Bourgeois DS 260 12 Fret Slope Dreadnaught

1995 Bourgeois slope 'D' made in Maine by Dana for Elliot Easston.
solid spruce top , solid mahogany back and sides of fancy grade wood . ebony finger board , bridge , bone nut and compensated wide saddle

out of this world beautiful . remarkable sound . blows away any Martin I have ever played and it makes me neglect my vintage 18 inch guild F 50 blond. I think there are angels living in my guitar ....

perfect . remarkable seet up and totally stable

totally dependable .. acoustic electric transducer and inner mic are not visable and there is a blender build in just at the edge of the sound hole

very repsonsive on e mail and somewhat help full . I bought used and wanted to know how many left handed guitars Dana made and they did not have an answer . I have not needed any work on the guitar .

been playing 35 years . this is the best left handed flat top I have ever played . I compare it to a brazillian rosewood cut away Larrivee, presentation model and it wins ! I am a player collector and I am proud to own this one ..

I own a 1996 model, made, I bleieve by Dana himself.
Piezo has been retro fitted - an English Headway. Works well.
All woods on this instrument are of excellent condition and figure.
This is slightly small er than the standard 12 fret long body Martin, Collinbs or Santa Cruz dreadnaughts.
The shape is original.
The finish is faultless.
Tuners are, I bleieve, Irving Sloanes - excellent.

This is not a cannon, but it is without daoubt the most subtle sound in my collection (which includes Martins and Collings).

The fret board is very well designed and my only problem as it is not as wide as I would prefer, i.e. 13/4" this is probably 1 & 1q1/16ths - quite adequate for most normal people !

The sound is pure , round and clear, it is an excellent recording instrument and amplifies well.

As far as I'm aware it was not new when I bought it, although I did get "papers".
The action is correctly set, but with a low saddle.
The finish is faultless.
Tuners are, I bleieve, Irving Sloanes - excellent.

I see no reason why this instrument would not fulfil all of the above.
It is not, however, my prefered performance guitasr, purely because of it's subrtlety, and I need a more brash flat picking guitar such as my Collings Ds2H.

I e-mailed Dana once with a query, and although he replied, I have had no other corresondence.
Bear in mind that I contacted him during that difficult "akai" time. h

I don't play it a great deal.
It is my prettiest guitar.
If lost, I'd try to get another instrument with a wider nut.
In fact I might sell it given the right price.
I love the finish and the purity of tone.
I wish it had a wider nut.

This is a 1996 guitar built by the luthier from Lewiston Maine. It is a twelve fret slope shouldered dreadnaught with rosewood back and sides and a spruce top. The neck is mahogany and the ebony fretboard and body are bound in ivoroid. It features a slotted head with waverly tuners and herringbone purfling.
It has a very "vintage" look.

This guitar has a very balanced woody tone. There is not quite the bass of a cannon, but it is ample. The guitar really shines in the midrange where the tone is lyrically rich and warm. The highs sparkle but are not at all brash like some of the newer
boutique guitars. I am primarily a fingerstyle player and wanted
something with the intimacy of a 000 but with a more rounded low end. After playing about twent very nice guitars-Collings,Martins, Taylors etc... I stumbled across this one and the sound was flat out amazing.

I needed to have some minor intonation tweaking done. The luthier was very impressed with the guitar.

The finish on the neck and headstock is very fragile and is easily
blemished. Although this guitar could withstand live playing
it's almost too much of a "show piece" for that application.
I'd feel more comfortable playing it at home or in the studio.
The guitar records incredibly-engineers are knocked out !

I've been playing for about thirtyfive years. I've owned may guitars
but right now I own the Bourgeois and a 1951 Martin 000-18.
I don't think I could replace this guitar if it were lost or stolen.
I have played several Bourgeois guitars including another
DS 260 and yet to find one as "special" as mine. While I don't enjoy the slotted head when I change strings, It does look kind of cool. The tone is by far my favorite feature- I get lost in the musicality of the sound of this instrument. It is transcendent.