Furch/Stonebridge Aged RS31AR Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar  From FurchStonebridge

The Furch Story

Frantisek Furch has been building acoustic guitars in the Czech Republic (formerly

Czechoslovakia) since 1981. Growing up under a Communist government where American music

was frowned upon, Furch and a large group of the youth at the time fell in love with the charms

of our culture’s music, especially Bluegrass and the acoustic folk-based types. They hid their

passion from authority and met and played late at night around campfires or deep in the woods,

far from the ears of authorities.

Understandably, many of the youth had difficulty procuring quality instruments, due to a

multitude of reasons, namely restrictive government trade policies, and lack of sufficient

spending money. This necessity led Frantisek, originally a banjo player, to begin building guitars

and mandolins to supply his friends and fellow music lovers. For the first 8 years of his

professional instrument-building career, business was conducted in secret because the

communist government outlawed private enterprise. In the garage of his parent’s home he built

acoustic guitars, selling them to the growing underground music community. Well before the fall

of Communism, Furch’s reputation grew and reached the ears and hands of many an impressed

music lover. Beginning in 1989, after the fall of Communism, Furch was finally able to build and

sell formally under his own name. His company was named Furch Musical Instruments. By then,

he was producing acoustic guitars that were superb in quality and in no time, he couldn’t keep

up with the demand. So employees were steadily added and in 1993, they moved the

production into a renovated mill.

Furch and his shop quickly gained a great reputation throughout Europe and Japan for making

highly affordable and extremely nice world-class guitars. By finely handcrafting his instruments

from traditional guitar tone woods like Rosewood, Mahogany, Maple and Cedar, and having

direct access to such highly desired species as the European Spruces, Furch’s guitars rank high

with many of the greats. When compared to other similar guitars, though, his stand out in value.

Furch and his shop of builders have also made use of many modern advancements in their oldworld

shop. His guitars today use a modified bolt-on neck joint as well as top notch hardware

like Schaller Tuners, and top of the line pickup systems.

In 1994, Furch entered the Frankfurt music fair for the first time. This proved to be quite

successful, and the demand for the instruments quickly surpassed their production capacity.

Orders were sold out for at least six months ahead of time.

In 1999, the new Millennium Series of acoustic guitars was introduced. By then, they were

completing thirty guitars a week, with a staff of 20 people.

In 2002, they delivered a guitar with the serial number of 15000 and had almost doubled their

production rate.

In 2003, they purchased a much larger section of the mill, which they began to completely

rebuild. The Durango and Bluegrass series of acoustic guitars were launched at the Frankfurt

music fair and were received with much enthusiasm.

In 2004, they moved into the new facilities and completed guitar number 18000.

In the summer of 2005, a decision was made to adopt the name of Stonebridge, for use in North

America and the UK.

In 2015, with the Furch brand name spreading from the rest of the world into North America,

Furch has decided to bring their instruments into North America under their own name instead of

the Stonebridge Brand. Furch and Company now offer their fine old world products to the entire

globe under the Furch name.