This is my 1st guitar I'm a very season (aged) person and have decided to learn the acoustic guitar. My son who has been playing for a few years and have various other brand guitars suggested that I look at your line of guitars at which time I did. I did my research of the other brand names guitars and Orangewood, I decided after research I wanted a guitar that I would not out grow no time soon and selected the all solid Ava Torrefied Spruce Live!!. My son stated that was the one he would had purchased if he did not have so many :-). My friends who plays in the garage sample it and love it. I decided to take lesson and my instructor who have never played on one really really love it, so I believe my selection was a very sound one. As I learned this new endeavor of learning the acoustic guitar I plan to keep you all posted on my journey. Take care an I will strummed on!! Larry L - Ohio

I compare all guitars to my 1970 Martin D-35. The Martin has a deep, rich sound which, after I played the Ava, I realized could be a bit too boomy. Strum a guitar and you instantly hear whether or not it has it's own voice. There are a lot of well made guitars out there that sound perfectly fine but not everyone has it's own voice. The Ava, besides being a beautiful looking guitar has a perfectly balanced tone that covers the gamut from a pleasing, deep bass, to a highly articulated top end. I think it's the mahogany which gives it such a distinctive tone. Recording the D-35 was always a challenge due to it's deep sound, but the Ava records perfectly. I plug the pickup system into one channel and then mic it into another channel. This gives me great versatility in mixing. When I wanted to write, or play for people, I always picked up the Martin (I also have a nice Larivee to choose from). Now, I don't even hesitate. The Ava has become my go-to guitar. I still can't decide whether or not to put on the pick-guard. The guitar sounds so great that I wonder if adding the pick-guard might affect the overall resonance.

My first impressions:
- the purchase experience has been excellent
- I really like that I can try it out on my own and in different settings without pressure because of the no hassle return policy
- feels lightweight
- I really like the satin finish
- it has a smell that I don't love, seems a little like chemicals
- when I barred 1st fret the nut scratched my finger
- the action was really nice. feels like a pro setup
- very easy to play
- tone is brighter than I expected
- when plugged in it was also very bright sounding, even with fiddling with the pickup mix, it required a good bit of high end rolled off in order to get it where I liked it compared to some other guitars.
- I plan to return it but I'm still curious enough to want to try other instruments and could definitely see one of them fitting into my collection for specific purpose.

I own several Martins and this guitar can keep up. I wanted a smaller body, solid wood and didn't want to spend the Martin up-charge. I would recommend this guitar to anyone looking for a smaller body and great sound. The customer service from this company is superb. I love my AVA! Thanks to all the team members at orangeWood. I had never bought a guitar 100% online and was skeptic, other than the wait time which was not long it was over all a great experience. I would definitely buy another instrument.

I bought this guitar while holding off on selling my Taylor 314 that I’ve owned and loved for 8 years now just in case I wanted to take orangewood up on that 30 day free return policy... well, consider my Taylor sold! The Ava is so beautiful and the tone is exactly what I was looking for! The only thing I didn’t absolutely love was the brightness of the strings but now that I’ve put some elixirs on it, it’s perfect for me. If you’re holding back on this decision, there’s no need. Go for it and you won’t regret it!