Best Permaculture & Homesteading Books

If you've ever considered getting into Permaculture, or if you're a veteran Permaculturist who's looking for a new skill to master, the following resources are the absolute best places for you to get started. Each of these books has the potential to introduce you to a whole new skill that you can enjoy for literally the rest of your life!

You will find here links to over 60 Free eBook previews and full eBooks!

Sophia

Permaculture - Introductions to the Subject

1.

Gaia's Garden, Second Edition: A Guide To Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway - The first edition of Gaia’s Garden sparked the imagination of America’s home gardeners, introducing permaculture’s central message: Working with Nature, not against her, results in more beautiful, abundant, and forgiving gardens.

This revised and updated edition also features a new chapter on urban permaculture, designed especially for people in cities and suburbs who have very limited growing space. Whatever size yard or garden you have to work with, you can apply basic permaculture principles to make it more diverse, more natural, more productive, and more beautiful. Best of all, once it’s established, an ecological garden will reduce or eliminate most of the backbreaking work that’s needed to maintain the typical lawn and garden.

• eBook preview: Gaia's Garden, Second Edition

2.

Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison - Abundantly illustrated with detailed diagrams and line drawings throughout. Includes a listing of useful Permaculture plants with descriptions and uses, and a further species list in useful categories. The book is set out as a step-by-step introduction to Permaculture with detailed instructions. Using simple language it describes the range of Permaculture for general consumption.

• Free Webinar: Introduction to Permaculture - 40 hours of Free video lectures

• Full eBook online: Bill Mollison - Permaculture Design Courses Series
• Free exerpts online: Permaculture, a Beginners Guide by Graham Burnett

3.
The Basics Of Permaculture Design by Ross Mars - Packed with useful tips, clear illustrations, and a wealth of experience, it guides you through designs for gardens, urban and rural properties, water harvesting systems, animal systems, permaculture in small spaces like balconies and patios, farms, schools, and ecovillages. This is both a do-it-yourself guide for the enthusiast and a useful reference for permaculture designers.

4.

Permaculture in a Nutshell by Patrick Whitefield - is a concise and accessible introduction to the principles and practice of permaculture in temperate climates. It covers how permaculture works in the city, the country and on the farm and explores ways in which people can work together to recreate real communities. This inspiring book clearly describes how we can live fruitfully and sustainably and is essential reading for anyone wishing to reduce their environmental impact.

• eBook preview: Permaculture in a Nutshell

5.
Getting Started In Permaculture: 50 Practical Projects to Build and Design Productive Gardens by Ross Mars, Jenny Mars - delivers step-by-step knowledge for a variety of useful projects including: making herb fertilizers, compost, organic sprays for pest control, and much, much more. It also includes how to recycle your soft drink bottles, waste paper, and tires in a number of useful projects such as ponds, fruit fly traps, retailing walls, and solar stills. Permaculture experts Ross and Jenny Mars outline the steps to transform your garden into a productive living system.

6.

The Permaculture Way: Practical Steps to Create a Self-Sustaining World by Graham Bell - shows us how to consciously design a lifestyle which is low in environmental impact and highly productive. It demonstrates how to meet our needs, make the most of resources by minimizing waste and maximizing potential, and still leave the Earth richer than we found it. Graham Bell is the former editor of Permaculture News.

7.
Earth User's Guide to Permaculture by Rosemary Morrow - Fundamentally, permaculture is design science and in this new edition design is emphasised. This book will be most beneficial if you apply it to the space where you live and work. The same principles apply for becoming more sustainable and living lightly whether you live in a small city apartment with a balcony, in a house with a garden in the suburbs, or on acreage in the country.

Permaculture - More in depth

8.

Permaculture: A Designers' Manual by Bill Mollison - This is the definitive Permaculture design manual in print since 1988. It is the textbook and curriculum for the 72-hour Certificate course in Permaculture Design. Written for teachers, students and designers, it follows on and greatly enlarges on the initial introductory texts, permaculture One (1978) and Permaculture Two (1979) both of which are still in demand over twenty years after publication. It covers design methodologies and strategies for both urban and rural applications, describing property design and natural farming techniques.

• Full eBook online: Bill Mollison - Permaculture Design Courses Series

9.

Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability by David Holmgren - For students and teachers of Permaculture this book provides something more fundamental and distilled than Mollison's encyclopedic Designers Manual. For the general reader it provides refreshing perspectives on a range of environmental issues and shows how permaculture is much more than just a system of gardening. For anyone seriously interested in understanding the foundations of sustainable design and culture, this book is essential reading. Although a book of ideas, the big picture is repeatedly grounded by reference to Holmgren's own place, Melliodora, and other practical examples.

10.
The Earth Care Manual: A Permaculture Handbook For Britain & Other Temperate Climates by Patrick Whitefield - The long-awaited exploration of permaculture specifically for cooler Northern Hemisphere climates is finally here! Already regarded as the definitive book on the subject, The Earth Care Manual is accessible to the curious novice as much as it is essential for the knowledgeable practitioner. Patrick Whitefield is a permaculture teacher, writer, designer, and consulting editor for Permaculture Magazine. He is the author of the mini-classic Permaculture in a Nutshell, which has been translated into four languages.

• eBook preview:  The Earth Care Manual

11.

Sepp Holzer's Permaculture: A Practical Guide to Small-Scale, Integrative Farming and Gardening - In this book, Holzer shares the skill and knowledge acquired over his lifetime. He covers every aspect of his farming methods, not just how to create a holistic system on the farm itself, but how to make a living from it. Holzer writes about everything from the overall concepts, down to the practical details. Sepp Holzer farms steep mountainsides in Austria 1,500 meters above sea level. His farm is an intricate network of terraces, raised beds, ponds, waterways and tracks, well covered with productive fruit trees and other vegetation, with the farmhouse neatly nestling amongst them. This is in dramatic contrast to his neighbors' spruce monocultures.

• eBook preview: Sepp Holzer's Permaculture

12.

Permaculture Pioneers: Stories from the New Frontier - This book charts a history of the first three decades of permaculture, through the personal stories of Australian permaculturists. From permaculture co-originator David Holmgren, to ABC TV's Gardening Australia presenter Josh Byrne, the authors span the generations and the continent.

These stories represent the scope, depth and diversity of permaculture in Australia and around the world. They explore some of the influences on those who have embraced it, record milestones and highlight recurring themes.

13.

Bioshelter Market Garden: A Permaculture Farm by Darrell Frey - At the heart of Three Sisters is its bioshelter—a solar greenhouse that integrates growing facilities, poultry housing, a potting room, storage, kitchen facilities, compost bins, a reference library, and classroom area. Bioshelter Market Garden examines how the bioshelter promotes greater biodiversity and is an energy-efficient method of extending crop production through Pennsylvania's cold winter months. Both visionary and practical, this fully illustrated book contains a wealth of information on the application of permaculture principles.

• eBook preview: Bioshelter Market Garden

14.
Chicken Tractor: The Permaculture Guide to Happy Hens and Healthy Soil, Homestead (3rd) Edition by Andy Lee- This is the book that tells you how to integrate small flocks of poultry in with family food production. There is a back to the land movement happening across the world, and it's happening in backyards and on small parcels of land. Chicken tractor systems have become so popular that the term chicken tractor; is a household word. This is the definitive book that leads the way.

15.

The Permaculture Handbook: Garden Farming for Town and Country by Peter Bane - The Permaculture Handbook is a step-by-step, beautifully illustrated guide to creating resilient and prosperous households and neighborhoods, complemented by extensive case studies of three successful farmsteads and market gardens. This comprehensive manual casts garden farming as both an economic opportunity and a strategy for living well with less money.

Read more here:

100 Best Permaculture & Homesteading Books: The Ultimate Reading List for Sustainable Living

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International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day 1 May

Gibson Les Paul Studio 60s Tribute Electric Guitar, Worn Satin Ebony

The 1960s Tribute electric guitar consists of a basic Gibson Les Paul chassis with all the essential elements needed to rock including a Nashville Tune-O-Matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece and Kluson-style tuners keep it all rock-solid and resonant and its gnarly P-90 tone stays true to the Les Paul style. A solid, carved maple top and chambered mahogany body give the Les Paul Studio '60s Tribute the same tonewood combination that has been helping Les Pauls rock for nearly 60 years.

Authentic vintage-style finishes present a guitar with the look of a well played original, while the instrument's unbound body and neck keep it in line with the popular Les Paul Studio line. The headstock of the Gibson Les Paul Studio 1960s Tribute is equipped with Grover Kluson style green keys. With a gear ratio of 14:1, these tuners deliver precision tuning in a durable housing that provides maximum protection for the gear and string post. The Gibson Les Paul's Tune-O-Matic bridge, sets a standard for simplicity and functionality that has never been bettered.

The Tune-O-Matic provides a firm seating for the strings, allowing the player to adjust and fine-tune the intonation and string height in a matter of minutes. Both the neck and bridge position pickups are equipped with cream-colored screaming single-coil P-90 pickups.

The P-90 was the standard pickup on all Gibson guitars in the late 1940s and into the 1950s and because of its crisp, bright tone it has experienced resurgence in popularity with many of today's modern rockers. These classic Gibson guitar pickups deliver sizzling, slightly gritty midrange roar. You'll find that the P-90s' high output and biting treble has more nuanced harmonic coloring than the typical single-coil pickup.

More info about Gibson Les Paul Studio 60s Tribute Electric Guitar series here.

Gibson Les Paul Studio 60s Tribute Electric Guitar, Worn Cherry Sunburst

The Les Paul Studio ’60s Tribute’s Worn Gold Top, Worn Honey Burst, Worn Heritage Cherry Sunburst, Worn Ebony, and Worn White finishes nail the appearance of five popular “Standard” and “Custom” finishes from 1952-60, while its unbound body and neck and chambered mahogany body with carved maple top keep it in line with the simplicity that thousands of Les Paul Studio players already cherish.

More info about Gibson Les Paul Studio 60s Tribute Electric Guitar series here.

Gibson Les Paul Studio 60s Tribute Electric Guitar, Worn Honey Burst

In honor of the final incarnation of the original Les Paul, Gibson USA is proud to present the acclaimed Les Paul Studio in an exciting new package. The new Les Paul Studio ’60s Tribute model embodies the look and tone of the great original Les Pauls from the 1960s, at a price that fits the wallets of today’s hardworking musicians.

Ever since its introduction in 1983, the Les Paul Studio model has been enormously popular with players seeking the power and versatility of the original Les Paul Standard in a ready-for-action package, with a price to match. The Les Paul Studio '60s Tribute sticks to the script entirely, but its five worn '50s-style finishes reflect the wear of a well-played guitar and its meaty dual single-coil P-90 pickups give it a look akin to classics from the decade of the Les Paul's birth.

Meanwhile, its fast SlimTaper™ neck profile reflects the feel of Les Paul Standards from 1960, the year before this legendary solidbody was deleted (temporarily!) from the Gibson lineup.

More info about Gibson Les Paul Studio 60s Tribute Electric Guitar series here.

Gibson Les Paul Junior Electric Guitar, Satin White - Chrome Hardware

As the competition to develop and market affordable and professionally built solid body electric guitars was heating up in the mid-1950s, Gibson branched out into new directions that would eventually yield a wide variety of new and innovative Gibson products at various price points. Among those new products was the Les Paul Junior single cutaway model, which quickly became Gibson's best-selling model and the instrument of choice for such legends as Leslie West, Steve Marriott, Keith Richards, Mick Ralphs, Mick Jones and Paul Westerberg.

Gibson's Traditional Rounded Neck Profile

No guitar neck profiles are more distinguishable than the neck profiles employed on the Gibson models of today. The rounded neck profile on the Les Paul Junior emulates the neck profiles most commonly found on Gibson's iconic Les Paul models of the late '50s. As with all Gibson necks, it is machined in Gibson's rough mill using wood shapers to make the initial cuts. Once the rosewood fingerboard gets glued on, the rest--including the final sanding--is done by hand. That means there are no two necks with the exact same dimensions. So while it still has the basic characteristics of the rounded neck profile, each neck will be slightly different, with a distinct but traditional feel.

The legendary P-90 delivers more warmth than a standard singlecoil pickup, with higher output and sweet treble response.

Gibson's angled headstock increases pressure on the strings and helps them stay in place at the nut.

22-Fret Rosewood and Ebony Fingerboard

Ebony and rosewood has always graced the fingerboards of the world's finest stringed instruments, including many of today's Gibsons. The fingerboards on the Les Paul Juniors are constructed from the highest grade ebony and rosewood on the planet, and are personally inspected and qualified by Gibson's team of skilled wood experts before it enters the factories. The resilience of these dense and durable woods make the fingerboards extremely balanced and stable, giving each chord and note unparalleled clarity and bite. The 12-inch radius of the fingerboard provides smooth note bending capabilities and eliminates "dead" or "choked out" notes, common occurrences on fingerboards with lesser radiuses. Rosewood fingerboards are available with the Satin Vintage Burst and Satin Cherry finishes, and ebony fingerboards are available with the Satin White finish.

Vintage-style Wraparound Bridge/Tailpiece

A classic piece of hardware, the wraparound bridge/tailpiece on the Les Paul Junior offers a simplicity and functionality that is hard to match. It provides a firm seating for the strings, allowing the player to adjust intonation and string height as needed, and yielding an incredible union between the strings and body, resulting in excellent tone and sustain.

Classic Dot Inlays

The classic dot inlay is one of the most distinguishable features of many traditional Gibson models, including the Les Paul Junior. A figured, swirl acrylic gives these inlays that classic "pearl" look. They are inserted into the fingerboard using a process that eliminates gaps and doesn't require the use of fillers.

Solid Mahogany Body and Set-Neck Construction

Two of the most central features of the Les Paul Junior are its solid mahogany body, and its set-neck construction, or glued neck joint. Like the majority of Gibson's classic guitars, the neck of the Les Paul Junior is set into the body's neck cavity using glue, which ensures a "wood-to-wood" contact, no air space in the neck cavity, and maximum contact between the neck and the body, thus allowing the neck and body to function as a single unit. The result? Better tone, better sustain, and no loose or misaligned necks. As with all Gibson woods, the regimen involved in selecting the right body wood and the formula to dry it out is extensive. First, the wood is personally inspected and qualified by Gibson's team of skilled wood experts before it enters the Gibson factories. Inside the Gibson factories, humidity is maintained at 45 percent, and the temperature at 70 degrees. This ensures all woods are dried to a level of "equilibrium," where the moisture content does not change during the manufacturing process. This guarantees tight-fitting joints and no expansion, and controls the shrinkage and warping of the woods, in addition to reducing the weight. It also improves the woods' machinability and finishing properties, and adherence to glue. Consistent moisture content means that every Les Paul Junior will respond evenly to temperature and humidity changes long after it leaves the factory.

Gibson's Legendary P-90 Pickup

The legendary P-90--introduced in the early 1950s--is Gibson's truly legendary singlecoil pickup, and offers the soulful, classic tone that only a P-90 can. Delivering more warmth than a standard singlecoil pickup, with higher output and sweet treble response, the P-90 continues to be one of the most popular pickups today, offering a distinct and powerful tone that remains unmatched in the face of relentless impersonation.

Les Paul Junior Specs

• Body: Mahogany
• Hardware: Chrome
• Tailpiece: Lightning Bar Compensated Wrap-around
• Tuners: Vintage White Button
• Bridge Pickup: P-90
• Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone
• Control Knobs: Black Tophats
• Neck: Mahogany
• Nut: Corian
• Nut Width: Standard Gibson (1.695" +/- .050")
• Silkscreen: Gibson Logo
• Fingerboard: Ebony
• Inlays: Acrylic Dot
• Frets: 22
• Scale Length: 24 - 3/4"

BUY - Gibson Les Paul Junior Electric Guitar, Satin Cherry - Chrome Hardware

As the competition to develop and market affordable and professionally built solid body electric guitars was heating up in the mid-1950s, Gibson branched out into new directions that would eventually yield a wide variety of new and innovative Gibson products at various price points. Among those new products was the Les Paul Junior single cutaway model, which quickly became Gibson's best-selling model and the instrument of choice for such legends as Leslie West, Steve Marriott, Keith Richards, Mick Ralphs, Mick Jones and Paul Westerberg.

 

Gibson's Traditional Rounded Neck Profile

No guitar neck profiles are more distinguishable than the neck profiles employed on the Gibson models of today. The rounded neck profile on the Les Paul Junior emulates the neck profiles most commonly found on Gibson's iconic Les Paul models of the late '50s. As with all Gibson necks, it is machined in Gibson's rough mill using wood shapers to make the initial cuts. Once the rosewood fingerboard gets glued on, the rest--including the final sanding--is done by hand. That means there are no two necks with the exact same dimensions. So while it still has the basic characteristics of the rounded neck profile, each neck will be slightly different, with a distinct but traditional feel.

The legendary P-90 delivers more warmth than a standard singlecoil pickup, with higher output and sweet treble response.

Gibson's angled headstock increases pressure on the strings and helps them stay in place at the nut.

22-Fret Rosewood and Ebony Fingerboard

Ebony and rosewood has always graced the fingerboards of the world's finest stringed instruments, including many of today's Gibsons. The fingerboards on the Les Paul Juniors are constructed from the highest grade ebony and rosewood on the planet, and are personally inspected and qualified by Gibson's team of skilled wood experts before it enters the factories. The resilience of these dense and durable woods make the fingerboards extremely balanced and stable, giving each chord and note unparalleled clarity and bite. The 12-inch radius of the fingerboard provides smooth note bending capabilities and eliminates "dead" or "choked out" notes, common occurrences on fingerboards with lesser radiuses. Rosewood fingerboards are available with the Satin Vintage Burst and Satin Cherry finishes, and ebony fingerboards are available with the Satin White finish.

Vintage-style Wraparound Bridge/Tailpiece

A classic piece of hardware, the wraparound bridge/tailpiece on the Les Paul Junior offers a simplicity and functionality that is hard to match. It provides a firm seating for the strings, allowing the player to adjust intonation and string height as needed, and yielding an incredible union between the strings and body, resulting in excellent tone and sustain.

Classic Dot Inlays

The classic dot inlay is one of the most distinguishable features of many traditional Gibson models, including the Les Paul Junior. A figured, swirl acrylic gives these inlays that classic "pearl" look. They are inserted into the fingerboard using a process that eliminates gaps and doesn't require the use of fillers.

Solid Mahogany Body and Set-Neck Construction

Two of the most central features of the Les Paul Junior are its solid mahogany body, and its set-neck construction, or glued neck joint. Like the majority of Gibson's classic guitars, the neck of the Les Paul Junior is set into the body's neck cavity using glue, which ensures a "wood-to-wood" contact, no air space in the neck cavity, and maximum contact between the neck and the body, thus allowing the neck and body to function as a single unit. The result? Better tone, better sustain, and no loose or misaligned necks. As with all Gibson woods, the regimen involved in selecting the right body wood and the formula to dry it out is extensive. First, the wood is personally inspected and qualified by Gibson's team of skilled wood experts before it enters the Gibson factories. Inside the Gibson factories, humidity is maintained at 45 percent, and the temperature at 70 degrees. This ensures all woods are dried to a level of "equilibrium," where the moisture content does not change during the manufacturing process. This guarantees tight-fitting joints and no expansion, and controls the shrinkage and warping of the woods, in addition to reducing the weight. It also improves the woods' machinability and finishing properties, and adherence to glue. Consistent moisture content means that every Les Paul Junior will respond evenly to temperature and humidity changes long after it leaves the factory.

Gibson's Legendary P-90 Pickup

The legendary P-90--introduced in the early 1950s--is Gibson's truly legendary singlecoil pickup, and offers the soulful, classic tone that only a P-90 can. Delivering more warmth than a standard singlecoil pickup, with higher output and sweet treble response, the P-90 continues to be one of the most popular pickups today, offering a distinct and powerful tone that remains unmatched in the face of relentless impersonation.

Les Paul Junior Specs

• Body: Mahogany
• Hardware: Chrome
• Tailpiece: Lightning Bar Compensated Wrap-around
• Tuners: Vintage White Button
• Bridge Pickup: P-90
• Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone
• Control Knobs: Black Tophats
• Neck: Mahogany
• Nut: Corian
• Nut Width: Standard Gibson (1.695" +/- .050")
• Silkscreen: Gibson Logo
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Inlays: Acrylic Dot
• Frets: 22
• Scale Length: 24 - 3/4"

Product Description

As the competition to develop and market affordable and professionally built solid body electric guitars was heating up in the mid-1950s, Gibson branched out into new directions that would eventually yield a wide variety of new and innovative Gibson products at various price points. Among those new products was the Les Paul Junior single cutaway model, which quickly became Gibson’s best-selling model and the instrument of choice for such legends as Leslie West, Keith Richards, Mick Ralphs, Mick Jones and Billie Joe Armstrong. Now Gibson USA offers a tribute to the first budget conscious Les Paul with this modern take on a legend that still keeps that single P-90 "Nice Price".

BUY - Gibson Melody Maker Electric Guitar, Single Pick-up, Satin Vintage Sunburst

Back in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Gibson's best-selling guitar was the legendary Melody Maker, and today's nicely affordable version is a loving tribute to the style and spirit of the 1959 edition.

The Gibson Melody Maker in vintage sunburst. Click here for a larger image.

Key Features

Slim, Solid Mahogany Body

The most central of all the Melody Maker's features is its slim, solid mahogany body. The mahogany goes through the same rigorous selection process as all of Gibson's woods, and is personally inspected and qualified by Gibson's team of skilled wood experts before it enters the factories.

Inside the Gibson factories, humidity is maintained at 45 percent, and the temperature at 70 degrees.

This ensures all woods are dried to a level of "equilibrium," where the moisture content does not change during the manufacturing process. This guarantees tight-fitting joints and no expansion, and controls the shrinkage and warping of the woods, in addition to reducing the weight. It also improves the woods' machinability and finishing properties. Consistent moisture content means that a Melody Maker will respond evenly to temperature and humidity changes long after it leaves the factory.

Click here for a larger image.

Click here for a larger image.

Gibson's Special Design Singlecoil Pickup

The legendary Melody Makers of the late 1950s and early 1960s were the best-selling models of Gibson's famed "Golden Era," and with good reason--they were lightweight, equipped with a comfortable neck, and capable of exceptional tone courtesy of Gibson's own singlecoil pickup. Today's Melody Maker sports a special-design singlecoil pickup that delivers that same vintage tone and performance. A stellar combination of high output and sweet treble response, this multi-ceramic magnet pickup provides plenty of punchy bite when needed, as well as incredible sustain and cutting power.

Compensated Wraparound Bridge/Tailpiece

A classic piece of hardware first used on the Les Paul Junior, the compensated wraparound bridge/tailpiece on the Melody Maker offers a simplicity and functionality that is hard to match. It provides a firm seating for the strings, and allows the player to adjust intonation and string height as needed. It also yields a great union between the strings and body, which results in excellent tone and sustain.

50s Rounded Neck Profile

No guitar neck profiles are more distinguishable than the neck profiles employed on the Gibson models of today. The more traditional '50s neck profile is the thicker, rounder profile, emulating the neck shapes of the iconic 1958 and 1959 Les Paul Standards. The neck is machined in Gibson's rough mill using wood shapers to make the initial cuts. But once the fingerboard gets glued on, the rest--including the final sanding--is done by hand. That means there are no two necks with the exact same dimensions. So while it still has the basic characteristics of its respective profile, each neck will be slightly different, with a distinct but traditional feel.

Nitrocellulose Finish

This guitar features a nitrocellulose finish--one of the most labor-intensive elements of the guitar-making process--which dries to a much thinner coat than a polyurethane finish, meaning there is less interference with the natural vibration of the instrument, allowing for a purer tone.

A nitro finish is also a softer finish, which makes it easily repairable. You can touch up a scratch or ding on a nitro finish, but you can't do the same on a poly finish. In addition, a nitro finish is very porous in nature, and actually gets thinner over time. It does not "seal" wood in an airtight shell--as a poly finish does--and allows the wood to breathe and age properly.

What's in the Box

Gibson Melody Maker electric guitar, vintage style Melody Maker Box, and owner's manual.

Gibson’s “Golden Era”—the late 1950s and early 1960s—is best known for the emergence of the company’s iconic Les Paul Standard. But the Les Paul wasn’t the company’s best-selling guitar during this historic period. That title belongs to the legendary Melody Maker. Today’s Melody Maker is a loving tribute to the style and spirit of the 1959 edition of that beloved guitar. It is also remains one of Gibson’s most popular models, as well as its most affordable USA-made guitar.