Bourgeois Aged Tone OM with Adirondack and Mahogany with Hot Hide Glue ID-7487

Bourgeois Aged Tone AT Series

We are pleased to present the Aged Tone Series from Bourgeois Guitars, designed to capture the sound, look, and vibe of vintage guitars. Dana’s vision for six new Aged Tone models includes Mahogany and Madagascar Rosewood Dreadnoughts, Mahogany and Madagascar Rosewood OMs, a short scale 14 -fret Slope D, and a 12-fret Slot-Head Slope D. He has blended three primary elements -- a vintage appearance from a new AT custom finish process, his exclusive approach to top voicing, and a unique method of aging the soundboards. The Aged Tone guitars combine Dana’s trademark mic-friendly balance and warmth with the explosive presence of an 80 year old flattop.

This Bourgeois Custom Aged Tone OM features a custom mammoth nut with a width of 1 23/32" to enable more complex chord shapes. Additionally, this instrument features a 2.2" Ebony Traditional Belly bridge and Varnish finish. Thinner than nitrocellulose lacquer, the varnish finish is more flexible and allows the wood to resonate more, significantly smoothing out the mids and highs of the Mahogany and Adirondack, while enhancing the low end and warming the highs considerably.

'OM' stands for "Orchestra Model," but 80 years after this body shape was first designed it has become the most popular 14-fret model with fingerstyle guitar soloists who choose to play on steel strings. Yet flatpickers also find it appealing, and when the graceful cutaway is added these OMs are often used by lead players who routinely explore all 20 frets much as they would on an electric guitar. The compact shape makes the Collings OM equally easy to handle onstage or when sitting on the couch, and the relatively shallow body (barely over 4 inches deep) results in balanced tone and an immediate response.

A personal note from Dana Bourgeois:

“Aged Tone tops may be the most significant technological advance I’ve seen in decades, but these new guitars are about more than just the tops,” reports Dana Bourgeois. “A treated Adirondack top is, after all, just another tonewood; the thing that matters is what you do with it. To get the vibe I was looking for, I ended up modifying my approach to voicing and developed an entirely new finish. The combined result isn’t a substitute for a great vintage guitar, nor will it make people stop playing new guitars with untreated tops. It’s entirely new, yet partially old, totally different and overwhelmingly musical. I can’t wait to hear what different players do with these guitars!”

The Back Story:

Pre-war guitars are prized by players for lightning fast response, elevated volume and presence, tonal complexity, and the deep golden-brown color of their tops. These guitars sound different today, however, from the way they sounded when first strung up. Part of the difference comes from the effect of many years of playing. Another part is attributable to the chemical and structural transformations wood undergoes after decades of natural curing.

Bougeois's new Aged Tone tops are treated with a unique curing process. The commercial version of this process, known as, “thermo curing”, “wood torrefaction” or “roasting”, was developed in Finland to enhance durability and appearance of other wood materials. The process used to cure our Adirondack tops is a highly controlled, low-temperature variation of the basic commercial treatment. During processing, water, sugars, and resins are cooked off, leaving behind cellulose and lignum--the “glue” that binds cellulosic fibers together. Once processed, mass and weight are reduced, absolute stiffness is increased and internal damping is decreased; stiffness-to-weight ratio and Velocity of Sound (the rate at which vibration transmits through solid material) are dramatically increased.

Bougeois's observations concur with industry research data, which reports increased stiffness at lower curing temperatures. It’s thought by at least one expert that low-temperature curing optimizes the distribution of lignum throughout the cellulosic structure, while higher temperatures break lignum down. The trick is to find the temperature and curing schedule that optimizes Velocity of Sound.

Like naturally cured spruce, Aged Tone tops are darker in color, opaque vs. translucent, highly stable when exposed to changes in humidity, and have a sweet, woody smell. These same changes naturally occur in spruce tonewoods after many decades of exposure to oxygen, UV radiation and other environmental elements.

Bourgeois guitars made with Aged Tone Adirondack tops combine characteristics of both new and vintage guitars. Players describe their sound as “immediate, “open”, “responsive”, “loud” and “surprisingly broken in”. New guitars made with Aged Tone tops will continue to break in as the top reacts to continuous string loading and vibrational activity.

Aged Tone Finish:

Dana recently developed a light but durable finish to complement Aged Tone tops. The Aged Tone finish, inspired by French polish, varnish and old lacquers, combines the sound and look of a well-preserved older finish with the durability of a modern catalyzed finish.

This Aged Tone OM features Adirondack braces attached with hot hide glue. Adirondack braces are thinner and lighter making the guitar much more resonant and open. On this instrument the Adirondack Braces are connected with hot hide glue.

Hide Glue sets up very hard, like glass, allowing more energy transfer through the bracing. Hot Hide Glue adds responsiveness across the spectrum. This type of glue was used on the early guitars we have all fallen in love with, but later phased out due to the time required to use it, not to mention the mess it makes. The sonic benefits can't be ignored, adding not only responsiveness, but a new level of detail and clarity.

The Aged Tone Series was previewed by lots of players at the IBMA FanFest in Nashville in September of 2012, with rave reviews. Limited production is scheduled by the end of 2012... Call to reserve yours today.

(Wikipedia "Torrefaction")

Dana Bourgeois introduces the Aged Tone (TM) Series Guitars, Watch Video

Specifications:

Shipping Weight: 68 lbs

Serial: 6420

Top Wood: Adirondack Spruce

Back Wood: Mahogany

Nut Width: 1 3/4"

Scale: 25.5"

Bracing: Adirondack Braces

Inlays: Vintage Style Dots

Rosette: Wood

Neck Wood: Mahogany

Fretboard: Ebony

Nut Material: Fossilized Mammoth Ivory

Saddle Material: Bone

Saddle Spacing: 2 5/16"

Bridge: Ebony Traditional Belly

Bridge Pins: Ebony

Tuners: Nickel Waverly

Purfling: Black/Maple Top Border

Body Binding: Ziricote

Fretboard Binding: Black

Pickguard: Vintage

Backstrip: Black Line

Headstock Shape: Solid

Headstock Overlay: Ziricote

Headstock Inlay: Bourgeois Logo

Frets To Body: 14

Neck Profile: Square OM 14 Fret

Body Depth: 4 3/16"

Lower Bout Width: 15 1/16"

Upper Bout Width: 11 1/4"

Waist: 9 1/8"

Body Length: 19 5/16"

Total Length: 39 9/16"

Case: Hardshell Case Included

Misc. 1: Aged Tone Finish

Misc. 2: Hot Hide Glue