Canada’s Richmond Guitars offers instruments with a retro vibe and styling coupled with fine modern components. Their latest offering, the single-cut Richmond Empire, epitomizes the company’s efforts. The Empire may look like old-school, but of course, looks can be deceiving. Close inspection reveals its three-piece body with maple center and poplar wings, and 243/4″-scale bolt-on…

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Though its high-point in terms of popular exposure may have occurred when McCartney, Lennon, and Harrison “discovered” the Casino, Epiphone has historically been most known for its archtop guitars. Today, that legacy is largely carried by the Emperor model and its variants. The new Emperor Swingster is based on the popular Emperor Regent, with a…

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Overture JS-Session Price: $ 1,499. Info: overtureguitars.com When designing a new guitar, builders often face a quandary. Some go to extremes to be original, while others tend to “re-create” the same ol’ thing. The Overture Guitars JS-Session is a departure; not a simple reissue or copy, instead, its body contours and edges give it a…

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Founded by a jazz guitarist as jazz-box builder, the Guild company also built a solid reputation with its ’50s acoustic guitars. The brand’s profile as an acoustic builder was certainly given a you-can’t-put-a-price-on-that bit of exposure when Richie Havens hammered on a D-40 in front of 400,000 people at Woodstock! Another unforgettable Guild gig was…

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The story of the Burns Steer Cutaway begins in 1925 with the birth of the “British Leo Fender,” James Ormston Burns. An avid guitar player beginning in his early teens, at 18 he joined the Royal Air Force and learned metalworking. In 1946 he returned to playing guitar professionally and by ’52 was playing in…

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