Product: Northwood R70-OM
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
02/10/2008
at
05:09pm
by
Alan_A
Features
:
10
This guitar has been described in detail in others reviews.
Spruce top, rosewood back and sides etc.
All good quality materials and fittings
Sound
:
10
I play fingerpicking and strumming and this suits my style perfectly.
Rich and lovely round sound in bass,treble and sustain. Has tone and resonance up the fretboard.
I love it!
I really struggled to choose between the R70-OM and the R70-000-14 which just sits on your lap, fits under your arm perfectly and plays fingerpicking style real with graet effect.I thought the OM was a better in strumming AND picking.
I am a Martin D16GT owner and wanted a change from a dreadnought and I played 2 Martins (one a ??3000 job, over twice the price of the Northwoods). It was still fight between the 2 Northwoods in the end.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
Action was great for me as it was. Funnily enough I also tried the R80-OM and found that the R70 was more to my liking and seemed easier to play for me (as only an average player) but it didn't make any difference to the guy in the shop.
Fit and finish cannot be faulted, these are beautifully understated guitars.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
Only had it a short while so cannot comment.
I cannot see how there could be a problem with the quality and finish evident.
This is quality workmanship.
Customer Support
:
10
I got mine from Promenade Music in Morecambe, Lancashire, UK and they were good to deal with. They had several Northwood body styles / models in stock to try and allowed me try various Martins of my choice to to compare against.
They even offered to phone Northwood from the UK to let me speak to someone, but the guitars had already done the talking.
Overall Rating
:
10
Martin D16GT, Epiphone Dot.
I bought this guitar with some money my dad left me when he died recently, so was looking for something of quality workmanship and worth keeping - I sure found it with a Northwood! If it were stolen or lost I would be really upset but would get on down to the dealer and get me another post haste.
If I could persuade my wife to let another guitar over the doorstep I would go out and get that R70-00014fret!
Just compare the prices with those from some of the other luthiers as well!
Product: Northwood R70-OM
Price Paid: US $1900
Submitted
08/10/2004
at
07:49pm
by
Sanjiv Sinha
Features
:
10
2004 Made in Canada. 14 fret OM. Sitka Spruce top, East Indian Rosewood Back and Sides. Solid quarter sawn mahogany neck. Gloss body, satin neck. Vintage style Grover Sta-tite tuners. Soft V neck, Medium frets, Ebony fretboard, Bone Nut and Saddle. 24.9 inch scale(short scale)
Sound
:
10
Surprising loud and clear. Flat picked, it has a nice resonant quality to it. Finger-picked it sounds divine. The bass is surprising rich, when I play the low E(or the A) string, it feels like somebody has punched me in the chest(where the guitar touches it)! Overall sound is very balanced, the trebles are nice and clear, the bass is deep and the midrange has very good clarity.
I like folk, blues, rock and pop. I would say that this guitar can do a good job handling all of the material I play. However, it is probably not a great blues guitar.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
The fit and finish is flawless. The finish is beautiful in a very understated way. This is not a flashy guitar but a very classy guitar (think S-Class Mercedes not Ferrari). Before I placed the order for a Northwood I had looked at a number of independent luthiers as well as the major brands like Martin, Larrivee and Taylors. The fit and finish of Northwoods just stood out. John McQuarrie takes a lot of pride in his guitars and for very good reason.
My guitar teacher(a classical guitarist) looked over the guitar. He is a very picky person. He said that this is a very well-made guitar and does Northwood make classical guitars as well!
I had requested John for a medium high action, set up for light gauge and it is perfect. I changed the strings to medium recently and the action became high(as expected) but I did not like the sound of mediums on this guitar, so I changed the strings back to lights.
Reliability/Durability
:
No Opinion
It looks like a very well made guitar and should last a long time. However, only time will tell.
Customer Support
:
10
Interacted with John McQuarrie off and on with questions. He was very helpful.
Overall Rating
:
10
I think Northwood is one of the best kept secrets of the North American Guitar market. I would definitely consider getting another Northwood at some time. Maybe an 00 in Sitka and Mahogany.
