Paragon MJ-03R

This guitar was hand-made in North Vancouver, Canada, to my specifications by Paragon guitars. Mini-Jumbo body, all-satin finish. Fingerboard is Gaboon ebony. Tuners are Grover monirotomatics. Master grade sitka Spruce top, reserve grade rosewood body. Neck is 3-ply mahogany with carbon fiber for stability. The neck pretty wide at nut, more like a classical-type neck, wide and almost flat. Scalopped bracing, similar to pre-war Martin. No cutaway, no electronics. Top quality hard-shell case included. I am rating this category based on the quality of the woods and materials used, not on features.

I play a very wide palette of styles. On acoustic, I play lots of single-note solos, open-string voicings, both strummed and fingerstyle, fingerpicking, arpeggios, lots of arab and indian influenced music, as well as jazz and folk.

This guitar projects like none other I have tried. The bass are tremendously responsive, yet the balance of the instrument in all registers is stunning, no matter how soft or hard it is being played. This guitar as lots of headroom, very punchy. The tone is dark and smokey, unlike most acoustic. I am guessing that the satin finish help to get rid of the bright and brittle typical of steel-string acoustic, which that I don't really like. Since this is a new instrument, the Spruce top will open up quite a bit within one year, and the sound should be quite impressive then. I am already very satisfied and please by it, I consider it the ideal tone for my style of playing and my sonic taste.

Since the guitar was built based on my demands, I must say that it is EXACTLY what I wanted. It is a very loud guitar, yet perfectly balanced. In a few words, it is balanced, dark, woody sounding and projects very much.

To give you an hint of how lound it is, I have played it with a cello, an oboe and percussions, unmicked, and the balance was OK for most of the dynamic levels. That's loud!

Guitar was shipped with proper action, the neck is a joy to play in all registers, no buzzing, no flaws whatsoever. Wood colors and inlays are beautiful. The satin finish might be the only thing that is not perfect grade, although it is very close. Looking at it, it is great, but when let my hand caress the instrument, I can feel a couple of tiny imperfections. I will deduct a point for that, but please note that I am being very critical, for the guitar is beautiful in every way, as pictures of Paragon guitars will demonstrate.

Obviously very high craftsmanship, I don't foresee any problems with this instrument.

It is hard to say anything negative about this guitar or the people who made it for me. The were very friendly and helpful throughout the whole process. They were totally dedicated to building the best possible guitar, and most importantly, a instrument that would satisfy me demands in terms of tone and quality. They were very attentive to my demands, which were particular, and it shows in the degree of my satisfaction regarding this guitar. They said they would built the guitar of my dreams, and they did.

E-mails were replied to shortly and answers were clear. They provided pictures of the building process, which was a very cool extra. They said the delay would be 6 weeks after the deposit, it turned out to be 3 months, but that included the christmas break and it is still an incredibly short delay for an instrument of such quality, hand-made a by a couple of guys. I wish I could give them 11 for this category.

I have been a professionnal for over 10 years. I have tried Taylors, Martins, Lowdens, Larrivees, everything seemed like some sort of compromise, not that these guitars weren't great ( especially Lowden and Larrivee, for which the Paragon guys have worked ) but none had ALL the features I looked for. I soon realized that custom made was the only way to go in order to get total satisfaction.

My Paragon is built around my preferences and my needs, it is the true extension of my musical soul. I simply love it. And the price I paid is below the selling prices of other brands I have mentionned earlier, for this kind of quality. Couldn't be more satisfied.