We first heard about Shropshire, UK‑based luthier Rich Jones in early 2023 when he visited our studios bearing two of his recent builds, an OM and parlour. The subsequent review was enthusiastic, to say the least, as we were extremely impressed by both the craftsmanship and the sheer musicality – not to mention the value for money – of both instruments.
Our verdict read: “We like both of these guitars a lot. Each has its own particular charm – the Parlour is slight in body and big in voice, it looks great, the build quality is very good and that aged cedar top sets the guitar off well. The OM is more the all-rounder with plenty of volume and a good dynamic range.”
The Orchestra model went on to win itself a place in our Gear of the Year issue and so when Rich told us that he was introducing an entry-level model into his catalogue, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to take a look. Enter ‘The Hog’, an all-mahogany, slope-shouldered dreadnought, with the type of spec we rarely see on guitars in this price range.
Rich’s mission statement is clear: “The aim for JWJ Guitars is simply to produce professional hand-built guitars at a great price. By keeping the standard range simple, with options for body wood and neck profile, I can focus my efforts on getting the best possible tone and feel from each instrument.” Let’s zoom in on The Hog and see what makes it tick…
As far as spec is concerned, it’s all pretty straightforward. This is an all-mahogany guitar and so the top, back, sides and neck are all – you guessed it – mahogany. But the fact that this is Honduran mahogany changes things up a gear or two.
Star of the show, however, is undoubtedly the open-pore finish, which adds an attractive rustic allure to the proceedings
Many manufacturers, including some of the major players, will use woods like sipo or sapele as able substitutes for mahogany in order to keep costs down. But to find this particular wood on an instrument carrying an ‘entry level’ tag at this price point is virtually unheard of. For the uninitiated, Honduran mahogany is a member of an elite range of body woods, up there with the finer and more rarified rosewoods.
The top here is triple-A grade mahogany with a fairly plain grain figure, but some medullary rays present when the light hits it at the right angle, particularly on the lower bout.
Star of the show, however, is undoubtedly the open-pore finish, which adds an attractive rustic allure to the proceedings. Simply put, it feels good in the hands, like you’re somehow one step closer to the actual wood, rather than being separated from it by a thick glossy coat. And a word or two ought to be said about the fact that this is a hand-sprayed, thin-coated nitro finish, which you don’t always see at this price point, either.
The 20-fret fingerboard is rosewood, with a perfectly cut bone nut at one end of the string length and a bone saddle and string pins at the other. The tuners offer up another touch of luxury: open-back Klusons with an 18:1 tuning ratio to keep everything harmonious.
Rich tells us that he cuts his own pickguards from large sheets of mock tortoiseshell and, ever conscious of making a personal statement, he decided to marry up the accustomed teardrop shape with a little pointed flourish of his own on the lower side. A further artistic touch is how the curve on the lower edge of the Indian rosewood bridge is mirrored at the top of the headstock.
Casting an eye over the workmanship that has gone into this build we were unable to find anything that we didn’t like or took undue exception to. Everything is neatly rendered both inside and out: The Hog really is a thoroughbred beast and we’re eager to know if it sounds as good as it looks.
Feel & Sounds
We’ve already mentioned the appeal of the open-pore finish to the mahogany, but it really does feel good in the hands. The neck, too, was a revelation as it’s asymmetrical, Rich telling us that he simply looked at the angle of the player’s hand at the 1st and 12th frets (or thereabouts, anyway) and fashioned the neck profile so that it’s slightly offset.
“At the lower end for 1st position chords, the treble side is slightly dressed away like a V,” Rich tells us, “while the bass side has a fuller feel to support the thumb, somewhere between a C and D. Towards the body, the neck fills out more towards the treble side to help facilitate single-note playing with a flatter back.”
All this cunning lutherie adds up to the simple fact that it’s a very comfortable playing experience from the cowboy chord area, right up to the dusty end. It’s a very light guitar in the hand, too, and so there would be no question of fatigue should you take to standing up on stage for a longish acoustic set.
Sound-wise, all-mahogany acoustics have a reputation for offering a warm midrange, with good basses and sweet, rounded trebles, and The Hog lands right in the middle of that runway. It’s loud without being brash and, as we found with the Parlour and OM last year, remains eminently musical with whatever you choose to throw its way.
We tried some country blues fingerstyle, open-chord strumming and single-note soloing and The Hog maintained its perfect table manners throughout. Another factor with Honduran mahogany is that it gets better with age and so everything that’s already here, in terms of the guitar’s soundscape, will improve as the years pass.
Our Hog has no pickup fitted and so we weren’t able to hear how it would fare through an acoustic guitar amplifier. Adding a pickup adds £300 to the cost (you have the choice between LR Baggs’ excellent Lyric or HiFi models), and even when you factor this extra hike into the equation, The Hog still represents amazing value for money.
Verdict
Let’s just remind ourselves exactly what The Hog features in terms of spec. For a little under £1.3k you’re getting a hand-crafted instrument made from premium bodywoods, a hand-applied nitro finish, upscaled hardware in terms of string pegs, tuners and so on, and to cap it all, the whole package comes in a Hiscox Pro II hard case, which would itself cost around £180 if you bought it as an accessory.
Put all this together with the JWJ’s sound, feel and addictive playability and the whole deal becomes something of a no-brainer. The Hog is quite simply one of the best 'entry level’ acoustic guitars we’ve experienced.
Specs
- PRICE: £1,295 (inc case)
- ORIGIN: UK
- TYPE: All-mahogany, slope-shoulder dreadnought
- TOP: AAA grade honduras mahogany
- BACK/SIDES: Honduras mahogany
- MAX RIM DEPTH: 119mm
- MAX BODY WIDTH: 400mm
- NECK: 1-piece Honduras mahogany
- SCALE LENGTH: 632mm (24.9”)
- TUNERS: Kluson open-back 18:1 ratio
- NUT/WIDTH: Bone/43.5mm
- FINGERBOARD: Indian Rosewood
- FRETS: 20
- BRIDGE/SPACING: Indian rosewood/57mm
- WEIGHT (kg/lb): 1.58/3.5
- OPTIONS: LR Baggs Lyric or HiFi pickups add £300
- RANGE OPTIONS: Custom builds available from £1,695. Parlour, Orchestra, Dreadnought and Slope Shoulder models, C, D, V or A neck profiles
- LEFT HANDERS: Yes, no upcharge
- FINISH: Natural satin nitrocellulose
- CONTACT: JWJ Guitars
