NGD Furch Blue OM-CM

Shadow · August 2022

Following up on my road trip post, the guitar has arrived. Well it actually arrived on Thursday but we didn't get home from holiday until yesterday. Setup very nicely by Richards Guitars. After being so impressed with the tone when I tried it, I was worried that it wouldn't sound as good, but no need to worry, it sounds lovely. Nice deep bass that you can feel through your body and the highs are not too bright with good balance across the strings. I've found the mids can be a bit soft with my fingerstyle with sitka/rosewood but not the case here. And it's loud, surprisingly so for the body size. It's smaller in all dimensions than my Eastman E8OM-TC and Larrivee OM-03R (which has sold on eBay) so the depth of tone and volume are impressive.

No gigbag or case at this price point and the Furch options are very expensive, 316 euros for a hard case and 100 for a gigbag so I'm in the lookout for something a little cheaper.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/GsceJqdjG3b7Jr3e7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SjN7zPH4n79YyayC6

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Vp6ruUcJCeRTXfNy7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9uuMEPcRMjvhqXJGA

TheMadMick · August 2022

I think you'll find that top is cedar and the CM means Cedar and Mahogany.

Lovely combination, ideal for fingerstyle.

Soupman · August 2022

Cracking guitar Grommit!
I like Furch. They are definitely value for money. Great looking guitar, enjoy,!

Shadow · August 2022

TheMadMick said:

I think you'll find that top is cedar and the CM means Cedar and Mahogany.

Lovely combination, ideal for fingerstyle.

Sorry, badly phrased. I meant that the mids are a bit soft on my Eastman E8OM-TC sitka/rosewood.

Shadow · August 2022

Soupman said:

Cracking guitar Grommit!
I like Furch. They are definitely value for money. Great looking guitar, enjoy,!

Thanks Soupman. Like everyone I'd heard a lot of good things about Furch but I was prepared for it to have been overhyped. Not the case!

Mellish · August 2022

Looks nice mate.

Glad you're happy with it

DavidR · August 2022

That looks nice. And probably sounds nice too. Should be great for fingerpicking. Congrats Shadow.

Yeh, that is an expensive case. 316 euros is £268 at todays rate. Hiscox OM case £172
Hiscox PRO-II-OM 000/OM Acoustic Hard Case, Black/Silver (gak.co.uk)

And again, and without labouring the point, which I am, and I know they're not identical, but is a e.g. Martin OM 28 Modern Deluxe at £4,499 really going to be that much better (almost exactly 5 times better by price to be neurotically precise), or more fun to own and play than this beautiful guitar, or a similar mid-range price OM??.

Expensive American guitars, who needs them!

:-)

Tannin · August 2022

@Shadow, that really looks the goods. Cedar and khaya perhaps? I've really warmed to cedar-top guitars lately. Don't laugh at me, but I've started to think that cedar tops want to help me sound good.

Sitka Spruce says "Play me just right and I'll sound great for you." Red Spruce (aka "Adirondack") says "I can sound fantastic, but if you make one tiny mistake I'm going to crucify you!" And cedar says "Just play well enough to show me what you want to hear and leave the rest to me."

Just so @DavidR I put an OM-28 (a standard) on my short list when I was buying my winter 2020 guitar. It was a very fine instrument and I'd have been happy to own it, But all things considered, it wasn't the best of the half-dozen I seriously considered, or even the third best. I've forgotten the exact prices now, but as I recall it was a couple of hundred dollars more than the one I ended deciding was the best of the lot (a Maton 808 Messiah), and quite a lot more than my 2nd and 3rd-best choices (another Maton and a Taylor).

I'd have loved to have had the opportunity to throw a Furch into the mix, but there were none in Tasmania back then and even in Melbourne they were rare and very expensive. I assume that Furch have a new Oz importer/distributor now as not only have they become readily available (including at the same local shop I tried the OM-28 and the Matons in) but the prices are far more reasonable than they were.

The point here is that, pound for pound and like for like, the OM-28 was a bit overpriced. Not outrageous, but certainly a bit dear. 20% over fair value, let's say. Now fast forward to Winter 2022. Yep: everything has gone up: a Messiah is $4000 instead of $3500, a Taylor 314 is $3100 instead of $2800, a Maton TE is $2800 instead of $2500 .... and instead of $3800 (£2200) or so, a Martin OM-28 is $5500! (£3200.)

That's just insane. Utterly effing ridiculous. Matons: up 12% and 14%. Taylor: up 11%. Martin (20% overpriced to start with) ... up 45% in two years.

Meanwhile, Furch prices have come down! (Admittedly, that's not across the board, it's just in this particular market where they used to have a distributor greed problem and have fixed it.)

(PS: One day I will quite likely buy a Martin anyway, not because there is some magic extra quality built into those instruments to justify the crazy prices (there isn't) but simply because at my time of life I don't really care about the money too much anymore. I've gone off their 000 and OM models a bit since I got my Guild 000 and the Mineur (both guitars which scratch that same sort of itch) but there is still room for an HD-28 in my little collection. But for five and a half grand ... well, that's already so close to hand-made single-luthier prices, I might as well go the extra yard.)

Mellish · August 2022

+1 for a Hiscox case.

Not only are they excellent but the company will look after you. When a latch on mine broke, Hiscox arranged collection and delivery, paid all shipping costs and repair was free

bertie · August 2022

the Furch case is a branded Hiscox BTW (or at least mine is)

if you're going to be gigging it / lugging it around then the Hiscox is definitely worth the ££, if its just to protect it "at home" cheaper options are available and just as fit for purpose (Gator for instance)

Dave_Mc · August 2022

Excellent, any Furches I've tried have been great

Snags · August 2022

As @bertie says. the Furch hard case is a Hiscox with a custom lid, so just get a Hiscox. The Furch gig bag is also really nice - I ended up with one purely because it looked to be the best/most useful in the price range I was looking at (mine came with a hard case, but sometimes that's awkward), rather than because it 'matched' the guitar. Lots of genuinely useful pockets, and plenty of padding. Mine came from Thomann, I think, and wasn't that spendy compared to some of the other offerings out there.

Shadow · August 2022

Mellish said:

Looks nice mate.

Glad you're happy with it

Cheers Mellish, very happy!

Shadow · August 2022

DavidR said:

That looks nice. And probably sounds nice too. Should be great for fingerpicking. Congrats Shadow.

Yeh, that is an expensive case. 316 euros is £268 at todays rate. Hiscox OM case £172
Hiscox PRO-II-OM 000/OM Acoustic Hard Case, Black/Silver (gak.co.uk)

And again, and without labouring the point, which I am, and I know they're not identical, but is a e.g. Martin OM 28 Modern Deluxe at £4,499 really going to be that much better (almost exactly 5 times better by price to be neurotically precise), or more fun to own and play than this beautiful guitar, or a similar mid-range price OM??.

Expensive American guitars, who needs them!

:-)

Thanks David. I think I've proved myself incapable of appreciating an expensive guitar by not being bowled over by the couple of Lowdens I've tried!

Shadow · August 2022

Tannin said:

@Shadow, that really looks the goods. Cedar and khaya perhaps? I've really warmed to cedar-top guitars lately. Don't laugh at me, but I've started to think that cedar tops want to help me sound good.

Sitka Spruce says "Play me just right and I'll sound great for you." Red Spruce (aka "Adirondack") says "I can sound fantastic, but if you make one tiny mistake I'm going to crucify you!" And cedar says "Just play well enough to show me what you want to hear and leave the rest to me."

Just so @DavidR I put an OM-28 (a standard) on my short list when I was buying my winter 2020 guitar. It was a very fine instrument and I'd have been happy to own it, But all things considered, it wasn't the best of the half-dozen I seriously considered, or even the third best. I've forgotten the exact prices now, but as I recall it was a couple of hundred dollars more than the one I ended deciding was the best of the lot (a Maton 808 Messiah), and quite a lot more than my 2nd and 3rd-best choices (another Maton and a Taylor).

I'd have loved to have had the opportunity to throw a Furch into the mix, but there were none in Tasmania back then and even in Melbourne they were rare and very expensive. I assume that Furch have a new Oz importer/distributor now as not only have they become readily available (including at the same local shop I tried the OM-28 and the Matons in) but the prices are far more reasonable than they were.

The point here is that, pound for pound and like for like, the OM-28 was a bit overpriced. Not outrageous, but certainly a bit dear. 20% over fair value, let's say. Now fast forward to Winter 2022. Yep: everything has gone up: a Messiah is $4000 instead of $3500, a Taylor 314 is $3100 instead of $2800, a Maton TE is $2800 instead of $2500 .... and instead of $3800 (£2200) or so, a Martin OM-28 is $5500! (£3200.)

That's just insane. Utterly effing ridiculous. Matons: up 12% and 14%. Taylor: up 11%. Martin (20% overpriced to start with) ... up 45% in two years.

Meanwhile, Furch prices have come down! (Admittedly, that's not across the board, it's just in this particular market where they used to have a distributor greed problem and have fixed it.)

(PS: One day I will quite likely buy a Martin anyway, not because there is some magic extra quality built into those instruments to justify the crazy prices (there isn't) but simply because at my time of life I don't really care about the money too much anymore. I've gone off their 000 and OM models a bit since I got my Guild 000 and the Mineur (both guitars which scratch that same sort of itch) but there is still room for an HD-28 in my little collection. But for five and a half grand ... well, that's already so close to hand-made single-luthier prices, I might as well go the extra yard.)

Thanks Tannin. Yes, cedar/khaya. I'm certainly finding I sound better (to me!) with this guitar. With sitka/rosewood I seem to have to work harder to get a balanced sound. Pricewise it's a bonus that mine is Furch's cheapest solid model and I preferred it to the more expensive Blue options.

While a part of me would love an expensive guitar, I think a bigger part would feel I could get equal quality for a lot less money.

Shadow · August 2022

bertie said:

the Furch case is a branded Hiscox BTW (or at least mine is)

if you're going to be gigging it / lugging it around then the Hiscox is definitely worth the ££, if its just to protect it "at home" cheaper options are available and just as fit for purpose (Gator for instance)

I don't gig so the Hiscox, certainly the Furch option seems over the top at that price. I was thinking the Gator might be a good option (thanks for the suggestion) when I got a reply to my email to Hiscox offering me one of their £177 OM cases with a minor cosmetic issue for £100 so I'm all over that!

Shadow · August 2022

Snags said:

As @bertie says. the Furch hard case is a Hiscox with a custom lid, so just get a Hiscox. The Furch gig bag is also really nice - I ended up with one purely because it looked to be the best/most useful in the price range I was looking at (mine came with a hard case, but sometimes that's awkward), rather than because it 'matched' the guitar. Lots of genuinely useful pockets, and plenty of padding. Mine came from Thomann, I think, and wasn't that spendy compared to some of the other offerings out there.

I'd certainly look at the gigbag if I decided I needed one. Surprisingly my Furch fits nicely into the gigbag for my Martin OO-X2E so I've got some interim protection.

Dave_Mc · August 2022

Shadow said:

Pricewise it's a bonus that mine is Furch's cheapest solid model and I preferred it to the more expensive Blue options.

I think Furch has recently upgraded the violet series to all-solid (and done away with the Indigo series, so I think everything they make now is all-solid). That being said, it's very recent (last few months), so some shop stock of Violets will (presumably) still be the laminate back and sides version. Also the pricing can be a bit fluid, I've seen some of the new Violets no cheaper than some of the Blue models! I guess the big advantage (having not tried any Violets, neither the older laminate or new all-solid versions) is that you now have a cheaper option of a sitka spruce top with african mahogany/khaya back and sides- you didn't have that before. The Blues series was (and still is!) either cedar/khaya or spruce/walnut. You had to go up to the much more expensive Green series to get those wood options previously.

Shadow · August 2022

Dave_Mc said:

Shadow said:

Pricewise it's a bonus that mine is Furch's cheapest solid model and I preferred it to the more expensive Blue options.

I think Furch has recently upgraded the violet series to all-solid (and done away with the Indigo series, so I think everything they make now is all-solid). That being said, it's very recent (last few months), so some shop stock of Violets will (presumably) still be the laminate back and sides version. Also the pricing can be a bit fluid, I've seen some of the new Violets no cheaper than some of the Blue models! I guess the big advantage (having not tried any Violets, neither the older laminate or new all-solid versions) is that you now have a cheaper option of a sitka spruce top with african mahogany/khaya back and sides- you didn't have that before. The Blues series was (and still is!) either cedar/khaya or spruce/walnut. You had to go up to the much more expensive Green series to get those wood options previously.

I didn't realise that. Makes sense to have the classic sitka/mahogany combo at a cheaper price point. The Blue series also has an all mahogany version, not sure if that's new too.

Dave_Mc · August 2022

Shadow said:
I didn't realise that. Makes sense to have the classic sitka/mahogany combo at a cheaper price point. The Blue series also has an all mahogany version, not sure if that's new too.

I haven't been paying that close attention, but I think the all-mahogany ones are a bit older than the new all-solid violets (which seemed to happen earlier this year, maybe May I think? Don't quote me on that!). But in the grand scheme of things, I think the all-mahogany ones would qualify as fairly new, too. I originally was looking at Furches maybe 3-4 years ago when my sister was getting an acoustic, and the all-mahogany ones didn't exist then. Then more recently I was looking at acoustics myself (probably late last year/early this year) and suddenly there they were!

I mean, it's great there's the option now of spruce/mahogany (and also all-mahogany) at the cheaper price point. I guess they previously tried to differentiate by making you pay more for "fancier" woods, but the problem is that some people can't (or won't!) pay the higher prices, so you have to decide whether you'd rather lose some sales of the more expensive models, or lose some sales of the cheaper ones. (Granted, they've also raised their prices recently, so maybe that's something to do with it, too- they may feel that the more expensive ones are genuinely out of reach of some people so they'd just be losing sales of the cheaper ones for nothing.)

I mainly play electric, so (unless I win the lottery, which is fairly unlikely since I don't play it) I'm probably not going to pay £2000 for an acoustic (especially one where that brand's £800 models are so good!). I recently bought a Dowina which is cedar/khaya- similar idea to Furch (in fact I think way back the Dowina main guy worked with Furch), in that they're killer guitars at a really great price- but that means I probably don't want a cedar/mahogany Furch now. I love the look of walnut but I'm not 100% sure I like its tone, and previously that was the only other option in the Blue series. I'm also probably not going to pay £1500 for a spruce/khaya Furch either. I mean- I'll probably not pay £800 for one of the Violets either as I have too many guitars, but it's a lot more likely than £1500!

bertie · August 2022

I was impressed with the specs when they first got mentioned on here a while back, but IIRC I don't think Dowina do a "vintage" model/look ?

Shadow · August 2022

Dave_Mc said:

I recently bought a Dowina which is cedar/khaya- similar idea to Furch (in fact I think way back the Dowina main guy worked with Furch), in that they're killer guitars at a really great price- but that means I probably don't want a cedar/mahogany Furch now. I love the look of walnut but I'm not 100% sure I like its tone, and previously that was the only other option in the Blue series. I'm also probably not going to pay £1500 for a spruce/khaya Furch either. I mean- I'll probably not pay £800 for one of the Violets either as I have too many guitars, but it's a lot more likely than £1500!

I bought a cedar/walnut Dowina unseen during one of the lockdowns, and while the quality of the guitar was undeniable the tone wasn't what I was looking for.

bertie said:

I was impressed with the specs when they first got mentioned on here a while back, but IIRC I don't think Dowina do a "vintage" model/look ?

They do a Vintage series but not a vintage look as far as I know.

Shadow · August 2022

The Hiscox case has arrived and it's actually Furch branded which is a bonus. I've had a good look at it and can only find two barely visible marks in the plastic on the underside. It's the tightest fitting care I've ever had but I expect the padding will give slightly with use. So a near as damn it brand new Furch branded Hiscox for around £160 less than Furch would have charged, thank you Colin at Hiscox!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9qtcssiVNfNKDfzL7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RAC5PTd9KtM7bZhe9

Mellish · August 2022

@Shadow ; Yes, the padding will get less tight with wear, though don't force your guitar in. You shouldn't have to do that

Shadow · August 2022

Mellish said:

@Shadow ; Yes, the padding will get less tight with wear, though don't force your guitar in. You shouldn't have to do that

It almost came to that but it's already eased slightly.

bertie · August 2022

Mellish said:

@Shadow ; Yes, the padding will get less tight with wear, though don't force your guitar in. You shouldn't have to do that

true, but "snug" is better than "floppy"

Tannin · August 2022

Are we still talking about guitar cases?

Mellish · August 2022

@Shadow ; are you controlling RH?

Maybe that could be behind the overtight fit?

Shadow · August 2022

Mellish said:

@Shadow ; are you controlling RH?

Maybe that could be behind the overtight fit?

Not normally a problem here, though it has occasionally dropped slightly below 40% briefly here recently. Currently at 53% in the room where the guitar is kept.

Mellish · August 2022

53% is fine. Lower doesn't cause swelling which is what I was getting at. Lower causes shrinking. But don't aim for that so your guitar fits better in its case. Target 45-55%

Shadow · August 2022

So I shouldn't put the guitar in the airing cupboard for a couple of days so it fits better in the case?

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NGD Furch Blue OM-CM

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