Furch's (Stonebridge) new lineup

[Standicz]

Hey Furch fans, scroll down to the bottom, If you don't want to read the gossips and my little story

I have been wanting a new guitar for a while. The last one I bought two years ago, after 10+ years of playing bass guitar. By then, my acoustic guitar skills deteriorated and so did my knowledge of acoustic guitar manufacturers and all sorts of related stuff (luckily there is this forum). I asked a few friends of mine, and all of them said "I bought a Furch, the best guitar for money, and I tried many." Being Czech I called to Furch factory in Velke Nemcice, and the guy at the other end of the line kindly pointed me to the factory -shop- in Brno, and then he went back to making guitars, I guess while I went to Brno and bought a very nice om22cm there for an incredible price, because it was "laying around for some time."

They closed the shop meanwhile and rumor has it on the czech internet, that it is because people from abroad were buying guitars cheaply there in large quantities, skipping the official distribution abroad and overseas. Others say it is part of a new strategy now that mr. Furch jr. is in charge of the business. Or perhaps it was just not making money..

Anyhow I played my om for last two years, sweat little guitar, I want to make it electro-acoustic when i have the time. Low action, kk accompanied by a mic and everything.. However it was never too loud for unpluged ocassions and you guys know all the other reasons why every guitarist needs the next guitar.
After few painful months of indecisiveness (never wrote that word before) I finaly set my mind on the very classical spruce top dreadnought with indian rosewood back and sides. I searched the world wide web and beyond, played for hours everything in music houses small, average and oversized ones too. Such as that huge one in certain Bavarian village, or is it a music shop with a Bavarian village inside?

Then two weeks ago I was browsing a website of a Hungarian shop that seems to be selling lots of Furchs and I saw brand new Furch lineup with no prices yet and 0 items in store. I googled and found a new furch website on an unofficial address, with that new lineup and higher prices, too.
So I went to Prague on monday and bought a lovely sitka-rosewood dread. Furch prices keep climbing and who knows with these new series. At least that is the argument I told my wife the night before. I feel slightly guilty about that, but hey, what would you do for a new guitar?

The official Furch website was updated yesterday.

The "millenium" sereies and the numbering is gone, now there are color codes, blue to red (and rainbow, too). Some of these have "plus" subseries, that means extra options.
The guy who sold me my new dread said Furch (jr. I suppose) told him he does not want people to feel they have the inferior guitar by designating them with ascending numbers.
The "vintage" series (of which is my new dread) were moved to the botom left corner of the website and scaled down considerably. There is simply vintage 1 2 and 3. No inferiority complex for vintage series owners, I guess.

So that's that, it seems to me. Some eye candy changes (and a little bit more variety), some series shuffling, hippy color codes and the prices went up a little bit.

What do you think?

[merlin666]

Originally Posted by Standicz

They closed the shop meanwhile and rumor has it on the czech internet, that it is because people from abroad were buying guitars cheaply there in large quantities, skipping the official distribution abroad and overseas.

That is certainly very bad news and this is the first time I have heard it. I travel to Europe once or twice a year and thought about driving to the Furch store and picking up a nice guitar on one of my upcoming trips. Really sucks for sure.

[TBman]

I was hoping to buy a G23CR-C (or M) this summer. Hopefully I'll be able to, otherwise it'll be Taylor time.

[pbla4024]

Originally Posted by merlin666

That is certainly very bad news and this is the first time I have heard it. I travel to Europe once or twice a year and thought about driving to the Furch store and picking up a nice guitar on one of my upcoming trips. Really sucks for sure.

The shop in Brno was moved to address Lidická 28, now it is a part of bigger 'normal' guitar shop. Web address is kytary.cz

[Mbroady]

I’m curious to see how the labeling changes here in the states.

According to the Folks at Furch in the USA the vintage line is being scaled down and they will be focusing more on the Millennium series.

When I was last in Brno I hopped on a bus and went to visit the factory in Velké Němčice, and had a tour. Then I went back to Brno to visit the shop. It was a great big "Kid in a Candy Store" experience. They had a copy of just about every guitar that was being made as well as some custom guitars. And yes, The prices were fantastic. Too bad the shop is closing.

[Standicz]

Originally Posted by pbla4024

The shop in Brno was moved to address Lidická 28, now it is a part of bigger 'normal' guitar shop. Web address is kytary.cz

Haven't been there personally, but on the website they don't have the whole range. Maybe it is because of the series restart? One way or the other, I went to Huml music in Prague. I'd say it is very similar to the old Brno Furch shop

[Shadowfox]

So they use Roy g biv to label red being highest and violet being lowest. And rainbow being custom? Lol

[TBman]

Anyone have the 1.77 nut width? I wonder if I'll like that. I'm more of a 1.72 to 1.75 guy. I'm not too crazy about my 1.8 nut that I have on one of my guitars.

So now I'm looking at a Yellow plus GA with cutaway, 1.77 nut (45 mm). I like the koa binding. I'm a sucker for wood binding and no binding on the fretboard....

[Fresh1985]

If it aint broke dont fix it comes to mind! The new colour coding system sounds weird too me and if they really are scaling down the vinage series then that is terrible news.

Be interesting to see how this develops and furch' reasons for making these changes.

[Fresh1985]

I believe this is the site you found, vintage series will be just 3 styles as you said, all with EIR b+s, none with hog?!

There are some links to some youtube videos on here too.

http://www.furch.cz

[Athens]

I think they'll confuse people just as Breedlove has done.

I hope I'm wrong b

[Standicz]

Originally Posted by Fresh1985

I believe this is the site you found

http://www.furch.cz

that is actualy the official .czech website that was updated this week. I should have posted the link in the first post.

[TBman]

Yes, where's the beef? (Hog, lol)

[Mbroady]

Originally Posted by TBman

Yes, where's the beef? (Hog, lol)

Shouldn’t that be "Where’s the Pork"

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Mbroady

Shouldn’t that be "Where’s the Pork"

I know, it was a stretch....