Advertisement
GOT A TIP?
Guitar Thrills Magazine
SUBSCRIBE
GOT A TIP?
Menu
close

Hands-On With the Zaar Cicero: Compact Design, Serious Performance

Edward Schooley
Posted: June 1, 2026
Zaar Cicero | Guitar Thrills Magazine
"The Zaar Cicero proves that thoughtful design can still surprise players in a crowded market. Its compact body delivers exceptional comfort without sacrificing tone, while its articulate voice and modern playability make it equally at home on stage, in the studio, or during extended practice sessions. The Cicero feels purpose-built for today's guitarist." — Guitar Thrills Magazine


 Photo provided by: Zaar Guitars

Avatar photo

EDITOR IN CHIEF| GUITAR THRILLS MAGAZINE TAMPA, FL U.S.A.

Edward Schooley

Founded in 2021. GUITAR THRILLS MAGAZINE of Tampa, FL Guitar Thrills Magazine of Tampa, FL U.S.A. The GUITAR THRILLS MAGAZINE is excited to bring you some of the music industries finest talent. Including the world of entertainment. Our focus includes the long term goals and aspirations of artists of all sorts. We are an unbiased reporting platform. You are getting insight into the world of music. No, we are not your fathers website for music news. We have grown into our own, and rely upon decades of music experience and knowledge. Guitar Thrills Magazine is a hard act to follow.

The growing attention surrounding the Zaar Cicero has been amplified by its collaboration with guitarist and songwriter Leilani Kilgore, who has become one of the instrument's most visible advocates. Kilgore has praised the Cicero as "an amazing guitar" and noted that it is built for aggressive playing, fast riffs, and exceptional tonal versatility. In interviews discussing her experience with the instrument, she described the Cicero as lightweight, balanced, and capable of delivering the heavy, articulate tones modern players demand.

The partnership gained additional visibility when Kilgore appeared on the cover of the April 2026 issue of Guitar Thrills Magazine, prominently brandishing the Zaar Cicero. The cover feature showcased both the artist and the guitar, highlighting the Cicero's emergence as a serious contender in the modern rock and metal market. The magazine subsequently promoted the issue across its channels, emphasizing Kilgore's connection to the instrument and its growing reputation among contemporary guitarists.

For Zaar Guitars, the collaboration represents more than an artist endorsement—it serves as a real-world demonstration of the Cicero's performance capabilities in the hands of a touring and recording musician whose playing style aligns perfectly with the instrument's high-performance design.

RELATED ARTICLE: Interview with Leilani Kilgore

The first thing you notice when picking up the Zaar Cicero isn't the finish, the pickups, or even the sleek modern styling. It's the size. The guitar feels immediately comfortable in your hands. Compared to many traditional electric guitars that can feel bulky or oversized, the Cicero's compact body creates an entirely different playing experience. It sits naturally against the body, balances well on a strap, and feels equally at home whether you're practicing on the couch, recording in the studio, or performing on stage.

Zaar Cicero | Guitar Thrills Magazine

As guitar players, we often assume bigger instruments will produce bigger sound. However, after spending time with the Cicero, it becomes clear that Zaar approached the design from a different perspective. Rather than building another large-bodied electric that follows established conventions, the company focused on creating an instrument centered on player comfort and responsiveness. The smaller body reduces weight without sacrificing stability, making long practice sessions noticeably easier on the shoulders and back. Players who spend hours rehearsing or performing will appreciate how effortless the guitar feels after extended use.

The compact design also contributes to the instrument's personality. There's a certain immediacy to the way the Cicero responds. Fast riffs feel tighter. Lead passages seem to flow more naturally. The guitar almost encourages movement and exploration, making it particularly appealing for players who enjoy modern rock, progressive music, metal, or technically demanding styles. The reduced body size allows the instrument to feel agile and quick, almost like an extension of the player rather than a piece of equipment being managed.

While comfort is one of the Cicero's standout qualities, the guitar's tone is what keeps you coming back. Every guitar is ultimately the sum of its parts, and Zaar clearly understood that creating a great electric guitar requires more than simply installing premium pickups. The body construction, materials, hardware, and electronics all work together to create an instrument that feels alive in the hands. Whether playing clean passages or driving an amp into saturation, the guitar responds with impressive clarity and articulation.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Cicero is how it demonstrates the importance of tonewoods in electric guitar design. While pickups certainly shape much of an electric guitar's voice, the woods used in construction influence resonance, sustain, attack, and overall feel. These characteristics may be subtle when measured individually, but together they contribute to the player's connection with the instrument. The Cicero possesses a balanced tonal character that delivers strong sustain, clear note definition, and enough warmth to prevent the sound from becoming sterile or overly clinical.

Zaar's history with acoustic guitars likely influenced many of these design decisions. The company has long emphasized craftsmanship and tonewood selection in its acoustic lineup, and that same philosophy appears to have carried over into the Cicero. Rather than treating the body as merely a platform for electronics, the design reflects an understanding that materials matter. The result is an electric guitar that feels responsive even before it's plugged in, something many experienced players look for when evaluating a new instrument.

The pickup configurations available in the Cicero further expand its versatility. High-gain players will appreciate the tight low-end response and articulation that allow complex riffs to remain clear under distortion. At the same time, clean settings reveal a surprising amount of depth and character. Chords ring with clarity, individual notes remain distinct, and ambient textures retain detail without becoming muddy. This flexibility makes the Cicero suitable for a wide range of musical styles rather than limiting it to a single genre.

What ultimately stands out most about the Zaar Cicero is its ability to blend modern performance with genuine player comfort. The compact body is not simply a stylistic choice; it serves a practical purpose that affects every aspect of the playing experience. It makes the instrument more accessible, more comfortable, and more enjoyable to use. Combined with thoughtful construction, quality components, and a responsive tonal character, the Cicero delivers a refreshing alternative to larger, more traditional electric guitars.

After spending time with the instrument, it becomes clear that the Cicero was designed with the player in mind. Every contour, dimension, and component seems intended to remove barriers between the musician and the music. In a market filled with guitars competing on specifications alone, the Zaar Cicero succeeds by focusing on something equally important: how the guitar feels when it's in your hands.

Concluding thoughts

The article highlights the Zaar Cicero as a compact electric guitar designed with player comfort and performance in mind. Unlike many traditional electric guitars with larger bodies, the Cicero's smaller, lightweight design provides a more comfortable playing experience. It balances well, reduces strain during long practice sessions or performances, and feels natural whether used at home, in the studio, or on stage. This emphasis on ergonomics makes the instrument particularly appealing to musicians who prioritize comfort without sacrificing quality.

Beyond comfort, the Cicero is praised for its responsiveness and playability. The compact body contributes to a fast, agile feel that encourages technical playing styles such as modern rock, metal, and progressive music. Players benefit from tighter riff execution and smoother lead passages, creating a stronger connection between musician and instrument. The design allows the guitar to feel like an extension of the player, enhancing creativity and performance.

The article also emphasizes the guitar's tonal qualities and construction. Zaar combines quality materials, tonewoods, hardware, and electronics to create an instrument with excellent sustain, articulation, and balanced sound. Drawing on the company's experience with acoustic guitars, the Cicero demonstrates how thoughtful material selection influences resonance and overall feel. Its versatile pickup configurations provide clarity for both high-gain and clean tones, making it suitable for a wide range of musical genres.

Finally, the article presents the Cicero as a successful blend of modern design and player-focused craftsmanship. Every aspect of the instrument—from its contours to its components—appears engineered to improve the musician's experience. The piece also highlights Zaar Guitars' commitment to quality, value, and innovation, noting that the Cicero stands out in a crowded market by prioritizing comfort, playability, and musical inspiration rather than relying solely on technical specifications. So, there shouldn't be any hesitation on what your next guitar purchase should be. We are confident in the Zaar Guitar as it is more than a boutique masterpiece.

PRS Standard 24 Review from Guitar Thrills Magazine Tampa, FL The World of Rock and Blues Magazine.

A RECAP OF WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

Sign up with your email address to receive entertainment news and updates.
Sign Up Form
Sign up with your email address to receive entertainment news and updates.
Subscription Form
We want to hear from you! Send us a tip using our anonymous form.
CHIEF EDITOR
Guitar Thrills Magazine. 2023 Copyright. All rights reserved.
magnifiercrosschevron-down
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

Privacy policy.

Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 29, 2021

This Privacy Policy describes Our policies and procedures on the collection, use and disclosure of Your information when You use the Service and tells You about Your privacy rights and how the law protects You.

We use Your Personal data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, You agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Interpretation and Definitions

Interpretation

The words of which the initial letter is capitalized have meanings defined under the following conditions. The following definitions shall have the same meaning regardless of whether they appear in singular or in plural.

Definitions

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy:

  • Account means a unique account created for You to access our Service or parts of our Service.

  • Company (referred to as either "the Company", "We", "Us" or "Our" in this Agreement) refers to Guitar Thrills Magazine., Tampa, FL U.S.A.

  • Cookies are small files that are placed on Your computer, mobile device or any other device by a website, containing the details of Your browsing history on that website among its many uses.

  • Country refers to: Florida, United States

  • Device means any device that can access the Service such as a computer, a cellphone or a digital tablet.

  • Personal Data is any information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual.

  • Service refers to the Website.

  • Service Provider means any natural or legal person who processes the data on behalf of the Company. It refers to third-party companies or individuals employed by the Company to facilitate the Service, to provide the Service on behalf of the Company, to perform services related to the Service or to assist the Company in analyzing how the Service is used.

  • Usage Data refers to data collected automatically, either generated by the use of the Service or from the Service infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit).

  • Website refers to Guitar Thrills Magazine, accessible from https://www.guitarthrills.com

  • You means the individual accessing or using the Service, or the company, or other legal entity on behalf of which such individual is accessing or using the Service, as applicable.

Collecting and Using Your Personal Data

Types of Data Collected

Personal Data

While using Our Service, We may ask You to provide Us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify You. Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:

  • Email address

  • First name and last name

  • Usage Data

Usage Data

Usage Data is collected automatically when using the Service.

Usage Data may include information such as Your Device's Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that You visit, the time and date of Your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

When You access the Service by or through a mobile device, We may collect certain information automatically, including, but not limited to, the type of mobile device You use, Your mobile device unique ID, the IP address of Your mobile device, Your mobile operating system, the type of mobile Internet browser You use, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

We may also collect information that Your browser sends whenever You visit our Service or when You access the Service by or through a mobile device.

Tracking Technologies and Cookies

We use Cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on Our Service and store certain information. Tracking technologies used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze Our Service. The technologies We use may include:

  • Cookies or Browser Cookies. A cookie is a small file placed on Your Device. You can instruct Your browser to refuse all Cookies or to indicate when a Cookie is being sent. However, if You do not accept Cookies, You may not be able to use some parts of our Service. Unless you have adjusted Your browser setting so that it will refuse Cookies, our Service may use Cookies.

  • Flash Cookies. Certain features of our Service may use local stored objects (or Flash Cookies) to collect and store information about Your preferences or Your activity on our Service. Flash Cookies are not managed by the same browser settings as those used for Browser Cookies. For more information on how You can delete Flash Cookies, please read "Where can I change the settings for disabling, or deleting local shared objects?" available at https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/disable-local-shared-objects-flash.html#main_Where_can_I_change_the_settings_for_disabling__or_deleting_local_shared_objects_

  • Web Beacons. Certain sections of our Service and our emails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit the Company, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of a certain section and verifying system and server integrity).

Cookies can be "Persistent" or "Session" Cookies. Persistent Cookies remain on Your personal computer or mobile device when You go offline, while Session Cookies are deleted as soon as You close Your web browser.

We use both Session and Persistent Cookies for the purposes set out below:

  • Necessary / Essential Cookies

    Type: Session Cookies

    Administered by: Us

    Purpose: These Cookies are essential to provide You with services available through the Website and to enable You to use some of its features. They help to authenticate users and prevent fraudulent use of user accounts. Without these Cookies, the services that You have asked for cannot be provided, and We only use these Cookies to provide You with those services.

  • Cookies Policy / Notice Acceptance Cookies

    Type: Persistent Cookies

    Administered by: Us

    Purpose: These Cookies identify if users have accepted the use of cookies on the Website.

  • Functionality Cookies

    Type: Persistent Cookies

    Administered by: Us

    Purpose: These Cookies allow us to remember choices You make when You use the Website, such as remembering your login details or language preference. The purpose of these Cookies is to provide You with a more personal experience and to avoid You having to re-enter your preferences every time You use the Website.

For more information about the cookies we use and your choices regarding cookies, please visit our Cookies Policy or the Cookies section of our Privacy Policy.

Use of Your Personal Data

The Company may use Personal Data for the following purposes:

  • To provide and maintain our Service, including to monitor the usage of our Service.

  • To manage Your Account: to manage Your registration as a user of the Service. The Personal Data You provide can give You access to different functionalities of the Service that are available to You as a registered user.

  • For the performance of a contract: the development, compliance and undertaking of the purchase contract for the products, items or services You have purchased or of any other contract with Us through the Service.

  • To contact You: To contact You by email, telephone calls, SMS, or other equivalent forms of electronic communication, such as a mobile application's push notifications regarding updates or informative communications related to the functionalities, products or contracted services, including the security updates, when necessary or reasonable for their implementation.

  • To provide You with news, special offers and general information about other goods, services and events which we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about unless You have opted not to receive such information.

  • To manage Your requests: To attend and manage Your requests to Us.

  • For business transfers: We may use Your information to evaluate or conduct a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of Our assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which Personal Data held by Us about our Service users is among the assets transferred.

  • For other purposes: We may use Your information for other purposes, such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and to evaluate and improve our Service, products, services, marketing and your experience.

We may share Your personal information in the following situations:

  • With Service Providers: We may share Your personal information with Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service, to contact You.

  • For business transfers: We may share or transfer Your personal information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of Company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of Our business to another company.

  • With Affiliates: We may share Your information with Our affiliates, in which case we will require those affiliates to honor this Privacy Policy. Affiliates include Our parent company and any other subsidiaries, joint venture partners or other companies that We control or that are under common control with Us.

  • With business partners: We may share Your information with Our business partners to offer You certain products, services or promotions.

  • With other users: when You share personal information or otherwise interact in the public areas with other users, such information may be viewed by all users and may be publicly distributed outside.

  • With Your consent: We may disclose Your personal information for any other purpose with Your consent.

Retention of Your Personal Data

The Company will retain Your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use Your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.

The Company will also retain Usage Data for internal analysis purposes. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of Our Service, or We are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods.

Transfer of Your Personal Data

Your information, including Personal Data, is processed at the Company's operating offices and in any other places where the parties involved in the processing are located. It means that this information may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of Your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from Your jurisdiction.

Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by Your submission of such information represents Your agreement to that transfer.

The Company will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that Your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of Your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of Your data and other personal information.

Disclosure of Your Personal Data

Business Transactions

If the Company is involved in a merger, acquisition or asset sale, Your Personal Data may be transferred. We will provide notice before Your Personal Data is transferred and becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy.

Law enforcement

Under certain circumstances, the Company may be required to disclose Your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. a court or a government agency).

Other legal requirements

The Company may disclose Your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

  • Comply with a legal obligation

  • Protect and defend the rights or property of the Company

  • Prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service

  • Protect the personal safety of Users of the Service or the public

  • Protect against legal liability

Security of Your Personal Data

The security of Your Personal Data is important to Us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While We strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect Your Personal Data, We cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Children's Privacy

Our Service does not address anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13. If You are a parent or guardian and You are aware that Your child has provided Us with Personal Data, please contact Us. If We become aware that We have collected Personal Data from anyone under the age of 13 without verification of parental consent, We take steps to remove that information from Our servers.

If We need to rely on consent as a legal basis for processing Your information and Your country requires consent from a parent, We may require Your parent's consent before We collect and use that information.

Links to Other Websites

Our Service may contain links to other websites that are not operated by Us. If You click on a third party link, You will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise You to review the Privacy Policy of every site You visit.

We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update Our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify You of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.

We will let You know via email and/or a prominent notice on Our Service, prior to the change becoming effective and update the "Last updated" date at the top of this Privacy Policy.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, You can contact us:

  • By email: info@guitarthrills.com

  • By visiting this page on our website: https://guitarthrills.com