NGD Finally found the one

Smellyfingers · November 2022

I did what I should have don

e in the beginning of my ‘tone’ hunt and went to a big guitar shop - GG in Epsom, to try out a lot of acoustics side by side:

One of highlights for me was the Alvarez Artist at I think £329 new. This sounded really warm and with a wide string spacing was ridicously easy to play, it also had some lovely bling. Given all this, I found it suspiciously cheap and moved on ( I am an idiot btw).

Next while I was looking around, the sales person offered me I think a laminate Martin at £650 new. It looked and felt really nice, but I found it sounded really thin and clangy. Actually a much cheaper Sigma sounded better.

Next a Yamaha at £599, this had some lovely adornments reminiscent of a vintage Gibson, but it sounded just awful.

In the end, I felt after all the trouble I had caused I had to buy something,and halfheartdley opted for the Sigma, it sounded Ok and with electrics was quite good value at £430.

Then whilst they inspecting my trade I spotted the below tucked away in a corner.

A barely used Furch Blue Cedar and mahogany dread at £700. Tonally it just blew the others away, including a similarly priced solid wood Eastman. The Furch manages to sound warm, rich and throated.

My advice when going to guitar stores, and not being sure what you want, is to try and be nice, but inwardly sceptical about any guitar the sales people actively offer you, they are likely to be the ones with the most profit for the shop. Also not to be afraid to walk away if you can’ t find something that you can happily live with.

But above all persist in trying as many as possible, even if you think you’ve already found the ‘one’. So maybe try not to go at the weekend when they will be busier.

Here’s a pic of my new preowned Furch.

https://imgur.com/a/4HIHuSP

lovestrat74 · November 2022

No pic for me but an enjoyable read nonetheless

Tannin · November 2022

Furch
All solid
Cedar
Mahogany
£700

That's five ticks out of five. Good one!

BillDL · November 2022

Smellyfingers said:

Here’s a pic of my new preowned Furch.

<no visible trace of the guitar here>

Seems to have disappeared, and Hermes aren't even involved this time.

DavidR · November 2022

Furch Blue D CM Acoustic Guitar – Richards Guitars Of Stratford Upon Avon (rguitars.co.uk)

Like this one??

Smellyfingers · November 2022

BillDL said:

Smellyfingers said:

Here’s a pic of my new preowned Furch.

<no visible trace of the guitar here>

Seems to have disappeared, and Hermes aren't even involved this time.

Lol that's worthy of Vic reeves, photo now attached.

BillDL · November 2022

That's a nice tight grained cedar top. Fine looking guitar.

Soupman · November 2022

@Smellyfingers I've said before that I like Furch guitars. Looks like you got a bargain. But come on, ONE photo?? MORE please!

bertie · November 2022

lovestrat74 said:

No pic for me but an enjoyable read nonetheless

nor me - link just goes to a big black page

Kittyfrisk · November 2022

Link worked for me.
Downloaded the image to Imgur and...

Smellyfingers · November 2022

BillDL said:

That's a nice tight grained cedar top. Fine looking guitar.

Thanks. I was looking for something more flash, but Alvarez aside, there seemed to be an inverse relationship between the quality of a guitars bling and the quality of it’s sound.

Possibly they use eye catching paint jobs and other adornments to hide the underlying quality of the wood,

bertie · November 2022

cedar on hog is a fine combination

Shadow · November 2022

I recently picked up the Blue CM OM. With the depth of sound on that, I can't imagine how rich and full the dread must sound!

sev112 · November 2022

I played one of those Akvarez’s a yea4 back and was pleasantly surprised; it beat a PRS and Martin that was twice as expensive in playability, tone and volume.

Mellish · November 2022

@Smellyfingers ; looks very nice mate.

Finding "the one" can be a very long journey and take years, so well done.

ICBM · November 2022

Now *that* is a result

.

goldtop · November 2022

Good to read about this - I presume Furchs are all still made in Europe? And not China?

I'd been eying the Eastman 00 and feel increasingly unhappy about buying Chinese, so Furch could be an option. Wonder if they do a 12-fret 00 style?

Dave_Mc · November 2022

Excellent result- I remember trying a Furch (the equivalent of the Blue series at the time) against one of the new (at the time) all-solid Fender Paramounts (which was a similar price) and the Furch absolutely smoked it. Bit like what you're describing.

goldtop said:

Good to read about this - I presume Furchs are all still made in Europe? And not China?

I think so, but you'd better check to be sure. Dowina would be another option (made in Slovakia).

BigPaulie · November 2022

Furch are made in the Czech Republic.

Excellent value for money and beautiful guitars.

The one in the OP is a stunner fo' sho!

Dowina are Slovak and are also stunning.

BigPaulie · November 2022

goldtop said:

Good to read about this - I presume Furchs are all still made in Europe? And not China?

I'd been eying the Eastman 00 and feel increasingly unhappy about buying Chinese, so Furch could be an option. Wonder if they do a 12-fret 00 style?

Careful now.

If you express any reservations about Eastman or Chinese manufacture round here you will be descended upon by rabid owners whose reaction will have you convinced you just questioned their mothers' fidelity.

Tannin · November 2022

A list of all the ones I know about:

* Furch (Czecho)
* Dowina (Slovakia)
* Lakewood (Germany)
* Lowden (NI)
* Kremona (Bulgaria)
* Various smaller-scale EU and UK makers possibly more sensibly regarded as "luthiers" rather than "manufacturers", e.g., Atkin, Brook, Stoll, Cuntz, Avalon. None of those try to be cheap, just good.

There are lots of Spanish makers still, but pretty much exclusively classical and flamenco I believe.

So far as I can tell, neither the French nor the Italians manufacture anything anymore, just badge-engineer stuff out of China.

richman6100 · November 2022

Great result @Smellyfingers. As a Furch owner myself, I agree, they are very fine guitars. Glad you found just what you wanted and at a great price. HNGD. :-)

Smellyfingers · November 2022

goldtop said:

Good to read about this - I presume Furchs are all still made in Europe? And not China?

I'd been eying the Eastman 00 and feel increasingly unhappy about buying Chinese, so Furch could be an option. Wonder if they do a 12-fret 00 style?

Not sure but they’ve got a very comprehensive website in which you can input the exact specs and see what comes up.

I think a solid wood Eastman will be significantly cheaper than a similarly specced new Furch. I personally found the Eastman tone to be quite bland, but obviously the only way to properly compare is to try them side by side.

goldtop · November 2022

BigPaulie said:

goldtop said:

Good to read about this - I presume Furchs are all still made in Europe? And not China?

I'd been eying the Eastman 00 and feel increasingly unhappy about buying Chinese, so Furch could be an option. Wonder if they do a 12-fret 00 style?

Careful now.

If you express any reservations about Eastman or Chinese manufacture round here you will be descended upon by rabid owners whose reaction will have you convinced you just questioned their mothers' fidelity.

I have no real doubts about the quality of woods nor manufacturing. It's purely ideological.

Tannin · November 2022

It's not ideology, it's ethics. Labour and safety standards aside, Chinese manufacturers use more illegally logged pirate timber than all other countries combined. (This is according to Interpol. Obviously most of that wanton environmental genocide is down to other products like furniture, but guitar manufacture plays its part.)

Until China cleans up its act and starts acting like a responsible, grown-up country, I flat refuse to buy Chinese-made timber products* and do my best to avoid other Chinese products too. Indonesia is tarred with the same brush.

* Exception. I recently bought a cheap Yamaha made in China (or possibly Indonesia, there is some confusion). Yamaha go to considerable trouble to use sustainable timbers and document that. So I don't mind buying Yamaha. Some other Chinese-made guitars claim to use responsible sourcing, but provide no evidence. There is no reason at present to treat such claims as anything other than greenwashing. To be sure, we cannot be 100% certain about the provenance of any guitar made in any country, there is always some risk. Chinese-made products, however, are in the red alert high risk category.

thomasross20 · November 2022

Tannin said:

Furch
All solid
Cedar
Mahogany
£700

That's five ticks out of five. Good one!

Agreed and nice one, OP!!

Basher · November 2022

The story I heard is that there was a thriving bluegrass scene in Czechoslovakia and the inability to source American instruments meant that they ended up making their own banjos, guitars and mandolins.

I've got a Furch-made (Stanford badged) OM and a Lebeda F5 mandolin - both from the Czech Republic and both great instruments. Your dread looks fantastic and I'm sure you'll love it. Enjoy.

usedtobe · November 2022

Congratulations! I love my Furch!

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NGD Finally found the one

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