Richards Guitars Of Stratford Upon Avon

I wanted to get my son, Griff a special acoustic guitar for his 18th birthday. We had tried some nice Martin’s, Faith’s and Taylor’s locally in Cardiff however I had read some great reviews about Furch and thought we should try them.
With no local dealers stocking them, I found Richard’s Guitars online and through their website also became curious about Dowina, Auden and Eastman acoustic guitars.
We decided to have a daytrip to Stratford Upon Avon and had a 2 hour session exploring their wonderful range of superb guitars.
A special thank you to Jake who was very well informed and unobtrusively on hand for advice to help us make a decision.
Griff liked the tone of the Furch Violet Gc ER with its solid rosewood back and sides but he also liked the shape of its mahogany back and sided stablemate, the Furch Deluxe Gc EM with its duo of bevels.
Jake told us that Richard’s Guitars had ordered 4 custom built Furch Deluxe Gc models with spruce tops, rosewood back and sides and the bevel duo (not on Furch’s website but in effect Deluxe Gc ER). They contacted Furch to ask if one could be expedited from the factory in the Czech Republic in time for Griff’s birthday. It arrived at Stratford well ahead of the big day. Richard’s luthier Chris fitted an LR Baggs Anthem pick up and had it delivered to us in a beautiful Vintage Deluxe Tweed hard case as part of the deal.
The guitar looks and sounds absolutely stunning! The grain on the rosewood is gorgeous and to have solid rosewood back and sides with double bevels from the well known american companies would be over twice the price!
What an amazing relationship Richard’s have with Furch and what a fantastic experience we have had with Richard’s Guitars.
Thank you once again
Dan, Cardiff

Read great reviews regarding Richard’s Guitars, and wanted the T88ACE lefty. Advised stack was sporadic but they managed to get one for me. Had to wait for it if course, but came and I am completely happy with the purchase, service, setup, and communication with them. A pleasure to deal with and would highly reccomend them to anyone. Told my friend about them and coincidentally, he had bought from them previously and was highly satisfied with them too. Thanks a million to all at Richard’s Guitars!!😊😊👍🏻👍🏻

What a great guitar shop. Communication, instrument set up, transparency and delivery, all top notch. Thank you.

A wonderful archtop acoustic from Eastman, 16 inch bout and basically a more affordable Gibson L5. Fantastic service from Richard and the team, great communication throughout, and the guitar arrived in absolutely perfect condition and plays wonderfully. Its getting a daily workout of Eddie Lang!

I bought this guitar just over a year ago and posted a very quick review within hours of owning it so I thought it might be helpful to post a few more thoughts in greater detail after owning it for a year.

This is actually the second guitar I have bought from Richard, the first being my first proper acoustic, a Faith Venus, back in 2007. A while back I started trying to master fingerstyle blues guitar on a Vintage V300MH guitar, which is a surprisingly good all mahogany parlour considering it is under £200. Even though this guitar was probably more than sufficient for my skill levels I had a significant birthday coming up and decided I wanted a quality acoustic to mark the occasion. Initially, I was looking at an Auden parlour but after having a telephone conversation with one of Richard's staff he convinced me that Eastman might be a better choice for the style of music I had in mind. Most of the Eastman range are, if I recall correctly cheaper than the Auden I was looking at so this was clearly a recommendation based on my needs rather than an attempt to upsell.

The E20p TC that they had on their website looked ideal and at a price that was almost too good to be true. Actually after ordering it online it it turned out the price was an error on the website! The price quoted was for the non-TC version (torrified top) which was the one they had in stock. The TC version was not in stock and a bit more expensive. Well, mistakes happen but it's how they are handled that is important. In this respect, Richard's guitars get five stars. They gave me three options: a full refund, The non TC version that they could despatch immediately or if I was prepared to wait they would order a TC version for me at the lower price I had already paid. Given that I was in no rush for the guitar this is the option I went with! They did warn me that it could be quite a long wait and it was indeed several months but when it did arrive Richards Guitars even gave me a £120 Walsall leather guitar strap as a thank you for waiting so long. What with the reduced price and the free strap Richard can't have made much money out of me in this instance (sorry Richard).

But what of the guitar? Well it's said to me a copy of a Martin Marquis Collection 000-28VS. A guitar I am probably never going to be able to play in real life because it is now discontinued (or 'retired' as Martin prefer to call it) and even second-hand examples are going on Reverb for between £3600 - £4800. I'm led to believe that the Martins just have a sitka spruce top as well whereas the Eastman has the superior Adironack Spruce. When I think of Chinese guitars I think of the cheap Gibson copies (or Chibsons) with overly bright colours and varnish and cheap-looking components. All a bit tawdry. The Eastman is the exact opposite. It is the most restrained and tasteful guitar I own with beautiful, flawless inlays and binding, a superb satin neck with ebony fingerboard and such a beautifully resonant tone. I cannot yet do justice to the guitar but every time I pick it up I am blown away by the sheer quality and inspired to try harder.

I am aware that many people are wary of buying Chinese guitars but I would urge you to set aside such doubts. If the name on the headstock is really important to you (and I'm not saying that's wrong) then by all means buy a Martin but be prepared to pay at least double for a second-hand guitar (I believe even now Richard is only asking about £1600 for the Eastman). All I would urge you to do is at least try an Eastman before you make that decision. I am sold on Eastmans and looking for to my next purchase from Richard which will probably be a T186 or T59/V

I was anew customer when I purchased my Eastman T386 just over a year ago, and was very pleased with thre service and expertise of the staff, as well as the wonderful experience I had choosing the guitar oin their showroom. I went on to buy another guitar (this time a Fretless Bass, by Cort) which was a "Pre-Loved" instrument. Again the experience was very good, and the setup was excellent. Having recently had mny free 1 year setup up, I can again say that thee service offered at Richards Guitars is second to none. They are accommodating when it comes to organising things to suit you, and the setup itself ranks as the best I have ever had.

Handmade with precision and attention to detail by Eastman. Set up to perfection by the Richards Guitar team.

A modern boutique re-imagining of the classic single-cut mahogany bodied guitar of the '50s.

Beautiful clear, articulate, and dynamic tones. My Eastman SB59 is my main guitar, used for writing, recording, out on the road, and peaceful moments of home playing.

After being let down by another retailer I decided to buy this Enya acoustic guitar from Richard, add I'm so glad I did. Solid communication throughout, and the set up I received coupled with the personal touch will ensure I recommend them to all my students. I look forward to using them again!

I purchased my Furch, sight unseen and unplayed. I explained to Jake my style of music, how I played and the sound I was looking for. Originally I thought a Dowina was for me but after a few online chats, watching a few online videos etc., I was persuaded that I should go for Furch Blue Gc-CM Master's choice with the CNR active neck model instead. I am extremely pleased with the service I received, the advice given and the updates on ordering, arrival and delivery. All spot on. I was in no great hurry to get it but it was good to be kept informed.

This guitar is something special to hold, to play and to look at. It really is beautiful in all aspects. I had wanted to buy another acoustic (ideally electro) for a while and with the advice of a friend who has the T98 Parlour Lag I went for the T98 ACE. I wanted a high quality guitar that would feel equally at home with finger picking and strumming, had a warm tone, well balanced highs and lows, has a lovely resonance and could somehow effortlessly amplify my soft figure picking in the absence of long finger nails...oh and at a modest price (below £500) - not too much to ask for right!? Ha ha

Well I must say this has exceeded all expectations and I got more than I'd hoped for with the T98 ACE and that's even before I plug it in!

What made it even more special was the much needed advice and guidance I received from the team at Richard's Guitars whilst weighing up my options as well as the care and attention that went into setting up the guitar to my specifications and making sure that it was nothing less than amazing before it was posted out.

The quality of the guitar makes me play better and sound better. Part of my goal was to get back into guitar playing after going through a period of years where life was getting in the way. I can safely say since purchasing this guitar I have played more in the past few weeks than I had in the past 5 years! It even spurred me on to put up a proper guitar hanging rack.

I highly recommend the guitar and what's more I highly recommend Richard's Guitars

Richards guitars provided an unbelievable experience via on line purchase. he guitar came well packed and arrived in fantastic condition. Communication via email was flawless. I've attached a picture of me in the Amazon jungle from this past July!

Just bought another wonderful guitar from Richard's Guitars. It's an Auden 12 string. It's what I was missing in my arsenal of guitars. It is an amazing guitar that was recommended to me by Jon and Jake and they never let me down. It sings so sweetly and I can't put it down. Another massive thanks to Richard, Jon, Jake and Chris the guitar tech for all the expert advice and knowledge they gave me. They are all so understanding and great guys. The fingertips are sore but I'm a very happy guy...all the best, Barrie

I' wasn't expecting that! I'm completely blown away. A truly amazing guitar. Beautiful and beautifully made. A real pleasure to play. I used to play sporadically, I now play every day, I cannot put it down and my playing has improved tenfold. Thank you Dowina and thank you Richard.

I had a appointment to try some guitars in the showroom.
Jake had already selected some he thought I'd be interested in and was on hand when needed for information and advice. It was a lovely experience. I played a lot of guitars in those 3 hours and never felt rushed or pressured in any way.
The Dowina guitars are some of the most beautifully crafted instruments I've seen and play beautifully.
In the end I picked a Furch. The sound is exceptional - rich and resonant.
I left the showroom confident I'd picked the right guitar for me and paid a very reasonable price for it.
The guitar was delivered 3 days later. I'd asked for a couple of minor tweaks which had been done and overall the setup was spot on.
The whole team were a pleasure to deal with and I am a very happy customer. Would highly recommend.

I'm 74 years old, have been an electric guitar player since my teenage years and haven't owned an acoustic since my teenage 'folk' days. I've been playing live in bands for many years but stopped a couple of years ago and have some issues with arthritis in my hands. I still have 3 of my electric guitars but wanted an acoustic in order to encourage more spontaneous bouts of playing instead of having to pull an amplifier out and get an electric set up. I also feel that an acoustic will help me to focus on my technique.
I have spent a lot of time researching brands, suppliers and watching reviews. Richards Guitars, I thought, had a really customer focused attitude so, after talking to Jake about my short list and taking his very honest advice, I ordered a LAG T118ACE. Getting the guitar set up by Richards Guitars with the best possible action was a big factor and, within a few days, my guitar arrived ready to play. It's a complete beauty and a real quality instrument! Throughout the process, Jake has been there for me, answering my questions and pointing me in the right direction.
A huge "thank you" to Richards Guitars. All I have to do now is get used to playing an acoustic again!