Norman B20 HG

I believe a 5-6 year old model "Encore B20 High Gloss Black" with Fishman classic 4T pickup- comes with an older version of the Fort epp case. Other features have been reviewed before.Solid top laminate back and sides. Fishman 4t- the onboard tuner is really handy for getting into concert pitch in a hurry as well as putting the guitar in "standby" mode.

The fort case is absolutely the coolest thing...mine is an older version with a nylon covering on the styrofoam. its light,protects better than an archtop hardshell case and protects to a certain degree form temperature and humidity changes.
definitley a better mousetrap.

I have a number of higher end guitars,have owned several over the years from various manufacturers. Right now by way of direct comparison, I have a guild D55 ( Tacoma) and a vintage Gibson LG 2 from the 1940's. I bought this guitar for 275 at a pawn shop to use for a couple of open mic shows we do around town, so as to encourage players to get up even if they don't have a guitar of their own. Its the village bicycle and everyone who plays it signs the guitar so its got some duct tape and signatures all over it...it gets a workout with me.

By way of camparison, it doesnt have the individual note articulation of the Gibson, nor the wide strumming sound and balance of the Guild. On the other hand it does both strumming and fingerpicking well and in some respects is a better overall guitar than either of them. It is a middle of the road sound.

Godin, the manufacturer claims that the laminated wild cherry produces a sound warmer than maple and brighter than mahogany but I dont agree... at least with mine...strung with elixir 12's (poly web) the tone is between mahog and rosewood dark, which isnt a bad place to be.

A tiny bit less bright than a Martin mahog dread. Good Volume not quite as loud.


We plug in right to board/pa with it without effects and aim for a true acoustic tone- you can get it with some eq tweaking but while it is more releable and easier to use than the others , the LR Baggs and B-band systems with ribbon transducers sound marginally better and have less piezo quack. The fishman 4t gets good points for being easier to use and get in tune than either of them and sounds good.

As an open mic guitar, with many hands on it playing many styles of music, it does them all very well just like a good dreadnought should. I wish I had the cutaway for reaching the pentatonic minor in E on the twelth fret but I am probably one of the few that would want to get there on an acoustic anyway.

Bought used so I can't comment on the factory setup. I set my own up and it plays out well....black finish so I dont suspect that I got the best of the available tops.... the tuners hold well... no flaws anywhere that I can see.

There werent signs of play wear on the guitar when I bought it so the top still hasn't fully opened up yet I suspect....Ive given it a good workout regular gigging and ... ahem... while I dont personally abuse it ... drunk guys get up in bars and play on it... budding rockstars and folkies bang on it... the thing is tanklike in construction....if it was a seagull with a light-finished cedar top it would sound a little more livley but more midrangy and the top would be banged out by now and there is nary a mrk on this thing...
I would add that as a Canadian, our climate in the winter is brutal on finer guitars.... dyr dry dry in the winter and wet and humid in the summer which gives rise to all sorts of issues with high end guitars if not properly humidified. I have humidifier in my home but this one is a gigging axe and doenst get stored in a humidity cotrolled environment. Less sensitive than my other guitars.
absolute top marks for reliability/durability-this is a great overall guitar.

never tried them... I live in Canada and ther are a few dealers locally so....

There are better sounding guitars than this one to my ear... the Guild is an example...but this one isn't as finicky as many of the higher end guitars including the guild and sounds almost as good and better than the guild for fingerpicking styles. Here,I could buy FIVE of these guitars for the price of the Guild. This thing is a Timex Watch and I've given it a licking... and it keeps on ticking. It feels a little overlacquered but doesnt sound overlacquered, which is testament to its finish quality and the bragging rights of the manufacturer in this regard are spot on.

Dreadnought. No pickup (I fit a sunrise when I need to get loud), good wood, solid cedar on top, laminated back and sides, but too grain on fretboard' rosewood.
A little bit rough workmanship inside, but works fine.
Strange scale: a little bit longer than Gibson's, a little bit shorter than Martin's.

I play blues, ragtime, hillbilly & bluegrass, finger & flatpick, and the Norman is very good, rich and definite (cedar top/laminated cherry body add stiffness?) on lower positions (1 to 5). Seems weak in solos in high textures, but I'm not using for this.
The sound is very live, quick and snap playing with bare fingers, troathy with fingerpicks (metallic Dunlop and National thumbpick); get out better strummed with a medium-gauge nylon pick; not also with a heavy-gauge or playing intricate bluegrass backups and runs.
Cheap but seriour. No frills for folks. Mine is a blue-collar, honest guitar. Viva!

Good and solid finish. You can set low action without rattles nor buzz, use light gauge strings. Sound good with electrick nickel wound too. Good the neck bolted on.

Buyed 2nd, or 3rd, or 4th hand from '90s (mine is the old style one, red label, simple cicle on the soundhole). Some wear and scratch, but in order. I was looking for a guitar to be setted for slide (bottle and lap style playing) to add to my Martins (d18 and d35). I lay around on sof??, letting children play it, taking on the trunk of my car, playing at parties and for gigs. I'm not caring to clean it, change strings when they go dead (some days after), I use as a working instrument. And I'm leaving Martins at home almost ever.

I'm playing the guitar since I was on my 13. Now I'm 45. I have a formal education, a conservatory' classical guitar degree, I play cello on a chamber orchestra and I love traditional music. I was a pro from 18 to 30.
Stole or lost: seen the price I've paid for, the usability of the instrument, the sound that mix Martin, Gibson and Guild I got one think: could I eventually find another?
Favourite feature: sound. Love: no fear when my child is getting around with a marmalade sandwich on hand...

jus' plain simple Norman b20HG

nice deep throaty roar, good strong sound which you feel pass straight through your lungs

the HG finish is a quality well needed, not a single scratch visible after over 2 years of ownership

HG finish boosts this guitars life to greater boundaries
but the nut and bolt holding the neck to the body did come lose once, making a terrible rattling sound everytime it was played

its a great guitar, lasted me 2 years with no problems. and i love the sound

don't know what year it was made. got it at long & mcquade in toronto. it was a demo at the show room...cheap!!! simple simple guitar...no plugins. pretty natrual-wood look. a thinner neck than the seagull s6 (which i also have, made ten feet away from each other). easy to strum...a bit more work to finger. very light...but sturdy...feels like a guitar, not a toy.

at first i used light strings on her, and she wasn't very loud. then i changed to heavy guage and she's amazing!!! if you do get heavier guage strings make sure you tune down...or else you might crack the bracing. i play folk & roll and this guitar is awesome for it. not loud when you want her to be gentle, but if you strum/pick hard, she'll scream!!!!

had the free set up at the store...action is amazing. the finish is very tough. can't see any scratches unless you look very closely at the finish. she has a very worn color, but in mint condition.

it was a demo, and the sales guy said it's been there forever. i'm assuming she's been beat on for many years...maybe that explains why she sounds so good. all her parts feel and look sturdy. no worries from me.

not applicable

good very, good sound, good looks. can't complain about anything about her.

Made in 2004, and Canadian made - La Patrie Quebec, (oh yeah baby!), no electronics (I may install at some point, but not sure), high gloss finish, dreadnought body, with a solid sprice top, rosewood fretboard, 22 fret I believe, binding on the body (not on the neck though). It also has a really cool bookmatched back (I haven't seen one that looks this nice), and I like the lacquer finish. It doesn't look very flashy, but I like acoustic guitars to look like "less is more".

I was looking to get an acoustic, and didn't want to spend a lot of money on it, since I've recently bought a Gibson Les Paul, so a friend of mine recommended Normans (I had never heard of them before). I was thinking of getting an Epiphone acoustic, but I'm glad I got the Norman. I played it at the store, and it felt right.

I really like the sound of this guitar. I'm not an expert on acoustics, but from what I can tell, it's sound is somewhere between a Taylor and a Gibson. It's not as bright as a Martin, but not as deep/bassy as a Gibson. I prefer a more warm/bassy sound to an acoustic, and since I couldn't get a Gibson, the Norman suits me just fine.

The thing I like the most about the sound of this guitar is that it is very well balanced. You can get a decent bassy sound, and still hear the highs, without them being drowned out - which means that the guitar is pretty versatile in term of sound and musical styles. However, I would have liked a little more sustain on it, and it's not quite as loud as a J-45 or some Taylors or Martins, but for what I paid, it's just fantastic.

I give it a "9" rating because I've heard better sounding acoustics, such as a Gibson J-45, Humingbird or some Taylors. But in terms its price range, it sounds as good as many acoustics in the $800- $1000 range.

This is my main complaint about this guitar - action was way to high, so I had it adjusted. I wouldn't say it was unplayable, but very difficult to play, especially higher up on the fretboard. It perfect now, with no buzzing, but the action should have been set much lower from the factory setting.

The bookmatching back is fantastic, and the nut and bridge seem to be setup just fine. No flaws in the finish of the guitar, and it just looks like a well-made, quality guitar. I only wish it had binding on the neck.

I've only had it for about a month, so I can't really say much about it'S reliability or durability, except that it looks solid, well-made and seems like it will last. I also bought a soundhole humidifier, to avoid cracks due to dryness and such over time. But I'm sure the finish will start wearing out, because I sweat a lot when I play, so I don't think you can avoid that.

I really can't give an informed rating on this, as I haven't had it long enough. But I can tell you it looks and fells pretty solid right now, so I'll give it a "9" for now.

Haven't used it.

Like I said, I've only had it for a month, and so far, I'm very happy with it. I've only been playing for about a year-and-a-half, and I've never really played an acoustic before I got this one, so it's a completely different dynamic. I think it is definitely improving my overall playing.

What I like the most about the B-20 is it's natural, high gloss finish, and it's fantastic bookmatched back, and of course, it's very well-balanced sound.

I have to give this guitar a "10" rating because although it's not as good as a J-45 or Humingbird (for example), but, it sounds excellent for it's price range, which makes it a fantastic value for money guitar.

1999,Quebec, 21 frets, solid spruce top, maple back and sides, neck? Fishman Prefix Pro active pickup, satin finish, cutaway, chrome tuners.

Braces have come loose twice, causing unwanted vibrations. Pickup middle eq band failed once, action is nasty, tone is so-so.

Finger-style, played through P.A. Good sound when plugged in.

Set-up was poor from factory. String tension is very hard, string height is excessive. Nice bookmatching top and back.

The guitar is not a good choice for live playing. The electronics are prone to cutting out, the action being so high causes finger pain after a short period of playing, and must be handled with great care.

I wrote to Norman in Quebec and received no reply.

I've been playing 29 years, and have owned many guitars. I wouldn't buy another Norman. I choose this one for price range and limited selection.

I believe this to be a 2001 model. Not much info online about these babies.
Has a beautiful solid spruce top and 3 layer cherry back and sides. Nice lacquer finish.

Nice bright sound with just enough bass. Not quite as bassy as a rosewood model , but at this price , can't complain. Good for just about any music...

Well, I believe that this guitar (which I purchased second hand) is a poor one to judge the work of the Lasido folks. When I got it...the truss rod was completely loose, causing a very HIGH action. After properly adjusting the truss rod and lowering the saddle just a tad, it is acceptable, although still high. I am also concerned that the break angle ( the string angle from pins to bridge) is not high enough for the best tones. I looked at some other Normans at a dealer last week and none of them had really great string angles either. However I am happy with the overall tone. It seems to get better the more I jam on it!

I am not concerned about reliability ...this is a solid guitar.

I told myself that after graduating from seminary in the spring of 2000, I would treat myself to a good guitar. I never counted on finding a GREAT guitar like this. The solid top has a very tight grain. It must have been taken from a very old tree. The cherry back and sides are flawless. The neck is extremly comfortable and very playable. The tuners have been rock solid, even with the extreme climate fluctuations here in Minnesota. I echo other reviewer's remarks regarding brass bridge pins. Just do it! It's not fancy, but then again, it's all about the sound!

This is where the B20 HG just blows away the competition. Other players simply drool when they hear it. Unplugged, it is clear and full, without the low-end muddiness that is found in lesser guitars. I recently had an L.R. Baggs double barrel pickup installed. This has a piezo strip under the saddle coupled with a small condensor microphone mounted beneath the sound board. The tone that flows from this guitar can only be described as "heavenly". I wish I could rate it higher than "10", because it simply is better than that.

The factory set up was excellent. I have it strung with Elixer medium lights. It is playable all the way up the neck. The fit and finish on this guitar is flawless. The luthier who installed the pick-up was in awe of the quality of construction. When he heard how much (little?) I paid for it, he wanted to know where he could get one himself.

This guitar is really put together well. I have not had any reason to doubt the reliability of it. I play in church, and have never even considered a back up.

I have no clue how the customer support is...I have not had a reason to use it.

I have been playing for about 10 years now, the first of which were on a series of lesser guitars. I looked at several guitars in the $700-$900 range, including all the big names. When I saw the Norman, my eyes suddenly knew what lust was. Then I played it and was hooked. When I saw the price tag, itwas finished. I will have this gutiar for the rest of my life. The angels can keep their harps...I'm asking for my Norman.

Proud to be Canadian. Normans are made in La Patrie, Quebec out of the same plant as Seagull and Godin. It's has 22 frets. Solid spruce top, honey-glazed cherrywood back and sides, mahogany neck, and rosewood fretboard, Drednaught.
I had a Martin Gold Thinline piezo pickup installed recently.
I also put brass bridge pins on it, is everybody listening? If you haven't tried 'em, just do it!

I play anything from classic rock, country and blues to campfire tunes. Very versatile. A friend is a 30 year bluegrass picker and has to be pulled away from "Norm". When I jam with him and his Takamine G330, I have to unplug for fear of drowning him out.

Bought it used at a Pawn Shop here in Winnipeg and had it set up by the guru and now it compares to any Taylor or Martin for playability.
There are a couple "watermarks" down the front which give it it's individual charm.

Yes. Excellent quality all around. I would gig with it exclusively.

Not much available on the net. Seem to have disappeared which might make them very collectable soon.

If lost, I'd be hard pressed to find another one like it. It is built to play like a Martin, and it does. The combination of brass pins and the Thinline Gold make it a powerful all around sound.
Zero complaints. Been playing 20 hours/week for a year.

I believe this particular guitar was made in 1999 in La Patrie, Quebec in Canada. It has 22 frets in total but only 14 that you can really use. Its a solid spruce top dreadnought with beige cherrywood on the sides. Obviously, a high gloss finish and a plastic bridge which I soon to plan replace with bone. Very good tuners! All the basic features,really ...

Very rich full sound! It can take on pretty much any kind of musical style, jazz, rock, folk, maybe even bluegrass. It's very loud, trust me ... I play at night and Im sure everybody inside the house heres me quite well, I feel sorta bad .. lol Anyways, I love the sound so much ... Norman makes great guitars and if you've ever played one, you're aware of the incredible quality of these guitars ... with a tad more sustain, there'd be no point in buying a Martin D-28. The bass is incredible and the highs are very nice as well.

The action was phenomenal, just how I like it, really low without a buzz. The head of the guitar was very nicely bookmatched and the guitar didn't have any flaws. Very noticeable carefully handmade guitar .. cant get any better, especially for the price. It's almost too good to be true.

The finish makes it quite tough to scratch, I expect it to hold up for at least another 2-3 years without a major scratch on the top ... and I play quite often, quite hard. This is a very dependable guitar.

I've never delt with the company yet, Im sure they're great people ... but I cant give this part a rating as of yet, the warranty lasts two years though.

I've been playing for three years, but am very dedicated to make a living out of it. It's definately my calling in life =) This guitar was really just a lucky pick ... I liked the sound at first but I liked the sound of the ST68 better, only it was 2x the price. But NOW that Ive played with this guitar a bit, the sound has just become phenomenal, it really opened up and Im fuckin glad I bought this guitar instead. I woulda missed out ... bigtime

I have never really been in acoustics a long time. I never owned an acoustic before this one, so I cant really talk about the kind of wood that was used for this guitar. I entered a small Pawn Shop looking for custom effect pedals, and took that acoustic into my hands. I played on lots of acoustics. One of my friend has a Norman B-10 that I used a lot while jamming with him. He just loved that guitar, and me too. So I played the "very used" g-20 and couldn't stop. Everything seemed perfect to me. If it weren't of the bad condition of the finish, I think I would have ruined myself for that guitar if it had been 5 times the price. The string set was very high gauge, something that i liked a lot. While new guitars made me suspicious, this used one was awesomeand I felt like I could rely on it, technically speaking. It dosnt need extra features. Extra features would ruin it, I believe.

The B-20 I bought has no buzz, and an incredibly rich sound that I never experienced before. You can go travel from a blues jam to folk music. It is very versatile, and inspires me a lot. You know, it has "spirit". With the high string gauge (that I kept), that guitar sounds powerful, and loud. I can go from smooth jazzy riffs to hardcore powerchords.

I dont think that this guitar was built for lead. I dont play lead, and the guy who used it before me must have been a rythm player as well. In fact, there are obvious thumb marks behind the neck at fret 1 to 5 and pick scratch on the lower side of the hole. I will propably have to do a little job on the finish in a year or two. The fretboard is surprisingly in perfect shape and that guitar keeps tune perfectly for days. There are absolutely no undesirable sounds due to the solid construction in that handmade marvel.

This guitar is strong, good for powerful riff players like me (and the guy who used it befor me...). It seems like the finish is having a hard time behind the neck and aroung the sound hole. On the other hand, it is the most reliable guitar i ever heard of (jeez, it's mine :)). Everything stays in place, and I'm giving this one a hard time (beach, camping, bars, etc.). I wish that the finish was more solid though, but on the other hand it's giving this guitar a nice "used" look.

Doen't apply.

I just love that guitar. It's inspiring, and powerful. I always been scared of buying an acoustic, and never trusted these overpriced Martin or Takamine, new or used. There has always been something wrong between me and acoustics, but this guitar is just awesome, with its rich tone and wild harmonics. It's the kind of guitar I can bring with me anywhere. I don't think that this is a matter of personal taste that much. I played a B-10, like I said earlier, and found that great tone there again. I think that these Norman guitars are just the best for me, and worth cecking for every player. Go out there and play guitars in your local pawn shops. You can find gems for almost nothing.

I've been shopping these Normans for nearly 7 months since finding
a few in Mobile, AL last year. Then I purchased a beautiful B-20 HG in
Ocean Springs, MS at Tippit's. The top is spruce, back and sides are
a honey blonde cherry wood that glows beautifully. The top and bottom
have a cream/tan binding I've only seen on Normans and their intricate
soundhole rosette must be seen. The neck joins the body at the 14th fret and carries 22 in all. But, the dot markers only go to the double-dot 12th fret, and don't include any dot beyond that. It's okay, I'd just like to see them on past the 12th. The unbound rosewood
fretboard is unusually fast and easy, like the girl you don't bring home to meet Mama.

Sound is where the Normans win biggest. This B-20 HG is most like
Martins in the sound department, however this Norman is sweeter than
any D-28 or HD-28 I've ever played. I'm most impressed with her balance, in that she's bright with no harshness on the high end and deep and punchy on the low end with no muddiness. Open chord strummin'
shows her full sonic range while blue pickin' works exceptionaly well. I ought to mention she's strung with Martin SP .012-.054.
So, I've aimed a Shure 57 at the 12th fret and stuck a Dean Markley pickup in the sound hole and plugged the 2 into a Fender Acoustasonic Junior and have experienced an 8.5 sound there. BUT, after removing the soundhole pickup and adding a 2nd Shure 57 aimed at the soundhole the B-20 HG ran her rank back up to 10. The guitar maintains her unique string dynamics with the added amp chorus effect; that being
pretty much a matter of personal taste. A little touch of chorus goes a long way.

The factory set-up was thoughtfully done with great attention to detail. The first thing that you become aware of with a Norman is its
comfortable fit. I prefer it's lower-than-average action. You won't find any buzz anywhere on the fretboard. The cherrywood back is a curious but expert bookmatch featuring a "pair of eyes" in the upper
bouts, then the grain tapers wider throughout the lower bouts.
The saddle is snug, yet the material flakes a bit under the D and G
strings. This was a matter of concern until the first string change
during which I was able to smooth that out and carry on undaunted with
no effect to the Norman sound.

In a no holes barred contest against a Martin HD-28 or the Gibson J45, my money is on the Norman B20 HG. It is my First Choice.

I thought I was dreaming when I found that a Norman B20 HG could be
had for as little as $365 when Martin D28s and Gibson J45s cost 4 times as much or more. Then I was told Norman has a much lower overhead situation goin' on in La Patrie, Quebec; and they don't really advertize much beyond their brochure. All that leads to,
"10-Fantastic Value"