Froggy Bottom Guitars A-12 Deluxe Mahogany

Sonic Evaluation

Imagine you're climbing a massive old-growth tree a hundred and fifty feet tall in a field in the middle of nowhere as night falls. The fog rolls in, and you notice shadows--you can't put your finger on quite what they actually are--start flitting around in the dark. You should be scared witless, but instead, you feel thrilled and inspired. That, in a nutshell, is what it's like to play this Froggy Bottom! Now, obviously that's a little ridiculous, but guitars as otherworldly as this serial demand supernatural metaphors. However, the spirit of what I wrote is accurate: this guitar captures the cavernous warm woody tone of great mahogany-bodied spruce-topped concert guitars, but it has a little more going on, an extra bit of eldritch magic that sends other acoustic guitars running to the hills!

The source of that eldritch magic is the 12-fret construction and the German spruce top. We love German spruce because it responds quickly and has a greater overtone presence while still producing a strong fundamental, and we love how it pulls more sparkle and chime out of the mahogany back and sides on this guitar. It still has that classic punchy, warm, woody tone, but it has this gorgeous cloud of overtones that comes along for the ride, too. The 12-fret neck also boosts its punching power, resonance, and responsiveness. It all adds up to a a guitar that fills the room with a gorgeous, almost atmospheric reverberance that's easy to get lost it. Despite this fullness, it maintains superlative balance and string separation, and it's uber-articulate.

These qualities make it a world-beating fingerstyle guitar, but it's also a delightful strummer if you're looking for something with the perfect blend of punch, boom, and jangle. Anyone looking for an inspiring new flavor of a classic acoustic tone will love this Froggy Bottom A-12 Deluxe Mahogany.