The Acoustic Guitar Forum - Brentrup Guitars and Mandolins

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Brentrup Guitars and Mandolins

Hi Haans,
Nice to see you back. That is some beautiful Oak!

Haans

That is a beautiful 12 string. I'm really interested in contrasts to the big Taylor type super dreadnaught 12s that have been fashionable lately.

Your guitar looks comfortable to sit with and get your arm over.

I assume that it is ladder braced?

Two key questions for a player.

Is it difficult to restring, with the doubled up strings going into a single pin?

What string gauges/tuning can you use on the guitar?

I've always loved your take on some alternatives to the Martin/Gibson hegemony since seeing some of your work on the Luthier Community forum.

Very intriguing stuff.

Kym

Hi Haans,

Its great to see some of your work again. If you are up for it I would love to get one of your oak guitars over here sometime.

Haans great to see these guitars. still love my GC 6. Great sounding and looking. keep posting more

Will do Ed. Glad you like the GC. Currently, I'm working on a BRW GC and I'll post some photos soon.

Trevor, I may have an instrument for you.

Kym, thank you!
Holzapfels have pretty deep boxes, but I have thought of making them a bit slimmer. I think the Stella is actually more comfortable because it is a little slimmer in depth. The 6 pin bride is a bit more difficult to string, as you have to make sure the new strings sit right in the slots before putting in the pin. Have never cared to do that, but thought I'd try the bridge. The owner doesn't seem to have a problem with it, but I also make the 12 pin bridge for them.
Strings on the instrument are pretty heavy, .070-.020, but I think the owner lightened them up a bit. Depends what you tune it to. If I remember right, it was tuned to B. I like a nice fat sound in my 12's. The Stelle is a bit stronger sounding, although a second Holzapfel sounds stronger with Sapele rather than Honduras but is not quite as "harmonious". Sapele is fast becoming my wood of preference for big 12's.
My most comfortable 12 is the MJ of course, but is a bit harder to tune with the short scale.

http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/w...roid/1-113.jpg

Tone on the white oak MJ-12 is remarkably Stella "like", but a tad weaker. Hard to beat a Stella for projection.

Both the Holzapfel and Stelle are ladder braced and the MJ-12 is my "W" bracing. Here's a short clip of the MJ when it was new.

http://s723.photobucket.com/user/ivo...20071.mp4.html

Thanks Tim, good to hear from you too. Really hard to find white oak with that kind of uniform ray between halves.
I'll try not to be such a stranger...

Truly great to see you posting Haans!
And needless to say, some stellar guitars.
What are your thoughts on the zero fret?

Joe

Hi Haans,

Welcome back.

Still building mandolins?

Hans,
Fantastic looking guitars! Glad you are posting your work again; there's not enough representation of your style of guitars/building on the forum.

Too bad you missed the last AGF Get-Together; I always enjoy chatting and hearing/playing your guitars.

Take care,
Chuck

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edbuff (Post 3460642)

Haans great to see these guitars. still love my GC 6. Great sounding and looking. keep posting more

Ed,
I played the twin to your oak/adi GC 6; great instrument. Glad to hear you are still enjoying yours.

Haans,

It's great to see you posting again,
I really enjoy following your build photo's, it's fascinating to watch your builds

Thanks again guys!
Hi Joe! Glad you are still around. Don't have a lot to say about the zero fret except it makes open strings sound like fretted a bit. Not a big deal and I guess I wouldn't do it again, because it interferes with fret dressings.
Chuck, good to hear from you...sorry I missed the gathering, but wasn't feeling well that day. Guess I quit posting because there seemed to be a lack of interest in traditional builds, favoring the "modern guitar". As you all know, I'm not much for modern in guitar building...
Jim, been a while, but I'm going to start another mandolin soon. Torn between a Loar A5C and an F5C.
Nort, my build photos aren't as pretty as some with the shop all cleaned up and a few chips of wood deliberately placed for the photo, but the idea gets across. Thanks for your interest!
Here's a few from the BRW GC build. This is the most beautiful set of BRW I have seen in a long time. Deep chocolate brown, the wood is over 70 years old and cut from huge beams. There are two irridescent green stripes in the center, much better than any center strip I could envision.
Next step is top purfling and binding...

http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/w...g?t=1367933304

http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/w...g?t=1367933345

http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/w...g?t=1367933379

Hi Hans,
Wow, that is quite the set of BRW for your Grand Concert. Is this a spec guitar or do you already have a customer? I assume you are using Adi for the top, or something else? What bracing are you going to use and how elaborate is the rosette and top purfling going to be?

Now we're talking ... big Larson fan here. Nice to see traditional, early 20th century builds like these in the midst of all the modernists. Lovely work!! Please post more about the BRW GC.

I really like what you do with oak Hans...much prefer it to Brazilian myself or indeed most other woods aesthetically.