Sound - You don't have to spend much time here at the Shoreline website to discover that we simply love Roger Bucknall's fine guitars. Sure, they've been in the hands of the UK's best guitarists for decades, but we want to be sure there's no misunderstanding for our non-UK customers: Roger makes some killer instruments. The Oberon is the grandfather of his guitar line, with a list of pro players too long to even mention here. And after a long session playing this guitar, it's really not hard to figure out why so many guitarists have flocked to this instrument. It rocks.

Just when you think there's nothing interesting that can be done with plain old spruce and rosewood, this Oberon quickly disabuses you of that notion. Fylde guitars certainly have more character than any American guitar we've ever played, but most of this character is usually found in different tonewoods--the cedar/walnut Alchemist and Magician, or the cedar/mahogany Ariel, Goodfellow, etc. So to hear this in a spruce/rosewood guitar is quite refreshing.

This guitar has a hint of the tonal chunkiness that is usually only found in a cedar/walnut guitar, but the rosewood adds some ring to the notes, while the spruce gives it great projection. Although guitars of these dimensions (OM-ish, with a shorter scale length) usually try to achieve a more focused tone than small jumbo or grand concert guitars, many such guitars simply thin out the sound, resulting in a clean but uninteresting tone. This guitar, on the other hand, actually succeeds in maintaining the richness and volume associated with larger guitars, while giving it just a little bit more focus.

And whenever I review a guitar from any of our UK builders, I have to drop the guitar into DADGAD. It just seems fitting, I guess. And rarely has it been more fitting than with this guitar. Sure, we all know that cedar loves DADGAD, and I've noted in the past that several of Roger's guitars respond beautifully to DADGAD. Well, this little Englemann-topped guitar does, too--certainly more than most spruce/rosewood guitars I've dropped into that tuning.

Playability - It should be noted at the outset that this guitar has a slightly wider neck than most guitars we review: 1 13/16" at the nut. When combined with its shorter scale length, this makes for a remarkably playable fingerboard. When I first picked up this guitar, I found myself playing jigs on it for about an hour and a half--like the Alchemist, I just found it fun to play.

Finish - Roger's guitars look like no one else's. If you're playing a Fylde, you'll never have someone walk up to you after a gig and ask what model Martin you have in your hands. And you really wouldn't want it any other way. The character that Roger imbues his tone with should be matched by a unique visual character. This guitar, as you can see, is remarkably handsome, with some nice purfling and inlays, the kind that look modest from a distance, but intricate up close.

Summary - When Tom and I were sitting down to do a play-through of this guitar, several other guitar players strolled by, and everyone within earshot of the instrument said, "What IS that guitar--it sounds awesome!" Obviously, we agreed with their assessment.

I hope the Alchemist doesn't get jealous, but I may have found a new favorite Fylde. If you're looking for a great guitar with good volume, a unique, focused tone, and some real visual character to boot, I can think of few guitars as appealing as this Oberon.