Auden Neo Series - Chester Cutaway

Very pleased with purchase.

I've had this guitar for a few weeks now and I'm more than happy with it. I love the understated looks and the quality of the finish. It has great playability (helped no doubt by setup) which has inspired me to relearn some old guitar pieces.

10/10

This was probably the best customer experience that I've ever had - I never write reviews but now I feel that it would be rude not to. The shop is an Aladdin's cave with an impressive array of guitars. It's immediately apparent that passion, not quick-fashion-profit, has informed the stocking choices here. Just watch any video of Richard on YouTube and you'll see a grown man sometimes giddy with pure excitement because of the way these guitars feel and sound. It's relatable to any guitarist who has said to friends/family "listen to this", hit one note and smiled expectantly as you anticipate that person to share your excitement about the sympathetic string resonance but instead they just shrug. Note to self, this is supposed to be a review, not a memoir. When I arrived at Richards Guitars, I told the very welcoming beardy man (name escapes me) that I was hoping try the Furch Blue, and I also asked if he could recommend the Blue's closest cutaway, 000ish, rivals. He left me alone for a long time in the private demo room at the back of the shop with the Furch, the Auden Neo Chester and I think a Dowina model. We'd have a wine-tasting/Spinal Tap conversation ("this one was a bit more squelchy in the top end etc etc") and beardy man would return with further suggestions, clearly almost as excited as I was in the search for the right one. He wasn't pressuring in any way, and I honestly feel like I could have left without purchasing a guitar without being heckled or glared at for wasting time, which isn't always the case in sales rooms. I entered the shop looking for the 'last' (theoretically - we're all fickle) acoustic guitar I'd ever buy, a guitar to last a life time, and I think I left the shop with said guitar - the Auden Neo Chester. To my ears, it shone above anything I've got my hands on in 20 years of playing, both acoustically and when plugged in with the Brad Clark Supernatural pickup - it's the truest sounding acoustic pickup I've ever heard, it's quite magical. But it's not just the sound, it's how the guitar feels; the way the back of the guitar feels so lively, it makes you a part of the instrument like I've never felt before, even on guitars twice the price; the way it seems to not just be played by you but play along with you, which might sound like a truly ridiculous and vacuous statement to some, but to those people I'd say you better stick with your mainstream online shops and head straight on over to the Martins. To those who are looking for something special, for craftmanship and not just a headstock that people will recognise, and importantly for a comfortable no-pressure environment in which to explore these wonderful guitars, I couldn't recommend a visit to Richards Guitars more.

A great sounding guitar to record with

First of all I messaged Richard though the site saying what I was looking for, my price range, and the two guitars I was thinking of and I received a detailed reply that suggested I look at this guitar as well (I wanted a good sound when recording without using a mic). For my follow up questions I received really amazing in depth replies from Jon as well which went well above what I expected for a general enquiry. I also rung the shop and spoke to someone else who was also nice and gave me a slightly different take on it. So communicated with 3 of the staff and was impressed with all of them. I had previously purchased a cheaper Vintage guitar through the site and wasn't looking at the Audens at all, so was a leap of faith trusting their advice but they clearly knew their stuff. The guitar is what I hoped it would be, feels and sounds great unplugged and gets a really nice tone when recording straight into my DAW (in fact it sounded worse when I add effects, so now just use it without adding to it!). Its a more basic design than the higher cost Audens or others of the same value but I liked the natural look anyway (and to be honest its only me thats going to see it). Its personal preference, but am glad I went for the Auden Chester cutaway over the other syles. My only issue I had was choosing between this and the "45" version. Without being able to test it in a shop it was really hard to decide. I thought the 45 might have been a bit too wide, but after using this one I feel I would have actually been ok with it being a little wider and going for the 45, it was a gamble and I will never know which would be better for me but am happy with this one anyway.