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Bourgeois |
| Product Code |
Description |
| BGOMCS |
Bourgeois Orchestra OMC Soloist |
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"Nearly 20 years ago, inspired by Eric Schoenberg, I built what I believe was the first OM having a style of
cutaway that has since become something of a modern classic. Eric and I later founded a company to produce the new model,
which we named "The Soloist", after an elegant fingerstyle guitar from the Victorian era. Years later, Eric and I
agreed to produce separate versions of the Soloist. Aside from a handful of one-off examples, however, this is the first
time I have offered the Soloist as a regular model.
The Bourgeois Soloist is a true fingerstyle OM, featuring an European spruce top, Brazilian
rosewood back and sides, a 2 5/16" ebony pyramid bridge, and the original Soloist style cutaway.
Maintaining the spirit of the original Soloist, I have combined the finest woods with the simplest of appointments,
including Brazilian rosewood body bindings, simple wooden rosette, short pattern slotted squares and diamonds inlay,
and a distinctive slotted triangle on the heel cap. While on the subject of decoration, I should note that the marquetry
backstrip that I first designed for the Soloist (and now use on many of my guitars) has been as widely emulated as the
Soloist cutaway, and is presently available through a number of lutherie suppliers. Far from being offended,
I am delighted by the notion that other luthiers have mistaken this for vintage design!"
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| BGOOMC |
Bourgeois Orchestra OMC |
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Premium Englemann and Indian Rosewood.
"Twenty years ago, Eric Schoenberg dreamed about having an OM with a cutaway styled after the Selmer
Maccaferri guitar. I drew up something that he liked and started building, but found that I wasn't able,
at the time, to make such a tight bend in the side! So I gave up and substituted the much rounder version
that I still use today."
The OM is already a small guitar. It's unique sound results from the ratio between it's 25.5" scale length,
the surface area of its soundboard, and the volume of it's air cavity. The addition of a cutaway,
therefore, is no small consideration. Harmonizing beautifully with the classic curves of the original OM outline,
Dana's solution offers three additional frets of accessibility while minimally altering the OM's critical proportions.
The standard OMC with an Englemann spruce top is a fingerpicker's dream. (Sitka, European and Adirondack spruce
tops are also offered as popular options.) The OMC is simply and elegantly appointed with East Indian
Rosewood back and sides, a wood rosette, Short patterned Squares and diamonds inlay, Ebony pyramid bridge,
tortoiseshell binding and gold Waverly tuners.
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| BGOVOM |
Bourgeois Orchestra Vintage OM |
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(left) Vintage OM in Adirondack & Indian Rosewood
You can think of the Vintage OM as a smaller version of our Vintage D--or maybe it's the other way around.
The OM, you see, is really where it all started. Here's what Dana has to say:
"Back in the early 80's I had a great opportunity to work on very many pre-war OMs. Due to their lack of metal neck reinforcement,
almost all were totally unplayable. They had probably been so for quite some time, which would explain why, as a group,
they appeared to be in otherwise
spectacular condition. In spite of appearances, however, most of these guitars didn't sound as good one would expect.
Over time I found that stabilizing the rigidity of the neck and setting it to the proper complimentary angle--relative
to the degree of flexibility of the top (or it's present state of deterioration, in some cases--could transform a ho-hum
OM into a monster. Remember, these are small guitars. I found that the best OMs can sound almost as big as a dreadnought,
but you've got a much narrower window in which to make all the parts work as a unit."
Our Vintage OM is a culmination of Dana's two decades of experience in repairing, restoring and
building the legendary Orchestra Model. It comes standard with an Adirondack spruce top--just like the originals--and
is appointed identically to our Vintage Dreadnought, with ivoroid binding, herringbone top trim, short pattern squares
and diamond inlays, tortoiseshell pickguard, vintage style top toner, and nickel Waverly Tuners. Premium quartersawn,
straight-grained Indian Rosewood is the standard material for the back and sides, and Brazilian rosewood is offered as
a popular optional upgrade. The OM is the only model in which we scallop both sides of the X brace, as a result of its
natural need for a little extra help in bottom register.
Because of its characteristic superb balance, clarity of voice, and sustaining top register,
the OM was once thought of as the quintessential fingerstyle guitar. It still is. It's not surprising,
however, that more than a few players have begun to realize that these same characteristics are also highly
employable for a diverse variety of applications. (We have, in fact, built a reputation on our ability to
make Dreadnoughts sound like giant OMs--which is exactly what contemporary bluegrass players are screaming for.)
If you don't need to compete with fiddles, banjos and mandolins, however, the Vintage OM might be just the guitar
you've been looking for.
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| BGOVOMD |
Bourgeois Orchestra Vintage OM Deluxe |
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The Deluxe Version of our Vintage OM has been patterned after our famed D-150 in its appointments,
featuring Premium Brazilian rosewood back and sides and a premium Adirondack spruce top.
Elegantly appointed with an abalone rosette, ivoroid body, fretboard and headstock binding,
slotted squares and diamonds inlay, and gold Waverly tuners, the OM-150 is a treasure.
Detail of back purfling & backstrip. You can think of the OM-150 as a smaller version of our
Vintage D--or maybe it's the other way around. The Orchestra Model, you see, is really where it all started.
Our OM-150 is a culmination of Dana's two decades of experience in repairing, restoring and building the
legendary Orchestra Model. The OM is the only model in which we scallop both sides of the X brace, as a result
of its natural need for a little extra help in bottom register.
Because of its characteristic superb balance, clarity of voice, and sustaining top register,
the OM was once thought of as the quintessential fingerstyle guitar. It still is. It's not surprising,
however, that more than a few players have begun to realize that these same characteristics are also highly
employable for a diverse variety of applications.
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