Bourgeois - holy crap

stickyfiddle · October 2021

Currently on holibobs in New Hampshire and popped into a guitar shop today. Played about 30k in Santa Cruz and Bourgeios dreadnoughts and wow… the highlight was a brazilian rosewood equipped Bourgeios for about $8k. I haven’t bought it (!) but together with my recent Atkin purchase has moved the game forward on just how good a great acoustic instrument can be.

I may have to rethink my entire life!

Mellish · October 2021

@stickyfiddle. By the heading I imagined you'd found a leaver

. I had to reluctantly leave a beauty at £3k. Are you getting it? Pics if you do?

earwighoney · October 2021

stickyfiddle said:

Currently on holibobs in New Hampshire and popped into a guitar shop today. Played about 30k in Santa Cruz and Bourgeios dreadnoughts and wow… the highlight was a brazilian rosewood equipped Bourgeios for about $8k. I haven’t bought it (!) but together with my recent Atkin purchase has moved the game forward on just how good a great acoustic instrument can be.

I may have to rethink my entire life!

Acoustic GAS hits a bit different from my experience.

A years ago I played a £5k Bourg Red Spruce/Madagascar OM which guitar.com reviewed and it's £8k now, one of the finest guitars I've ever played.

DavidR · October 2021

Everyone should have the nicest acoustic they can afford stickyfiddle. Congrats and huge feelings of jealousy for your purchase - and your holibobs!

TheBigDipper · October 2021

I love my Brook Taw, but I'd be a liar if I didn't say that I preferred a Huss & Dalton OM that was £4K compared to the £2.5K I spent on the Brook. And as for the Turnstone 12fret OM with an extra soundport I played at a Birmingham show, well... I would have needed the 10 months waiting list just to save up the money (and not eat...).

Acoustic guitars are like high-end hifi.

earwighoney · October 2021

TheBigDipper said:

I love my Brook Taw, but I'd be a liar if I didn't say that I preferred a Huss & Dalton OM that was £4K compared to the £2.5K I spent on the Brook. And as for the Turnstone 12fret OM with an extra soundport I played at a Birmingham show, well... I would have needed the 10 months waiting list just to save up the money (and not eat...).

Acoustic guitars are like high-end hifi.

Brook are really consistent in their output, I've probably around 10-15 of their guitars and they were well very good.

IMO, I think maybe after a certain price point, gains for acoustic guitars are marginal, for example a £4k H&D might have been a few percent better than your Brook.

However, I found the more expensive an acoustic guitar can be, the more specialised the sound can be. A few years back, a friend of mine from an acoustic guitar forum headed to a few guitar shops and tried a number of guitars including, Brook, Collings, Larrivee, a few 50's Gibsons & Epiphones, Santa Cruz to name a few. The interesting thing was how our different playing styles suited different instruments, even though the Brooks weren't the most expensive of the ones we tried they suited my friend's playing perfectly. The one which suited us both equally was a spruce/Walnut Larrivee OM-03. Some of the high end UK style instruments, eg Lowden, sound awful in my hands.

Nylon strings are a whole other thing, I own a few beautiful single luthier built guitars but as my technique is terrible, the end result isn't great either, but they look beautiful when I take them out of the case!

drofluf · October 2021

earwighoney said:

Brook are really consistent in their output, I've probably around 10-15 of their guitars and they were well very good.

That’s reassuring to hear bearing in mind the consequences of last week’s trip to the South West…

tomajoha · October 2021

Best acoustic I have owned was a Santa Cruz OM, most dissappointing was a Bourgeois Slope D

malcolmkindness · October 2021

tomajoha said:

Best acoustic I have owned was a Santa Cruz OM, most dissappointing was a Bourgeois Slope D

Instruments vary so much, that's why buying online is so risky.

CloudNine · October 2021

I have owned a good few Santa Cruz and Collings, and enjoyed them all, with a bit more of a lean towards the SCGC. However, absolute favourite guitars I have owned have been Bourgeois, just something about the voicing. As a company, they are in that space between really small luthier, and the bigger operation like Collings. Dana Bourgeois is a real deal master, and still has hands on every guitar in some way, as far as I know. There is nobody you could pinpoint at Collings that is that same stratosphere as him. I always feel like Collings are more an exercise in perfection, where they build everything to an exacting repeatable specification, whereas Bourgeois treat each bit of wood on its own merits and thickness and tune I think on that basis. I could be wrong of course.

I have a Slope D, Adirondack/Brazilian, and it is a total dream. Wasted on an average player like me, but wow it is a special thing.

On the subject of Brook as discusse above, I do really enjoy them. Have owned a few and even had a custom order built. But honestly, they are not in the same conversation as something like a Bourgeois in my opinion. Different style and tone of course, but when you see and feel them side by side, you just know...

Andy79 · October 2021

I’d be interested to see how these Tombstone, Eastman collaboration models go. If you can get part way to the quality at under 2 grand they will be great

Mellish · October 2021

I'm totally happy with my Martin
HD-28. I've owned a Gibson J200, J45, two Hummingbird Modern Classics, a Hummingbird True Vintage, Martin D35, HD35. Treasured all apart from one. But if you find the right one for you, you won't need another, at least that's how it is with me

stickyfiddle · October 2021

Just to clarify, I haven’t bought anything on this trip - this was very much a quick demo to find out just how god things can get.

There was certainly some temptation but I haven’t played enough other things lately to be happy spending that kind of coin. I really want to see how good Atkin can do for half the price first - entirely possible I’d also prefer something with mahogany back & sides as well.

danishbacon · October 2021

What shop in NH?

stickyfiddle · October 2021

danishbacon said:

What shop in NH?

Northern Lights Music in Littleton. I spoke to the owner for a good 30 mins while he just casually handed me multiple $$$ guitars for perusal. Great chap and highly recommended if you’re ever in the area.

Just being able to try multiple examples of such high end stuff is fantastic

Mellish · October 2021

@stickyfiddle. If you really like the z
Bourgeois, put a holding deposit on it until you get through trying others?

earwighoney · October 2021

Andy79 said:

I’d be interested to see how these Tombstone, Eastman collaboration models go. If you can get part way to the quality at under 2 grand they will be great

They will be more than that.

$2650 USA Street price, so that'll be about £2.5k after VAT in the UK I imagine.

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=617757

It's Touchstone not Tombstone!

CloudNine said:

I have owned a good few Santa Cruz and Collings, and enjoyed them all, with a bit more of a lean towards the SCGC. However, absolute favourite guitars I have owned have been Bourgeois, just something about the voicing. As a company, they are in that space between really small luthier, and the bigger operation like Collings. Dana Bourgeois is a real deal master, and still has hands on every guitar in some way, as far as I know. There is nobody you could pinpoint at Collings that is that same stratosphere as him. I always feel like Collings are more an exercise in perfection, where they build everything to an exacting repeatable specification, whereas Bourgeois treat each bit of wood on its own merits and thickness and tune I think on that basis. I could be wrong of course.

I have a Slope D, Adirondack/Brazilian, and it is a total dream. Wasted on an average player like me, but wow it is a special thing.

On the subject of Brook as discusse above, I do really enjoy them. Have owned a few and even had a custom order built. But honestly, they are not in the same conversation as something like a Bourgeois in my opinion. Different style and tone of course, but when you see and feel them side by side, you just know...

Bourgeois have some good names through their ranks as well. When I went to TAMCO a few years ago and the Laurent Brondel guitars I tried were superb, he learnt a lot of his craft when he worked at Bourgeois.

I still regret not buying a Collings OM for a £1500 a few years ago, it had a chunk taken out of the side but was repaired, not a looker but it sounded superb.

tomjax · October 2021

I've just bought a cosmetically challenged Collings OM2h as well for a great price. I've always been underwhelmed trying out the odd Collings in stores over the years, but this one has absolutely blown me away with its magic. It has a beautiful tone and fabulous playability. There's just something very special about opening the case and taking it out to play it, despite the damage it feels like you're handling a instrument at the very top of the game.

I had a similar experience with a Santa Cruz VJ many years ago in a store. Sometimes you just connect with a guitar for reasons you can't fully explain. To this day I regret not buying that one.

So if this guitar has really blown you away, be prepared for the memory of it to haunt if you decide not to buy it!!

stickyfiddle · October 2021

tomjax said:

So if this guitar has really blown you away, be prepared for the memory of it to haunt if you decide not to buy it!!

Yeah, I’m all too aware of that possibility but I don’t think it’s quite that level of connection. It’s a damn good guitar but I’m not quite convinced that it’s the right guitar for me at this moment. I actually have a feeling I’d like a mahogany dread for a while, although I would love to have that pretty big of flamey rosewood on the wall…!

camf · October 2021

I stupidly put my Bourgeois OM Custom up for sale a couple of months back, but shortly afterwards I picked it up and played it and it's now it's no longer for sale. It's a sensational guitar that I was only selling because I felt like I had too many... turned out I didn't. Well, I do, but I can't decide which one has to go.

CloudNine · October 2021

tomajoha said:

Best acoustic I have owned was a Santa Cruz OM, most dissappointing was a Bourgeois Slope D

The only Bourgeois I had that was not brilliant was a Slope D, quite a while ago. It was Sitka/Mahogany, had the Snake headstock. Couldn't really understand why, just didn't quite have it. Might have been the same one! Other than that, every one I have owned or played has been superb. Had a few SCGC OMs. All been great, super light builds and really responsive.

Andy79 · October 2021

Tombstone is better

camf · October 2021

I had a Bourgeois D and I didn’t like it either. The OM sounds beautiful, the D just sounded meh. Beautifully made but just a bit bland to play and record. But the OM is the opposite.

bermudianbrit · October 2021

lol @Andy79 I'm going to presume you mean Turnstone?
I played two Turnstone guitars at the Birmingham guitar show a few years ago. I am told they were bog oak. They sounded great, but I wouldn't have walked out with them. I know that she is a fantastic builder and I am told (I'm blind so cannot verify) that visually her guitars are beyond compare. But not my thing. No disrespect intended of course lol.

earwighoney · October 2021

bermudianbrit said:

lol @Andy79 I'm going to presume you mean Turnstone?
I played two Turnstone guitars at the Birmingham guitar show a few years ago. I am told they were bog oak. They sounded great, but I wouldn't have walked out with them. I know that she is a fantastic builder and I am told (I'm blind so cannot verify) that visually her guitars are beyond compare. But not my thing. No disrespect intended of course lol.

@bermudianbrit

I think there are two guitar brands at play here. The Touchstone (or Tombstone) which was being referred to by Andy is the collaboration between Eastman and Bourgeois, yet to be released.

The ones you have tried are a single luthier is Turnstone in Surrey with a high reputation.

Tannin · October 2021

So if they turn out to be no good, I guess we will call them Ruddy Turnstones.

artiebear · October 2021

Only got one Bourgeois , a Soloist. Possible the best OM I have ever played, never mind owned ( and I own quite a few ). I really hope that the new Eastman relationship does not dilute the perception on a great small shop builder.

Honkycat · October 2021

I don’t think the Sheerans have affected the Lowden brand, so hopefully not.

danishbacon · October 2021

Honkycat said:

I don’t think the Sheerans have affected the Lowden brand, so hopefully not.

I suspect it did have a bit of an impact on Avalon but they didn’t differentiate the brands.

Tannin · October 2021

Honkycat said:

I don’t think the Sheerans have affected the Lowden brand, so hopefully not.

Hmmm ... They haven't done it any good, that's for sure. But probably the company can still sell every Lowden it makes, so maybe that doesn't matter.

BingMan · October 2021

I own a vintage D - age tone Adirondack / Madagascar rosewood and a country boy D - adi / mahogany.

killer guitars.

I also own 2 Collings and a Santa Cruz, but I gotta say the 2 bourgeois get all the play time

The only thing that gives them a run for their money is my recently acquired Marklund D28… if you’ve never heard of Per Marklund check him out, incredible one man builder in the north of Sweden

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