Hi folks, I'm a newb here, so apologies if I get anything wrong. I've done my searches but found nothing on the forums.... does anyone have or have they played a Bourbon Street 3c-nc brass with cutaway? I don't expect (given the price, that they're astoundingly good, but I don't have any info to go on otherwise. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.
"Bourbon Street" reso guitars didn't ring a bell, and after googling the company I know why - they're based in Australia, and in checking out the list of dealers on their website - they are all in Australia..
They look nice enough, maybe toward the higher end of the seemingly endless list of companies that have guitars produced in Asian countries, China being of course being the main player. There could be several different brands of a variety of resonators coming out of the same Chinese factory, with many similarities between brands and occasionally nearly identical.
So no, haven't played one and as I wrote earlier, I didn't recall ever hearing about the brand.
Edited by - MarkinSonoma on 05/11/2025 17:20:50
Thanks MarkinSonoma,
Yeah, I'm in Australia, but, likewise haven't heard of these before. The little I could find, even on a meta search, seemed mostly to be re-hashed advertising, or for sale - hence, asking for any first hand knowledge. One post suggested they might be designed here, but vbuilt in China, but little mire info than that. Cheers again for your reply. Justin.
Edited by - juz63 on 05/11/2025 20:18:35
I'm wondering if they're the same guitar as the ones Mike Messer has shipped in to England under his name, but with Australian branding. If so, I've read good things about them.
Hello. Bourbon Street is owned by Jacaranda Music. The bodies are made in China, the guitars are put together and set up in Australia. The reviews I found on YouTube are typical for low-mid tier Asian made resonators. Set up needs to be done by a knowledgeable luthier and replacing the cone(s).
As the saying goes, “you get what you pay for”. This is very true in the resophonic instrument world.
Thanks J. Well done. I only saw a couple of people playing the brass bodies on YT. I realse they're not going to be stonkingly good, but it would be nice to know where they sit on a spectrum from someone with first hand knowledge. I'm not a brilliant player, by any stretch of the imagination, but I know that having an instrument that doesn't sound REALLY bad will keep me interested and happier.
I think you probably won't find a lot of reviews on these instruments here if they're only sold in Australia.
Here's the guitar being discussed:
mannys.com.au/products/bourbon...-and-case
Here is their website:
Edited by - Brad Bechtel on 05/14/2025 05:11:14
Thanks Brad. Yeah, I've seen both of these. I was hoping there might be more Aussies on the forum.... Thanks for your help anyway. juz.
Not 100% sure but I think most of these Asian metal bodies come from the same place, then it's up to the importer to do final QC and setup. I have a Republic Tricone and had a Johnson and was able to compare the two, they were basically the exact same thing but the cones and little details and setup were better on the Republic, it was also more expensive.
