Dana Bourgeois' article on altering vintage designs for new guitars

[BourgeoisGuitar]

Here is Dana's most recent article from Acoustic Guitar, in which he gives his own perspective on replication vs. innovation in regards to building new instruments with vintage inspirations.

Is It Right to Experiment? Of time machines, voodoo, and sacrifices to the guitar gods.
http://bourgeoisguitars.net/our-news...intage-design/

Ryan Fitzsimmons
Bourgeois Guitars

[Racerbob]

Fortunately for me there a builders such as Dana who make what he called hybrid guitars as I've yet to meet the vintage guitar that sounded appealing to my ear.

[Monsoon1]

This is one of those areas that fascinate me the most about guitars. For all of what is known about guitars, and the various methods currently employed, there seems to be a lot of fondness for older guitars and older designs.
I wonder if there is any sort of definitive way of charting the sound of various designs through the years.
Like I know how a mahogany guitar feels in my hands, but would there be enough difference between various bracing types so that the sound would seem dramatically different to my ears?

[Toby Walker]

It certainly is a great time for both builders and players as Dana was alluding to.

I agree with him in that it's impossible to build a new guitar that it going to sound like an older one. At least, so far no one had accomplished that. When I hear a Martin Authentic or a CEO, or a Collings Waterloo compared with my '35 L-00, the differences are clear.

That being said, my OM18A sounds incredible. I only wish I were around 80 years from now to hear it again!

[Silly Moustache]

I have the greatest respect for Dana, and his views on so many things and I wouldn't contend with a word he says.

I would, however, regard him as the one of the more traditional style luthiers, making his versions of Martin and Gibson style/designs and would place him alongside Collings and Santa Cruz, Fairbanks and Kopp etc., who in my opinion, offer superior or at least competitive versions of the originals which, of course are still making their own designs and offering modernised versions.

I have seen and brushed gently the strings on the more modern designs - and observed the remarkable responses and ones - mainly due to Michael Watts (TNAG) and Trevor Moyle (TAMCO) who lead the UK retailers in making the more exotic instruments available.

I respect the work that is being done, but for my traditional American style and musical choice - the Martin/Gibson styles suit me better.

Neither is wrong, but we are blessed to have the choices we have right now.

[BrunoBlack]

Nice article Ryan. Thanks for posting. I appreciate the understanding and respect Dana has for the "Masters" as he continues to advance the technologies he uses to design and build his outstanding instruments. Absolutely terrific guitars in every manner of speaking.

[merlin666]

Well written article. I wonder if Ren Ferguson's Guild Orpheum guitars would also fit somewhere into this hybrid zone, as they include many vintage elements put together to create a new hypothetical golden age Guild built in a modern production environment.

[zmf]

Thanks for pointing out the article.

I guess the bottom line is we're left to choose from a lot of great guitars that, depending on your preference, combine the best of both worlds. Life is good.

[Truckjohn]

In my mind - it makes no sense to make truly 100% "authentic" reproductions of old instruments of for no other reason than technology allowing improved playability has come a long way... Anachronism is one thing - and it's fine for what it is and all - but I really appreciate the strides that have come along with technology.

I don't see folks clambering for unreinforced deep V necks.... 10:1 ratio tuners... Uncompensated bridges and saddles... Flat fingerboards... 18:1 fret spacing.. Bar frets... And many old "features" that are happily forgotten.

And as with so many things, it turns out that "hybrid" really works quite well - even in traditional circles.

[mickthemiller]

I read just a few weeks ago that a group of professional violinists could not tell the difference between a Stradivarius violin and some 18th, 19th and 20th century made violins. Most said the newer ones sounded best. Just a thought!

[BrunoBlack]

Ryan, it would be great to have some video clips posted to demonstrate some of Dana's recent innovations -- perhaps comparing to "tried and true."

[ntotoro]

Originally Posted by mickthemiller

I read just a few weeks ago that a group of professional violinists could not tell the difference between a Stradivarius violin and some 18th, 19th and 20th century made violins. Most said the newer ones sounded best. Just a thought!

In all fairness, the real question wasn't whether they were able to tell the difference, it was which instrument they preferred. There were a lot of caveats in that test that were either unreported or reported inaccurately.

http://www.violinist.com/blog/laurie/20121/13039/

Modern instruments are going to have refinements that make them more playable. There is zero doubt in my mind about that. I'm thankful for guys like Dana Bourgeois who make fantastic instruments from both a tonal and functional perspective. My Country Boy OM is a fantastic instrument.

Nick

[BourgeoisGuitar]

Originally Posted by mickthemiller

I read just a few weeks ago that a group of professional violinists could not tell the difference between a Stradivarius violin and some 18th, 19th and 20th century made violins. Most said the newer ones sounded best. Just a thought!

Amazing Mick, that's the subject of Dana's next article, which I'm about to post. Here's the link - http://bourgeoisguitars.net/our-news/blind/

Ryan Fitzsimmons
Bourgeois Guitars

[BourgeoisGuitar]

Originally Posted by Haasome

Ryan, it would be great to have some video clips posted to demonstrate some of Dana's recent innovations -- perhaps comparing to "tried and true."

I have videos in process Paul, I hope to share them soon!

[Dru Edwards]

I just read the altering vintage designs article, very interesting. I'll admit that although I'm familiar with Olson, Somogyi, Manzer, Laskin, and Sobel (by reputation only since I've never seen/played any of their guitars before), I've never heard of Schneider or Novack. Is anyone here familiar with their work?