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Caroline

Sensitive | Dynamic

Sensitive & Dynamic

Donovan Leah Guitars are built to respond to a feather-light touch. Full and clear, with minimum effort.

Listen to Maneli Jamal perform an excerpt of his song “Home” to see what we mean.

Acoustic guitar with cutaway design

one | model

Caroline

We make Grand Auditorium size guitars, with or without cut-a-way.
We call her Caroline.

Harmonically Rich

Listen to Maneli Jamal’s improvisation over “Southern Magnolia” performed on this Caroline Mastergrade to see what we mean.

Percussive Clarity

Donovan Leah Guitars are built to respond to a Modern Player’s needs. Feather-light touch, with full and clear percussive responses, with minimum effort.

Listen to Maneli Jamal perform an excerpt of his song “Cold Arrival” to see what we mean.

Natural Beauty

Neat
Deceptively simple
with Beautiful woods

Close-up of a guitar two-toned headstock with tuning pegs and strings

Ziricote
Maple
Nickel Silver Inlay

Close-up of an acoustic guitar soundhole with walnut rosette.

Sitka Spruce
Ziricote
Black Walnut

Back of a wooden walnut acoustic guitar against a black background.

Black Walnut
Maple

Close-up of an acoustic guitar ziricote bridge and bridge pins.

Sitka Spruce
Ziricote
Bone

Uncompromising Quality

All of our instruments are made with the same quality of musically performative materials & construction.
with the same commitment to creating a high-performance instrument, that is sensitive & dynamic,
with a full & harmonically rich pallet.

Whether uniform & clean, exceptionally figured, or once in a lifetime unique,
you can select from three categories of  wood for your Caroline.

Back view of a walnut acoustic guitar

$5,999
$6,499 cut-a-way
*All prices in USD

Benchmark

Back view of a walnut acoustic guitar

$6,999
$7,499 cut-a-way
*All prices in USD

Exceptional

Back view of a walnut acoustic guitar with maple centre strip.

Mastergrade

$7,999
$8,499 cut-a-way
*All prices in USD

Benchmark

Clean
Simple
Beautiful

Advanced Finger-style
or Strumming Chords

This is the new Benchmark.

Demo: Modern Finger-style with Caroline Benchmark
Artist: Maneli Jamal
Song: Nomad's Tale (Original composition)

Demo: Strumming with Caroline Benchmark
Artist: Chris Caddell

Exceptional

Premium
Figured
woods

Advanced Performance
Exceptional Beauty

All Donovan Leah Guitars are built with the same commitment to creating a high-performance instrument.
Sensitive & Dynamic, with a Full & Harmonically Rich Pallet.
You may choose to add an Exceptional option, which features Premium Figured Woods to our Benchmark.

Demo: Modern Finger-style with Caroline Exceptional
Artist: Maneli Jamal
Song: *Untitled

Demo: Strumming with Capo on 4th fret with Caroline Exceptional
Artist: Chris Caddell

Mastergrade

Highly Figured
Once in a lifetime woods

Luxury is defined by the unnecessary

Caroline’s Mastergrade Appointments don’t make her sound better than her Benchmark or Exceptional appointed sisters,
but the Desire for Beautiful and Rare materials is a powerful motivator.

Demo: Modern Percussive Finger-style with Caroline Mastergrade
Artist: Maneli Jamal
Song: Cold Arrival (original composition)

Demo: Strumming with Caroline Mastergrade
Artist: Chris Caddell

Features & Specifications

Close-up of an acoustic guitar soundhole with walnut rosette
Back of an acoustic guitar from walnut with visible grain pattern, against a dark background.
Close-up of a guitar headstock with tuning pegs and strings, featuring a two-tone wood finish.

  • What's Different about Donovan Leah?

    We believe in the GOOD life. This means building inspiring musical instruments from a good place. From the forests to the musician, we want everyone, at every step to be valued.

    How do we do that?

    We are thankful for the Luthier's traditions...but not beholden to them. We know that most guitars are made from Exotic Mahogany, Rosewood & Ebony. And there are plenty of great guitars made from these materials. However, we believe that we can make amazing guitars from woods that are found much closer to home...so we do.

    It means that we have to apply a few different techniques to voice a Donovan Leah. Like solid Walnut lining, instead of the traditional kerfed Spruce.

    We also choose Torrified Maple for our necks. This process alters the structure of the maple in a way that is integral to our guitar recipe.

    Finally, we use an advanced modern mono-coat finish, both inside and out. It is extremely strong, yet impossibly thin. This allows the wood to speak with the least interference from coats of finish. It also happens to be safe for us and our environment. Which we think is a very good thing.


  • All Donovan Leah Guitars are built with the same commitment to creating a high-performance instrument, that is sensitive & dynamic, with a full & harmonically rich pallet.

    To achieve this, all of our instruments are made with the same quality of musically performative materials & construction.

    Top: Sitka Spruce or Black Walnut
    Back & Sides: Black Walnut
    Neck: Torrified Maple
    Fretboard: Ziricote
    Bridge: Ziricote
    Peghead veneer: Ziricote & Maple
    Frets: Stainless Steel
    Nut & Saddle: Hand Polished Rendered Bone
    Logo & Side Dots: Nickel Silver
    Tuners: Gotoh 510 | Nickel Silver or Gold | Aged patina
    Finish: Advanced Modern Monocoat

  • Dimensions

    Scale Length: 25.4"
    Fretboard Radius: 16"
    Nut Width: 1.75"
    Body Length: 20"
    Body Depth: 3.75" (neck) to 4.75" (tail)
    Lower Bout: 15 3/4"
    Upper Bout: 11 7/8"
    Total Length: 40 1/4"

  • The following features may be added to your Caroline Benchmark

    • Venetian Style Cut-a-way $500 USD

    • Matching Black Walnut Top (instead of Sitka Spruce) $500 USD

Every Caroline includes a world-class custom case

Contact us.

Donovan Leah Guitars are handcrafted in a small workshop in Northern Ontario, Canada

For inquiries, please email us and we will respond shortly.

Thank you for your interest in Donovan Leah Guitars.

Donovan Leah logo in stylized script.