GEAR OF THE YEAR A YEAR IN GUITAR
In recent times, a few makers have had stellar results combining small-workshop finesse with productionline output – casting aside preconceptions about how and where the ‘best’ quality guitars can be made
Most of us tend to navigate life using rules of thumb. We might, for example, assume Champagne is the best kind of sparkling wine because it tends to be the most expensive and it’s from the most famous region for that type of wine-making. When it comes to guitars, something similar happens: we often assume place of origin has some magic influence on the quality of the finished product.
Most of our archetypes for what constitutes a ‘good’ electric or acoustic guitar come from the historic instruments made by American makers such as Martin, Fender and Gibson. We are therefore predisposed to consider guitars from that background the best as we’ve heard them on so many recordings we grew up listening to. Those guitars therefore command a premium price, which further validates our view that they are ‘best’ and so the cycle continues.
Don’t get me wrong – that heritage will always be magical and those makers, and others like them, still produce fantastic guitars to this day. But the truth is that the rigour of the manufacturing process and the diligence of the people guiding it are far more important factors in determining how good a guitar is than where things are physically made.
An example of this came to light this year with a collaboration between revered high-end American luthier Dana Bourgeois and the giant Chinese instrument maker Eastman. On the face of it, they couldn’t be more different.
Bourgeois guitars are known for being exquisite hand-built instruments made in Lewiston, Maine, in relatively low numbers. Eastman, to be fair, has garnered a great reputation for making high-quality guitars – but at a rather more industrial scale and to suit a more budget-conscious pocket.
So could those two worlds really unite to produce guitars both parties would be happy to stand behind? The answer, as this year’s Gear Of The Year awards attests, is a firm yes. The Bourgeois Touchstone TS OM and TS D models – the fruit of the Bourgeois/Eastman collaboration – were clear standouts among the acoustics we played in 2023.
And it’s the detail of the construction process that has made them successful. The bulk of the build was completed by Eastman luthiers in China to Bourgeois’ exacting specs. But the crucial finessecraft of making the top and bracing – effectively the vocal cords of the guitar – was completed in Bourgeois’ US workshop. As Dana Bourgeois explained: “We’ve passed on full dra
