Bourgeois - holy crap

Andy79

Tombstone is better

camf

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

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

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

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

artiebear

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

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

danishbacon

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

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

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 

earwighoney

BingMan said:

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 

Good to see Per's name mentioned here.

I have one of his guitars, a 00-21S repro.

stickyfiddle

Just as I'd convinced myself my Martin was good enough, I've discovered that in May we're going to be staying with a 15 minute drive of Dream Guitars, who currently have an even prettier Bourgeois and a bunch of other builders I've never even heard of but look spectacular...

https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/instruments/guitars/steel-string-guitars/flattop/shopby/dreadnought.html

bertie

earwighoney said:

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.

this, in buckets QED

stickyfiddle

bertie said:

earwighoney said:

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.

this, in buckets QED

So the answer is to go and play ALL THE GUITARS?  

I don't disagree (at all). I know Lowden stay things don't really work for me. I used to really like Taylors and could still probably gig one quite happily but wouldn't buy one for home. Martins and old small mahogany things seem to be my happy place.

bertie

stickyfiddle said:

So the answer is to go and play ALL THE GUITARS?  

you had to ASK ?

artiebear

stickyfiddle said:

Just as I'd convinced myself my Martin was good enough, I've discovered that in May we're going to be staying with a 15 minute drive of Dream Guitars, who currently have an even prettier Bourgeois and a bunch of other builders I've never even heard of but look spectacular...

https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/instruments/guitars/steel-string-guitars/flattop/shopby/dreadnought.html

Dream Guitars is great. I am very tempted to repatriate that lovely Sobell Model 1 cocobolo they have there, even if Stefan's workshop is only 40 miles up the road from me. 

stickyfiddle

bertie said:

stickyfiddle said:

So the answer is to go and play ALL THE GUITARS?  

you had to ASK ?

Just checking!! 

artiebear said:

stickyfiddle said:

Just as I'd convinced myself my Martin was good enough, I've discovered that in May we're going to be staying with a 15 minute drive of Dream Guitars, who currently have an even prettier Bourgeois and a bunch of other builders I've never even heard of but look spectacular...

https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/instruments/guitars/steel-string-guitars/flattop/shopby/dreadnought.html

Dream Guitars is great. I am very tempted to repatriate that lovely Sobell Model 1 cocobolo they have there, even if Stefan's workshop is only 40 miles up the road from me. 

Have you had any interaction with them before? 

It's these two that have caught my eye..

Braz/Adi Bourgeois:



Madagascar/Adi Circa with a fantastic red shade in the back. 

artiebear

stickyfiddle said:

bertie said:

stickyfiddle said:

So the answer is to go and play ALL THE GUITARS?  

you had to ASK ?

Just checking!! 

artiebear said:

stickyfiddle said:

Just as I'd convinced myself my Martin was good enough, I've discovered that in May we're going to be staying with a 15 minute drive of Dream Guitars, who currently have an even prettier Bourgeois and a bunch of other builders I've never even heard of but look spectacular...

https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/instruments/guitars/steel-string-guitars/flattop/shopby/dreadnought.html

Dream Guitars is great. I am very tempted to repatriate that lovely Sobell Model 1 cocobolo they have there, even if Stefan's workshop is only 40 miles up the road from me. 

Have you had any interaction with them before? 

It's these two that have caught my eye..

Braz/Adi Bourgeois:



Madagascar/Adi Circa with a fantastic red shade in the back. 

Only dealt with them while living in the States, but I would highly recommend their professional approach to any transaction. 

ToneControl

stickyfiddle said:

Just as I'd convinced myself my Martin was good enough, I've discovered that in May we're going to be staying with a 15 minute drive of Dream Guitars, who currently have an even prettier Bourgeois and a bunch of other builders I've never even heard of but look spectacular...

https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/instruments/guitars/steel-string-guitars/flattop/shopby/dreadnought.html

add Goodall guitars to your list

stickyfiddle

ToneControl said:

stickyfiddle said:

Just as I'd convinced myself my Martin was good enough, I've discovered that in May we're going to be staying with a 15 minute drive of Dream Guitars, who currently have an even prettier Bourgeois and a bunch of other builders I've never even heard of but look spectacular...

https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/instruments/guitars/steel-string-guitars/flattop/shopby/dreadnought.html

add Goodall guitars to your list

They look a bit fancy for my liking!