Northwood MJC70M

This is a recent MJC70M made in Canada by master luthier John McQuarrie, who learned his craft at Larrivee Guitars. It seems that most of the high end luthiers in Canada started out there, which says a lot about Jean Larrivee and his commitment to keeping the craft alive. Very cool.

Anyhow, this is an acoustic guitar with a Mini Jumbo body (hence the "MJ" in the model name), Florentine cutaway (hence the "C"), 70-series appointments, and Mahogany back and sides. The top is Englemann spruce, which is standard on all Northwood guitars. All of the woods used in this Northwood are solid, which is to be expected in a guitar of this caliber.

The visual appointments of the guitar are attractive, and not "too much". The rosette is herringbone, and it has rosewood body binding, an ivoroid-bound mahogany neck with ebony fretboard that's a "blank plank" (no surface inlay, just dots on the side).

The Mini Jumbo body is available with no cutaway, or either a Florentine (sharp) or Venetian (rounded) cutaway. I'm not sure of the dimensions of the Mini Jumbo body, but it has a narrow waist and is much curvier than a dreadnought. I've always thought that dreadnoughts with cutaways looked a little funny, due to the "squareness" of the body. I really like the way the cutaway works on this MJC, though (my other cutaway guitar is a Bourgeois OMC, and I think it looks great on that one, too). Anyhow, not sure the measurements of the guitar, except for the most important one to me; the 1.75" width at the nut. I have giant fingers, and my left hand feels cramped on anything smaller. The back of the neck has a nice slight "v" shape, which I also really like.

Mine didn't come with any electronics, but I got a Highlander IP-1 installed after the fact. This is still my favourite transducer and I have it in both of my acoustic guitars.

One feature it lacks--strap buttons! This seems to be consistent with the Larrivee philosophy of installing both strap buttons only at the owner's request. I nearly always play standing, so this irks me a bit. However, I guess it's easier to install something that's not there than to remove something that was already there.

I appreciate mahogany guitars because of their woodiness, excellent note separation, and tight bass response. Mahogany seems to have fewer overtones than rosewood, which gives it a "drier" tone, but when it's done properly, it is almost magical. The Northwood MJC70M is completely magical. I would imagine that even mahogany skeptics would dig this guitar. My previous Englemann/mahogany guitar was a Taylor 510 that had most of my favourite qualities in a mahogany guitar except the tone was a little bit thin. The bass response on this Northwood MJC70M is remarkable for a mahogany guitar. The Englemann top seems to give it a good deal of punch--it really cuts through in a mix.

Balance is the name of the game with this instrument. While a traditional spruce/rosewood bluegrass cannon will yield a nice booming bass and sizzlig, bright highs, the midrange often leaves something to be desired. Not so on this one. All frequencies are represented beautifully in this guitar. Sweet, sweet mids that really speak.

This guitar sounds beautiful flatpicked but also does an admirable job fingerstyle. The top would need to be a little more responsive to be my ultimate fingerstyle guitar, but if versatility is what you need, you will not be disappointed.

Great. Not much to say in this category. I give the guitar a ten here, because the construction is what I expect in a high-end instrument. There are no surprises here; just solid, careful workmanship that reflects the pride that the builder takes in his instruments. I expect nothing less, and I get exactly what I expect on this MJC70M.

This guitar is solid in every way. The satin finish on the back of the neck was applied properly and it feels very nice. The rest of the guitar is gloss and looks great.

I got a ding on the back of the neck around the fourth fret. If I ever find out how it got there....

Seriously, though, I have no problem with taking it out in public. It's a great guitar, but it doesn't have the name recognition of something like Taylor or Martin, so I worry less about people eyeing it and coveting it. Whoops--I'm a bit off-topic here.

I bought it from Shoreline Acoustic Music www.samusic.com . They gave me free Overnight shipping, a tuner, and a couple of sets of strings. This gesture went a long way with me, as I am planning on purchasing a Lowden from them pretty soon. If this is a reflection on the support that one would get directly from Northwood Guitars, then their customer support should be very good indeed.

I've played acoustic guitar for over ten years, and although I'm primarily an electric bassist, I can appreciate the passion that goes into building a fine acoustic instrument. I originally purchased this guitar as a backup and a complement to my Bourgeois OMC, and I'm very glad that I did. This is an unbelievable amount of guitar for the money! The designer seems to have carefully considered the benefits of mahogany in a guitar and how to take full advantage of them. I'm not even sure how else to describe it. Suffice it to say that I recently sold my 97 Taylor 510 that had the same wood combination, and besides the abalone rosette on that 510, I don't miss anything about it, now that I have the Northwood.

The Northwoods are quite possibly, as mentioned by the folks at Shoreline, the best-kept secret in North American guitars. As more folks discover them, I predict that Northwood will be a major contender in the high-end market. The prices are ridiculously low and the tone is incredible.