Dana Bourgeois

Dana Bourgeois (born 1953) Bourgeois's innovations in design and voicing techniques have earned him worldwide acclaim for his acoustic guitars from professional players, hobbyists and collectors alike. Some notable musicians playing Bourgeois guitars include Luke Bryan, Ricky Skaggs, Bryan Smith, Ry Cooder, Scott Fore, Bryan Sutton, Vince Gill, Lee Roy Parnell, James Taylor and Guy Clark,

Bourgeois attended Bowdoin College, where he studied art history, whose method in the book was, purportedly, "totally impossible." After that, Bourgeois, working from his room on campus and using a machine shop owned by his grandfather, made a guitar of his own. with Eric Schoenberg and Martin Guitars to design and build an OM style Guitar. Adirondack Spruce and Indian Rosewood, as well as his ability to "voice" his instruments earned Bourgeois a reputation within the music world as an expert luthier. Using a tapping method, he fine tunes individual pieces at key times throughout the manufacturing process.

In 1996, Bryan Sutton, then guitarist in Ricky Skaggs' band, purchased a Bourgeois guitar in a Nashville music store. A year later, at the Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival in Brunswick, ME, Sutton contacted Bourgeois to set up a meeting. "This guy calls me and says he's playing in Maine," Bourgeois told Ray Routhier of the Portland Press Herald, "so I figure it could be anybody. But then he says he plays with Ricky Skaggs." The meeting resulted in an endorsement deal, a collaboration with Skaggs', to make and sell the Ricky Skaggs Signature Model and Ricky Skaggs Country Boy Model guitars. Pantheon Guitars was formed in 2000. Among Bourgeois' current offerings are also guitars (his Aged Tone Series) made with a wood-aging process called torrefaction. While not "vintage", these guitars tend to replicate the look and sound of quality of instruments that are older, more "broken in". He commemorated the building of his 5,000th guitar with the Bourgeois Victoria that was described in an Acoustic Guitar Magazine article as a "one-of-a-kind, sub-parlor-size custom 12-fret instrument inspired by American guitars made during the Victorian era (1837-1901), matched with a period-style wooden 'coffin' case."

He also spends time training luthiers to carry on the trade.

"In a nutshell, I have simply traded my former partners for Eastman. Moving forward, I will retain an ownership interest in Bourgeois Guitars and will remain as CEO. Our entire team will continue to produce acoustic guitars of the highest quality in our Lewiston, Maine, workshop. US distribution will continue to be handled through our Lewiston office. Eventually, overseas distribution will be managed by Eastman." Editor's Pick Award for the Bourgeois BK/Slope D guitar Finishing Touches (Guitar Player, December 2004) Play It Again! How Bryan Sutton's legendary "Banjo Killer" dreadnought was restored after being damaged by the Nashville flood of 2010. (Acoustic Guitar, March 2013)