Acoustic Guitars
SoldSanta Cruz Firefly Custom Koa
This Custom Santa Cruz Firefly features Master Grade Hawaiian Koa top back and sides, a 1929 style rosette, Koa binding, and a comes with a hard shell case. If you’ve been looking for the perfect sounding smaller bodied instrument with a short scale for easy reach, you’ll love the luxury of playing this guitar! It has a 24” scale and 1 11/16” width nut and incredible all-Koa tone. It comes with a hard shell case.
SoldSanta Cruz Custom Koa OO with 1929 Appointments
If you are searching for a spectacular Koa OO, look no further! This all Koa dream feels and sounds as incredible as it looks. It boasts Master grade Koa top/back and sides with a thin black back strip, Koa body binding, unbound peghead with Koa overlay. The all-Koa look is offset by black fingerboard binding and a 1929 style rosette and top border. A hard shell case is included.
Sold2019 Bourgeois L-DBO Custom Aged Tone Adirondack Spruce Figured Mahogany
This spectacular, mint condition, custom instrument's woods and features were hand-selected by us with Dana Bourgeois at the Bourgeois shop to replicate his personal L-DBO. It features an Aged Tone Adirondack Spruce top and master grade figured mahogany on the back and sides. The fingerboard and 2 5/16" bridge are made with smooth feeling, highly figured Madagascar Rosewood. The nut width is 1 3/4" inches on this short scale neck. Other cool features include Waverly tuners with snakewood buttons and Abalone Diamonds and Arrows fretboard inlay. The original hard shell case is included.
SoldBourgeois L-DBO Custom Aged Tone Sitka Spruce and Maple Black
Aged Tone Curly Maple and an Aged Tone Sitka Spruce top make this little beauty ring like a magic bell! The short scale 14 fret and the 1 23/32" width nut make this guitar play like a dream. The Ziracote fingerboard and bridge lend an elegant look to this incredible Tuxedo Black beauty. A deluxe hard shell case is included.
SoldTaylor 312ce-SB LTD
This Limited Edition Taylor 312ce-SB LTD features Sapele back and sides, a Sunburst Sitka Spruce top, and an ES2 pickup.
SoldSanta Cruz OM Pre-War Cocobolo & Adirondack
This Orchestra Model guitar has all the right ingredients for incredible Santa Cruz tone. It features an Adirondack Spruce top and Adirondack Bracing attached with Hot Hide Glue and a gorgeous set of Cocobolo back and sides. The 1 3/4" nut width gives you lots of room easy picking. It comes with an Ameritage hard shell case. View the full size photos on Google Drive.
Sold2015 Santa Cruz H Custom 12 Fret Brazilian Rosewood Adirondack Spruce
This is one of the rare, great ones! This cut-away, deep body, 12 fret variation with short scale length and 1 3/4" width nut sounds and plays as good it gets. This custom instrument features an incredible Tier 1, quartersawn, master grade, highly figured Brazilian Rosewood body and an Adirondack Spruce top with Adirondack bracing attached with hot hide glue. It features a soft V neck (more like Santa Cruz's OO models than the standard H sharp V), an Ivoroid bound pegged and zipper back-stripe. The look of this guitar is topped off with a Torch pegged inlay and 42 stye fingerboard inly. It is excellent to near mint condition and comes with its original hard shell case. View the full size images on Google Drive.
SoldBourgeois L-DBO The Standard Aged Tone Adirondack Spruce Figured Mahogany
The L/DBO guitar has become one of the very most popular size instruments that we carry because it puts out a lot of sound for a relatively small and comfortable guitar. This L/DBO features an Aged Tone Adirondack Spruce top and Figured Mahogany back and sides. The short scale and 1 23/32" width nut make this L/DBO a dream to play. The Madagascar Rosewood bridge and fingerboard, short patter Abalone slotted squares & diamonds fretboard inlays and Ivoroid Waverly tuners add a touch of elegance to this guitars appearance. It come with a hard shell case. View the full sized images on Google Drive.
SoldBourgeois Slope D Banjo Killer
This is a guitar that sounds as good as it looks. It features a highly figured Bearclaw Aged Tone Sitka Spruce.The sides and back are Figured Mahogany. It also has a great looking Ziricote fingerboard, headstock overlay, and belly bridge. The tone is aided by Aged Tone torrefied bracing attached with animal protein glue. Other features include a 1 23/32" nut width for easy playing, a satin neck finish, and Waverly Nickel/Ivoroid tuners. Hard shell case is included. View the full size photos on Google Drive.
SoldTaylor 814ce DLX V-Class
This luxurious rosewood/spruce acoustic-electric Grand Auditorium reaches new levels of performance thanks to our patented V-Class bracing. By coaxing a more orderly response from the top, this game-changing bracing design allows the 814ce DLX to produce more powerful notes everywhere on the fretboard, along with stronger projection, longer sustain, and improved intonation, creating a more musical and expressive playing experience for guitarists. The classic pairing of Indian rosewood and Sitka spruce sparkles with new intensity thanks to the new internal bracing architecture, bringing out more of rosewood’s naturally warm overtones and producing clear, bell-like highs. Premium details include a radius-style rosewood armrest and Gotoh 510 tuners that feature a precise 21:1 gear ratio, delivering an ultra-smooth playing experience. And with deluxe features like maple binding, mother-of-pearl Element fretboard and peghead inlays, a smoky ebony fretboard, rosewood top trim, and maple fretboard/peghead purfling lines, it’s easy to see why the 814ce DLX is one of our most appealing rosewood models. It comes with a hard shell case. The new Taylor V-Class bracing system:
SoldCollings OM1 T Traditional Honduran Mahogany
The Collings OM1 T features their Traditional series building technique and voicing. It has Honduran Mahogany back and sides and a Sitka Spruce top. It comes with a TKL hard shell case.
Sold2001 Taylor 614-CE Maple ES Classic Pickup
This 2001 Taylor 614-CE features Maple back and sides and has had the Fishman pickup replaced with a Taylor Expression System Classic pickup. It's in excellent condition and comes with a hard shell case.
SoldTaylor 514ce Cedar Mahogany | Holiday Sale!
Cedar’s warm midrange overtones and quick response make it a coveted top wood among fingerstylists and other players with a lighter touch. On this mahogany/cedar cutaway Grand Auditorium, V-Class bracing lifts those sonic virtues to new heights, serving up an even more powerful all-around response with billowing sustain. Add to that the bundle of sonic refinements that V-Class brings, including more powerful notes all the way up the fretboard and greater in-tuneness between the notes (thanks to a more orderly response from the top), and you’ve got a guitar that can cover a lot of ground. Mahogany’s naturally dry, focused voice emphasizes the midrange, lending a warm, clear punch that strummers, blues players will especially appreciate. Appointments include faux tortoise shell binding and pickguard, a faux tortoise/ivoroid rosette, and our striking Century fretboard inlay scheme in grained ivoroid with a new peghead inlay to complement the motif. With onboard Taylor ES2 electronics, you can count on natural-sounding amplified acoustic tone whenever you need it. The guitar also features a Venetian cutaway for upper-fretboard access, and ships in a deluxe hardshell case. This guitar is being sold as a Holiday Clearance Special and has been marked down accordingly. All discounted Holiday Clearance Special sales are final.
SoldCollings D2H T
This beautiful Sitka and Indian Rosewood dreadnought is real cannon. The traditional package includes super-thin nitro and Custom Traditional Series pre-war scalloped X bracing with no tongue brace. It has a 1 ¾” nut width, 2 5/16” bridge spacing and a 25 ½” scale. It comes with a deluxe hardshell case by TKL.
SoldTaylor 812ce 12-Fret DLX V Bracing
This cutaway 12-fret Grand Concert blends incredible playing comfort—the result of the compact 12-fret design, slinky handfeel, and an ergonomic radius armrest—with a tonal response that’s impressively bold, warm and punchy for its intimate body size. The neck’s 24-7/8-inch scale length heightens the physical playing comfort, while the different positioning of the bridge on the soundboard—closer to the center of the lower bout compared to a 14-fret model—helps generate a meatier, more robust response. That boldness is enhanced on this Deluxe model by newly added V-Class bracing, which provides a boost to this guitar’s projection and sustain and generates surprising power from a small frame. Its blend of physical comfort, responsiveness to a light touch, and complex tonal output make this a remarkably expressive guitar. Refined appointments include maple binding and back strip, rosewood top edge trim with a matching rosewood armrest veneer, a rosewood pickguard, mother-of-pearl Element fretboard inlays, a smoky ebony fretboard, and Taylor’s ES2 acoustic electronics.
SoldSanta Cruz Custom OO-42 Cutaway African Blackwood Bear Claw German Spruce
This 12 fret cutaway is one of the world's finest guitars, suitable for the player that wants a super-smooth playabilty along with the most satifying tone. Santa Cruz's OO-42 Cutaway features 42 style body and fingerboard inlays, African Blackwood back and sides, a Bear Claw German Spruce top with Adirondack Spruce bracing, Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard and bridge, Hawaiian Koa binding, a 1 13/16" nut width and gold Waverly tuners with Snakewood buttons. It comes with a hard shell case. View the full size photos on Google Drive.
SoldBourgeois O DB Signature AT Adirondack Spruce Brazilian Rosewood
This gorgeous single O size DB Signature has top shelf sound and gorgeous appointments. Don’t let the small size fool you, this guitar has a rich and warm tone that you’d except from a larger guitar. The guitar features a Aged Tone Adirondack Spruce top and Master Grade Brazilian Rosewood back and sides. The guitar is short scale with a 1 ¾” nut. Appointments include the DB signature Koa and Herringbone binding and Snakewood tuner buttons. It comes with a hard shell case. View the full size photos on Google Drive.
Sold2019 Taylor 314ce LH Left Handed with V-Class Bracing
Taylors popular Grand Auditorium 314ce is an acoustic workhorse that performs equally well in the practice room, recording studio, and on stage. This latest edition features their acclaimed V-Class bracing, a revolutionary innovation in acoustic sound that responds with greater musicality and harmonic agreement. By introducing a more orderly vibration to the guitar’s top, V-Class bolsters the sustain and volume to offer players a more dynamic voice to explore, while also resolving the minor intonation issues that players have long had to contend with. Together with a solid Sitka spruce top and solid sapele back and sides, you can expect a balanced and articulate blend of top-end brightness, midrange fullness, and low-end warmth that accommodates an array of playing styles. Appointments include black binding, Gemstone fretboard/peghead inlays in Italian acrylic, and satin-finish back and sides with a gloss top. A Venetian cutaway invites your fretting hand up the neck, while their proprietary ES2 electronics serve up faithful plugged-in tone. The guitar ships in a deluxe hardshell case.
SoldTaylor 517e WHB Builder's Edition Wild Honey Burst Tropical Mahogany and Torrefied Spruce
A gorgeous Wild Honey Burst together with an artfully muted Silent Satin finish conjure the warm aesthetic of an older guitar on this version of our mahogany/torrefied spruce Builder’s Edition 517e. Among the first generation of Grand Pacific guitars, this flattop pairs a refined feel with a new flavor of acoustic tone that may surprise players who think they know the Taylor sound. An exciting new entry into the dreadnought category, this round-shoulder Grand Pacific resonates with a finely-honed balance of low-end power and clarity across the middle and upper registers, producing warm, rounded tone in which notes blend seamlessly together to create a seasoned sound. Back and sides of neo-tropical mahogany flavor the sound with dry, woody character, coupling beautifully with the dynamic response of the torrefied Sitka spruce top. The Builder’s Edition stamp means that the 517e is detailed with premium features designed to maximize player comfort, including chamfered body edges and a new compound-carve neck profile that compensates for the change in your hand position as you move along the neck. Subtly contoured fretboard edges and a rounded, ridgeless heel add to the guitar’s pleasing fretting-hand feel, while our refined Curve Wing bridge shape brings extra comfort to your pick hand. Under the hood, V-Class bracing enables the guitar to pump out stunning projection and sustain, plus nearly perfect intonation, which means you won’t have to worry about sour notes on the fretboard. And with our proprietary onboard ES2 electronics, the guitar’s many tonal virtues will shine for amplified applications. Between its sound and feel, the Builder’s Edition 517 once again raises the bar on the Taylor playing experience.
SoldBourgeois Small Jumbo Limited Custom Aged Tone Adirondack Spruce and Hawaiian Koa
This gorgeous Small Jumbo from Bourgeois Guitars is a Limited Custom number 1 of 5. It features an Aged Tone Adirondack Spruce top, Hawaiian Koa back and sides, Aged Tone finish, and Torrefied bracing adhered with Animal Protein glue. The fingerboard, fingerboard binding, bridge and heal cap are Ziricote. The headstock veneer is Ebony. This is a very ergonomic instrument with a 1 23/32" nut width, and a short 25" scale length. This is an outstanding guitar. The full size photos are available on Google Drive here.
SoldTaylor K24ce Hawaiian Koa with V-Class Bracing
Among the first Taylor models to be voiced with our patented V-Class™ bracing, this beautiful all-koa Grand Auditorium K24ce acoustic guitar will inspire players in both looks and sound. The hardwood koa top helps produce a balanced response across the tonal spectrum, with a clear, focused voice that lends itself to amplification through our onboard ES2 electronics. With the V-Class treatment, players can expect more dynamic range, more sustain, and notes that sound more in tune with each other than ever before, giving chords a more sonically pleasing character along the entire fretboard. Together with our popular Grand Auditorium body, the musical versatility makes this a guitar that can cover a lot of ground. Visually, koa’s shimmering figure is highlighted with organically styled appointments that include our new Spring Vine inlay in maple, with maple binding and top trim adding a creamy counterpoint against the shaded edgeburst finish that surrounds the entire guitar. The K24ce comes with a hard shell case. The new Taylor V-Class bracing pattern:
SoldTaylor 614ce Builder's Edition
This maple/torrefied spruce V-braced Grand Auditorium model boast ergonomic features including chamfered body edges, a carved armrest, a beveled cutaway, a compound carve neck profile and more. Its rich, ultra-modern voice will give you genre-bending expressive range. Its Taylor hard shell case is included.
SoldTaylor 914ce V-Class
Taylor's 900 Series stands out as their most luxurious class of rosewood guitars, blending a raft of tone-enhancing details with premium aesthetic features. The 914ce acoustic-electric Grand Auditorium boasts V-Class™ bracing, which functions as a new sonic engine for the guitar. Not only does it enhance the volume and sustain, it also changes the soundboard movement in a way that improves the guitar’s natural intonation, or “in-tuneness.” The result is more power in the upper register and more harmonic agreement between all fretted notes, which helps chord voicings sing like never before. Players who love the deep lows and sparkling highs of rosewood will appreciate how well behaved the overtones are as notes bloom. Premium features include a beveled ebony armrest that makes your picking/strumming arm more comfortable, along with Gotoh 510 tuners, whose 21:1 gear ratio allows for precise tuning. Refined appointments include ebony binding, their Ascension fretboard/peghead inlay in paua and pearl, a paua rosette with koa and ebony purfling, and paua/koa trim along much of the body and neck. All V-Class guitars feature, a deluxe hard shell case, a black graphite nut, and a new guitar label that bears the signature of master guitar designer Andy Powers.
SoldSanta Cruz Style 1
Santa Cruz Style 1, Sitka Spruce top, Indian Rosewood back and sides, Cocobolo binding, Cowboy Rope purfling, 1 3/4" nut width, 24 3/4" scale length, with a hard shell case. The Style 1 features a small top width a deep body depth to produce a treble shifted top resonance, and a bass shifted body resonance. The combination results in a comfortably small guitar with surprising bass.
Acoustic Guitars for Sale at Northern Lights Music - Best Quality Brands
Discover top-notch boutique acoustic guitars at Northern Lights Music, featuring sought-after brands such as Santa Cruz Guitars, Bourgeois Guitars, and Collings Guitars. Whether you're searching for a brilliant Brazilian OM or a warm mahogany dreadnought, we have the perfect guitar for you. Can't find what you're looking for in our inventory? Our featured brands are custom shops that can build a guitar to match your imagination and budget. Looking for an affordable option or just starting out? We also offer high-quality, budget-friendly acoustic and electric guitars from Taylor Guitars, Seagull Guitars, and Yamaha Acoustic Guitars.
What is an Acoustic Guitar and its Characteristics
An acoustic guitar is a type of stringed instrument that uses a hollow body and a soundboard to produce sound, instead of relying on electronic amplification. The soundboard is usually made of wood, and the body can be crafted from wood or synthetic materials. Steel strings are typically used, but acoustic guitars can also be strung with nylon or other types of strings. Acoustic guitars can be played with a pick or fingers and are popular in various music genres, including folk, country, blues, and classical.
Reasons to Choose an Acoustic Guitar
Acoustic guitars have a lot to offer, attracting players for different reasons. The rich and warm sound that an acoustic guitar produces is often described as "full" or "rounded," and is appreciated by many players. The versatility of the instrument allows it to be played in a variety of styles and genres, such as folk, country, blues, and classical. The simplicity of an acoustic guitar is also appealing, as it does not require electronic amplification or other equipment. Furthermore, the portability of acoustic guitars makes them convenient for playing at home, with friends, or on the go.
History of the Acoustic Guitar
The acoustic guitar has a rich and diverse history that stretches back centuries. The modern acoustic guitar is derived from various stringed instruments developed in different parts of the world. The lute, one of the earliest known stringed instruments, was developed in ancient Egypt and was popular in Europe during the Middle Ages. The lute was a pear-shaped instrument with a long neck and a hollow body and was used to play melodies and accompaniments.
The guitar as we know it today is believed to have evolved from the lute, and it was first developed in Spain in the 15th century. Early guitars had four courses (pairs) of strings, which were tuned in fourths and were played with the fingers. They were used to play a wide range of music, including folk, popular, and classical. Over time, the guitar has undergone many changes and has been adapted to meet the needs of different musicians and musical styles. Today, the acoustic guitar is a popular instrument used in various music genres, including folk, country, blues, and classical.
Best Guitars for Beginners
There are many great options for beginner acoustic guitars, and the best one for you will depend on your budget, playing style, and preferences. A budget-friendly option for beginners is the Yamaha FG800, known for its excellent sound quality and playability. The Yamaha FG800 has a solid spruce top and mahogany back and sides, which give it a warm and full sound. For those who prefer a North American-made guitar, Taylor is a great step-up option. Try out a few different guitars to find the one that works best for you and your playing style.