Boutique Guitar Builders: Our Top 10, From Collings to Preston Thompson

Preston Thompson is our number one because it builds what a pre-war guitar would be if you could buy it new. We ranked our ten favorite boutique guitar builders back in March 2023. Here's the list from ten to one: what we like about each shop, the catch, and which ones you can play at The Acoustic Shoppe today. Prices and stock are current, not from the video.

Our top 10 boutique guitar builders, at a glance

1. Preston Thompson Guitars (Sisters, Oregon)
2. Smith Guitars (Caleb Smith)
3. Bourgeois Guitars
4. Bedell Guitars (Bend, Oregon)
5. Santa Cruz Guitar Company
6. Boucher Guitars
7. Martin Custom Shop and Authentic Series
8. Atkin Guitars (England)
9. McPherson Guitars
10. Collings Guitars (Austin, Texas)

Below, we count down from ten.

Jump to: McPherson at 1:43, Atkin at 3:49, Bedell at 11:05, and the number one pick at 17:23.

10 and 9: Collings and McPherson set the bar

Collings opens the list because Bill Collings started the whole thing. Think Sam Adams and the microbrew movement: one shop out of Austin, Texas proved a small builder could make a better guitar, and a wave of boutique guitar builders followed. A Collings was as beautiful inside as outside, and the detail and accuracy made it sound as good as it looked. For how a modern Collings stacks up against a newer shop, read our Boucher vs. Collings bluegrass dreadnought comparison. We don't have a Collings in stock as we write this.

McPherson isn't a bluegrass dreadnought shop, and the intent behind the guitar is completely different. Matt McPherson is an engineer, and he re-engineered the guitar to get the most sustain and the most tone out of the top.

"I think that's the best way to describe McPherson: the Steinway of guitar building."

The wood bindings have mitered corners with no gaps, the necks are carbon-reinforced, and they sand the inside of the binding and the X braces so nothing in the body is rough. Every bridge plate carries a pearl McPherson logo inlaid backwards, so it reads correctly in an inspection mirror. It's for strummers in praise and worship and the country artists who need one guitar to fill a stage with sustain.

In stock: the McPherson Carbon Fiber Touring Series #0062 at $2,999. Everything else is on our McPherson Guitars page.

8: Atkin, the cannon from across the pond

Atkin is less known than most shops on this list, and it knocked us on our seat. Alistair Atkin builds in England, chasing a vintage sound and look with a few modern appointments. The catch: an Atkin isn't as super clean in its build as a McPherson or a Collings. What it has is volume and punch.

"When you strum it, it's like it explodes out of your hands."

When an Atkin shipment comes in, everybody on staff who plays wants first crack at one, and customers move just as fast. They're consistent, too: every one we'd had was "a monster of a sounding guitar." And for this tier they were affordable, because the brand was still new and hungry. If what you want is a killer cannon, Atkin is doing it.

In stock: the Atkin Essential D #4534 in baked Sitka and mahogany with the heavy aged finish, at $5,459. Our Larry Sparks tribute post shows what Atkin does with a custom order, and the full lineup is on our Atkin Guitars page.

7: Why the Martin Custom Shop belongs with boutique guitar builders

Martin as a whole isn't a boutique builder by everyone's standard, so we ranked one segment: the Custom Shop and the Authentic Series. Today's buyer expects more than a vintage buyer did. People want modern build quality and the sound and feel of a vintage instrument at the same time, and the Custom Shop has stepped up to that over the last five to ten years. Martin also has some of the best luthiers in the world, and the Authentics at the NAMM booth blew both of us away.

In stock: the Martin D-18 Aged Authentic 1937 VTS #7151 at $8,499.99, plus the one-offs on our Martin Custom Shop page. For more on how those builds come together, see our Martin Custom Shop guitar experience.

6: Boucher bridges vintage and modern

Boucher was the newcomer we were most impressed by. The sound is vintage-type with a modern feel and a little more brightness. Call it a Collings type of tone with a vintage Martin kind of feel. The neck shapes are part of that modern feel.

Boucher also runs a package system. You start from a standard model and add a Gold Pack or a Vintage Pack to bring the guitar up to the spec you want. That keeps the builds standard enough to manage, and a player can still order a one-off.

In stock: the Boucher BG-42T-G Bluegrass Goose Gold Pack #1082 at $6,239, with the rest on our Boucher Guitars page.

5: Santa Cruz and Richard Hoover

One of us played a Santa Cruz for 20 to 25 years, so this pick was personal. Through the '70s and into the '80s, the big builders' consistency slipped, and that left room for small shops to say "we can do this better." Richard Hoover was in the middle of that first wave of boutique guitar builders. He borrowed ideas from violin building and applied them to voicing guitar tops, and he built with specific artists in mind, asking what they wanted to hear and how to get them there.

The details we love are practical: recessed bridge pins and a belly bridge beveled off so it's more comfortable under the picking hand. We don't have a Santa Cruz in stock right now. If you want the history, our post on the Santa Cruz 1934D prototype covers one we did have.

4: Bedell surprised us

Bedell is the pick that surprises people. The reason is tone matching: Bedell uses science to write down which top and back combinations do what, so they can dial in a tone and keep it consistent from guitar to guitar. They still build the traditional way, dovetail neck joint included. In 2023 that let them make small guitars sound big and keep big guitars from sounding over the top. We've toured the shop in Bend, Oregon, and nobody had a tonewood collection like that one.

In stock: the Bedell Classic Folk all-mahogany parlor #3018 at $3,690, a small guitar from the shop that makes small guitars sound big. More on our Bedell Guitars page.

3: Bourgeois gets the most out of every board

One of us had just bought a Bourgeois at the time. Dana Bourgeois voices each guitar to get the most out of that particular set of wood, by ear and by tapping, a skill that takes years to refine. The catch: you can't walk in and say "this is the exact sound I want." You get a range, and inside it, each guitar has its own small quirks. Bourgeois also checks every detail before a guitar leaves the shop, and its neck joint system is designed to make a guitar easier to maintain. And then there's the wood room.

"It's just like going into a fine wine cellar."

In stock: the Bourgeois Standard SDS/TS #2244 at $2,769, the lowest-priced guitar in this post. Our Bourgeois buyer's guide sorts out the series, and the full range is on our Bourgeois Guitars page.

2 and 1: the pre-war builders

Smith Guitars is the name most people don't know. Caleb Smith plays guitar in a touring bluegrass band, and when he's home he builds pre-war style guitars down to the stamp on the back of the peghead. They're "big monster cannons." The catch is supply: he builds very few guitars a year, so you won't see many of them anywhere. We don't have a Smith in stock.

Preston Thompson, out of Sisters, Oregon, is number one among all the boutique guitar builders on this list.

"I want a brand new version of a pre-war guitar."

That's the Thompson pitch, with a few small tweaks for playability. In 2023, demand had us ordering a year to 18 months ahead, with most guitars sold before they were built, and Thompson kept its shop size steady so quality wouldn't slip. Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle are among the young players gravitating to them. No Thompson is in stock as we write this. Our Preston Thompson D-HRA review shows why we rank them first, and you can ask us whether one is coming.

Which of these boutique guitar builders fits you

Who should skip boutique guitar builders altogether: a player who wants one specific sound locked in before they hear the guitar. That goes for Bourgeois and any shop voicing guitars one at a time. Play the guitar itself, or have us describe that exact one.

Every guitar here gets the same bench time

Whichever of these boutique guitar builders you pick, the guitar gets our 23-Point Professional Inspection before it ships, and every one in this post is covered by the Dread-Not Guarantee: a 1-year trade-in credit of up to 90% (pre-tax, less round-trip shipping) toward your next instrument, plus a 30-day in-home trial.

Related reading

• Bedell Coffee House Dreadnought: A Bluegrass Player's Dream
• New Bourgeois Guitars at Fretboard Summit 2026
• The Best Mahogany Dreadnoughts Under $1,600

Tell us who we got wrong

Who did we miss? We still want to know. If there are boutique guitar builders doing great work that we haven't come across, tell us. If you want to play these side by side, start with every guitar in stock, or come play them at the shop in Springfield.