Exquisite Torture; Laurent Brondel's Coco/Carpath. B-2

[Larry Pattis]

So I have had some nice interactions of late in discussing 24" scale guitars with a couple of builders, and Laurent Brondel came to my attention on the AGF, and then I was able to hear Al Petteway on a guitar via Dream Guitars...they had a guitar from Brondel there for a bit, recently.

I have valued not only the guitar-discussions, but also the friendships that are created when we reach out to share ideas with like-minded folks in our little corner of the world.

Laurent is building truly fabulous guitars in Maine, and I was fortunate enough to "short-stop" one, as a sort of a mini-road-trip experience last week.

"Exquisite" is the perfect word for the work that Laurent is doing, in fact. Innovative and also with a large toe-hold in traditional designs, his elegant guitars are pleasingly/lightly built, tonally robust, and top-shelf in terms of fit & finish, etc. I had his B-2 (000, 12 fret body) guitar here; with a 25" scale, beautiful Venetian cutaway, fully adjustable neck (Stauffer/Turner), recessed "cut-out" on the upper fingerboard, and more. Laurent uses an oil varnish finish which is a wonderful thing to behold. I say (to all the builders out there!), get rid of all the nitrocellulose finish work, and learn this oil-varnish finish! Gorgeous, and much more durable than nitro.

See the B-2 (and more) on Laurent's website

This guitar was built with what Laurent calls a "laterally arched (5' radius) top & back"...that is, a cylindrical build, rather than a hemispherical build to the top and back. This is somewhat similar to Stefan Sobell's work, and it provides an ultra-stiff top, allowing for the lightness-of-build I described earlier. It also provides for a "Manzer-wedge" like design under the right arm, for a comfortable fit with the guitar in your lap.

Tonally the guitar had a very direct, pure treble response, balanced mids, and a rich, full, focused bass. Just enough overtones to make each chord or note feel "full", without having too much going on. It was a joy to work through parts of my repertoire, and also do some of the scale and arpeggio exercises on this guitar. Beautifully balanced across and up/down the fingerboard, I was quite entranced while playing this guitar...it was just *so* responsive to the right hand, and yet not delicate in tone...and digging-in gave me all the volume one could ask for!

The Stauffer/Turner adjustable neck was a simple marvel...I don't know why every guitar is not built this way. The instrument showed up with action just a tad higher than I wanted. I loosened the one (allen) lock-nut, and then turned the second allen nut just a hair to see which way things moved. I then took my trusty 6" metal ruler (to measure action at the 12th fret) and turned the nut to the precise setting I wanted. I tightened things up, and I saw that in the tightening, things shifted just a hair, so I re-set things with this in mind. The second tightening gave me my set-up for the week! It took less than a minute to figure out and to accomplish.

Set it, and forget it.

Further, there is no *way* that this guitar could sound any better, and any fear of the Stauffer/Turner adjustable neck would be misplaced, IMO....and in the opinion of my wife, who got to listen to this guitar all week!

The "torture" part of the subject header is that of course the 25" scale is about an inch too long for *me*, and I have been playing on single-0 body size guitars (Larrivée PV-09) of late, and so the 000 felt like a Jumbo to me!

Any "normal" sized person would find this B-2 a rather comfortable fit, and the Venetian cutaway is not only as (or more) attractive as any cutaway I have seen, but it is also very ergonomically/player friendly when working up the neck, and with barre and partial-barre shapes.

All in all, and despite the personal torture, having the B-2 here was a joyful experience. I am hopeful that Laurent Brondel becomes a name that becomes familiar to those "in the know" about the best of the best in the guitar world...Laurent's work certainly deserves this kind of recognition.

[jaymarsch]

Larry,

Thanks for sharing your wonderful experience with one of Laurent's guitars.
I am fortunate to live in the area of Schoenberg's guitars and they acquire some of Laurent's beauties from time to time. I also have found his guitars to be comfortable to play, wonderfully balanced, with tone that is both rich and clean sounding.

I know what a good player you are so I know you can put a guitar through its paces!

Thanks again,
Jayne

[CraigRyder]

I 3rd the nomination. I was fortunate to have one of Laurent's guitars for two weeks about a year ago. No adjustable neck. An A1 (his "D," see his site for the changes he makes) with a 25.6 scale. No torture, just a really fine instrument as far as voice goes. Balance, projection, tone, the whole nine yards, and a subtlety beautiful look too.

Hope to have one, one of these days.

Cheers,

[rick-slo]

I borrowed that Laurent B-2 from Dream Guitars for a couple of days to check it out and it is indeed a fine guitar with a lots of clean note definition. The guitar records well and it has a great aroma too from the woods and finish used. It has a shallow body depth and the sound that comes from that did not quite fit my preferences but still quite impressive. Glad to see it has been sold.

[usb_chord]

Mr. Brondel certainly has an eye for dynamic design. The B2 is ridiculously handsome. Thanks for sharing!

[DamianL]

There certainly are a few Sobell similarities there in the design, from the headstock to the bodyshape to the top and back radius...

They look gorgeous indeed...

I couldn't agree more with what he says on his 'construction' page about there being no need for 'plastic and shell' on wooden guitars...

D

[El Conquistador]

Originally Posted by Larry Pattis

Tonally the guitar had a very direct, pure treble response, balanced mids, and a rich, full, focused bass. Just enough overtones to make each chord or note feel "full", without having too much going on.

Well, when I happened upon a Brondel at Schoenberg's, I simply was unable to let it go. So, it came home with me. Larry's description of the Brondel tone hits the mark perfectly. And, I must say, the pure elegance of the guitar helped weave its spell on me.

The only thing I would add is that when people play this guitar, they are at a loss for words and finally say, "It's just sounds so musical!". That is how I would sum up Laurent's guitars, they are just so darn musical.







I will add this,this is an 0 sized guitar. Yet it somehow produces as complete and satisfying bass response as I have ever heard. And, Laurent is a darn nice guy as well.
LC

[Larry Pattis]

Thanks for sharing this, EC, and to all that added words of praise/support for Laurent's work....yes, he is a nice guy, and the guitars, well....holy cow.

[M Sarad]

Winter NAMM of 2009 found me at the Luthier's Consortium. There I played about a dozen guitars. I kept coming back to one of Laurent's instruments. He left it with Eric and I tried to sell one of my guitars so that I could get the Brondel.

My other guitar didn't move and the Brondel got away.

I love his work. He is a rising star of great magnitude.

Here it is.

http://www.om28.com/sluthier/brona2.html

[Larry Pattis]

Originally Posted by M Sarad

Winter NAMM of 2009 found me at the Luthier's Consortium. There I played about a dozen guitars. I kept coming back to one of Laurent's instruments. He left it with Eric and I tried to sell one of my guitars so that I could get the Brondel.

My other guitar didn't move and the Brondel got away.

I love his work. He is a rising star of great magnitude.

Here it is.

http://www.om28.com/sluthier/brona2.html

Matt,

Laurent continues to build....maybe there will be another one that captures your heart...

Check out the photos and sound of this B-4 (single-0 size) beauty at GuitarGal:

http://www.guitargal.net/content/lau...n-blackwood-b4