Bourgeois Ricky Skaggs

i have a 1998 Bourgeois Ricky Skaggs. It's a dreadnought with East Indian Rosewood back and sides, sitka spruce top and mahogany neck. it's got open-machine, Waverly tuners. it came with a 5-ply rock solid blue velvet lined case. wood inlay at the endpin and down the middle of the back. plactic binding on the neck and body. abalone around the soundhole. transparent tortoise pickgaurd. snowflake inlay on the fret board.

it sounds fantastic. very responsive and full. the top never breaks up no matter how hard you play it yet responds to the most subtle details of your playing. I've got a fishman matrix in it and it sound great plugged in as well. it's hard to describe the complexity of the tone but it is a marvel. i've never heard a guitar of it's richness.

action is great. couldn't find a flaw.

never fails. always stays in tune.

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i've got other nice guitars... a taylor, a martin mc-28....and i've played hundreds of handmades and this one takes the cake. that's why i bought it. i'll never love another :-)

I have a 1998 Bourgeois Ricky Skaggs Signature "country Boy" guitar. It is a dreadnought made of all solid wood. Spruce top, mahogny back and sides with plastic tortise shell binding, plastic tortise pick guard, low profile (slightly v shaped) Mahogany neck with a diamond volute & black binding, the tuning machines are Vintage style gotoh tuners.The fret board is ebony with small pearl dot position markers, Bone nut and bone saddle. The neck is a bolt on. The guitar has a highly gloss finish, & the logo on the head stock is a pearl script. The guitar came with a vintage style "TKL" hard shell case. This is a highly attractive guitar without a flaw. Dana Bourgeois pays very close attention to detail on all of his guitars.

I strictly play flat pick Bluegrass "Lead" guitar and own several C.F. Martin guitars (1972 D-18, 1994 HD-28). They are nice guitars but they fall short compared to the sound of this work horse! The sound is very responsive & versitle. It can be warm & rich when played with a heavy (Golden Gate) pick or very loud and spiting out every note with such precise, bright, crisp & clean. This guitar is a flat pickers dream come true! The sound is nothing but incredible!!

I was very surprised with the action of this guitar. I'm very picky when it comes to the action of a guitar. I have had to have the action set on every Martin I have owned. They are always too low and buzz when I play them. I sometimes play aggressive and they would always buzz. But when I played this guitar for the first time the action was perfect right from the factory . It's a bit low than my other guitars but no matter how hard I play it, it never buzz's & that's a wouderful thing!! It feels wounderful & plays just great!!

As for the finish of this guitar, all I can say is flawless!! The top is a very tight grained bookmatched spruce top that looks marvelious. The back & sides are beautful grained (very wavey/figured) solid Mahogany. A very nice looking guitar.

I have played in several bluegrass bands & currently play in a bluegrass gospel group. I travel quite frequently here in the South East and I always take this guitar along. It is not temprature sensitive and always stays in tune. It performs very well on stage, as well as in the recording studios. This guitar performs so well that it's the only guitar I take with me now. I have just recently sold my martin HD-28!! This will be the only guitar I'll ever need. It full fills all my needs when it comes to playing.

The hardware is nice and should last a long time. I also think the finish is durable. I take very good care of this, & all my instruments and feel it will last a very long time & only get better with age!!

I have spoken with Dana Bourgeois on several occasions. He always was very friendly & helpful answering questions that I had concerning his guitars. The guitar came with a life time warranty & I'm sure he would respond to a repair very propmtly to keep me picking. But I doubt I'll ever need to call on his service. The guitar seems to be built very well.

I have been playing for 20 years and have played a lot of guitars (Martin, Santa Cruz, Taylor's, ect.) I have owned several martins and I'm impressed with the overall ability of this guitar. It is so versitile to what ever sound I want it too acheive, & plays very well. I have owned it for almost a year now & fall in love with it more & more each time I play it. I would hate to lose it, but if I did I would run out a purchase another one as quick as possible. To me it's the best playing, best sounding, best looking guitar around. I would rekamend it to any guitar player who is looking for a fine guitar. Hat's off to Dana Bourgeois for making this guitar!!!