The Touchstone Series from Bourgeois is a revolutionary collaboration that delivers the tone, feel, and character of boutique, handmade guitars.
These days, small boutique builders face economic realities that discourage high-quality guitars that can be sold at affordable prices. Each builder can only produce a limited number of a guitars in a year, so to make it work, many must focus on the higher-dollar spec sheets. Even though they could build incredible guitars at lower prices, they just can't justify it.
In 2020, Eastman became Dana Bourgeois' financial partner, and that laid the groundwork for the Touchstone Series collaboration. Eastman is a massive company with high volume and plenty of resources. Combined with Dana's hands-on approach, the Touchstone Series brings the legendary Bourgeois tone and build quality to a wider range of players than ever before.
Each Touchstone guitar starts in Lewiston, Maine, with a hand-selected Old-Growth Alaskan Sitka Spruce top. Dana and the Bourgeois crew then tune and voice the top by hand using solid Adirondack Spruce braces. Each top is adjusted individually to optimize its potential and bring out its own unique character.
Then, the braced and voiced top is shipped to Eastman where the guitar body is assembled to Dana's uncompromising OM Vintage specs. Thanks to Dana's guidance, the level of workmanship is absolutely on par with what you'd expect from Bourgeois. The completed guitar then returns to Maine for final setup and inspection. The results are impressive.
- Body Size: 14-Fret Orchestra Model
- Top: Old-Growth Alaskan Sitka Spruce
- Back & Sides: Indian Rosewood
- Neck: Mahogany
- Fingerboard: Ebony
- Scale Length: 25.5"
- Nut Width: 1-23/32" Bone
- Saddle Spacing: 2.2" Bone
- Tuners: Schaller Grand Tune Nickel
- Bridge: Ebony w/ Ivoroid Pins
- Finish: High Gloss
- Bracing: Hand-Voiced Adirondack Spruce
This OM Vintage/TS is everything you could ask an Orchestra Model to be, and the price tag seems a few thousand dollars lower than it should be. The hype is well deserved.