Furch Acoustics

shatners basoon

Getting a new acoustic, mainly play fingerstyle, jazz, bossa nova etc.
I remember playing one of these before in a shop and i was really impressed. Simple guitars but with a lovely tone. They're made in the czech republic and its not a really big name brand so the prices seem to be great value. So i've been checking out Walton's range on their website before i head down to Dublin next Thursday to get a guitar. Just wondering if anyone has one or anything and if so what they think of it. If anyone has any other good recommendations either that'd be nice.
My budget is somewhere about -1000ish

Creamy Goodness

musicmaker and musician inc and perfect pitch have better selections of acoustics in my opinion than waltons, don't know if they sell furch though but might aswell check them out as they are close enough to waltons

shatners basoon

yeah i they do have a better selection of most brands alright but don't worry i'm gonna play around with as much as i can before making a choice. I just know Waltons do Furch and that perfect pitch don't (according to their website anyway but they do have nice tanglewoods) however i don't know about the other two.

The_g-man

Harmony Central has some great reviews for these, but it might be worth your while e-mailing some of the other dealers on the furch web-site as I'm sure waltons are making a nice chunk of profit there.

lee_baby_simms

Furch are fantastic. They have really fat necks they call "Czech Neck."

Eoin Madsen

shatners basoon wrote:

yeah i they do have a better selection of most brands alright but don't worry i'm gonna play around with as much as i can before making a choice. I just know Waltons do Furch and that perfect pitch don't (according to their website anyway but they do have nice tanglewoods) however i don't know about the other two.

Furch > Tanglewood

I played a cedar-topped Furch in Waltons a year or so ago and was impressed. They also go under the rebranded name of "Stanford".

The_g-man

There are two furch guitars in the musicstore catalogue, yet furch doesn't show up in their search engine.

http://www.thomann.de/thoiw6_artikel-155741.html

http://www.thomann.de/thoiw6_stanford_om5vintage_prodinfo.html

http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/en/global/0_0_G_0_GIT0007536-001/0/0/0/detail/musicstore.html?toCat=149

HusseinSarhan

I played Furch guitars and thought they were ok - but nothing special and will not hold their value for sure. What I say is hold on for a while (ok - not the most exciting thing you could do) and save up just a little extra and get a truely stunning instrument. I know that perfect pitch had some amazing McIlroy at a bargain of about €1800 and Musician have a couple of handmade Belfest Avalons that are around €1800 too. I'm sure they'd accept a cahs offer on these too. Both these makers are similar enough ((Lowden) Avalon + McIlroy) and would be a lifetime instrument. I've played several of them now and they are always top quality (not the korean Avalons though - they are still nicer than Furch and about the same price as Furch too, but are not amazing)

I know it's annoying when someone says something like this but think about it. If you save up for another few weeks, say an extra 500 or whatever it takes, you could have a guitar that would be infinitely better than the Furch. The cheap option always works out more expensive in the end as they say. At least play one of the guitars I mentioned and compare it to the Furch. Actually, Musician inc. have both so youcould A/B them.

By the way, I don't work for anyone metnioned here!

Eoin Madsen

I preferred the Furch to the similarly priced / same wood Avalon, tbh.

HusseinSarhan

Yeah - there's not much in it with the Korean Avalons. The irish-made Avalons are a completely differrent story. They are amazing - and only topped my McIlroy 9if you are looking for an irish-made guitar). Well, personal preference about this I guess but that's what I think.

You'll really thank yourself if you splash out a little bit more - not always the case but in this situation it applies very much.

shatners basoon

lee_baby_simms wrote:

Furch are fantastic. They have really fat necks they call "Czech Neck."

Heh heh, nice reference

HusseinSarhan wrote:

At least play one of the guitars I mentioned and compare it to the Furch. Actually, Musician inc. have both so youcould A/B them.

Definately will do, one thing i'll always do is play as many guitars as i can before i buy one. Price is important of course but flexible if i find what i want. Of course different guitars are good for different things, what sort of playing do you play on yours? For example loads of people have recommended good Gibson acoustics but they don't suit my style at all, guess i'll find out when i get there. I'll certainly try out both of those guitars anyway, the close proximity between the music shops is quite handy

Can't wait now to get it, my fingers are all itchy due to my current lacking of an acoustic. By no means am i set on getting a Furch, they're just one of the main brands i'm looking out for as i recall being impressed.
Thanks for all the help all anyway.

shatners basoon

Bought a McIlroy, nicest instrument i've ever played, really really beautiful. They had only got it in that day too so i was really really lucky that they had it in. Got it in Perfect Pitch. Its a A25c.

Tried loads of guitars, Furch, Martin, Avalon, Lakewood etc. None of them really did it for me, Martin probably came closest but after i played the McIlroy everything else suddenly turned really awful in comparison! Thanks a million for the recommendation, without it i probably wouldn't own this guitar. Can't get over how good it is

HusseinSarhan

Good man.

Kenny_D

Ah you bastard. lol. I've been waiting for an A25c to come into Perfect Pitch for over a year. They're supposed to ring me when they had one in. Lol I'm gonna cry. How much it set you back. Mcilroy had a small price increase in feb/march. Btw congrats on the selection. I played taylors over 3 times the price and they dont hold a patch on mcilroy. Wonderful guitar

Edit: Can you stick up some pics? Any sapwood in the walnut in the middle of the joint? I think that sets it off really well. Oh and was there any inlay work? Pickup?

shatners basoon

Oooof Sorry!!!

Twas indeed quite pricey, 2,700 to be exact so basically a month and a half worth of work went into getting it. Twas a good idea to take a year off and work so it seems

I'll try to stick up some photos when i get the chance, needless to say its pretty nice

i highly recommend getting one if you get the chance too. No pickup, there's inlay work alright and i'm not too sure about the sapwood, i'll give the specs later.

Edja

Congrats on buying the McIlroy!! Fantastic guitar isn't it??? I bought the A35c with Fishman Natural 1 matrix and Celtic Knot inlay about 2 months ago, and it just gets better and better! So playable!! You SO won't regret having one of those. I played a gig down in Doonbeg Golf Club about a month ago, and one of the guests (Millionaire B@stard!!) got up and played it, said it was the most wonderful thing he had ever played! I was quite chuffed might I add!!

Best of luck with it, and treat it well!!!

shatners basoon

Edja wrote:

said it was the most wonderful thing he had ever played!

I'd agree with that

Didn't get around to taking photos of it yet (no computer in my current home and i can't exactly upload them at work, maybe next week tho) Found some on the internet though after much searching that matches mine. I'll try stick some up over the weekend tho, these'll give you some insight into what it looks like tho.
Anyway here ya go

and

Kenny_D

Lol sure Edja bought his from Shoreline. I think anyone that has an itch for a McIlroy has saw those photos on Shoreline way too many times. I know I have and still no Mcilroy

leninbenjamin

and to think you weren't gonna try the McIlroy at first! just as well he took it out for ya!

Kenny_D

Took it out? Had they literally just arrived in their box/cases?

leninbenjamin

GStormcrow wrote:

Took it out? Had they literally just arrived in their box/cases?

yup, they went to the hassle of going down to the cellar and getting it to let him play it even after he said he didn't want to pay that much for a guitar... then he fell in love...

Edit: oh and it wasn't "They", it was the only one! makes me wanna take a year out just to save up for one too, they are that nice!

Kenny_D

Hehe I know. I was lucky enough to play an A85 model they had in last year. I think it was 8 grand though. Jimmy McCarthy bought it that week