Bourgeois DR-A

I am reviewing a 1999 [the first and only model year unfortunately] Bourgeois DR-A DELUXE dreadnought acoustic. These Artisan models are spectacular for the money, and consumed way too much time from the Lewiston shop to craft; and hence Dana Bourgeois will not be making them anymore. The idea was to make a less time intensive. machine carved neck for a line of guitars, thus letting Bourgeois sell them at a more reasonable price--although the wood quality and attention to detail they put into all their guitars is still present. It did not work. According to the shop, they lost their shirts on these guitars and I can see why!!!
Mine is the deluxe model which means a bone nut and saddle [the standard have only a bone nut or saddle, i cannot remember which] and an ebony bridge and fretboard [standard has rw]. The Deluxe also has beautiful solid rw back and sides, higher end wavery imitation tuners, a back zipper, and herringbone top binding around the edge. The spruce top is a gorgeous tight grained example. Came with a TLK arched top hardcase made in canada with nice double neck support and red fur lining. To my mind the extra features on the DELUXE model are well worth the $200 extra I paid. [ebony board and bridge, higer end tuners, herringbone trim and bone nut]
The only difference between this guitar and a Ricky Skaggs model is no binding on the neck and headstock, the logo is a gold paint-type instead of inlay, and no abalone around soundhole. I spoke to the shop in Lewiston Maine, and was told that the spruce and rosewood for the body for these guitars came from the same exact stock as their higher end models; but may not have been used in their luthier models due to a lack of cosmetic brilliance. That is not to say it is not some great looking wood. It is. But the Bourgeois people are very picky. As in all their guitars , the bracing is andirondak spruce; and each top is hand-tuned and asymetrically braced to give a more balanced response.
Neck is sleek profile, easy playing mahogany with high gloss finish. Nut width is 1&11/16ths. Neck radius is relatively flat. Not as flat as a Larrivee. Much like a Taylor. Imminently playable.
All your basic features are there, but then again, it is an acoustic. What else could it have.

Wonderful!!! All the rich, buttery, rounded notes you expect from a rosewood dreadnought with clear, bright treble response. It is the most balanced, beautiful tone I have heard from a dread. I played everything I could find in guitar shops for about a year. I played it all: Gibson, Taylor, Martin, larrivee [these 4 are not even in the same league with the DRA]. I played Goodall, Santa Cruz, Froggy Bottom, Breedlove, Kent Everett; you name it. The more affordable lines sounded as such. The handmade luthier brands were out of my price range. The bourgeois found and filled a niche that others wouldn't touch [for obvious financial reasons}.
The sound is like others have said, that of a vintage rw dreadnought without the wait. Not boomy at all but rich and complex. You have to hear one for yourself I guess. Will blow Taylor 810 [same pricerange] into dust. The sound is simply bigger, better, and more distinguished. I would guess what comes closest is a Martin D28, although a vintage one is $3000 and a new one is too harsh and stiff sounding for me. The bourgeois seems to have been opened up already andit is brand new. The only new guitar that came close for me was the Santa Cruz D model and that is $2100 or so in the shops.
I play mostly flatpicking stuff and folky, jazzy rock stuff. It is a wonderful guitar for accompaniment, and sounds great fingerpicked. Still probably a bit middle bassy for most fanatical fingerstylists. But very versatile.

Factory set up was great. Action was set to medium string gauge which I like. No flaws whatsoever on guitar. Wonderful workmanship. Not a speck of glue or finish on inside of guitar. Immaculate. Nut is clean and smooth. Endpin was supplied but not put in. Guitar shipped via fed ex from California to Ohio and was in concert pitch when I took it out of the box.
Fit and finish that you would expect from a small-shop hand made guitar.

Lifetime warranty. Cannot do better than that.
The guitar is solid as a rock. Do not forsee any problems. And the warranty is great peace of mind.

Called Bourgeois directly to talk with them about this model before I purchased it. They were informed and friendly. Very nice to deal with. They told me straight out that this model was put togther with the same care/materials and could sound as good [on a case by case basis of course] as the Ricky Skaggs or vintage herringbone models which costs $2800 or so. They could have merely steered me toward the more expensive model. But they were completely honest and forthright. I tried it out and found they were not wrong.

I looked at everything under $2000 and this guitar blows them all away to my mind. If marketed properly, and with better name recognition, these artisan models would have blown Taylor out of the water. If you can find one around, give it a good look. You will not be disappointed. Especially if you are looking for a Martin or Santa Cruz. These DRAs are beautiful, toneful and for under $1700 for the deluxe or $1500 for the standard, they are the best deal in acoustics going right now.
I have been playing for 12 years. Have played Guilds, Alvarez, a 63 Gibson Country Western, Taylors. This guitar inspires me to be better. It makes me sound a helluva lot better. It just feels good, plays good, sounds good and looks good. I did not think I could be this satisfied for $1600. Check one out.

This is a 1999 rosewood dreadnaught with sitka top. All solid wood, scalloped braces. The rosette (concentric rings) and backstripe (zipper) are inlaid wood; not flashy but nice. Ivoroid binding and b-w-b purfling. Black binding around fretboard. Tortise (plastic) pickguard. Microdot fretboard inlays. To save money Bourgeois uses a rosewood bridge and fretboard as opposed to ebony. Ultimately that probably doesn't save the consumer more than $30-50, and I would have preferred to pay the extra for the ebony. The rosewood back is bookmatached and very nicely figured for an "economy" guitar. The spruce top is also bookmatched and tight grained. Uses Gotoh tuners which seem rock solid. It came with a TKL case which, although nice is a bit too big for the guitar. Because of the poorly fitting case and rosewood bridge/fretboard I give it a 7.

The sound is ultimately why I bought this guitar, I'm not easily taken in by fancy looks if sound is compromised. The sound of the DR-A is pure vintage dreadnaught. It's got the tone of a 50 year old guitar and it keeps getting better. I played Santa-Cruz, Collings, Martin, Taylor, Huss & Dalton, Breedlove nothing came close for the money. I thought the DR-A actually sounded better than the Ricky Scaggs, better than the Collings D-2, better than the Tony Rice. The Santa Cruz Vintage Artist was the only one that I thought actually sounded a bit better (other than a late 40's D-28 that was waaaayyyy out of my price range), but new Vintage Artists run about $1500 more than I paid for this guitar. All the other guitars that I played that came close on vintage bluegrass tone were over $2000 (most of them well over). The Taylor 810 is a nice guitar for closer to the same price, but it doesn't really "vintage" tone. The sound of the DR-A is old school 'bone all the way. Powerful bass, good projection, clear trebles, lots of volume. Solid tone all the way up the neck. Responds well to aggressive flatpicking or light finger picking (more versatility than I would have expected). For the price not a better vintage style dreadnaught out there.

The action was just great when I got it. All the woods are bookmatched; nice figuring in both the rosewood and spruce. Tuners work great. The finish looks fine (a very small amount of shop wear, but what are you going to do?). Braces are clean, no glue drips, no beads in the finish around the neck. I needed to slightly re-file the nut slot for the G string as it was catching when I tuned. Other than that one minor nut problem everything is beautiful (although the Bourgeois decal looks a bit cheesy, inlay would be nicer but it would also add $$$)

Everything here is as solid as you can expect from this type of instrument. The nature of the beast means it'll be a little delicate. The tops on these things have to be very thin to get this kind of tone. I'm sure it could take some abuse, although I'll try not to find out.

Lifetime warranty. Bourgeois is a great company, very friendly. Based in Maine (where I live, maybe I'm biased). I've only dealt with them on a limited basis though and not in regards to any repair issues so I'll give um an N/A

I've been playing for a long time, but only seriously for about 3 years. I also have a 1967 Gibson LG-0, a Takamine, a Fender Japanese Standard Strat, a Guild Classical. I play folk (Cat Stevens), Grateful Dead, Dave Matthews, various fingerstyle and bluegrass. I feel that if your looking for a vintage sounding dreadnaught that nothing comes even remotely close to this guitar for under $2000. I played a lot of dreadnaughts that were $1000 more and the DR-A sounded better than most of them. The ones that sounded better were not that much better, and in my opinion not worth the extra cash. I'll say it again, you really can't approach this tone without spending at least $600 more (Huss & Dalton is about the closest you can get to this price/tone ratio). I haven't played everything out there but I played enough to hear a clear difference. If this guitar were stolen I'd probably play a bunch of guitars again and decide the same thing that I did this time. I might take a closer look at some OM's like the Santa Cruz Pre-war which you can get for just under $2000. If I had the extra $1400 lying around maybe I'd buy a Santa Cruz Vintage Artist but what are the odds of that. If you're looking for vintage dreadnaught tone go play a Bourgeois DR-A.