Bourgeois Guitars

It’s Sunday evening, February 9_th, 1964. The Beatles are making their American television debut in front of an audience of 73 million viewers. Among them, in the town of Westbrook, Maine, is a ten-year-old boy named Dana Bourgeois. As Dana recalled, “After that, about everyone my age ran out and got a guitar. And that’s how I got interested in playing.”

As so often happens in Maine, interest sparks creativity. Creativity kindles inspiration. Inspiration ignites passion. And passion becomes its own force of nature. In Maine, in the right hands, that force of nature can make almost anything happen. In the case of Dana Bourgeois, his hands would one day craft some of the best acoustic guitars in the world.

Making things by hand has always gone with the territory in Maine. Since its earliest days, with its geographical features and natural resources, Maine was an ideal place for a maker culture to evolve. Steeped in a spirit of independence and originality, Maine artisans would build a legacy of hands-on craftsmanship unlike any other. Today that legacy is alive and well in the inspired work of makers across the state.

Luthier Dana Bourgeois is proud to stand among them. A luthier is someone who builds or repairs string instruments. For Dana Bourgeois, becoming a world-class luthier was, in the words of his original inspirers, a long and winding road. But if that’s your path, there’s no more inspirational place to do the journey than Maine.

Dana Bourgeois would encounter another source of inspiration while studying art history at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. It was a book, but not exactly the kind you’d find on an art history syllabus. “Classic Guitar Construction” by Irving Sloane “There was no internet back then,” Dana reflected. “There were no guitar schools. There was just this one how-to book.”

That one book, coupled with Dana’s ingenuity and work ethic resulted in his first guitar, constructed for the most part in his dorm room. After graduating from Bowdoin, Dana opened a one-man guitar repair and restoration shop. His first commission for a hand-built guitar followed soon after. Then came the years of honing and harmonizing with legendary guitarists and luthiers, Paul Reed Smith and Eric Schoenberg.

In 1993, the long and winding road would lead to the door of his own guitar-making company in Lewiston, Maine.

These days tours of Bourgeois Guitars at its Canal Street location in Lewiston are possible with advance reservations. When you do take the tour, you’ll see a placard at the entrance that reads: Through this door pass those among the finest luthiers in the world. You’ll also hear the sounds of guitars not so much being built as being born. This is where the finest wood nature has to offer meets the finest guitar-making hands and minds assembled anywhere.

“We have ten guys in the shop,” Dana shared. “I’ve trained them all. It’s a different kind of operation. This is more of an artisanal process.”

Dana and his ten artisans make about 400 guitars a year. Their wood of choice for the soundboard is Adirondack red spruce. It’s the same type of wood that was used by luthiers in the 1930s and ‘40s, America’s golden age of guitars. After World War II, the wood became scarce due to overharvesting for other industries. Fortunately, Maine is home to some of the largest remaining stands of Adirondack red spruce today. Made from wood Dana Bourgeois hand selects, musicians can play new red spruce guitars again. And play they do.

Luke Bryan, Ricky Skaggs, Ray LaMontagne, Courtney Hartman, Bryan Smith, Doc Watson and Madonna’s longtime guitarist, Monte Pittman. Just a partial list of the world-renowned musicians who play Bourgeois guitars. With a clientele like that, Dana Bourgeois would be within his rights to do a little chest pounding. But his hands are too busy working on his next guitar.

“I come in each day because I expect to make a little bit better one,” Dana explained, “if I keep at it. It’s all based on that first one I made in my dorm room.”

While music made with Bourgeois Guitars can be heard around the world, the best way to experience music in Maine is at local music festivals and performance venues throughout the state. Just as the guitars of Dana Bourgeois have a distinctive sound, Maine music always offers inspiring, original players and performances. You can explore ways to experience Maine’s music culture here: