Mamie Minch

Nov 15, 2024 | acousticguitar.com | Mamie Minch |Greg Olwell |Kate Koenig |Martin Keith

I have a guitar with a particularly light-colored rosewood fretboard. I love the way it looks when I apply lemon oil, but that only lasts a day or so. I have some wipe-on poly I’ve been itching to rub in to see if I can get a beautiful depth to that board. Would this damage the guitar? Alternatively, is there an oil that would shine it up and last a good deal longer? —Will SutterIn general, I advise against using anything beyond the usual fretboard oils.

Aug 25, 2024 | acousticguitar.com | Mamie Minch |Greg Olwell |Adam Perlmutter |Michael Simmons

The orchestra model is perhaps the most important guitar style C.F. Martin & Co. made in the 20th century. It was the company’s first six-string, 14-fret flattop guitar and it created the template for what we now think of as the modern steel-string guitar. After the dreadnought, the OM is probably the most popular 14-fret flattop guitar out there. The first OMs were built by Martin in 1929, and today, almost every modern guitar builder inspired by the venerable company builds an OM of some kind.

Oct 1, 2023 | acousticguitar.com | Martin Keith |Mamie Minch |Teja Gerken

Q: I have started playing with alternate tunings on my guitar but they don’t always sound great—they’re often buzzy and I can’t get them to stay in tune. What can I do to make this work better? —Jennifer SmithA: This is a great example of a simple question with a multifaceted answer. A truly well-done guitar setup often involves splitting some fine hairs of action, neck relief, intonation, and more—and alternate tunings certainly can throw some of those fine adjustments out of balance.