Bourgeois Hawaiian DB Signature Deluxe

A fantastic baritone with gorgeous koa back and sides.

September 3, 2025

Bourgeois Guitars built its reputation on contemporary interpretations of classic American flattops. While many Bourgeois models effectively emulate vintage instruments, company founder Dana Bourgeois has introduced innovative construction details that put his instruments at the forefront of modern lutherie. The company just added its first baritone model. Because acoustic baritones are a relatively new concept and less defined than most other six-strings, it’s interesting to see how a maker approaches the challenge of building a low-tuned (usually B-to-B) guitar. Bourgeois showed their first baritone at the recent Fretboard Summit, and we were happy to check out the instrument in the Peghead Nation video studio before passing it along to Down Home Guitars in Frankfort, Illinois.

Bourgeois plans to make baritones with similar specs in several of its regular lines, but this first one is part of the Dana Bourgeois Signature Deluxe series, and is officially called the Hawaiian DB Signature Deluxe. The guitar is based on a 14-fret slope-shoulder dreadnought body with a 27-inch scale. The “Hawaiian” designation refers to the stunning figured koa for the guitar’s back and sides. Sporting incredible flame and deeper, richer, coloring than most koa, this is a primo set of the prized Hawaiian wood. The top is Aged Tone Adirondack spruce with a lovely honey-amber color. The “Aged Tone” tag indicates that it has been torrefied, which gives it a played-in tonal character right from the start. The guitar has Bourgeois’s original “snake” peghead shape (with a ziricote veneer face), herringbone purfling, and bone diamonds-and-squares position markers. Built with animal-protein glue, the guitar displays the impeccable craftsmanship typical of the company’s work.

I frequently use a baritone in my own playing (especially in my fingerstyle duo with fellow Peghead Nation instructor Doug Young), so I was eager to put the Bourgeois through its paces. The guitar’s 27-inch scale is on the shorter spectrum for a baritone, and has an overall feel closer to that of a regular guitar than some longer-scale designs that can top out at 29 inches. The 1¹³/₁₆-inch nut allows for plenty of space for the fretting-hand, without feeling either too wide or too crammed with the baritone’s thick strings. The instrument delivers the low-end growl expected from a baritone, but it also has the refined tonal balance that made Bourgeois famous. Whether playing fingerstyle, plunking single-note bass lines, or picking fat melodies, the Hawaiian DB Signature Deluxe delivers a rich tonal range beyond what’s possible without a baritone setup.

Dana Bourgeois and his company’s master luthier James Witkus have successfully adapted Bourgeois design ideas and aesthetics in making this baritone, and the inaugural effort is spectacular. I can’t wait to see where else the company takes this low-tones option.