsoever, even the slightest touch against a sharp corner will leave a mark. So I have to give it a 6. Its made well, its just not made to be durable. But it is reliable. I fully expect it to last my entire life, even if it gets a little dented up in the process.

Its under lifetime warrenty from the place I got it from. Pretty sweet if you ask me. They've always been incredibly helpful with any questions I've ever had. They're not the Norman Company, but they're one of very few licensed Norman dealers, so I give them a ten.

I've only been playing for a few years, but I've been a seriuos musician all of my life (24 years) and I'm almost fanatical about my acoustic guitar. I know tone, and this guitar has got it. Not all B-18's are going to be this way, but the B-20's or ST-40's (I think that's what they're called) are consistently great guitars. Bottom line, if you have access to norman guitars, and your looking for the best sounding guitar for the money, heck just the best sounding guitar period, get a Norman. I've had mine for about a full year now, and I never get tired of the sound. I finally have a guitar I can be proud of, and I got it for only $300!!!!! Hard to beat. Impossible to beat. No question, Norman guitars are the best value in the guitar industry. And no, I'm not a rep, just a converted Norman owner.

Pretty basic acoustic guitar. Nice sounding solid cedar top with laminate cherry back and sides. Nice feeling neck (about medium thickness and fatness). The machines hold the tuning acceptably, but could be better. I got the one without the pickup so it's pretty bare bones in the features department, but that's not what I bought it for.

For the money, the guitar sounds great. Previous reviewers have mentioned that it sounds richer than the spruce version. I agree, though I don't know how this top will mature sound-wise. I've always had a soft spot for cedar tops and I don't have the patience to wait for a new spruce guitar to warm up.

I'm a part-time elementary school music teacher, and I bought this guitar to have something that I don't have to worry too much about. I didn't pay a whole lot for it, so I won't be crushed if it gets a few dings. My main axe is a custom built copy of a D'Aquisto New Yorker Deluxe which is naturally in a different league than the Norman.

The Norman, however, does have a great sound and is really responsive. I found that the spruce Normans sounded good when they were played loud, but this guitar has a warm, focussed sound at all volume levels. I use this guitar to strum chords in the classroom, as well as to practice my jazz playing with.

When shopping around, I compared it to similar priced guitars from Yamaha, Epiphone (horrible intonation), Art & Lutherie, Takamine, Fender, and other Normans. This one just felt and sounded right to me.

That being said, if you're looking for a really strong, bright sounding acoustic, this ain't it. Also, while you can get a lot of volume out of it, that isn't its forte either (pardon the pun).

The action and intonation were well set up on mine. Sometimes I wish the neck were a little less fat, but not much. That's just personal preference.

Nice satin-y finish. Feels and looks great. I don't think it will prove terribly durable, but I'll deal with that in the next category. I actually think the finish has a lot to do with the sound. With a light finish, the top is able to vibrate more easily. More guitar companies should be looking at this approach; it seems silly to get a nice piece of solid wood and cover it with a glass-like finish.

I've already put a few small dings in the finish, so I'll have to be more careful. If I treat it well, I'm sure it will stand up over time. As I mentioned earlier, there's a tradeoff in terms of sound and durability, and I'm happy to go for sound. My New Yorker copy has a nitrocellulose lacquer, so I'm somewhat used to fragile finishes, but the Norman is not built to be abused.

Really great guitar for the money. When I went shopping, I set my budget at $500, but played guitars up to about $750 (Canadian). This was my favorite.

As I mentioned earlier, I really like how it sounds full at all volume levels. I've been playing for 15 years and have studied jazz guitar at the university level for six years so I've played many different axes. This is a nice jack-of-all-trades guitar. It feels good, sounds really good, and is dirt cheap. This is what all entry-level acoustics should be like.

I'm giving it an eight because it could sound/feel better, but at this price I certainly wouldn't expect it to.

Handmade in Canada, solid cedar top, laminated cherrywood back and sides. Standard dreadnought style, Norman high-ratio tuners. Wonderful 'light lacquer' (practically satin) finish, dot position inlays - the ones along the top of the neck appear to be made of wood. 'Tusq' (?) nut, painted rosette (hey, its cheap) but distinctive style. Pretty standard affair, but for the price its pretty damned good.

I couldn't believe how warm this guitar sounded, blows anything (besides a Tanglewood) in this price range right out of the water. Lovely rich tone, it responds well to how you play it (dynamics, style etc.) and suits chord strumming perfectly. It might be a little quiet for some tastes, but I think it's just perfect

Great set-up right out of the box; it was even in tune! Nice low-action, tuners hold well. There was a tiny mark on the heel, but that's purely cosmetic. The only concern is that the cedar feels as though it could scratch/mark easily... not that I'm going to let that happen!

Everything is solid, the only concern is the 'soft' finish on the top.

I've been playing for about 18 months, and I'd been looking for a good solid-top acoustic for a while... Nothing I tried had the warm tone I was looking for, until I found this Norman at my local guitar shop. I was drawn in by (of all things) the distinctive rosette (!) - not to mention the attractive price! As I mentioned earlier, it slays everything (besides Tanglewood) in this price range. If it was stolen/lost somehow I'd definitely seek out another; my only worry would be that I've never seen a Norman before, and may never again! And to think I almost didn't try it because of the crazy folk lady who was in the shop for ages (she was an awesome guitarist mind).

Two thumbs up, way up!

This one made in 2004. Solid cedar top and the back and sides are made from three-layer wild cherry laminate. And like all Norman guitars, the B18 is treated with a light lacquer finish.
Painted rosette but what do you expect for the exceptional price.

Mine also comes with factory installed Fishman Classic 4 active pickup. The Classic 4 provides an affordable entry into Fishman sound and quality. The unit has tabs to allow you to pull it up for easy battery access.

sweet sounding guitar! You would think with the cedar top it would be at its best when used in more intimate musical settings but beautiful sound when used for strumming too.

Good set up when I bought it. Hasn't changed. I use a humidifier in the case during the winter months. Careful with the delicate finish on the softer cedar wood. It is easy to ding and scratch; the flip side is the light finish gives it a fuller sound.

Take care of it and it will take care of you.
Saddle is so-so, strings do dig in a little after time.

I had initially purchased a B20 (spruce top). Wasn't happy with it. Exchanged it for the cedar top. This one blew it away sound wise, and the overall feel is better to me... It spoke to me. Love the cedar top sound. Don't have the patience to wait for a spruce to "break in".

Handmade in La Patrie and Princeville, Quebec, Canada. Top: solid cherrywood. Back and sides: laminated cherrywood. Satin finish. You can smell the wood. beautiful. I even got a Laney case thrown in.

I play everything, and it suits all sounds, it is a very rich sound, I tried it out in the store with the Bonny Rait song "I can't make you love me" and it sounds wonderfull. Very clear deep sound.

I have had it for 1 year and have had no problems with it, wonderfull set up from the factory, nice low action. The guitar was perfect when bought and still is.

I play this quitar almost every day, I have a ESP Hybrid electric which has not seen a lot of use since I got this. I also have a Fender which I leant to a friend as I was never using it. Never had 1 problem with it.

The company I bought it from were very good.

I have been playing for about 12 years and this is my 7th guitar. I can not put it down it just sounds wonderfull. If it was stolen I would track down the person that stole it and force him to listen to Stairway to Heaven played buy begginers forever. There is nothing I hate about this guitar. I do love the sound, action, weight heck I even love the smell. Play one TODAY.