Bourgeois Guitars in Lewiston, ME, has announced a new model in their Touchstone line, guitars crafted collaboratively between Dana Bourgeois’ shop in Maine and the Eastman Guitars facility in China. This line of handcrafted instruments has been popular in the market, allowing buyers to obtain guitars designed by Dana Bourgeois, with woods selected, voiced, and braced in Maine, for a much lower price point than the guitars made completely in Lewiston.
The Standard is offered in two body styles, both inspired by Depression-era guitars in the US. One option is a sloped-shoulder dreadnaught body, and the other the Bourgeois L-DBO style, a body size that larger is than the 00 norm, but a bit smaller than the 000/OM spec. Either way, they are made with a torrified Sitka spruce top, meaning that the wood is aged by drying for several years before construction, and mahogany back and sides. The mahogany necks have a 14-fret, 25” scale fingerboard made of Ziricote wood, and a high-gloss, sunburst-shaded top.
Guitar enthusiasts are often confused by the Touchstone series guitars, with questions about how they are made, and how they differ from the rest of the Bourgeois line. We put that question to Alastair Simpson, Sales & Marketing Manager with the company, who explained it thusly.
“We refer to them as co-produced instruments. This only applies to our Touchstone Series. All others are built from start to finish in the USA. For Touchstone Series instruments, we voice the soundboards in Lewiston, Maine, with the same people and tools we use for all Bourgeois guitars. They are then shipped to Eastman Guitars who assemble the guitar, and then return them to us in the USA for final set up prior to sale.”
Either variation of The Standard Touchstone guitar carries a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $3,299, though dealers around the country will set their own selling price.
Moree detailed specs can be found online.
