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Bourgeois Banjo Killer AT Sitka/Mahogany Guitar #8961 - Used  From Bourgeois

This Legacy Series Banjo Killer is a knockout of a Slope D with a Torrefied Bearclaw Sitka Top and Figured Mahogany back and sides.

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Bourgeois Guitars

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What We Think

Condition: Used, Very Good

Whether you need to cut through the band or just the tedium of the day, this mighty Slope won't let you down!  This Banjo Killer (a variant of Dana's Slope D) features a long scale and double scalloped bracing to offer the player additional power and clarity above the already focused punch native to Bourgeois' standard Slope Ds.  The top (and braces!) are torrefied for improved flexibility and lightness which translate to volume and a wonderful open quality that few brand new guitars reveal until months of playing have gone by.  That incredible figured Mahogany on the back and sides (nope, that's not Maple!) can be warm and full of breath or throaty and aggressive, depending on your right hand approach.  You and your flatpick will never be the same again!

SP Luthier Notes: Setup

Manufacturer's Description from Bourgeois

The Bourgeois BK Slope D,  is modeled after a legendary 1995 Bourgeois Slope D dubbed "The Banjo Killer" by Nashville flatpicking ace, Bryan Sutton. Bryan's original Banjo Killer has been used for numerous stage and recording performances, and was featured on the "Great Guitars" page of Acoustic Guitar magazine in October of 2000. Like the original, the new BK Slope D features Premium Bearclaw Sitka Spruce and Figured Mahogany back and sides, Brazilian Rosewood headstock, fretboard, bridge, and bridge plate, and Adirondack Spruce bracing. Additional features include ivoroid binding, snakehead headstock, 1 23/32" nut width, ebony bridge pins, Nickel /Ivoroid Waverly tuners and a natural finish.  

The first 30 guitars were introduced as a Limited Edition and will be signed and numbered by Bryan Sutton and Dana Bourgeois. 

Here's What Bryan Sutton has to say about the guitar:

"From the first time I played the Slope-D Bourgeois that would come to be known as the "Banjo Killer", I was amazed at the range of tone and volume the guitar could produce.  The guitar always seems to be to able to handle any dynamic level of play.  

I can hear the guitar clearly in a loud jam session without feeling like I have to overplay and also enjoy a full and sustained tone when I want to play softly.  Dana has recaptured that magic with the new BK model.  Congratulations Dana on 30 years of great guitars. "

Here's What Dana Bourgeois has to say about it:

" The BK Slope D known as the  Banjo Killer  has a deep, broad tone. Through wood selection and voicing, we push it in the  direction of a bigger bottom end, a "lush" top end,  and greater volume, similar to the characteristics of Bryan's original  Banjo Killer.  When I first started making slope shouldered  Dreadnoughts, I went for something as different as possible from the balanced and focused sound of my standard Dreadnought. The Banjo Killer gets me back to that original idea."

The Limited Edition Series will be completed in November of 2006.   An unsigned version of the  model will continue as the BK Slope D.  

Bourgeois Guitars

About Manufacturer

Bourgeois Guitars are defining the future of vintage tone, combining old-world hand-voicing techniques with modern innovations in design and materials. Built in a ca. 1850s mill in the industrial town of Lewiston Maine, master luthier Dana Bourgeois and his small team of highly skilled craftsman produce some of the finest steel-string instruments available today. 
 
Known for tonal excellence, meticulous craftsmanship and top-notch materials, they are played by six-string luminaries such as Bryan Sutton, Ricky Skaggs, Sean Watkins, Della Mae, the late Doc Watson and countless professional and nonprofessional enthusiasts. Bourgeois guitars have had a prominent role in the American steel-string guitar renaissance for more than two decades, helping shape acoustic music’s most recent rise in popularity.

Specifications

Model: Slope D Banjo Killer

Serial: 8961

Year: 2020

Top: Bearclaw Figured Aged Tone Sitka Spruce

Back & Sides: Figured Mahogany

Scale Length: Long Scale

Rosette: Wood Rings

Backstrip: DB Signature

Endpiece Inlay: Body Wood

Body Binding: Ivoroid

Purfling: Black/Maple/Black with Back and Sides

Head Shape: Bourgeois Snake Headstock

Head Veneer: Ziricote

Head Inlay: Mother of Pearl Bourgeois Logo

Head Binding: None

Fretboard Wood: 14 Fret Madagascar Rosewood

Fretboard Inlay: Tiny MOP Dots

Fretboard Binding: Ivoroid

Nut Width: 1 23/32"

Heel Cap: None

Tuners: Waverly Nickel/Ivoroid

Bridge: 2.2 Madagascar Rosewood Belly Bridge

Pins: Ebony with Pearl Dot

Pickguard: Celluloid Tortoise

Pickup: None

Label: Standard

Glue: Standard

Neck Finish: Satin

Headstock Finish: High Gloss

Body Finish: High Gloss

Top Color: Natural

Cutaway: None

Options: Aged Tone Torrefied Bracing / BK Bracing

Case: Hardshell