Afrigather Bourgeois Guitars has a status for making a number of the highest high quality devices available on the market. The boutique firm handcrafts roughly 500 guitars a yr, retailing for a median of round $7,500 every. That’s why gamers shall be excited to study in regards to the new Bourgeois Touchstone collection, made up of two fashions—a dreadnought and an OM—which are priced at lower than half that quantity. 5 further fashions shall be launched in 2023, and finally there shall be a full line.
The Touchstone collection is the results of a collaboration between Bourgeois and Eastman Music that started within the fall of 2019, when the 2 corporations determined to create some new fashions collectively, with every collaborating within the constructing course of. The guitars’ tops are constructed and voiced on the Bourgeois workshop in Lewiston, Maine, then despatched to Eastman’s manufacturing unit in China, the place luthiers full the devices to Bourgeois’ specs. The completed guitars are then despatched again to Bourgeois and arrange alongside the corporate’s common manufacturing fashions.
Having checked out a Touchstone OM Classic/TS, I can say that this collaborative course of has resulted in a wonderful tradition-inspired guitar with a comparatively reasonably priced value.
Classic-Impressed Specs
The Touchstone OM Classic/TS ideas its hat to the prototypical orchestra mannequin that C.F. Martin launched in 1929—that firm’s first steel-string with a 14-fret neck joint. The Touchstone’s all-solid building contains an old-growth Alaskan Sitka spruce high with Adirondack spruce bracing, together with Indian rosewood again and sides. The guitar sports activities basic appointments like herringbone purfling, a black-and-white stripe rosette, and ivoroid bridge pins.
Whereas the Touchstone OM has a regular scale size of 25.5 inches, the nut width is 1-23/32 inches, barely narrower than the usual 1.75-inch width. The trendy-feeling neck has a slim profile and a satin end, making it straightforward to grip and slide up and down freely whereas taking part in. The evaluation mannequin got here arrange with medium motion, which I discovered to be very comfy.
As could be anticipated from Bourgeois, the general construct high quality of the Touchstone is superb. The guitar is comparatively light-weight and has nice intonation, and the Schaller GrandTune tuners are clean and responsive. The fretwork is ideal, with no sharp edges alongside the perimeters of the fingerboard, and the physique’s fantastically utilized gloss urethane end contributes to the guitar’s stylish look and high-quality really feel.
Intensive Vary
Like all good OMs, the Touchstone has an excellent stability from string to string, and robust projection; for a smaller-bodied guitar, it has nice quantity, with out being overpowering. The bass response is extra spectacular than that of a number of the dreadnoughts I’ve performed not too long ago, and the low finish helps to provide layers of heat, resonant tones when strummed.
This spectacular responsiveness extends itself previous the low finish and mids to the excessive finish, which rings out amidst the opposite ranges whether or not you’re strumming, flatpicking melodies, or fingerpicking. When strummed, the guitar’s totally different frequencies complement one another fantastically—an impact that was particularly noticeable when taking part in folkish tunes like Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” or the jazzier “Coyote” by Joni Mitchell.
Considered one of my favourite flatpicking riffs is the principle lick from Tommy Emmanuel’s “Flatt Did It,” and once I performed it on the Touchstone, I used to be in a position to produce a strongly voiced melody that projected boldly with out a lot effort. By way of fingerpicking, the decrease strings are bolstered by that very same highly effective low-end voice that’s apparent when strumming. That is notably useful when taking part in songs like Mississippi John Hurt’s “Avalon Blues.”
Currently, I’ve been writing in alternate and open tunings, and the Touchstone OM resonates gorgeously in response to them. I attempted the guitar in drop D, double drop D, DADGAD, and my favourite, C G C F C E. All these tunings sounded simply as wealthy as once I performed the guitar in customary tuning, due to its ebullient overtones, and there was no murkiness once I dropped the underside 4 strings to C, G, C, and F.
The Backside Line
The Bourgeois Touchstone OM Classic/TS, which streets at just below $3,000, is a traditional-style orchestra mannequin that offers gamers entry to a fantastic classic tone with glorious projection and tonal stability. Between its highly effective voice, stylish look, and relative affordability, the Touchstone is a primary selection for any guitarist in search of an OM that may make a robust impression on listeners.
Specs
BODY Alaskan Sitka spruce high; Adirondack spruce bracing; Indian rosewood again and sides; 2.2″ bone saddle; ebony bridge; ivoroid bridge pins; high-gloss urethane end
NECK 14-fret mahogany; ebony fretboard; 25.5″ scale size; 1-23/32″ bone nut; Schaller GrandTune nickel tuners; satin urethane end
OTHER Hardshell case; D’Addario EXP16 Coated Phosphor Bronze Light strings (.012–.053)
PRICE $2,969 avenue
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MADE IN USA and China
This text initially appeared within the March/April 2023 situation of Acoustic Guitar journal.
