Barnes & Mullins | Award Winning Musical Instrument Distribution

Barnes & Mullins | Award Winning Musical Instrument Distribution

Furch Guitars Celebrates 45 Years Of Craftsmanship and Innovation

Furch Guitars (Furch), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of premium-quality, all-solid-wood acoustic instruments, is celebrating its 45th anniversary this year. The brand’s four-and-a- half-decade journey, from a handmade guitar built in a garage in 1981 to a globally recognised acoustic guitar manufacturer, is being marked by the release of
multiple exclusive limited-edition anniversary models unveiled during the anniversary celebration at the company’s headquarters in the Czech Republic.

František Furch machining a guitar neck in the early days of Furch Guitars. A skilled metalworker by trade, he built much of the tooling himself because specialized guitar-making equipment was not available in Czechoslovakia at the time.

The story of Furch Guitars began in 1981 in then-Czechoslovakia, when František Furch, a
metalworker and active musician in the local bluegrass scene, decided to build his own
instrument. His first guitar was a roundback model with a spruce soundboard repurposed
from an old piano. The guitar quickly attracted attention among František’s friends and
bandmates, who began asking him to build instruments for them as well. What started as a
personal solution to the lack of available quality guitars gradually grew into a company with an international presence.

“My father began building guitars because he wanted to play a better instrument than what was available to him at the time,” says Petr Furch, CEO of Furch Guitars. “From the very beginning, the company has been shaped by a combination of craftsmanship, the spirit of innovation, and technical thinking. That combination remains at the heart of Furch Guitars today.”

Today, Furch employs fewer than 80 luthiers, and every Furch guitar is built in the Czech Republic using a symbiosis of handcrafting and modern production technologies such as
collaborative robotics. Under the leadership of Petr Furch, son of founder František Furch, the company has become strongly research- and engineering-driven, with a development
philosophy focused on proprietary innovations that enhance acoustic performance, playability, stability, and long-term reliability.

Furch’s key technologies include the CNR System® Active, a neck joint labeled by many as one of the most important advancements in acoustic guitar construction in the last two decades. The system provides long-term neck stability, self-adjusting functionality that responds to humidity-induced soundboard movement, and effortless string action adjustment. Other key technologies include proprietary UV-polymerized resonance-enhancing finishes, optimized for ultra-low thickness while maintaining exceptional hardness, and the company’s proprietary individual soundboard voicing process, used to optimise the acoustic response of every instrument, including entry-level models and
travel guitars. Among the brand’s distinctive achievements is the foldable Little Jane travel guitar, which fits into a cabin-bag-sized backpack while still offering the tone, playability, and construction quality of a premium all-solid-wood acoustic instrument with an individually voiced top soundboard.

The CNR System® Active neck joint automatically compensates for changes in humidity, helping maintain optimal string action, while its integrated adjustment screw allows for precise, personalised playability.

The 45th anniversary celebrations take place on 12 June during Furch Backstage, Furch’s annual event for retailers, distributors, and partners. As part of the program, the company will introduce two new limited-edition anniversary models, further expanding on the Violet Anniversary Gc-EM a introduced earlier in the year.

Petr Furch demonstrates the engineering features behind Furch guitars during the annual Furch Backstage event, where business partners and friends of the brand get a rare behind-the-scenes look at the brand’s production, technologies, and craftsmanship.

The first model, Vintage Forty Five, builds on Furch’s acclaimed Vintage Series, combining an Alpine spruce top soundboard with Honduran rosewood back and sides. Its anniversary character is defined by elaborate solid koa and padauk appointments, along with special copper-designed frets. The second anniversary model, Eclipse Anniversary, is a special anniversary interpretation of the popular Eclipse Series. It combines the sleek all-black aesthetics of the original platform with exclusive commemorative design elements made of solid koa and padauk. One of the defining visual features is a custom anniversary headstock inlay composed of 45 miniature letter “F” elements. Furch’s anniversary celebration program includes live performances by acclaimed Czech artists who use Furch guitars, including David Koller, or the band Čechomor. Alongside many leading Czech musicians, Furch guitars are played by internationally recognised artists such as Al Di Meola, Suzanne Vega, Per Gessle, Glen Hansard, and Calum Graham.

The Eclipse Anniversary Padauk Gc-ER a and Eclipse Anniversary Koa Gc-ER a are special anniversary interpretations of the popular Eclipse Series, combining the sleek all-black aesthetics of the original platform with exclusive commemorative design elements made of solid koa and padauk.

After 45 years, Furch Guitars remains a family-owned company with a clear manufacturing philosophy. All instruments are built in the Czech Republic, and the company continues to invest in research, development, and expanded production capacity. Furch is currently completing a new factory building at its existing premises, designed to support further growth and strengthen the company’s production and engineering capabilities. “Forty-five years is a milestone that makes us proud, but more than anything, it makes us grateful,” concludes Petr Furch. “We are grateful to our players, partners, retailers, distributors,
and everyone in the Furch community who helps us inspire musicians around the world. At the same time, we do not see this anniversary as the closing of a chapter. We see it as the mere beginning of our effort to keep exploring and expanding what an acoustic guitar can be.”

Visualization of Furch Guitars’ new manufacturing hall, scheduled for completion in 2026.

About Furch Guitars
Founded in 1981, Furch Guitars (Furch) has worked its way up to become one of the world’s leading manufacturers of all-solid-wood acoustic guitars. The company’s production complex and head office are located in Velké Němčice in the municipality of Brno, Czech Republic. Furch instruments combine the company’s extensive know-how in handcrafting acoustic guitars with state-of-the-art technologies, production processes, and proprietary innovations. Thanks to that, the company is able to bring to the market premium-quality musical instruments with outstanding acoustic properties and excellent design parameters. Covered by a three-year warranty, Furch guitars are sold in over 40 countries on five continents. Furch employs over 70 luthiers and craftsmen and makes in excess of 9,000 instruments annually. Furch guitars are the preferred choice of such artists as Al di Meola, Suzanne Vega, Per Gessle, Glen Hansard, and Calum Graham. For additional information, visit www.furchguitars.com.

Latest articles

Related articles