Furch MC Yellow GC-cR SPA

Furch may be an unfamiliar name in the acoustic guitar world but the history of the company dates back to the 1970s in socialist Czechoslovakia (and is a worthwhile read for any avid musician here ). 

By the early 1990s Furch evolved into crafting acoustic guitars of various sizes and body styles. Furch has a vast line nowadays and is an internationally distributed guitar builder.

This particular single-cutaway guitar from their Yellow line, The Yellow Gc-CR Master’s Choice, is described as suited for fingerstyle and lighter playing styles.

Features

The beautiful Furch Yellow Master’s Choice grand auditorium, single cutaway, acoustic guitar has a AAA grade western red cedar top with an AA grade Indian rosewood back and sides coated in Furch’s proprietary, full-pore, high-gloss finish. The binding is an artificial tortoise with a white line and purfling, with five black and white lines. The sound hole rosette features a double ring with a black and white line and green abalone inlays. The soundboard is also protected by a transparent pickguard. The bridge is made of ebony and the bridge pins are artificial tortoise. The saddle is a fully compensated TUSQ with bridge pin spacing of 2-3/16inches.

The fretboard of the guitar is ebony with a 15 ¾” radius and a 25 9/16” scale length. The fretboard is adorned by white pearl eclipse inlays and white pearl position dot side inlays. The inlays, although simple, are very classy and clean appearing. The nut is also TUSQ, with a width of 1 ¾”

The neck is African mahogany with a Furch soft V profile. The neck has a satin finish while the ebony overlayed headstock has a high-gloss finish and the Furch F logo. Machine heads are Schaller M6 gold with 18:1 gear ratios and artificial tortoise machine head buttons. The neck is reinforced by the Furch CNR System with a dual-action truss rod. CNR stands for composite neck reinforcement. The truss rod is enclosed in a highly rigid carbon casing that maintains the neck in the set position over a much longer period than standard truss rods. However, it also facilitates a gradual bow in the neck over time. A casting made of special alloy located inside the neck heel facilitates a stable position of the next and its angle with the body.

The Yellow Master’s Choice guitar comes equipped with the top-of-the-line LR Baggs Stagepro Anthem pickups with side mounted tuner and equalizer. The Stagepro Anthem includes the Tru-Mic and Element under-saddle pickups, full chromatic tuner, master volume control, bass and treble controls, notch filter and phase inversion controls for eliminating feedback. It also has an easy click-lock battery access.

The guitar comes strung with Elixir phosphorus bronze Nanoweb 12-53 gauge strings.

The craftsmanship is undeniable, the frets are perfectly dressed and levelled with no sharp fret ends.

The guitar stays well in-tune thanks to high quality 18:1 Schaller tuners. 

The LR Baggs Stagepro Anthem pickup system was easy to use and provids a wide variety of tonal options and sonically very pleasing. The mix blends from the TRU-MIC position to the Element only. Bass and treble controls made noticeable changes in tone and along with the phase inversion and notch filter, really allows for diverse sonic options and real-time EQ adjustments. Changes in the volume knob did not alter overall tone. Battery access was easy as described and the built-in tuner allowed for quick adjustment. When the tuner is engaged, the sound is cut-out automatically so no one has to listen to you making tuning adjustments—a nice touch. The mics are also highly resistant to feedback which make it possible to play through the clean channel of most any amp.

Sound

The first strum of the guitar was exactly what was anticipated, and it vibrated through our bones. The tones were well balanced and not bass heavy nor too boomy, yet not thin sounding. 

When evaluating a grand auditorium acoustic guitar, I tend to look for it to fit a middle-of-the-range sound between a smaller sized grand concert and a larger size dreadnought. 

The grand auditorium is versatile in that it can typically accomplish both sonically well, and this guitar fits that bill. Of course gauges of strings and string materials will also significantly affect the tone.

True to Furch’s description of the guitar on their website, the guitar has a “crystal clear, harmonically rich, balanced and dynamic sound across the tonal spectrum.” Chords sound full and clear with excellent sustain, and the Elixir Nanoweb phosphor bronze strings are a perfect complement to this guitar acoustically. Taking advantage of the single cutaway for lead melody work, individual notes were clear and focused with a sweet acoustic vibe that is very lively. Lower range notes are clear and balanced and sonically fell in the middle of the spectrum, neither dark nor bright but instead well balanced.

Plugged in with the LR Baggs Stagepro Anthem pickup system the sound is stellar and sounded just like a mic’d acoustic guitar - the Furch did not disappoint. I was impressed with the quality of the acoustic sound from the LR Baggs system as well as the range of tones it delivered plugged in widens the versatility of this guitar.

The Yellow Master’s Choice is an all solid woods guitar in the Grand Auditorium shape with cutaway (c). The guitar features a soundboard from premium Western red cedar (cR) . The back and sides are made from high-quality Indian rosewood. The warm sound of these tonewoods is underscored by appointments that include a green abalone double-ring rosette and faux tortoise body binding. The body is protected by their proprietary Full-Pore High-Gloss Finish developed to enhance the resonance qualities of tonewoods. Thanks to high-quality materials and attractive appointments, the Yellow Master’s Choice is a beautiful instrument with finely tuned acoustic qualities. It produces a warm, round sound that is very balanced and suitable for demanding fingerstyle playing as well as a wide range of other styles. 

The Yellow Master’s Choice is fitted with the LR Baggs Stagepro Anthem (SPA) system, which combines a bridge pickup, an internal microphone, and a side-mounted preamp. The guitar comes with a heavy-duty Hiscox hardshell case. 

Grand Auditorium body shape with cutaway 

proprietary design features and production technologies, including innovative soundboard voicing, revolutionary Furch CNR System® Active neck joint and resonance enhancing Full-Pore High-Gloss Finish 

Beautiful warm look featuring appointments made from faux tortoise, abalone and mother-of-pearl. Cutting-edge LR Baggs Stagepro Anthem system. The Furch acoustic guitar comes with a high-rigidity Hiscox case that is very durable and suitable for travel, manufactured with a polyurethane insulating foam that protects the instrument from varying climatic changes that occur with travel.

Features : 

Body 

Available body shapes-Gc 

Neck-to-body joint-14th fret 

Solid top - grade -Western red cedar - AAA 

Solid back and sides - grade-Indian rosewood - AA 

Binding-Faux tortoise with white line 

Purfling-Five black and white lines 

Rosette-Abalone double ring with black and white line 

Bridge-Ebony 

Bridge pins-Faux tortoise 

Saddle-TUSQ fully compensated 

Bridge string spacing-2 3/16 

Top finish-Full-Pore High-Gloss Finish 

Back and sides finish-Full-Pore High-Gloss Finish 

Pickguard