Maybe the best Guitar made in 2021: Iris Guitars DF I a 3 question gear review 

Jeremy, I found out about Iris guitars awhile back and I was impressed to say the least! Now all of a sudden they are taking flight and good for them. They are top shelf instruments with an awesome tone all there own. I saw Tony Polecastro did a segment not long ago as well. I personally am loving the Iris DF 12 fret smeck model.

Yet again, ANOTHER GREAT FIND!!! And the sound the Royer R-10 picks up sounds so natural!

I adore my DF. Gets better and better each day. Nothing I've tried (Martins, Gibsons, Collings, Larrivee, etc.) has beaten it. No better bang for your buck out there.

That guitar has wonderful tone and the satin finish actually looks great on the video.

I’ve seen Trey Hensley play an Iris guitar on his RU-vid channel. Says a lot considering he owns a lot of high end and vintage guitars.

Jeremy, you have a great attitude to your passion. It shows and may you be rewarded tenfold!

Authentic, Affordable and A**kicking good looks! 😍

Great Review! I bought a new Iris AB (hog) and received it 9 days ago. ..AMAZING man just amazing! Played and sounded like a 30 year old vintage guitar right out of the box. However that deal at one point almost fell through.. and I had seen a beautiful Iris DF in natural finish… which haven’t stopped thinking about (and looking at) while still thrilled/happy as heck/super digging my new Iris AB… but I couldn’t stand it anymore yesterday, that beautiful natural DF was still available on reverb at a great price. I bought her! This video helped me with my recent love affair with Iris guitars

I bought an Iris AB (similar to J185) last year and I love it. I really appreciate the light finish…it’s extremely light and resonant. Plan to get the OG in the future.

iris, atkin, waterloo guitar are good for the money.

Hey Jeremy , Thanks for this video. Never heard of Iris guitars. The fact they're made in USA at an affordable price point for us working musicians is enough to stir my interest. Love the sound (most important) , the satin finish, the zebra pickguard. I'd be interested in a 00 size shrunk down model of that guitar in a 00 & 000 size. What I find "dorky" is the " Iris name " on the headstock (IMO looks very weird ) too large & in bold print on the entire head stock ......then there's that flowery thing above it.???? The flowery thing wouldn't be bad if there was just a Italic letter " i " under it. As long as the guitar sounds great .....folks/other musicians will normally ask " what guitar is that " ? ...........IRIS..........made in Burlington, Vermont - USA :-)

So glad I came reasonably early! Such an expressive tone 😍

Jeremy I just picked up a used Iris DF from the Music Emporium in Connecticut....can't wait for it to arrive. You've been spot on with some of your recommendations and we have very similar style of music... Thank you for the Waterloo reviews...i bought a WL-K and couldn't be happier. Can't wait to take the IRIS DF for a spin!!

If I recall, bolt on neck? And built in USA, a big selling point for me. Some of us like the open pore finish, as it seems to make the guitar louder.

Great review Jeremy😊 i just picked up this model with the distressed finish, awesome playing,sounding, and looking guitar, soo lite and resonant, don’t know how they do it, but glad they do!

It sounds like a beast bro!

Hey Jeremy! Very cool video. I am following Iris Guitars for the last two years, dreaming of owning one. Not a very good guitar player, but love to play and hopefully getting better going fwd. asking myself if this isn‘t above my playing, but hey, we live once…saving up for 1 1/2 yrs now (with a family, not an easy task). Played an OG a year ago, wonderful. Neck felt great, like the vibe, the satin finish (had an 000-15 a while ago, but realised I am a dread player). There is a DF in a store in europe brand new, natural finish, which is cool also, seems only very little are out in the wild in natural, but the price is out of reach just now. Looking for used, but impossible so far. You wouldn’t ship to europe would you ☺️? Something I noticed, the dimensions are quite big, depth etc. would you say it is still comfortable to hold? Comparable to a D18? I am tall enough though, so shouldn‘t be an issue. Cheers from Switzerland Mitch

An Iris OG with the distressed finish is on my list. 👍🏻

Love the headstock

Love these guitars

So, since seeing your video a good while back, I loved that guitar. And today, I just finally bought one! Same model, same year but in natural with an Adirondack top and figured Mahogany. Can't wait till' it gets here!

Why is it called Iris? Many reasons, but most importantly, it was going to be the name for another child we wanted to have. Since we did not have the child, I chose to give this name to the new venture. I was also looking for something that was in the shape of a Circle for Circle Strings. Where is Vermont? North of wherever you are and the most beautiful state in the USA! How many Iris guitars do you plan to make each year? More than 10 but less than 100. Or maybe more. Things are going well. If I want a square sound hole, is that possible? No, wrong guy. I like traditional guitars. Can I come to your shop and assist with the build? Yes, that is an additional $10,000 Is it possible to get a round plastic back on my guitar like an Ovation? - Is there anyplace good to eat near your shop while I wait for you to build my guitar? No but we are close to Pool World who did a fine job making our pool. Does Iris make amplifiers or capos or slides or cleaning kits or harmonica holders? No, but we also make Circle Strings Custom Guitars and Fairbanks Guitars. And we sell luthier supplies through Allied Lutherie. We’re sort of a small business conglomerate under one roof. Do I get a free lesson with my guitar? Yes, I will teach you three chords, and that is it! Will you write a funny joke inside my guitar before you seal it up? You'll have to see. Can you change the logo to say ISIS? I just called the authorities. Doesn't your web guy have anything better to do? Apparently not. We Require $1000 deposit to get on the build list Balance (Including shipping charges) due before shipment A lifetime warranty is provided to original owner on workmanship of the instrument. $1000 Deposit is non-refundable. Waiting time is around 9-10 months.

Awesome tone to that pup! Great playing there too Jeremy!! I love their intention of recreating the vintage vibe of a j45 at a reasonable cost but I'm not a fan of satin finish. For a 5 hundred dollar upgrade they do an incredible relic job with an old school lacquer finish. The pics on their website look absolutely amazing. I almost ordered oen but they were almost 8 months out on back orders so I bailed...(for now!) Anyhoo....awesome vid here brother!!

My first rule of thumb. No friggin plastic on a acoustic guitar what so ever. No volute under the head stock,it restricts some aspects of play ability. No guild style fat heel block . Small spanish style heel block takes up less space on the bottom of the neck where it joins the guitar body. Waverly tuners only Long glue in saddle at the bridge. Mahogany back and sides. Engelman spruce sound board or mahogany. These are my demands

Looks like a prior owner used a butter knife to pry out the bridge pins?

I want one!

Very much like the Waterloo jumbo king that I had. One big negative would be that it sounds bright and boxy like a Waterloo which is a tone best suited for old timey music imo and not as versatile as a j45 standard or a Martin. However I do dig it and I’m looking for one ;)

I own the ch model. Iris makes an amazing product. Agree it has the old guild neck feel (own a guild as well). The sound is full and robust for a small model.

It seems all areas of the market are catered for these days. If you want a cheap knock about or beginner guitar there are exceptional quality guitars at this price point (Alvarez, yamaha, recording king, eastman) In the mid range price point you can get something like this from a small boutique like Iris or Atkin, for the same price as a mass produced martin or gibson. And on the upper scale you can go for a Collings . The truth is that this leaves very little room for Martin and Gibson for anyone wanting to get good value. Your standard martin D18/D28 are generally very very mediocre when compared to an Iris or Atkin for the same price.

Nice Review. BTW, all my Froggy Bottom guitars have that noticeable scarf joint at the base of the headstock. Some are more noticeable than others, but none are a deal-breaker for me.

Wow that thing sounds incredible. If I didn’t already have a 12 year old J-45 I would be on this.

What a fantastic guitar! Sounds and looks great! And a wonderful price point. The only problem I had was with the head stock. IMO they could have done better with the lettering . It just doesn't fit with the guitars vibe. Other than that. Im all in !

If you want to put a gloss finish on this Iris or, for example, a Martin 000-15M. Get a Homax polishing cloth and just polish out the nitro by hand. It takes a satin finish and makes it.... semi gloss. Not to gloss or high polish, but just right. I took my Martin 000 15M, polished it, but some vintage waverly tuners with tortoise buttons and tortoise pins. It looks fantastic and really right. Not too satin, not too glossy. Would work fine on the IRIS.

I see two blue Strats?

I heard a 1955 J45 that sounded like this one!

Just got my custom ordered RCM-000. They are fantastic. Can't put it down even with some tendonitis , I can't help myself.

Hey man, love your videos. Have you ever had or played a Seagull? I have Martins and Taylor’s but I also have a Seagull and it is amazing. Would love to get your input on why Seagulls are not more well known and represented in the acoustic community. North American hand made guitars at 1/3 the price of the big names. The craftsmanship is superb.

Look at that one. So pretty. Looks nice too. I want to play it wearing a Stetson.

I’ve watched this video about 20 times. This is my plan for my first “nice” guitar!

Hey Jeremy I’m kinda struggling. I have a 2020 j45 that I bought used at GC with a 45 day return window that’s expiring soon. Would you personally take a DF over a j45 or do you think the j45 is a beast to own? I personally love the sound of the j45 I have but I can’t really test it against a DF since there are no dealers that carry them near me.

One thing I'd say after receiving my Iris. I think they described it as a bigger C shape neck. Wish it was actually a touch bigger tbh but great profile still....

I love my DF. It’s more Martin than Gibson in sound in my opinion. In the best way :)

Liked. Well done. They have two lines of DF. Both seem similar - what's the different between the regular DF and the Roy Smeck model? Thanks. I had a Gibson Roy Smeck reproduction with adi, rosewood, and hide glue etc. It was flat out amazing as a strummer but I did not keep it because fingerstyled, it was not responsible. The Gibson needed a lot of energy to get going. Otherwise, tonally, it was different but on par with some of Martin's top end authentic series. How responsive is this to fingerstyling?

I just bought this guitar and I love it.

The headstock is really cool. Has a '70s Woodstock feel to it.

I want a Guitar Hunter Tee Shirt! Where do I get one? Great review BTW!!! 👍

Beautiful guitar, I need a 12 fret dreadnought, tho'! Those slot headed 12 fret Martin dreadnoughts are a dream.

I bought a new epiphone inspired by j45 it does not ring like yours , nice man

Man, that headstock label. No bueno. They need to tone that down a bit. But, if nothing else, the guitar hobby shows us that the adage really is true -- there's an ass for every chair.

I've been looking hard at a slope shoulder for my next guitar. Do you think a Martin DSS-17 whiskey sunset would be a good option over this Iris? I'm sure the Iris is louder or sounds a bit better being almost a grand more. The only nitpick I have about the Martin is it comes with a softshell case and not a hardshell... Have you played a slope shoulder Martin 17? Can you compare the two?

Sounds powerful but a bit muddy to me, could be a bit more articulate. I'm withyou about prefering the gloss finish, but for the price this is at, not bad at all for the money.

What’s the deal with those pick guards if i remember correctly your Waterloo had the same guard also

Sounds good. What mics and recording setup are you using?

How did you find it used? I'm looking for an Iris OG. Probably just buy one. With an iris! Thanks Jeremy.

Wish i had known that you had a Martin 28 VS…….i would have bought it! Keep your eyes open for me. By the way,i like the IRIS but……….

That thing PUNCHES

The guitar has great tone and sounds broken in. All that complaints about looking old, well you play the guitar with your ears not your eyes. The Stew Mac tuners aren't all that good and do slip all the time and can't be tightened up. So I wouldn't buy them again. What is the scale length? I favor their CH model or maybe the OG. Thanks for turning me unto them.

Sounds great.

wondering why the guy traded a new guitar for a Martin D18...

Really love the look of it up to the point where the headstock starts! The IRIS font and the size of the headstock is ugly. 🤢 But I still love it because it's not frightened to be different! 😁

Would you mind weighing the guitar for actual weight? Thanks.

Sounds killer

Hey, just remembered this channel gives zero audio demonstration.

Looks and sounds similar to a Seagull. Also similar quality and features.

sounds good but this should be more yamaha eastman price level...Im not blown away for 2600.....meh

Awesome sounding guitar. Reminds me of the Waterloo that you reviewed a couple months back. I’d consider one if it weren’t for the AWFUL headstock design! My goodness it’s really unsightly. I would have to special order one with a blank headstock. Sorry Iris!

That joint at the headstock worries me.

If you like the sound who gives a s**t about who built it or when it was built? Too many get hung up on headstock decals.

You traded the guitar I've been saving for.

Have you experimented with the R-10 placement & front or back facing guitar? Apparently the offset of the ribbon can be a factor when close miking. ( explained near the end here> ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-B-KaSiYYcDU.html ). All the best with your new studio gear Jeremy.

The "vintage" guitar market has been completely overpriced since Covid & older Gibsons & Martins take unending tweeking with constant playability issues. Anybody that thinks Waterloos or Iris guitars are cheesy...are just flat out morons.

Great sounding. Ugly ass head stock logo and finish. Unfortunate for a guitar that sounds that great.

...can't criticise its 'voice' at all!