2002 Froggy Bottom H12

An Indian rosewood and Adirondack spruce version of Froggy Bottom’s most popular model.

April 17, 2025

Vermont’s Froggy Bottom Guitars is one of the longest-running makers of custom guitars. Founded in 1974 and continuously run by luthier Michael Millard, the company was part of the first wave of independent builders seeking to create alternatives to factory-made steel-string guitars. Having worked in the famed Gurian Guitars workshop in New Hampshire, Millard learned to appreciate the advantages of working with a small team of skilled craftspeople, and Froggy Bottom has always been an extension of Millard’s solo work as a builder. Froggy Bottom offers a full line of steel-string flattops, from parlor to jumbo, and while the body shapes are fundamentally based on existing designs, Millard and his team were among the first to use non-standard woods, develop a process for individual voicing, introduce elements such as exotic wood binding, and more. The guitars have a distinctive appearance despite the lack of radically different design elements. Similar to a vintage 12-fret 000 in its dimensions, the H12 has long been Froggy Bottom’s most popular model, and we’ve previously featured an H12 built with koa. Recently, Peghead Nation Fingerstyle Guitar instructor Stevie Coyle stopped by with an Indian rosewood version of an H12 built in 2002 that had come into his shop: Mighty Fine Guitars, in Lafayette, California. In this video, I demo the guitar.

Although Froggy Bottom’s base-model choice is either Indian rosewood or mahogany, the company is able to offer a large variety of premium woods from its impressive stash. Standard upgrades include maple, walnut, and koa, and custom orders have access to even more options. The Indian rosewood on this guitar is gorgeous, with extremely straight grain and rich, chocolate-brown color. The guitar has a perfectly bookmatched Adirondack spruce top with a distinctive striping pattern and the darkened look typical of a 20-plus-year-old instrument. Flamed maple binding creates a nice visual contrast between the top, back, and side woods, and the guitar’s herringbone rosette and backstrip feature alternating light-blue and red hues. The instrument’s ebony fingerboard has standard dot position markers, and the slotted peghead features the Froggy Bottom’s iconic frog logo inlay.

This particular H12 is a great representation of the model, affirming my experiences with other Foggy Bottom instruments I’ve played. The guitar has a super-balanced tonal character, with a rich low-end, smooth mids, and substantial trebles. Every H12 I’ve played had a relatively shallow neck profile, and this one is no exception. Measuring 1¾ inches at the nut, the neck has a fingerstyle-friendly width and a very sleek, modern feel. The guitar’s 25-inch scale is slightly shorter than most 12-fret 000s, and the combination of that and a low-action setup gives it easy playability.

It’s always a pleasure to check out Froggy Bottom guitars, of which no two are exactly alike. This guitar is a great example of a standard, non-custom instrument, and with its gorgeous woods, superb craftsmanship, and well-rounded sound, it continues to be a fabulous musical tool 23 years after it was first strung up!

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