A big thanks to Michael Millard and his team at Froggy Bottom Guitars: this 2004 H-12 Deluxe is a dream machine for the fingerpicking guitarist! Gorgeously flamed Koa back and sides, check. Adirondack Spruce top, check. 12-fret neck for an extra dose of warmth and easy playability, check. Playing this guitar is a charged experience; the voice is crisp and energetic, and the projection is monolithic for its size.

The H-12 is one of Froggy Bottom’s more popular models, for obvious reasons. The setup is glass-smooth, and the H-12 can handle dropped tunings like a champ (we found some crackling blues in DADFAD to be particularly exquisite) thanks to the dry, articulate tone from all that beautiful Koa. As a member of the Froggy Bottom “Deluxe” family, this H-12 is bedecked with extra Abalone in the rosette and backstrip and binding the headstock–plus this one features an eagle scrimshawed into the heelcap! Perfect for a patriotic player, or anyone who appreciates top-notch craftsmanship.

Practically brand new, this 2014 Froggy Bottom H12-C Deluxe is itching to get down to the business of making great music. One of Froggy Bottom’s smaller bodies, the H12 is lightweight but bombproof, easy to play but robust enough for great projection. Thanks to the Madagascar Rosewood back and sides and Adirondack Spruce top, the guitar has good drive and a warm, rich tone that lends itself both to flatpicks or fingertips. Bound in Curly Maple and featuring a sparkling Abalone rosette and slotted Waverly tuners, this guitar will win many competitions on looks alone.

An instrument for which a lighter attack is preferred, the H12-C Deluxe has a great capacity for dynamic, nuanced voices, and would work well for a variety of applications, from singer-songwriter to Blues, and with a Venetian Cutaway you can reliably access the entire Ebony fretboard. If you’re looking for a new Froggy Bottom but the bank account can’t quite agree, this 2014 H12-C Deluxe is a dream come true.

If we could have our way, we would have a Froggy Bottom guitar in every guitar players home. Froggies are that good, and they deserve it. This is the H-12 Deluxe model in East Indian Rosewoodback and side with a Sunburst Adirondack (Red) Spruce top. One fact that always astounds us about a Froggy Bottom guitar is just how much sound they are capable of putting out, even the small bodied models. Now, it is one thing to say a guitar is “Loud” many guitars can do that, but the true test is this; Can the guitar be loud and still have great tone? Across the board with every Froggy we have had, including this beauty, the answer is a resounding yes! As we expected, this H-12 packs a wallop, the bass is pure and buttery while the mids through the trebles are round and powerful balancing perfectly from one section to the next. Another stellar offering from one of our favorites.

Here we have a Froggy Bottom M model in Adirondack (Red) Spruce and highly figured Cocobolo Rosewood. There is something incredibly special about this froggy, and that is saying a lot about a company who in our opinion produce exclusively special instruments. This is a smaller bodied guitar, but strike the first note and you would never think it was anything less than a large bodied behemoth. Everything we threw at this guitar sounded lush, like velvet or butter, like a dream or a summer breeze. However you choose to describe the tone of this guitar, it isn’t going to be adequate. Do yourself a great favor and come in and play this thing.