The guitarist and instructor puts Green Series, Violet Series and Little Jane acoustics through their paces
Czech Republic-based Furch Guitars has made a name for itself over the last few years as a forward-thinking manufacturer of both high-end and affordable acoustic guitars that look, feel and, most importantly, sound great.
And to demonstrate how enticing and versatile the company’s offerings are, we hooked up guitarist and instructor Steve Stine with three diverse Furch models – a Green Series acoustic, a Violet Series acoustic and a Little Jane travel guitar.
“Furch Guitars have a fantastic feel, full and balanced sound and a very unique voicing and design,” Steve says at the top of the demo video. “And they also focus on the details and the quality, which ultimately leads to an incredibly beautiful, highly comfortable and great-sounding acoustic guitar.”
Furch Green Series (Image credit: Furch Guitars)
To begin, Steve grabs a Green Series acoustic, explaining that each of the company’s series of guitars “is based off the visual light spectrum. They start with Violet, then Indigo, then Blue, then Green, which is what we have here.”
From there, the series continues with Yellow, Orange, Red and, ultimately, Rainbow, “where you can customize the guitar any way you like,” Steve says.
In addition to the various series, there’s also a wide array of body styles and tonewood choices, as well as the option to include L.R. Baggs electronics.
When it comes to the Green Series acoustic, “the first thing I want to talk about is the playability,” Steve says. “When I first took it out of the guitar case I noticed two things. Number one there’s a really balanced and full guitar tone – so full, as a matter of fact, that right now I’m using a pretty thin guitar pick.”
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Furch Violet Series (Image credit: Furch Guitars)
He continues, “But for me, equally as important as how it sounds is how it plays. And what I really like about this guitar is the neck is very, very smooth, and it’s not overly thick. It’s very comfortable to play right out of the guitar case.
“There’s a lot of punch and availability of volume in this guitar,” Steve says.
There’s also some pretty cool features, including Furch's Composite Neck Reinforcement, or CNR, which, Steve explains, “consists of an adjustable truss rod that is placed inside a carbon casing within the heel of the neck. Basically what happens is, where the neck and the body come together, they create up to a 90 percent stabilization rate of the guitar neck.
“So when you’re dealing with different humidity, or you like to change your strings from thinner to thicker, it helps to stabilize the movement of the guitar neck. Which contributes to the tone and the overall feel of the guitar as well.”
Furch Little Jane (Image credit: Furch Guitars)
Additionally, the guitar boasts an “extra thin, extra durable” UV Cured Finish, which “actually adds to the tone and the resonance and the sustain of the guitar,” Steve says, “and converts overall to a louder and more vibrant-sounding instrument.”
Steve then plugs in the Green Series acoustic via its built-in L.R. Baggs electronics, so we can hear it for ourselves. “It sounds really nice and really full and really clean,” he remarks of the guitar.
Next up in Steve’s demo is an Indigo Series acoustic, one of the more affordable models in Furch’s range. “As you can see, it really does hold its own, even not being plugged in," Steve says. "It sounds really awesome and feels really great.”
Finally, Steve grabs a Little Jane travel guitar, demonstrating how easy it is to assemble – just attach the headstock, secure the neck into the body, quickly tune up the strings, and you’re off.
“It also breaks down really easy,” Steve says, “and then whenever you need it you can just pull that guitar neck out, clip it back on and you’re ready to go.”
But the Little Jane isn’t just a great travel guitar. “I remember a long time ago struggling with trying to find the right acoustic guitar to play,” Steve says, “because they always felt like they weren’t made for players like me with smaller hands. And coming from an electric guitar background I wanted to find something I could feel a little more comfortable with and be able to manipulate a little bit more.”
When it comes to Furch in general, Steve says, “One thing I think is amazing about these guitars is that when I pull them out of the guitar case they feel really good right away. And they’re very stable.
“They look wonderful, they play amazing and you should definitely check them out.”
Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.
