Thompson DMC-MA

Thompson’s newest model is based on a classical-style body shape.

October 29, 2025

Thompson Guitars is well known for building instruments based on golden-era American acoustics. Although many Thompsons mix-and-match features and design elements and often use original appointments, the company’s offerings have been based on vintage flattop body styles. Now Thompson has introduced what is its most original model yet, the Deep Body Modified Classical. Inspired by the Martin body made famous by Willie Nelson’s nylon-string N-20, the new guitar uses this shape modified for steel-strings. We recently had a chance to check out the prototype for the model, and in this video, I demo the guitar in the Peghead Nation studio.

Our demo guitar was built with mahogany back and sides and an Adirondack spruce top, designating it a DMC-MA (Deepbody/Modified/Classical/Mahogany/Adirondack). By combining the classical guitar-style body with a 14-fret neck, a solid peghead, and a standard teardrop pickguard, the luthiers at Thompson created an instrument that could be mistaken for a slightly smaller slope-shoulder dreadnought. Midway between a typical 00 and 000 in size, but with different proportions and a slightly greater depth, the guitar has a distinctive feel and vibe. The DMC-MA is a great example of Thompson’s knack for creating unique appointments. Though understated, the guitar’s “regency dots” position markers, rosette, and rope-stye purfling stand out by incorporating several blue-colored elements (turquoise for the fingerboard inlay, colored wood fiber for the rosette and purfling). The guitar has scalloped X-bracing and a standard ebony belly bridge. Thompson is a custom shop, so neck dimensions and string-spacing are among the many details that could be specified in an individual order, but our demo guitar had a narrow neck that measured 1¹¹/₁₆-inches at the nut and string-spacing of 2⅛ -inches at the saddle. These dimensions would make it a great choice for a player with small hands, and they also facilitate fast flatpicking.

I found the DMC-MA a lot of fun to play. Tonally, it was super responsive, and revealed a complex tonality with little effort. With the word “classical” in its name, I was inspired to try a bit of Francisco Tarrega’s “Lagrima” on the guitar, and while proper classical technique would benefit from a wider neck, the guitar sounded fabulous with a light fingerstyle touch. Because the guitar has a long scale, it delivers the volume and punch that typically go along with this choice, and strumming with a pick yielded a gorgeously rich sound that reminded me of a long-scale, slope-shouldered dreadnought with a more intimate vibe.

The Deep Body Modified Classical has the most unique design that Thompson offers. Players looking for a mid-size flattop that sets itself apart in looks, feel, and sound, would do well to take the new model under consideration,