"John Walsh is a luthier located in rural Ridgway, Colorado, who concentrates on acoustic guitar manufacturing. One at a time, his Cimarron Guitars turns out handcrafted acoustics, and since 1978, his craft has embraced not only traditional flat-tops but electric semi-acoustics. The Model One from Cimarron Guitars, uses a mix of acoustic guitar lutherie along with electric guitar hi- technology, resulting in a thin-line hollow electric with bent-wood sides and a wooden mahogany block running through the middle to increase resonance and cut down on feedback. The guitar is all John's, soup to nuts. This means the finish, construction, inlay and hardware (John prefers the potent Rio Grande pickups with Sperzel locking tuners) are all done carefully by one guy - no assembly line. The retail price of $1,500 for our guitar seems paltry for what we got - a dazzling blue-sparkle finish on a Tele-type body, light as a feather with a truly sweet neck that features ebony fretboard and simply great finish work. The trem on ours was optional, but stayed in tune and encouraged some Buffalo Springfield type Bigsby action (for some reason, everyone who picked up this Cimarron guitar played country licks - I guess it just had the vibe). As John explains, a whole slew of options is available, including custom finishes (sunburst and clear are the most popular), and the three-pickup arrangement with five-way switch are only a starting place. The basic model, at $1,000 shows an admirable lack of excess, but I liked our blue beauty.
"This is quite a handful," Pete commented. "The finish is a real knockout, and I like the weight of it, a lot". The angle of the bridge bothered Pete a bit, but this was remedied by simply adjusting the spring tension. The arm placement was perfect for gentle tweaks of the notes, and both acoustic and amplified sounds were quite impressive. Through a blackface Pro Reverb, the Cimarron One had a brilliant, shimmering sound similar to a Strat, without the brittleness sometimes associated with Teles (those boys at Rio Grande...). Power chords were thick and rich, and a nice edge of overdrive was present at top volumes. Nice placement of the knobs and other hardware, with no blockage of the hand's natural path when performing the delicate but crucial Pete Townsend windmill procedure ... all kidding aside, this guitar was fun to play, affordable, and shows some serious research and care in it's construction.
Contact John at Cimarron Cuitars by calling (970) 626-4464 or write to 538 Sherman, Box 511, Ridgway, Colorado 81432-0511"

Cimarron Guitars
538 Sherman. Box 511,
Ridgway, CO. 81432
tel. 970 626-4464