Sound - If you've spent any time here at Shoreline, you know that we absolutely love Dermot Mcilroy's guitars. The A25 is one of our best sellers, and may very well be the single best guitar at or under $2500. So it really was a no-brainer to order this AS15. Sure, it's a bit smaller than the A models, and I've never played a mahogany guitar from Dermot. But every single guitar he makes is stunning--every single one--and this guitar is no exception.

Dermot's signature is great balance, fantastic clarity, and an open, airy resonance, with a little meat thrown in on every note. This guitar has each of these, especially the meaty clarity in the mids and lows that is sometimes just a jumble of tone or altogether nonexistent on other guitars this size. There are hints of the A25 in this guitar, but the mahogany does brighten up the chunkiness of walnut just a bit.

Perhaps my favorite part of this guitar, though, is the warmth and resonance that Dermot has packed into this smaller package. It's not the fat, low punch of a dreadnought, or even one of Dermot's AJ guitars, but it's just enough fulness to make you think you're playing a larger guitar. Occasionally I play small guitars that can pull this off, but none has the open, airy resonance of a Mcilroy.

Playability - All the Mcilroys are, of course, very playable. The necks are by no means electric guitar necks, but they're quite a bit slimmer than the necks of their distant cousins, Lowdens. I ordered this particular guitar with slightly wider string spacing at the bridge, knowing it would never be a flatpicking guitar, and it seems to suit both the guitar and my playing style nicely.

Finish - Dermot always seems to be able to find great pieces of cedar for his guitars, and he's grabbed a great piece of Honduran mahogany, too. The future of big-leaf mahogany as a tonewood may be up in the air, but for now, it means we get some great-looking guitars, as you can see in the golden mahogany of the picture below. And, of course, the attention to detail on these guitars is as good as it gets--all-wood bindings and purflings, even on the fretboard.

Summary - As it turns out, about 12 hours before this guitar arrived in the mail from Dermot, I had the opportunity to play a grand concert guitar from one of America's top builders (who shall remain nameless here). And while that was quite a lovely guitar, it cost about 3 times as much as this Mcilroy, and quite frankly, I prefer the tone of this guitar--in particular the airy resonance, the sensitivity, and the clarity. If you're looking for a handcrafted fingerstyle guitar, or if you've been waiting for your chance to find out what all the hoopla about Mcilroy guitars is, I cannot recommend this AS15 more highly.