La Patrie Motif revisited
 

I had one of these in 2007 and unwisely sold it the following year (in my heady eBay days!). I liked it a lot and have often thought about buying another. Well, a couple of weeks ago I availed myself of one of MF's 15% off deals, and ordered one for the princely sum of just over $300.

And I'm really glad I did. What a lovely guitar this is - very sweet and rich-sounding with especially pleasing bass notes. There's something about the shape, reduced size and feel of it, too, that makes me want to play the heck out of it. I tried it in a few lowered tunings, and it performed admirably in all of them. I'm seriously considering buying another one (or maybe even two!) so that I could leave one in DADGAD and maybe one in open G, which could be tweaked for open C at a push. Many us probably agree that altering the tuning on the same guitar with nylon strings can throw the tuning into chaos. But with a guitar that's as nice and as economical as this one, the temptation to solve this issue by getting two is quite strong.

Congratulations on getting a Motif back in your life!

I own an Art & Lutherie Ami Nylon, essentially the same guitar as the Motif with a less-fancy finish, binding, rosette etc. The Ami has now been discontinued, with only La Patrie making the Godin-brands' 'parlor size classical guitar'.

Like you, I've also considered getting a second one (Motif or Ami Nylon) not for different tunings but to replace the cedar top with a spruce top The bolt-on neck design makes re-topping much, much easier. If I find one used at a good price, I'll probably do it. I'd then have the two basic classical guitar sounds--one warm, one bright.

Everyone's ears/fingers/style/needs are different, but my current fave strings for the little Canadian parlor are D'Addario Pro-Arte Dynacore W/Titanium Trebles, normal tension.

IMO the Motif is the best guitar in the La Patrie line. The other La Patries are fine (I've owned two Etudes), but the Motif is in a class of it's own--it sounds like no other current factory-built nylon-string guitar. It's smaller size makes it SO comfortable to play.

I currently own 5 classical guitars, but if I could only afford to own one, I'd probably choose the Ami Nylon.

Thanks! Their small body classical design is something really special, isn't it?

Do they do a Motif with a spruce top? If they do, I'd be very interested in getting one for the same reason as you - to have variety of sound with the same model.

I think I'll try out those strings you recommend.

I bought my Motif a little over 3 years ago when I wanted to start to learn how to place Classical guitar. I have moved up in the classical guitar models, but the Motif always impresses me when I do play it. It is my travel guitar for the most part.

Enjoy.

Thanks. This will probably be my travel guitar, too.

This was an excellent recommendation. I put a set of these on last week, and they've really sweetened up the sound.

Thanks for the recommendation on the strings -- I think my Motif has a lovely little voice to begin with, and I'm really looking forward to hearing how she sounds with these.

"Everyone's ears/fingers/style/needs are different, but my current fave strings for the little Canadian parlor are D'Addario Pro-Arte Dynacore W/Titanium Trebles, normal tension."

Going to breath new life into my Mostif. As ARiley said my girl already sounds really nice but will see how she sounds with these strings. Cheers Testa att spela på dagens sida om du vill ha alla de bästa sidorna i Sweden och härliga bonusar.

I recently put a set of Aquila Rubino strings on my Motif.
The trebles are an unusual "maroon" color which in my opinion fit the motif of the Motif quite well.
The trebles are very clear, crisp and bright without sounding thin at all and the overall balance and evenness of tone is spectacular. Very lively sounding.
The basses are average, not bad at all but not as shall I say, wonderful, as the trebles. I may try basses from other sets and see if I can find the perfect match.
My favorite on the Motif so far.

I finally put these on my sweet little Motif and you were right, that's a match made in heaven. Those strings really give her a rich, round, luscious voice, sweet and warm as a sun-ripened peach.

(I must be hungry :D)