TNAG's CEO Ben Montague shared some exciting news last week with our customers via the newsletter! Here's the scoop in case you missed it... Over the past two years we have been working on a project we believe will help reshape the premium guitar market and improve the buying and selling experience for our customers. This week we launched the world’s first marketplace dedicated exclusively to premium guitars, The Carter Vintage Exchange, powered by TNAG. The Carter Vintage Exchange will allow you to: Easily browse and search for premium instruments. Sell From Home online and Sell From Store ..read more

Connoisseur's Tonewood Tours series explores the most popular woods and worthwhile alternatives used in acoustic guitar making, with behind-the-scenes information provided by some of the finest American and European luthiers working today. This time, we move on to that much-prized top wood: spruce. Most flat-top acoustic guitarists will be familiar with the look and sound of spruce. Long the most popular wood for the instrument’s top (aka sound board, sounding board, or top plate), spruce’s use in that key position also makes it the single biggest contributor to any acoustic guitar’s overall ..read more

Inspired by our Canadian collection, now we're going across the pond to take a look at guitars crafted by luthiers from the UK! When it comes to the guitar-driven music of the last 75 years, British players have often dominated the spotlight, from Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and George Harrison on the electric side, to Davy Graham, Bert Jansch and Martin Carthy on the acoustic (not to mention, Will McNicol, Ben Walker, and countless others if you want to be more contemporary!). With so many legendary players and their legions of fans to cater to close to home, is it any surprise that the Brit ..read more

More and more players are listing their guitars from their homes throughout the world, and today we want to highlight the incredible collection available from sellers in just the UK! These beautiful guitars can be shipped anywhere, but there's a big advantage for buyers who are themselves located in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland: better shipping fees, and a shorter wait time. You may find your dream guitar just a town or two over! Why buy via TNAG's Sell From Home service? You get our flexible financing options, which are not available in a typical person-to-person sale. And t ..read more

In the second issue of Connoisseur, we continued with a six-part series, in which noted jazz guitarist Julian Lage discusses guitars and gear; recording, writing, and arranging; practice tips, and other topics. This time, Julian talks us through the composing and recording of 2021's Squint, and some of its pandemic-related challenges. Your new album just came out. Please tell us a little about how this one came together, in what is undoubtedly a tricky time for musicians everywhere.  The record’s called Squint, and it’s our debut for Blue Note. And my wife and I, we lived in New York ..read more

Consider yourself warned: We've got a batch of very special Santa Cruz guitars on the way that we'll be gushing madly over in the coming weeks! Two OMs crafted of gorgeous rippling mahogany from "The Tree", and another OM in fiery-hued ancient kauri dressed to the nines in 45-style appointments. Not to mention, specially chosen old-growth spruce soundboards to top them off. Does it get much better than that? Given our experience over the past couple years with these rare tonewoods, we know we're in for some magical sounds from Richard Hoover and his team. Need a refresher? Listen to this pre ..read more

In the first issue, Connoisseur talked to UK luthier Tom Sands about finding inspiration, apprenticing with Somogyi, and a special TNAG build for 2022 using tonewoods he’ll “never see again in his career”. As the date of delivery nears, and while we have another very special guitar of his in the shop, we're sharing this delightful chat with Tom. Enjoy! Tom Sands is a revelation. He’s honest, forward-thinking, doesn’t take himself too seriously (and is an excitable guitar nerd at heart). He talks openly about his way into guitar making (via electric bases, funk-metal band Primus, and of co ..read more

The guitar making world as a whole is wonderfully tight-knit and collaborative, but our friends in Canada might take that interconnectedness to the next level! Makers everywhere draw influence from Grit Laskin and Linda Manzer's innovations, and builders like Sheldon Schwartz credit them for valuable guidance and feedback. Jean Larrivee's former apprentices David Iannone (Morgan) and Sergei de Jonge have their own successful shops, and Sergei is well-loved for his infectious teaching style by Zach Lefebvre and Dion James. Dion once shared workshop space with Michael Kennedy and Jeremy ..read more

With a family steeped in both traditional music and violin making, Zach Lefebvre’s journey into guitar building was so natural, it almost sounds inevitable as he tells you about it! The young Canadian builder's instruments are a perfect reflection of his unique life experiences. In addition to studying under the great Sergei de Jonge, Zach uses his aptitude for math and science to troubleshoot design problems, and draws on his years of experience performing in various acoustic settings to hone in on his ideal sound. Conscientious and ecologically minded in all his pursuits, he lives and work ..read more

We're revisiting and updating a recent Connoisseur article today and putting the spotlight on a selection of vintage 000s over at Carter Vintage! When it comes to highly coveted vintage guitars, the dreadnought is the king. I may not be much of a flatpicker, but even I won’t dispute that a well-preserved D-28 is basically the Platonic ideal of what a guitar should and can be. It even has a nickname: “Old Bone”. If you love flatpicking, you know to search out those 1930s dreadnoughts. But for those of us who prefer mid-sized guitars and are looking for a fundamentally different playing experi ..read more