NGD - Bourgeois Aged Tone D

stickyfiddle

Those that have been following my various acoustic shenanigans over the last couple of years will know I’m generally a dreadnought fan, and my benchmark has always been an old late 40’s D18 I played briefly about 20 year ago. 

Following a first taste in September last year, I realised the best way to get close to that sort of vibe and quality was very likely something handmade and American. With that in mind, I managed to stumble across this in Charleston SC a couple of weeks ago while on holiday and genuinely not expecting to buy a guitar. 

It’s an Aged Tone D by Bourgeois, about 10 years old, and utterly fabulous. Adirondack top and mahogany back/sides and vibey as hell. I basically loved it the moment I picked it up, but spent a couple of days thinking before I jumped in because 1) logistics were a pain as we were mid-road-trip, and 2) while very keenly priced, it was quite a bit of money… 

But man it’s good… it knocks spots off my generally-excellent HD28 and absolutely sings with a pick. It currently has the typical high action you often seem to find on bluegrass-leaning instruments, so I’ll defiantly be lowering it a tiny bit once it’s settled in this climate, but otherwise it’s perfect as-is. Now I need to find myself some bluegrass to learn!

malcolmkindness

That looks beautiful, congratulations. 

VimFuego

outstanding, you must be building up a nice acoustic collection by now!

Cig35

Happy NGD, looks gorgeous!

mgaw

Look at the Adirondack top, that is some amazing looking wood

stickyfiddle

Cheers chaps; it's rather fantastic, ya? What was also nice was trying another Martin custom shop dread that the shop had on consignment. That one was nice enough but this knocked it into a cocked hat, which is always nice  

Mellish

That looks very very nice mate. You must be well chuffed  

stickyfiddle

Mellish said:

That looks very very nice mate. You must be well chuffed  

Yeah, muchly!

earwighoney

Beautiful guitar.  A good spruce and mahogany guitar is difficult to beat. 

If/when you restring, can you take a picture of the bolt on neck joints?  They are a marvel of construction in acoustic guitars, but unless you are looking for it, it's easy to miss!

stickyfiddle

earwighoney said:

Beautiful guitar.  A good spruce and mahogany guitar is difficult to beat. 

If/when you restring, can you take a picture of the bolt on neck joints?  They are a marvel of construction in acoustic guitars, but unless you are looking for it, it's easy to miss!

Yeah it's on my list to have. proper look when the strings are off. I can see the lower bolt as it is, but iirc there is another closer to the top as well?

earwighoney

stickyfiddle said:

earwighoney said:

Beautiful guitar.  A good spruce and mahogany guitar is difficult to beat. 

If/when you restring, can you take a picture of the bolt on neck joints?  They are a marvel of construction in acoustic guitars, but unless you are looking for it, it's easy to miss!

Yeah it's on my list to have. proper look when the strings are off. I can see the lower bolt as it is, but iirc there is another closer to the top as well?

Yeah, there is one below the fretboard.

So if you the guitar ever needs a reset, a couple of bolts to undo and put in a shim.  That's it! 

Dave_Mc

Wow that's lovely 

Nice seat, too 

Tannin

Oh yes. This is looking like the real deal. A classic recipe and it looks fantastic. Love that top!

stickyfiddle

Dave_Mc said:

Wow that's lovely 

Nice seat, too 

Haha! The chair is a repro - I'm not paying "fancy-guitar money" for a chair!!  

Dave_Mc

stickyfiddle said:

Dave_Mc said:

Wow that's lovely 

Nice seat, too 

Haha! The chair is a repro - I'm not paying "fancy-guitar money" for a chair!!  

 

It's very nice whatever it is   

stickyfiddle

VimFuego said:

outstanding, you must be building up a nice acoustic collection by now!

Yeah, I'm hesitant to call it a collection, as I don't want to approach anything with a "collector" mindset. My aim is simply to pick up a couple of really great instruments and enjoy them

But on the other hand, I can't help thinking another Dove or SJ-180 (or perhaps Atkin versions of the above) would be a lovely addition at the hifi/strummy end of things... 

DavidR

That's very nice. Shame FB doesn't have the facility to give sound samples. Would love to hear tone. Well done. :-)

stickyfiddle

DavidR said:

That's very nice. Shame FB doesn't have the facility to give sound samples. Would love to hear tone. Well done. :-)

We can do soundcloud easily enough. And I do have a mic & interface waiting for me to learn to use... 

CloudNine

Yep, that will do it!  Congrats.