Nine Custom Bourgeois Guitars made especially for the 2004 Anaheim NAMM show.
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#5505. Custom Slope D/ Cherry Burst. Bearclaw Adirondack and figured Mahogany back and sides. Ivoroid body bindings. Deco Block Inlay! New Greven Tor-tis pickguard. Dana says:
"Last summer I saw Roseanne Cash (awesome show!) playing one of those candy-colored Gibsons from the 60's. It struck me that this particular retro-vibe is increasingly popular among certain performers, but hasn't yet caught on with luthiers and guitar snobs. Well, all that's changed now--and you heard it first from THIS luthier / guitar snob!
Earlier this year I made a few cherry sunburst Slope Ds, but I wanted to take this guitar one step further and put a few ounces of (real) pearl on the fretboard. Good sense constrains me from adding flowers and birds to the pickguard, but that won't stop you from being mistaken for Donovan when you appear onstage with this retro-tribute. E-lec-tric-al banana bound to be the very next phase!"
Sent to our newest dealer in Nashville TN at the Gibson Bluegrass Collection store in Opryland. Call Big Joe Vest at 615-514-2200 X 3002 or email him at jvest@gibson.com for more info. SOLD#5521. Limited Edition. #1 of 10. Presentation Slope D. Bearclaw Adirondack. 5A Brazilian Rosewood back and sides. Ivoroid body bindings. Abalone top border and Ivoroid body bindings. Certified Mammoth Ivory bridge. Mammoth Ivory nut and saddle. New Greven Tor-tis pickguard. Gold Engraved Waverly tuners. Presentation headstock veneer and Inlay pattern.
Dana says:
"The Presentation LC6 is based on my 20th Anniversary Limited Edition model, which was issued in 1995. After the limited edition was sold out, Ricky Skaggs asked me to make him "...an awards ceremony guitar--you know, something I can play while I'm wearing a tux". He had seen a photo of the Anniversary and wanted a guitar that not only required a tux, but sunglasses as well! So I made him something even fancier than the Anniversary and called it "The Presentation". Ricky loves this guitar and included a picture of it on the inside cover of his landmark CD, "Bluegrass Rules". He does use it for special occasions, such as touring with Billy Graham--and, yes, for awards ceremonies.
The Presentation LC6 is pretty close to Ricky's guitar. I redesigned the headstock inlay because I no longer adjust truss rods at the headstock, and therefore have more open real estate to decorate. And I decided to use an ivory bridge because I have fallen in love with the clear and immediate tone that is unique to ivory (think of an ivory bridge as functioning like a BIG saddle). The certified Fossil Mammoth Ivory used on this guitar is almost as
expensive as the Brazilian rosewood, so I knew I needed an elaborate excuse to use it!
Did I forget the pearl? The fretboard of the Presentation, by the way, is real Mother of Pearl, inlaid with abalone. It's the same as on Ricky's guitar, and it's the part he needs sunglasses for. "This #1 of 10 was SOLD to customer thru Rutland Music.
#5513. New Model. The Country Boy Deluxe/ Bearclaw Adirondack/ Figured Mahogany back and sides. Brazilian headstock veneer. Rosewood body bindings. New Greven Tor-tis pickguard. Gold Waverly tuners. We've sold enough of these guitar that began as custom orders that we've decided to make it a model. You can't beat this combination for beauty and brawn. After the NAMM show it is headed to Elite Music Sales. Call Brian Hinton for more info. SOLD
#5519. Prototype. 12 Fret OM Slothead. Brazilian and Adirondack. Ivoroid bindings. Pyramid bridge. 1 3/4 nut. Pyramid bridge. Abalone rosette. Waverly 3 on Plate tuners. It has been promised to Buffalo Brothers . Call them for more info! SOLD
#5295. New Model. A-360. 17" Archtop. Curly maple back and sides and sitka top. Violin Sunburst. Handmade Kent Armstrong pickup. Gold / ebony Schaller tuners.
Dana says:
"For years I have been asked to install pickups on my archtops. I usually decline--not so much out of wanting to maintain acoustic "purity", but mostly because pickups are so darn messy to install. Finally, I resolved to design an installation that wouldn't spoil the aesthetic appearance of my archtops, or their acoustic performance. I was so pleased with the result that I decided to offer a new electric model, the A-360, as a companion to the acoustic A-350.
The A-360 features a suspended, handmade Kent Armstrong mini-humbucker. Suspended pickups bridge the gap between acoustics and archtops with mounted pickups (which are essentially hollow-bodied electrics), by allowing electric functionality without sacrificing acoustic performance. Like all suspended pickups, the Armstrong has a more "airy" tone than the somewhat darker sound of mounted humbuckers. And like many of it's vintage predecessors, it has a fat, meaty tone at higher volume levels and a stringy, acoustic-like timbre at lower volumes. At proper amp settings, therefore, the player can often switch between rhythm and lead using only the volume control (though a tone control is also provided).
The pickup mounts to the pickguard. Thinline volume and tone pots are operated by roller knobs slightly protruding from the edge of the pickguard. These are recessed into underside of the guard, along with wiring and capacitor. The output jack/strap button is mounted through a hole in the tailpiece hinge, inserted from the inside of the guitar and connected to the electronics via a cable looped through the treble f-hole. The entire electronic package can therefore be removed without unstringing the guitar. Though the tailpiece is ebony, the strings attach to a metal bar which is connected to the metal tailpiece hinge by a recessed wire, thus grounding the strings. The result is a clean package that alters neither the acoustic tone nor the outward appearance of the basic guitar.
At $5795, the all solid, hand carved A-360 is comparably priced to high end plywood archtops. Though plywood is better suited to higher volume applications, plywood archtops do not function well as acoustics. The A-360 is a true acoustic archtop that functions outstandingly as an electric."The A-360 Archtop is on its way to Les Haynie at Blue Moon Music in Fayettville Arkansas. Call them for more info. SOLD
#5284. Custom D. Adirondack and Madagascar Rosewood dreadnought. Brazilian Rosewood headstock veneer. Nickel Waverly tuners. New Greven Tor-tis pickguard. Bone bridge pins.
This guitar went to Gibson's Music in the great state of Kentucky. Contact Gene Comer for more information. SOLD
#5515. New Model prototype. The Soloist. OM Cutaway. Englemann Spruce and Brazilian Rosewood. BWB binding with back and side purfling. Brazilian rosewood body bindings and headstock veneer. Long pattern Squares & Diamonds inlay. Pyramid bridge. Gold Waverly tuners.
Dana says:
"Nearly 20 years ago, inspired by the vision of Eric Schoenberg, I built what I believe was the first cutaway OM in a style that has since become something of a modern classic. (It was the first guitar of this style that I, at any rate, and the guitar community at large, was aware of.) Eric and I later became partners, founded a guitar company, and produced the new model under the name "The Soloist", after an elegant Victorian fingerstyle guitar
associated with the early 20th Century guitarist, Vadah Olcott-Bickford. After the dissolution of our partnership, Eric and I agreed to produce our own separate versions of the Soloist. Aside from a handful of one-off examples, this is my first formal introduction of the Soloist as a regular model.
The 2004 Bourgeois Soloist is a true fingerstyle OM, featuring an Engelmann spruce top, Brazilian rosewood back and sides, a 2 5/16" pyramid bridge, and the original Soloist style cutaway. Maintaining the spirit of the original Soloist, I have combined the only finest woods with the simplest of appointments, most notably Brazilian rosewood body bindings. While on the subject of decoration, I will take advantage of this opportunity to note that the marquetry backstrip that I first designed for the Soloist (and now
use on many of my guitars) has been copied by more than one marquetry manufacturer, and is now available through a number of distributors. Far from being offended, I am delighted that other makers have mistaken this for a vintage design!"This great guitar is being sent to Les Haynie at Blue Moon Music in Fayettville Arkansas. Call them for more info. NFS
#5518 Our JOMC Deluxe. Bearclaw Sitka and Madagascar Rosewood. Curly Maple body bindings. Floral inlay. New Greven Tor-tis pickguard. Gold Waverly tuners.
Sent to our newest dealer in Nashville TN at the Gibson Bluegrass Collection store in Opryland. Call Big Joe Vest at 615-514-2200 X 3002 or email him at jvest@gibson.com for more info. SOLD
#5501. The first Sunburst Country Boy Deluxe/Bearclaw Adirondack/ Figured Mahogany back and sides. Beautiful pale sunburst. Brazilian headstock veneer. Rosewood body bindings. Gold Waverly tuners. It has been promised to Buffalo Brothers . Call them for more info! SOLD
Each guitar carries our lifetime guarantee .
Page last updated: August 9, 2004
