All user reviews for the Norman B18

I also left a very complete review on this guitar, which is no longer. Thank you again for the upgrade to version 4 of the site, which had to spell the end for about 12 former opinion. So, I'm going to cum a little, whatever.

Typically in this category. I will note that the guitar is made of quality wood in much more serious than usually found. The finish also is noteworthy. Although not remarkable in the sense of perfection, but, on the two guitars that circulate around me, dams are rather neatly bonded and varnishes are affixed with the care they demand. Those are great guitars and well finished. In this category it is rather commendable.

The absence of pre-amp and belt clip for the handle costs one point. But he who can do without is before the maximum of what the class can offer in terms of trim and finish.

Do not be fooled by my score of 7. This is very good for the pre 400.

UTILIZATION

The solid mahogany neck is shaped. It is covered with a satin varnish which makes the sliding easier. However, like all these types of varnish, it will be faster "bursting" of various dirt and perspiration. Therefore, this part calls for better care than the average of other guitars. However, it is never something that has been criticized on other guitars adopting this principle, and often much more expensive.

The strings do not need excessive force to be operated. We can call this guitar "soft" without being completely gay. This means it supports when he comes in without twisting. Dynamics is rather high in the basket category. As well as touch, too successful. It can quickly turn around and put it round his agreement with ease. The frets do not bite.

Nothing galvanized. Short! All that is really not bad at all.

SOUNDS

The Norman is a guitar that hit me in the ear. On a trip through Switzerland to find "THE" guitar for my best friend. This instrument has clearly distanced itself from the dozen others tried before. But also from all other guitars, already tried before in the entry level category.

The Norman sound. A true. Who has not this key "cardboard box", usually found, with different intensities, in all that has less than 400 euros. This is an instrument already more mature, who certainly will never have a beautiful Guild JF55 or a Martin HD-28. But in its class, can already afford good slices of pleasures.

The sound was met with rather warm, with a nice consistency and a touch of sweetness and leaves the same way to a credible aggressiveness married to a grain that has a cast, when one sends a stout wrist pulse. The treble is still rather sweet, but the final result depends somewhat on the instrument. On some models, the acute and this is more typing, and on others it is perfectly sweetened with a little open note. The sound does not distort when you come in, and if not, he transcribed what one wants to express.

Without messing around in this price category, I have not found better. And I tried everything the market had to offer under 400 euros. Then, some may prefer instruments more "hard". But the expressiveness and sensuality of sound we encounter here is clearly outside the norm for the budget to move forward.

OVERALL OPINION

The Norman b18 is clearly my favorite in the category. Little ruinous, it already offers a lot of sound and touch for the price. In relation to any class of its competitors, it is clearly ahead in terms of expressive sound, touch and finish. A safe bet.

Canadian cedar guitar, with a pretty good violin. I chose it in a format similar to a classical guitar for comfort.

UTILIZATION

The handle is not too thick, it seems comfortable enough to play.

SOUNDS

The sound is warm and clear, very pleasant in both strumming arpeggios. I chose a project "guitar accompaniment" by seeking a warm and deep. She immediately stood out as a store brand better known just as pretty, but less well defined in terms of sound.

OVERALL OPINION

I am looking for a long time a guitar for accompaniment, with a warm sound and comfortable favorable to the song for me (cash not too large, not too thick neck). After several unsuccessful attempts including Yamaha (its too "clear") I found this model in the shop and I was conquered. The "plus", the sound is also its beauty and finesse, solid wood (the color of light wood "burnt"), the net cream on the side of the table, solid construction and reassuring ... The Canadian-born are a lot (same factory GODIN). She will accompany me myself no longer ruined: quest done!

Made in Canada.
Fishman preamps, setting high / medium / bass, volume and tuner tit bonus (not very accurate for my taste).

UTILIZATION

Channel pleasant, a little physical in the fingers, but it suits me personally while I was for a month now, it seems to have progressed since. I used to play on guitar entry, sometimes hardcore at the game, there is a real pleasure to grab and put his finger on it.

Difficult access to acute, no cutaway.

A guitar heavy enough it seems to me, but are not disturbing.

SOUNDS

Beautiful sound, perfect for coaching and picking his powerful vacuum, I think this guitar is not designed for solos. The bass is very present, the notes are good, finally I 'm quite satisfied.
I think it is suitable for folk, blues, country ...
I do not yet have a acoustic amp, but I have already plugged in and (after a quick test so) the preamp quite convinced me, its very clean, clear, dynamic and powerful.

OVERALL OPINION

So I use it for a month, and I aiiiiime. In fact I had a love at first sight. Having tried several in the same range, I knew it was her from the grip. She is beautiful, what is a good introduction, I like its weight and heat (I think it's quite subjective on the other hand), I love playing on it picking
and annoy my friend jealous because it sounds hard if you're not careful (and therefore necessarily can not hear them).
I bought 500 euros in stores, I think what is less findable on the net, making it a very good value for money. At 500 euros, it seems to me quite well too.

A good guitar then, after a month I would do it the same no doubt doubt.

See global opinion

UTILIZATION

See global opinion

SOUNDS

See global opinion

OVERALL OPINION

It's been six months now I have and I love this guitar as always! Really the sound I was looking for quite some time (although Folk / Country). Prior to crack on this I tried the Yamaha MODEL F370 BL (MI manufacturing Bacle China or Korean), a Cort (big "ho hum" ... the glue flowing everywhere ... finishes atrocious!) and an Art & Lutherie (MI Canada). All his guitars do not hold a candle to the Norman!! As a good (see excellent) compared qualitprix, MI manufacturing a perfect finish with Canda = I would do this 2 times a plutt choice!

It is a dreadnought acoustic guitar with such a massive table. Manufacturing Canada (Homeland), handle regular folk, not too big and easy to play.

UTILIZATION

It's a good Canadian guitar in the style of Seagull or otherwise, with Dfine well, a nice finish. On my model the action of departure was a little high, but a tour of the cl trussrod did the trick.

SOUNDS

To play the folk by the fire is perfect. In any case it does not buy that kind of guitar to do something else (a priori ). Level of sound quality over price / rev it up well.

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for a few months, I really like the look "raw" of the body and its natural color. I do not have AIM head of the nut has dcoll the first string change, but hey it's not important trs.

I also have a Seagull S6, and this one looks a lot like him, I admit a small preferences for my old Seagull but I suspect a little subjective as I play my Seagull for almost 10 years, ca cr links ...

I will make this choice if I was looking for beginners and if I can afford a guitar begin to play while having a good sound. Now I will take a personal electro-ac.

Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar Made in Canada.

Back & Sides: Wild Cherry laminate 3 layers
Neck: Silver leaf maple
Top: Solid Cedar
Fingerboard & Bridge: Rosewood
Finish: Semi-gloss Custom
Nut and bridge Tusq ® by Graphtech

UTILIZATION

Using very nice, the neck is a little harder than on my Yamaha APX700, but still very playable.
A cutaway for easy access to acute would have been nice.
Nothing special was wrong, guitar easy to use.

SOUNDS

I wanted a true acoustic wood for natural sound of the guitar.
After extensive testing on guitar whose price ranged between 250 and 700 euros, is the Norman B18 that got me. Clear highs, warm mids and bass round and clearly present the whole getting married in a very good balance.
Add to that very good harmonics and great sustain.

OVERALL OPINION

I like everything about this guitar. I also like the simplicity of its finish.

-Before you purchase it, I tried:
. Vig Sirroco V-102: very good sound, but the guitar was sold during my phase of hesitation. And this model was a serious breach on the bridge (split wood).
. Lag Model 300, 333 and 100: bof ... I do not understand these Angou guitar that sounds rather banal and which lacks personality .. I put this passion on the back of patriotism because it is a mark here
. Takamine, Ibanez (I have more references in your head but in the range from 300 to 450 euros): bof, such as lag, sound banal without heat.
. Blueridge: So there I nearly cracked, but a guitar and exceeded my budget (596 €) and 2 the body not very thick and the presence of a preamp / mic made me afraid of not having ultimately a real acoustic.

So I spent a long time trying to annoy the sellers and that is that Norman has won for its aesthetics, its massive cedar table (one of my prerequisites, I wanted a cedar) and especially the heat its sound. What has also played in the balance is that it's not a guitar made in far east.

A 359 euros is good value for money when you consider the beauty of sound and quality finishes which are irreproachable. We did not feel like throwing money out the window. So perfect.

With experience, yes I will ever assuréent this choice has the same budget.

This is a pretty basic guitar that's made in Quebec, Canada. They are still an up and coming guitar company but their work is really solid. There are no controls as this is an acoustic guitar, a dreadnought one at that. It's got a cedar body with a rosewood neck and fretboard. It's got a nice lacquer finish too. There are really only 14 frets until the cutaway, but with some manuevering you can play up until about 15 or 16 though it will be difficult and unnatural. There are options to have electronics installed too but the one I played didn't have them.

UTILIZATION

It's not very easy to hit the last frets on this guitar, but it's more a strummer kind of guitar, or even a finger picker, and it's not really all that necessary to hit those high notes with it. If that's a priority for you, than this isn't your guitar. Otherwise, there's a lot to like. It seems like the older the guitar is, and the more it's been played, the better it plays. This is the mark of most good guitars, which is why I'm starting to believe that Norman guitars are the real deal. It's a lighter guitar and it won't put a strain on your back at all. It's stable and it's really easy to play and get a nice sound.

SOUNDS

I really like the sound of this guitar when it's being strummed. It's bright but smooth, controlled and rolling. It's also a really nice guitar to play finger style. The chords ring out nicely and will definitely cut clearly through a live mix or even a studio mix. I like to use this guitar in the studio and when I'm rehearsing by myself as it's not electronic and won't hook up to a PA unless I use my Dean Markley Pickup.
I like to play folky, almost countryish sort of rock stuff on this, as well as some more fingerstyle stuff, so I would say that overall I really dig the sound. It's not quite the best I've heard, not by a long shot. But it is a whole lot cheaper than those.

OVERALL OPINION

I like the price and the feel of this guitar a lot. It's a little more awkward than some of my favorites but I'm getting used to it and I can play it well. It also does sound good, though not incredible. I'd say that if there are nicer Norman guitar models out there, that I'd love to play them. They certainly can't be bad considering the quality of this thing. Overall I'd recommend to just about anybody who is looking for something different and wants to save some dough.

Norman is built in Canada bei Godin Guitars. They also make Seagull, Art&Lutherie, LaPatrie and Simon&Patrick - basically so they can get into competing stores.
I will be reviewing a very basic Norman B18 with Antique Burst (I believe the one in the picture is the natural version).
This neck is attached at the 14th fret and without a cutaway that is as far as you will go. Usually most playing is done on the lower part of the guitar anyway. It is a Dreadnought with laminated Wild Cherry back and sides and a massive cedar top. The fretboard is made of rosewood and the body has a satin finish that has been greatly improved from the models in previous years. The guitar has a shorter scale (63cm) which reduces string tension and makes it easier to play.

UTILIZATION

I have to say that the neck feels very nice but also takes a bit getting used to. I have not been able to setup this guitar with a very low action - but then for most applications you don't really want that either (I usually beat my acoustic guitars quite a bit).
I can't say much about how ergonomic the design really is - Dreadnought shapes have been around for decades now and have become the standard shape for steel string guitars. Does that make them ergonomic? I guess so.
The main feature of this guitar is basically its sound. I really like the way they are built as well as I am not a big fan of cheap Abalone inlays (like a lot of China guitars). The whole construction really is quite simple but showcases the structure of the cherry wood very nicely. I think in the newest models they started to glue a 'rubber' rosette on some of their models...I hope this doesn't become standard as I really didn't like it at all. It looks cheap and actually is a distraction when playing the instrument.

SOUNDS

This guitar is very good for rhythm playing. I have used it for a quite a few recordings because sometimes you just don't need all these deep, rich overtones - you just need the 'strum' sound. The cedar top sounds very nice with the Wild Cherry body and the sound is projected very well. Cedar doesn't give a lot of nuances and it doesn't getter better over the years (as does spruce). But on the other hand for the price this guitar sounds much better and has a much more unique character than most of the Chinese competitors.
I own an old Washburn (my baby) and a Taylor alongside this guitar and they do sound and play a lot better. But this guitar gives me a very basic, open sound that I don't get with more expensive models.

OVERALL OPINION

I have played the B18 for almost three years now and I love the way they are built and sound. At times the construction seems a bit too heavy and surely the sound is not for everyone (people are used to the sound of spruce tops).
I worked and managed a guitar store for five years - so yes I have tried many other models (some of which I talk about in my other user reviews).
I would recommend this guitar to anyone wanting to buy a good quality instrument that doesn't come from the far east. In its price range it is to me the best model around.

- In What Country was it made? (USA, Japan, Mexico, France...)
I believe Norman is Canadian...?

- How many frets, Pickup Type and Configuration?
I think this is 22 or so. The sensor is in the bridge i'd think, a piezo thingy probably.

- What are the setting controls (volume, tone, pickup selector position)?
You have Fishman preamp with 3 band EQ, presence, volume and a tuner. Easy to pull out for battery changing without any screw removal. Perfect.

- What type of neck?...
Regular nick, wider than an electric.

UTILIZATION

- Does the neck have a nice feel?
Not as easy to play as an expensive Taylor or Martin but, well, it's playable...

- Easy access to the top notes (last frets)?
Not really, no, cos there is no cutaway.

- Is it's design ergonomic(in terms of the shape, weight...)?
Not much to say, it's a dreadnought, feels fine to me.

- Can one easily get a nice sound?...
Some use this sort of guitar (cedar wood) only with fingers and no plectrum. I use both and i think it has that raw sound you just don't get elsewhere.

SOUNDS

- Does it suit your style of music?
Yes (pop).

- With what amp(s) or effect(s) do you use it?
None.

The varnish on Norman guitars is very fine, and so the sound comes through the top and not just through the opening in it. The guitar BREATHES, and so it's not just the mids you hear, as might be the case with a thick lacquer. As with a Norman B-15, the body is fairly wide and the varnish is thin, so you get a well balanced sound with bass, mids & treble alike.

The sound on this guitar is VERY dynamic (more than on the B-15) and so can be a little disgruntling at times, but it also means character, it's raw. But it's not very fine or detailed, therefore...it's a choice. You wouldn't want to use this on everything, just as you wouldn't want to use a Yamaha on everything in my opinion...

OVERALL OPINION

- For how long have you been using it?
A few months.

- What thing do you like most/least about it?
It sounds raw & simple, but not plain.
It has no fancy varnish or shiny things, none of that rubbish, just a modest looking guitar that aims at sounding good and does.
I think it could do with some neck markings to help remember where you are...

- Did you try many other models before getting this one?
Yes, quite a few. I've owned a B-15 and sold it cos the frets were getting too worn out. So i got this one new...was looking for a Norman but tried at least 5 or 6 other guitars...Seagull's, Yamaha's, Takamine's, etc. None came close in character to this. The Yamaha's weren't bad, the Takamine's were rubbish as usual, and the Seagull was ok. Tried some others too but this was the best for price/sound & i needed a preamp & tuner too.

- What is your opinion about the value for the price?
I paid 630 € with a free soft case & i think a set of strings. Not exactly cheap but the preamp is Fishman and the guitar is good. I think it's about right.

- Knowing what you know now, would you make the same choice?...
Yes. I tried a Yamaha A5 and liked it a lot, but when i got home and tried this i found this to have much more character to it.