Bourgeois OMSC Custom Dark Forest Cypress

Every so often an instrument comes along that is far more than the sum of its parts, and this Bourgeois OMSC Custom is exactly that. Hand-built in Lewiston, Maine, under the guidance of master luthier Dana Bourgeois, it grew out of a chance meeting at the Fretboard Summit between Bourgeois and Aaron Lucas, the master sawyer behind Dark Forest Cypress.

At the heart of this guitar sits its extraordinary top, cut from reclaimed Dark Forest cypress that was officially dated on 11 October 2023, at which point it was found to be an astonishing 3758 years old. This is ancient, deep-sunken timber with striking visual character and, as it turns out, genuine tonal promise. Bourgeois pairs it with matching cypress bracing, chosen through extensive deflection testing to draw the very best from the wood. With a stiffness-to-weight ratio comparable to redwood, the cypress is delicate, highly responsive and exceptionally well balanced.

Framing that unique top are back and sides of solid cocobolo, a wood prized for its clarity and brightness that beautifully offsets the warmth of the cypress. The appointments are nothing short of breathtaking, headlined by a Cypress Swamp pictorial inlay by Auslon Inlay across the fingerboard and a matching cypress tree inlay on the headstock.

Tonally, this OMSC is something special. The cypress top gives a voice that is deep and warm at its core, with a surprising breadth of overtones, while the cocobolo lends clarity and definition on top. The result feels at once vintage and thoroughly modern, and the OMSC body responds beautifully to a fingerstyle touch, rewarding subtlety and dynamics in equal measure. This Bourgeois comes supplied with a certificate of authenticity for the cypress and a TFOA Passport.

This guitar has been carefully inspected for condition and playability, then set up to our Gold Standard by a luthier. We make sure it arrives in your hands exactly as it should: sounding its best, playing effortlessly and ready to be enjoyed from the very first note.