Goodbye to Alvarez following 18 Months of Unresolvable (?) Quality Issues
I am afraid this story has all the sad similarities to the demise of my Gordon-Smith guitars account - Maybe it IS me after all.......
I have been thinking of buying a smaller bodied acoustic guitar for a while now. Having a Gibson J45 I started looking at Martins , Taylor, etc. They were all great but they were expensive, well the best ones were!!
Then I stumbled upon Furch guitars at Richard’s Guitars and started to do some research and they kept coming up trumps against the big American Brands. Pound for pound you were getting a quality guitar for a lot less outlay. I then made enquiries about some models and ended up with Furch’s Yellow Series OM-SR and elected to have an LR Baggs Anthem fitted. Anyway, it turned up a week ago and I’m only just leaving a review as any spare time I have I’m playing it.
It’s amazing 🤩. Great tone, easy to play due to the setup from the guys at Richard’s. The workmanship is flawless and it just feels like a quality instrument. There wasn’t a single mark, finger prints or any other blemishes so it was really packed carefully with the end user in mind when opening up the case to see it for the first time. It was sent Via DX by which once on its way on the day of delivery you could follow the van all the way to your door online.
It did take 2 weeks to come even though in stock but to be fair I was aware of that so had to be patient. I’ve bought guitars online before which turned up next day but they weren’t setup so they had to go away for that to be done.
Plenty of emails to keep you posted on where the guitar was in the queue and a phone call on the day of shipping to confirm my address.
I hope one day to make a visit from Suffolk to Richard’s Guitar Shop to purchase another!! Thanks to everyone there.
Highly recommended ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Very good store ! I've received my guitar yesterday, and everything is working well, very nice quality, I love it !
I wanted to get my son, Griff a special acoustic guitar for his 18th birthday. We had tried some nice Martin’s, Faith’s and Taylor’s locally in Cardiff however I had read some great reviews about Furch and thought we should try them.
With no local dealers stocking them, I found Richard’s Guitars online and through their website also became curious about Dowina, Auden and Eastman acoustic guitars.
We decided to have a daytrip to Stratford Upon Avon and had a 2 hour session exploring their wonderful range of superb guitars.
A special thank you to Jake who was very well informed and unobtrusively on hand for advice to help us make a decision.
Griff liked the tone of the Furch Violet Gc ER with its solid rosewood back and sides but he also liked the shape of its mahogany back and sided stablemate, the Furch Deluxe Gc EM with its duo of bevels.
Jake told us that Richard’s Guitars had ordered 4 custom built Furch Deluxe Gc models with spruce tops, rosewood back and sides and the bevel duo (not on Furch’s website but in effect Deluxe Gc ER). They contacted Furch to ask if one could be expedited from the factory in the Czech Republic in time for Griff’s birthday. It arrived at Stratford well ahead of the big day. Richard’s luthier Chris fitted an LR Baggs Anthem pick up and had it delivered to us in a beautiful Vintage Deluxe Tweed hard case as part of the deal.
The guitar looks and sounds absolutely stunning! The grain on the rosewood is gorgeous and to have solid rosewood back and sides with double bevels from the well known american companies would be over twice the price!
What an amazing relationship Richard’s have with Furch and what a fantastic experience we have had with Richard’s Guitars.
Thank you once again
Dan, Cardiff
A wonderful archtop acoustic from Eastman, 16 inch bout and basically a more affordable Gibson L5. Fantastic service from Richard and the team, great communication throughout, and the guitar arrived in absolutely perfect condition and plays wonderfully. Its getting a daily workout of Eddie Lang!
I was anew customer when I purchased my Eastman T386 just over a year ago, and was very pleased with thre service and expertise of the staff, as well as the wonderful experience I had choosing the guitar oin their showroom. I went on to buy another guitar (this time a Fretless Bass, by Cort) which was a "Pre-Loved" instrument. Again the experience was very good, and the setup was excellent. Having recently had mny free 1 year setup up, I can again say that thee service offered at Richards Guitars is second to none. They are accommodating when it comes to organising things to suit you, and the setup itself ranks as the best I have ever had.
Handmade with precision and attention to detail by Eastman. Set up to perfection by the Richards Guitar team.
A modern boutique re-imagining of the classic single-cut mahogany bodied guitar of the '50s.
Beautiful clear, articulate, and dynamic tones. My Eastman SB59 is my main guitar, used for writing, recording, out on the road, and peaceful moments of home playing.
I purchased my Furch, sight unseen and unplayed. I explained to Jake my style of music, how I played and the sound I was looking for. Originally I thought a Dowina was for me but after a few online chats, watching a few online videos etc., I was persuaded that I should go for Furch Blue Gc-CM Master's choice with the CNR active neck model instead. I am extremely pleased with the service I received, the advice given and the updates on ordering, arrival and delivery. All spot on. I was in no great hurry to get it but it was good to be kept informed.
This guitar is something special to hold, to play and to look at. It really is beautiful in all aspects. I had wanted to buy another acoustic (ideally electro) for a while and with the advice of a friend who has the T98 Parlour Lag I went for the T98 ACE. I wanted a high quality guitar that would feel equally at home with finger picking and strumming, had a warm tone, well balanced highs and lows, has a lovely resonance and could somehow effortlessly amplify my soft figure picking in the absence of long finger nails...oh and at a modest price (below £500) - not too much to ask for right!? Ha ha
Well I must say this has exceeded all expectations and I got more than I'd hoped for with the T98 ACE and that's even before I plug it in!
What made it even more special was the much needed advice and guidance I received from the team at Richard's Guitars whilst weighing up my options as well as the care and attention that went into setting up the guitar to my specifications and making sure that it was nothing less than amazing before it was posted out.
The quality of the guitar makes me play better and sound better. Part of my goal was to get back into guitar playing after going through a period of years where life was getting in the way. I can safely say since purchasing this guitar I have played more in the past few weeks than I had in the past 5 years! It even spurred me on to put up a proper guitar hanging rack.
I highly recommend the guitar and what's more I highly recommend Richard's Guitars
Richards guitars provided an unbelievable experience via on line purchase. he guitar came well packed and arrived in fantastic condition. Communication via email was flawless. I've attached a picture of me in the Amazon jungle from this past July!
Just bought another wonderful guitar from Richard's Guitars. It's an Auden 12 string. It's what I was missing in my arsenal of guitars. It is an amazing guitar that was recommended to me by Jon and Jake and they never let me down. It sings so sweetly and I can't put it down. Another massive thanks to Richard, Jon, Jake and Chris the guitar tech for all the expert advice and knowledge they gave me. They are all so understanding and great guys. The fingertips are sore but I'm a very happy guy...all the best, Barrie
