Furch Little Jane

[Traveler2233]

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm considering buying a Furch Little Jane, Sitka/Mahogany, both because it's collapsible for travel and as a good 3/4 size hog guitar that will complement my Larrivee Rosewood guitar. I'm curious about your thoughts if you've owned or played one. Is it a good-sounding hog guitar? Is it something you'd enjoy playing when you're not traveling? Many thanks in advance for your comments!

[B0WIE]

My thoughts are less about that particular guitar and more about travel guitars, having tried many and having owned a very high end one. My advice would be to never buy them expecting to be happy with the tone. Physics just limit what a small box can do to the sound, no matter how good the builder is. You lose a lot of warmth and richness. If you need one for travel, get the one that functions best for your needs but don't expect it to be something you might pick up at home as an alternative to your full sized guitar. That's been my experience anyway.

 However, I find nylon strings respond much better to shorter scale lengths and can sound full and rich on a small box, unlike steel strings. So, if you're open to that, you can find extremely small nylon stringed guitars that sound pleasant and don't feel seriously compromised.

[teh]

If you are considering a Furch Little Jane, you might also want to look at a Furch Pioneer model. It doesn't have a collapsible neck but the list price is $500 to $700 less than the Little Jane. They come in a variety of solid wood choices including tops made of Sitka, Cedar or Mahogany, use an open pore, aka satin, finish, an optional Venetian cutaway and a nice padded gig bag. I recently bought a Furch Violet Series Grand Auditorium with an Englemann Spruce top, rosewood back and sides, Venetian cutaway, open pore finish, and a padded gig bag. It has a great tone, excellent fit and finish and a soft V neck.

Since I have smaller hands, I prefer the necks on all of my Larrivees and the low profile necks on two of my Martins over the Furch if I'm going to be playing longer than an hour. You might also want to consider a Larrivee parlor which has a 12 fret neck with a 24" scale. My first Larrivee purchased in 2004 was a parlor with a Sitka spruce top and flamed maple back and sides. My advice is to try a parlor before you buy it; some players love the parlor sound while others don't so you can often find a used one at a great price. I've had mine since 2004 and it's a nice travel guitar for car trips.

Good luck with your search.