Furch's (Stonebridge) new lineup

[pieterh]

Originally Posted by Johan Madsen

Thank you Pender that's kind of you , though just like Pieterh I am pretty much leaning toward OM shape rather, feel free to PM the link though, I'll be happy to take a look at it! By the way congratulations for your new Martin 00018, I'll be happy to hear more about your impressions!

I hope you find one you love! Mine is just amazing!

[Pender]

Comparing the current models with their equivalents in the older series there's an increment of 300 Eur!
For a cedar/rosewood combo there's no big difference between Furch and Lowden in terms of price, for example. Am I wrong?
I would go for the Lowden!

[Sardara]

And what happened to their "aged spruce tops"?

[pieterh]

Originally Posted by Sardara

And what happened to their "aged spruce tops"?

It doesn’t appear as an option on the website and it isn’t mentioned anywhere under tonewoods or “our story”.

Furch used to make a decent line of lovely archtops as well as mandolins too, though those disappeared from the line a while ago. Again, I guess it comes down to what sells: if Furch didn’t manage to make a name for themselves as a quality archtop maker then those guitars wouldn’t sell in large enough numbers to be viable for a medium sized manufacturer. I imagine it is the same with the artificially aged tops - I get the impression that for some the jury is still out on whether artificially aged tops is the way to go. For a smaller manufacturer it probably makes sense to focus on what they do best and what the majority of their customers want.

[pbla4024]

Originally Posted by pieterh

Furch used to make a decent line of lovely archtops as well as mandolins too, though those disappeared from the line a while ago.

From what I've heard, mandolins sold well, but it was too disruptive for production. They had to close guitar production line, switch to mandolins and do it again one month later to switch back to guitars.

[pieterh]

I did not know that. Just goes to prove that a smaller outfit needs to focus on what it does/sells best. Maybe now that they have expanded (a little) they can have parallel manufacturing but it may be too late seeing as they have not been a presence in that market for a while.

Ironically it was mandolins (and banjos) that Frantisek Furch started making due to his interest in Bluegrass etc (iirc).

[Standicz]

There could be another reason than poor sales for taking the vintage series out of the spotlight. The vintage series is for guys who like classic looking guitar. But maybe Furch thinks it makes them look like a cheaper, eastern europe made Martin copy, while the message they want to spread is "we are an original, respectable brand, we make stunning guitars as good as anybody else, and better. Look, we even put carbon fibre in all our necks." So they want to distinguish their design, rather than blend in with classical looks.

However the vintage series has its customers and they don't want to loose them.

[pieterh]

Originally Posted by Standicz

There could be another reason than poor sales for taking the vintage series out of the spotlight. The vintage series is for guys who like classic looking guitar. But maybe Furch thinks it makes them look like a cheaper, eastern europe made Martin copy, while the message they want to spread is "we are an original, respectable brand, we make stunning guitars as good as anybody else, and better. Look, we even put carbon fibre in all our necks." So they want to distinguish their design, rather than blend in with classical looks.



However the vintage series has its customers and they don't want to loose them.

I hope they don’t lose them!

As I’ve stated earlier, we have two Furch guitars in the family, one Millenium and one Vintage. Both are excellent guitars of course and I don’t see my OM34sr as a cheap(er) copy of a Martin (not that you were saying it is as such). Nor is my wife’s OM23SF a copy of a Taylor 600-series though they have much in common too.

I think the reality is that manufacturers find certain designs and features that work, are wanted by guitarists and fit their company profile or philosophy and then run with them.

In Europe of course Furch are relatively reasonably priced when compared to US made equivalents. What is heartening is that from what I can tell they are bought and appreciated for their own sake rather than because the owner can’t afford the equivalent Martin. That was certainly the motivation for me when I got the chance to buy mine used but in mint condition. I have a friend of mine who lives in New Hampshire who plays a Santa Cruz who tried my Furch while visiting last spring. He fell in love with the guitar and started talking about getting one in the States...

I’m not sure what my point was going to be here...

[ChalkLitIScream]

I've checked around the new Furch website and looked at the colour models.

The 23 series has always caught my eye. I like a little bling on mine with the abalone rosette and inlays. However, the 24 series are just absolutely classy. Very simple but very elegant.

But Now I don't see any sort of bling throughout the line.
I'm ok with no abalone purfling, but I feel every brand should at least have abalone rosette and semi-fancy inlays. Just my take

[Vyse Hazuky]

I only realised it now, but I have been looking at Furch for about 10 years only for one reason or another always opted on other guitars. The price increase, while expected, might be a little too ambitious. They're getting into the price range of some competitors (the lower end models of the big 3 irish builders, who employ a less industrial approach to guitar building than Furch and would also cater to a modern fingerstyle player) and, since the beginning, that was their greatest appeal: fantastic quality to price ratio. As the price increases, let's see if the quality increases further but, especially on the exotic woods models, there wasn't the perception (soundwise) of a big gap from the standard wood models.

It is disheartening to see the old vintage line take such a hit but there are two interesting new models coming out of this shakeup that I'm very interested to play:

- apparently, the OOM has finally come over to the the "modern style" models, with cedar tops and walnut backs possible, which they never had in the vintage line. Unfortunately these will only be available from the Yellow line and up.

- an OM-sized 12 string guitar is also available now, in what must be in direct competition with Lakewood's M-sized 12 strings. These are thankfully available right from the blue line, which will mean an affordable great small body 12 string. Still more expensive than the mexican offerings from Taylor or Martin but a great value and all solid woods.

Neither Thomann nor Stageshop have these models up yet but I can't wait to check them out.