Reviews

Guitarist Magazine's review of an Olson SJ

Magazine reviews of custom-built instruments are few and far between. After all, such guitars are built-to-order, making a general evaluation difficult. But the Olson SJ with a cedar top and Indian rosewood back and sides is so popular that the UK's Guitarist Magazine decided to review an Olson "James Taylor" model for its August 1998 issue. You'll find the full text and accompanying photos here.

Acoustic Guitar Magazine's Players' Choice Gold Award

In 2000 the editors of Acoustic Guitar Magazine created the Players' Choice Awards to allow "real guitarists to voice their opinions about their favorite gear." In its debut year, over 5000 ballots were cast in 39 categories. Olson Guitars won the Gold Award (highest rating) in the category of companies building fewer than 100 instruments per year. Jim was especially proud to receive the appreciation of Acoustic Guitar's diverse and discriminating readership. You can read more about the award at Players' Choice Awards 2000.

Bob Taylor on Olson guitars

Bob Taylor, founder of Taylor guitars, is a good friend of Jim's. Bob is well known in the world of luthiery for his generosity and openness with his fellow luthiers. He and luthier Tom Anderson gave Jim some crucial advice on using the Fadal. Jim speaks highly of Bob and his influence on modern luthiery. The appreciation evidently goes both ways. In a recent issue of the Taylor Guitars newsletter, Bob had this to say about Jim's work:

James Olson and his guitars hold a special place, in my opinion. There's no nicer, more humble, or more talented person on the planet than James. He is a master of guitar building, working all alone in a beautiful shop on his homestead in Minnesota. I dig the way James makes 60 or so guitars, by himself, in his one man "factory." He's good with tools,and sweats blood worrying if his guitars will measure up, and if people will like them. People like them all right, and so do I. He produces a guitar with a beautiful tone that many of todays performers swear by.

The Thrill of the First Strum

Fall of 2000 saw several participants in the Usenet acoustic guitar discussion forum "RMMGA" getting brand-new Olson guitars after a two-year wait, all within a few days of each other as Jim completed a batch of guitars. They shared their final days of anticipation and first days of enjoyment of their guitars publicly. On this page you can "eavesdrop" on their excitement and first impressions.

Owners' Comments

As the webmaster of this site, I get email from quite a few potential Olson customers. Some of those who end up placing an order kindly drop me a line when their guitars arrive, sharing their deep satisfaction with their purchase. If you'd like to see a collection of these owners' comments, please don't hesitate to request it by email using the webmaster link on any page. Jim was too embarassed by the praise to let me put the comments on the web site!