Listen to this 2004 Nightingale sing, and you’ll understand why Kevin Ryan’s guitars are so revered: string-to-string balance is even and clear, the trebles smooth and round, the bass and mids with a profound sonority and depth. This is, simply put, a fingerstyle dynamo. Cocobolo for the back and sides, Cedar on top, and Kevin’s arm bevel and 25.7” scale all make for smooth clarity, and just the right amount of velvet overtones to make its acoustic voice an almost palpable presence.

Abalone appointments set off the dark woods, and Gotoh 510s are the golden capstones of the headstock. Playability is pure butter, not that hydrogenated junk. This Ryan Nightingale is the real deal.

Other keywords: lutherie, luthier, contemporary guitar, fingerstyle guitar, cocobolo rosewood, red cedar

Kevin Ryan’s guitars are known for being methodically engineered for fingerstyle music and dressed to the nines with ergonomic features. We recently landed a whopper that exemplifies all of that and more. This 2009 Nightingale was custom built for a client who needed a thinner body for playability, so Kevin reduced the depth of the sides by a half inch, and added his acoustic flutes and arm bevel and a short 25” scale fretboard to make this instrument as effortless as possible. Primo-grade Madagascar Rosewood make up the arched back and sides, which Kevin paired with a set of his Caspian Spruce (Picea Orientalis), and a rose inlaid into the headstock from none other than inlay virtuoso Larry Robinson. The neck is reinforced with graphite rods, which enabled Kevin to pare the neck carve down to a trim C shape that flattens slightly at the peak.

Additionally, there’s an L.R. Baggs Lyric pickup installed, a Calton flight case custom fit for this Nightingale’s unique dimensions, and a fresh set of frets ready for action. The voice has opened up into a sweet panoply of overtones and clear fundamental since 2009. The trebles have that round quality reminiscent of bells, and we love how silkily the bass notes roll out of this guitar. With Kevin’s acoustic flutes, the player gets a bit extra in their ear, which is a wonderful boon when you’re on stage, or playing with another musician. In short, this Ryan Nightingale is the complete package for playability with no sacrifice to tone and projection.

Other keywords: nightinggale, lutherie, maddie rosewood, mother of pearl, mop, abalone, florentine cutaway

We get some truly amazing instruments that pass through our showroom, but only a handful of those guitars hooks us with an emotional response. This 2003 Ryan Nightingale Grand Soloist is one of those few instruments which, from aesthetics to tone, pulls something out of the player that they didn’t know they had. Fingerstyle guitarists, we’re talking to you.

Providing a rich, full-figured presence from the bass strings to your arrangements, and pairing that with treble overtones like bells, this Indian Rosewood and Sitka Spruce Nightingale has the ability to transform the simple into the grand, and the epic into the elegant. Played in lowered tunings, you can feel the pulse of the low end thick in your gut, but the setup is so glass-smooth that the experience of playing this Ryan is an excercise in effortlessness. Each string is rendered in vibrant color, and is perfectly balanced with its neighbors, rendering the voice complex, but surgically balanced. Add an L.R. Baggs iBeam pickup to the mix, and a Calton flight case with Colorado Case Cover, and you’ll want for nothing. This, friends, is the sort of guitar you’ll carry with you for a lifetime.

For the fingerstylist who needs a guitar that can keep pace with whatever wild tunings strikes his fancy, and can add prodigious strength and tone to every arrangement, no matter how grand or subtle–this is the instrument for you. This 2003 Grand Cathedral Fingerstyle from Kevin Ryan is nothing short of awe-inspiring, from its striking Cocobolo Rosewood back and sides, Sitka Spruce top, and delicate Abalone inlay to its rich, enveloping voice and vibrant tone.

No matter what tuning we tried, the Grand Cathedral’s voice remained true, with the bass strings retaining their snap and crackle, and the trebles singing as sweetly as in standard pitch. And what lushness, what complex overtones when we pulled out our favorite fingerstyle pieces! This is the kind of guitar which makes your every tune sound just a little better. With the Ebony armrest and Florentine cutaway, playability isn’t even a question–the Grand Cathedral practically plays itself. We’d love to go on and on about this Ryan, but it’s really something you need to see for yourself to really understand. So what are you waiting for?