Orangewood Oliver Mahogany | Honest Review & Demo

We spent some time with one of the higher-end Orangewood guitars, now it's time to dive into one of their low end models, the Oliver. Is this all-mahogany acoustic is a great value? Take a listen and let us know what you think!

0:00 Intro/Specs
7:32 Demo
10:03 Final Thoughts

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[jordansilver]

I purchased this exact model to play around with about a year or so ago. The build was nice for the money, but there was constant buzzing. The guys were from Orangewood were very responsive. They worked with me on adjusting the truss rod, etc. Unfortunately the buzzing just never went away. They had me send the guitar back and gave me a full refund. The customer service was legitimately excellent.

[dmar]

It's good that Chris and Cooper are reviewing Orangewood and being Honest about it.
This will only serve to help Orangewood improve on their product and will help them provide the Best guitars available to their customers.
In the end, competition breeds better products and best practices.
Thank you Orangewood for your continued willingness to have these guys review your product.
And Thank you, Chris and Cooper for reviewing these guitars honestly and without bias and even giving tips on improvements.

[nelspurtel]

Cooper casually uttering under his breath "My cousin just went Sonokeling in Costa Rica." Flawless.

[seanhopkins]

I gave this exact model a try a year or so ago. When it arrived the action was off the charts high. I worked the truss rod for all it was worth and it didn't resolve the problem. The sound was very thin and tinty. I wanted to like it, especially at this price point, but I boxed it up and sent it back. All that said, their customer service department was excellent.

[michaellacy]

IMO, you can't get a better intro guitar for anywhere near this price. I got my daughter a Brooklyn and was astonished at how well it plays. Essential for a beginner. Actually ounds good too. Wish these were around when I was starting out.

[barbmelle]

From Leo: I felt the same way about the slight weakness in the lower notes and thought it was just because it was a small body guitar. I was used to Dreadnought guitars. (not to mention guitars that cost 4 times or more the price) Over the next 6 months it appears to have mellowed and became more pleasing in tone. I have heard that top maker guitars age and season their wood to avoid that. Maybe cheap guitar makers don't and it takes a while for the wood to mellow. I am now pretty happy with the little guitar.

[illopedragoon]

I hate turning into that guy, as I already left a comment on another (Jeremy) guitar guru's youtube who reviewed Orangewood.

I bought the Sage Mahogany Live guitar and I was very excited as I saw several reviews that raved about Orangewood guitars. It came to me in very quick time and initially I was super pleased. It looked great and had a nice tone--although this is a very QUIET guitar, it does not project and gets lost easily. No biggie, it has a GREAT LR Baggs pu.

But... after 2-3 months the neck went weeble wobble. It was unplayable. Like a winding country road. There were frets that were simply dead for all 6 strings, especially around 11-13. Sadly, I realized that this thing needs a lot of help. My tech wanted to redo all the frets and just essentially take the thing apart and try to make it playable. I didn't have money for that so he shimmed it as much as possible tried to adjust the 2-piece truss rod (ugh!) and in the end I spent $100 to get my new guitar reset-up and STILL it buzzes out on several frets.

Yes, Orangewood says they have a great money back guarantee, but make sure you read the fine print!!! Like, save your box! And do not put that pickguard that send with the guitar on the guitar or you have nullified the money-back guarantee.

Everyone I dealt with at Orangewood was incredibly nice and I got my guitar in under a week, shipped across USA, it looks gorgeous and it was just under $1000 for an all solid mahogany guitar... yet, I don't play it because of the buzzing. Buyer beware.

[anthonyb]

I purchased this exact models last year. Paid $190. The gig bag is a little big but we’ll padded. The set up wasn’t great. I adjusted it and was able to get it really low without issues. Fit and finish was amazingly good. I wanted to see what a sub $200 guitar with bag would do. I mean, with a bag?I wasn’t going to lose much and it gave me something to play with. The guitar was great for traveling, campgrounds, sitting on the coach. I did not have warranty issues, I changed out the tuners.

I have nothing bad to say about this guitar but did sell it after a while, just because I like to try different things. For a beginner this is great. Have it set up and you are set.

Thanks.A very good and honest video.

[edwardgarner]

(NOTE: the Oliver Mahogany is now $225.) I've purchased five (5) Orangewood guitars over the last 3 years -- two Oliver Mahogany, one Echo Live12-string, one Brooklyn, and one Duke Live. I've had to send guitars back three times due to buzzing frets and poor intonation set ups. While the guitar issues I encountered were frustrating, the Orangewood customer service people I worked with regarding the returns were courteous, responsive professionals. My first purchase from Orangewood was an Oliver Mahogany 3 years ago. At the time, it was offered on "Special" for $169. When it arrived, I was blown away by the quality fit and finish workmanship, the perfect intonation and the large sound it produced. When the build quality is there, the Oliver models I purchased have been outstanding performers. Strangely, even though the exterior build quality of the three more expensive "higher" quality models I purchased more recently seemed great, they never performed at the same level of overall sound quality that I get from my Oliver Mahogany (two models were ultimately returned for a refund). From some of the comments below, it appears that others have experienced similar disappointments. It's hard to know why some Orangewood guitars arrive in great shape and play wonderfully -- while others are rejects that have to be returned. Fortunately, Orangewood has a great return policy so that if you aren't satisfied with the guitar you receive, you can request a replacement until you are satisfied (within reason). Despite some frustrations I've had with Orangewood products, there is value in what they offer at the price point they advertise. I count myself very lucky to have found a mahogany guitar of the quality I now have for $169! Just know that you may have to expend additional time and effort to end up with the guitar you are happy with.

[ThePonDePon]

I just got one of these for free, it sounded really nice despite having really old and dark oxidized strings, the first itself was basically mint, I was surprised to find it had a bone nut and saddle already installed, but it still has plastic pins lol, there is small amounts of tree sap coming out from one of the bracings which tells me the wood on this guitar wasn't cured properly, I hope it doesn't lead to issues in the future but I'm not worried since I'm no money into it, but that's obviously not the case for everyone else, the Playability is very great and it reminds me of my Martin 000-15m, my Oliver has the same finish issues as the one in this demo including the neck heel misalignment, I would compare this to the Fender cc-60s Mahogany, they're basically the same guitar with just different aesthetics. The Martin blows both the fender and orangewood out of the water though, no contest.

[Jdb]

I got the Orangewood Sage TS which is their high end range and was pretty disappointed in the sound at first. But oh man it has opened up so much since then and sounds phenomenal now! It's also really well built and comfortable to play. I'd love to see you guys review some of their higher end models after running a tonerite on it for a bit

[Nozzall]

I have one of their Morgan Mahoganies and I love it. I like the Mahogany because it does give you a lot of warmth in the mid range. Plus for $300 with the pickup if it gets dinged or knocked over around the fire it isn't a big deal.

[tommyhardin]

Thanks for an HONEST review. Your review of this guitar is spot on. I have seen quite a few guitar channels on YouTube singing the praises of Orangewood. They mostly talk about how amazing the guitars are for the money but do not address the sound of the guitar. You, however, nailed it. I have purchased three Orangewood guitars. Reasons being that I have family members that I thought might like to play guitar and this was a cheap way to get them into music without playing my expensive guitars. Also, I felt these guitars may appreciate like the old Japanese Squier Stratocasters from the 80's. I bought the Dana Spruce, Oliver Jr Mahogany, and the Manhattan. All were listed for $125 when I bought them but I bought a couple of them on sale so they were even cheaper. I do not like the sound of the Dana or the Oliver Jr. The build quality is fine. The Oliver Jr looks amazing in my opinion. However, I do not like the sound of these small guitars (keep in mind I have a Taylor GS Mini KOA-E and it has a way better sound). So these two smaller guitars just sit around. However, I play the Manhattan almost every day. I just like the way it sounds and it plays very well. It's not a Martin D-28 sound. It's much brighter but it has a good sound. I cannot believe that I was able to buy this guitar for only $125 (now they are $135). It blows my first learner guitar away which I spent just shy of $200 on 30 years ago. If it sounds like like I am criticizing Orangewood, I am not. I am just being honest. In fact, I am an Orangewood fan. I think they make a good guitar for the money. Would I buy the smaller guitars for myself. No because the sound of a guitar is very important to me. However, I would buy them for someone just learning guitar. The investment is so miniscule. If your kid puts the guitar down forever or if the guitar gets destroyed, you have not lost much. Plus they are good travel guitars that you don't have to worry about. I appreciate this honest review by Alamo. I will look to them in the future for reviews of other guitars.

[orde_plongo..]

Sonokeling is from indonesia, it's identical with rosewood. AFAIK it is rosewood. We also have mahoni (it's mahogany in english) also and eboni (ebony).

[jimrylander]

Sonokeling is a Rosewood grown & harvested in Indonesia. It’s actually a really high quality wood

[baldbearded]

Sonokeling is what you call Indonesian rosewood. What people typically call rosewood is Indian rosewood. But sonokeling is real rosewood.

[MuskMonkey]

I have owned one of these for quite some time. The Oliver has been a great guitar. Mine sounds much better than the one you have there. I also took the time to set it up and put on better strings. It is nice, and is better if the time is put into it.

[MuttonChops]

I've had 2 of these Oliver M guitars. (first one got burned in a fire) and neither of them had the quality issues you are experiencing with the finish. Also, the low end really opens up once it has a chance to climatize. The first one i has i got with the electronics in it, and i did have some issues with the wires causing a strange buzzing out of the sound hole. The second one i bought without electronics for that reason, and it has been perfect

[cefarther]

Love this particular guitar, great review.

[robertdievendorf]

Sounds ok for a cheap guitar. As I’d expect for a guitar at this price point, the sound is a bit thin. I’ve read that Orangewood “over-builds” their guitars (thicker soundboard, heavy finishing. The sound (to me) sounds like an over-built guitar. It does look nice.