Bourgeois DS Country Boy Sitka/Mahogany Guitar #9373  From Bourgeois

I've been around here long enough to play plenty of guitars that I'd consider top-10 best instruments, but there was always some sense of competition between them: vintage Martins and Gibsons toe-to-toe against fabulous new builds from Boucher and Santa Cruz, things of that nature. But there is no competition in my mind with this Bourgeois Country Boy DS. It is truly perfect.

The Country Boy aesthetic is unadorned yet classically handsome. While lacking flash, it abounds in sheer tone. There is no compromise in its sound. Booming bass without muddiness. Brassy mids without boxiness. Ringing treble without sharpness. And these qualities shine whether playing with pick or fingers, whether strumming or playing single-note runs. It's all based around a deceptively simple design: a 12-fret, long-scale dreadnought with Sitka spruce over mahogany back and sides. Nothing unheard of there. Yet, quite simply, it may be the most well-balanced guitar I've ever heard.