I first played Laurent’s A-2c model at Schoenberg – an Adirondack spruce and mahogany guitar that I subsequently bought. Shortly thereafter, I met Laurent at HGF 2013 and sampled a German spruce and Brazilian rosewood A-2 he was displaying at the show. That was along with an outrageously cool black-top C-4.
I’ve since played many Brondel guitars and admire his work for its gorgeous tone, consistency, and originality. He’s always trying something new with his aesthetics, and it usually winds up being subtle and classy. His guitars are extremely responsive. His neck profile is consistently commented on as being the most comfortable in existence. His workmanship is second to none. Plus, he lives in Maine, where all the best luthiers apparently come from.
Laurent made a Carpathian spruce and Madagascar rosewood A-2c for me in 2014 which has become a staple in my small collection of guitars. I like to use this guitar in particular for open tunings because the bass is so full and lush. I play this guitar just about every day. He brings a Martin tonal aesthetic to his work but with his own signature twist. I’m a major fanboy and believe he’s among the most talented builders working today.
I approached Laurent about building another guitar in 2016 at Santa Barbara. I’ve always liked the idea of having something with the same format as the A-2 but bigger. The A-1 is a similar 14 fret guitar but with a larger 15 5/8” lower bout compared to his standard 15” for the A-2. This will be the first time in quite a while that I’ve ventured into a guitar size that’s much larger than an OM.
I selected Pernambuco for the back and sides, and I suppose I owe Bruce Sexauer a debt of gratitude for introducing me to this wood. I believe I’ve played 2 guitars made from this wood, both Sexauers, and I really love the tone. I was particularly taken by the famous “exauer” guitar from HGF 2013. As Bruce has stated on this forum many times, this wood is particularly difficult to acquire in sizes sufficient for a guitar. Laurent was able to secure a nice quartersawn set for this build.
I chose Adirondack spruce because it’s simply my favorite spruce. I like the headroom and volume you get from red spruce, and I find that it gets unfairly characterized as stiff. In my experience, those builders who know how to work it can make it pretty sweet from the get-go. I like loud guitars and it tends to have the goods in that regard.
The orange of the Pernambuco will limit the aesthetics a bit to prevent too much clashing, but I’ve left the aesthetic details to Laurent. I think it’ll mostly be contrasting black. Simple without mixing too many colors and types of woods. I believe Mike D had an A-2 made with Pernambuco and I imagine the guitar will end up looking pretty close to that.
- Model: A-1c (15 5/8" lower bout, 14 fret)
- Top: Adirondack spruce
- Back and Sides: Pernambuco
- Nut Width: 1 3/4"
- Bridge spacing: 2 5/16"
- Bridge: Ebony
- Bridge and end pins: TBD
- Binding: TBD but probably ebony
- Rosette and purfling: "Double arrow" design
- Pickguard: Tortoise celluloid
- Neck: 1-piece mahogany
- Fingerboard: Ebony
- Profile: Standard (slim)
- Frets: EVO gold 55090
- Tuners: Alessi bronze
- Case: Hoffee
