I had been following Orangewood and their products for months, I was first exposed to them via a Youtube review and then did a Youtube search and found several more reviews, but like many if not most shied away in favor of more established manufacturers. I have 11 guitars, Martins, Taylors, Yamaha, etc. And I already owned both Paul Reed Smith SE and Gretsch parlor models.
When the Summer 2022 sale notice was emailed to me I had a weak moment and decided to buy the Orangewood Florence parlor. I rationalized the purchase as after all, it was under two hundred dollars. I went one step further and emailed customer service asking that they insure a couple of concerns I had from some negative comments would not exist on my guitar. My Florence guitar arrived a couple days after I ordered, when I opened up the gig bag and saw what had arrived I sat down and looked it over with a fine tooth comb. I couldn't find a single issue. Did I mention it was under $200! The action was perfect, I did have to tune it a bit and it took a few shots to get the B string adjusted properly, no problem, new strings are like that. When I sat down and played it I was shocked, parlor's usually have a problem with the low end but not this Florence. Again, I was shocked, often times when you see a review on Youtube the reviewer has been given a free item and therefore feels obligated to fudge in favor of the product. Maybe that's human nature. I haven't received anything from Orangewood that I didn't pay for and nothing but answered e-mails and on time delivery. As a result of the June sale and the Florence surprise, I ordered and received a Brooklyn. Guess what...the same outcome, it also arrived in a couple days and beat my expectations. As I type, I'm waiting for the new Oliver as I took advantage of their 'not quite perfect' sale of guitars that might have a nick or scruff mark. All this in less than a month! I'm sold.
