Luna Gypsy Muse Parlor Review – Affordable Parlor with Stellar Style

Much like other acoustic brands, Luna Guitars reserves a space in their catalog for a selection of parlor models to cater for those who love this traditional style of instrument. The mahogany Gypsy Muse Parlor is one of their most popular offerings, featuring the love and attention – not to mention the value – that regular readers would expect from Luna. Let’s take a closer look…

Body & Neck

As looks go, this is one of the more interesting that has featured in our chart on the best parlor guitars, which isn’t surprising for a Luna model. The most notable detailing comes on both the neck – with Luna’s pearl ‘moon phases’ fret markers – as well as the Celtic Knot rosette, which is a distinctive feature across the entry-level Gypsy Series. Part of Luna’s all-mahogany, all-laminate Gypsy series, there is no surprise to find this 25.25” scale length parlor is made entirely from mahogany, offering a warm look and tone to match. The satin finish across the body and neck gives this guitar a sophisticated air, as well as enhancing the feeling of speed on the neck. This neck features a comfortable C shape with a standard 1.69” nut width, along with a black walnut fretboard and 21 total frets (joined at the 14th fret).

Hardware

This is an all-out acoustic guitar, so there are no electronics to talk about, although Luna has produced a similar spruce-topped parlor, which offers a built-in tuner. The mahogany version, which is slightly more affordable, does not. Still, no big deal because the rest of the hardware is a very good for the sub-$200 price tag. At the top of the guitar you will find a set of sealed die-cast chrome tuners, as well as a urea nut. At the other end there’s a modern black walnut bridge along with a urea saddle. The neck is also fitted with a dual-action truss rod, for easy intonation tweaks.

Sound

This offering from Luna really surprised in terms of tone. Overall, it’s very sweet and packed a powerful punch for such a small guitar, with great midrange emphasis. This traditional characteristic is one that most blues and folk players will appreciate. Keep in mind that the mahogany build offers a little more warmth in tone than the spruce version.

Conclusion

For a sub-$200, Chinese-made parlor guitar, you may not have been expecting much, but we were mightily impressed by Luna’s mahogany offering. It falls a little short in tonal depth compared to some of the higher-end solid-wood parlors, but overall it proves more than worth its price tag – as tends to be the case with most Luna instruments. For more info about the Luna Gypsy Muse Parlor, click here. For more Parlor Guitar you might like, click here.