If Leo Buendia is the future, then this guitar is the first step along a reverent, beautiful road. His 2016 OM Cutaway is fresh from the bench and arrived like most guitars do: wrapped in layer upon layer of cardboard. When we cut away the tape and the packing foam, we found one of the most beautiful, resonant guitars this shop has ever seen cocooned in a black-and-gold Hoffee hardshell case. We all agreed that this guitar was special–Leo’s work is astounding–but the instant Paul put finger to string, we knew something was different. The air is charged with a mesmerizing force: the bass string trembles; the German Spruce top shimmers in the light, its voice balanced as a dancer on the ball of her foot. Brazilian Rosewood from a luthier’s daydream has here been shaped into a creature whose richness is crushed purple velvet, and that hardly begins to encapsulate the depth and range of Buendia’s OM Cutaway model. The low-end is comprehensive, absorbing, respectfully balanced with the other registers, so the trebles can ring clean and strong. This instrument speaks through you, rather than the other way around, and the fit and finish are actually flawless–from Maple purfling miters to silky Nitrocellulose Lacquer. This guitar is what every fingerstylist is searching for, with its pianistic separation, resounding depths, and its ability to fill a room with myriad tones, each of them jewels.
The bass rolls with an enormous force, as though the guitar creates a barometric response you can feel in your bones, like thunder signaling the coming rain. I am touched by Leo's aesthetic, from the headstock to the relief carved into the Brazilian Rosewood bridge above the saddle; you can absolutely feel how passionately each stroke of the chisel fell. 
This is one of the best sounding guitars I've played. The rosewood is some of the best I've seen too, which might help explain the tone. It's like holding a piano in your lap when you listen to the overtones on this beauty. Guitars just don't get much better. | Scale Length | 25 in |
|---|---|
| Nut Width | 1.75 in |
| String Spacing | 2.25 in |
| Woods | Spruce - German, Rosewood - Brazilian |
If Leo Buendia is the future, then this guitar is the first step along a reverent, beautiful road. His 2016 OM Cutaway is fresh from the bench and arrived like most guitars do: wrapped in layer upon layer of cardboard
The bass rolls with an enormous force, as though the guitar creates a barometric response you can feel in your bones, like thunder signaling the coming rain. I am touched by Leo's aesthetic, from the headstock to the relief carved into the Brazilian Rosewood bridge above the saddle; you can absolutely feel how passionately each stroke of the chisel fell.
This is one of the best sounding guitars I've played. The rosewood is some of the best I've seen too, which might help explain the tone 