Bown 00 build - Lutz/Brazilian

[MThomson]

Fantastic sounding guitar - but you don't need me to tell you that. I really came to say what I great job I thought you did on the selection of pieces to show the different aspects of the guitars personality. Beautifully selected and executed. Thanks!

[Yrksman]

Other than a reminder of who it was who brought Bown OO-12 for you to play, I have to say that words fail me! Absolutely wonderful.

[pegleghowell]

Sounds great....."heavily braced"...pffffttt!!!

[Jofari]

That's a beautiful looking and sounding guitar! Wonderful playing as well. Congrats!

[usb_chord]

I'm still laughing about the "heavily braced" comment from the other page. You gotta love this forum. Lovely sounding guitar . . . congrats!

[jonnymosco]

Originally Posted by ZeroFretWear

Such a heavily braced guitar would have me running to get my deposit back, but I've never heard of Ralph Brown, so maybe his tops and backs are super thin?

Your comment has caused some interest.

I am relieved that Ralph knew what he was doing - the trebles are thick all the way up the fingerboard, the bass is full and, overall, it is balanced; it is the closest to a Spanish classical guitar I have experienced in a steel string. There is no sign of boxiness or that it is a small bodied guitar - in comparison with other steel string guitars with a similar body size it just has more of everything: volume, projection, depth, clarity, note separation and, something I didn't expect, it is warm in tone.

The videos give a hint of the range, but of course sitting and playing is the only true way to experience it.

Jonny

[jonnymosco]

Originally Posted by MThomson

Fantastic sounding guitar - but you don't need me to tell you that. I really came to say what I great job I thought you did on the selection of pieces to show the different aspects of the guitars personality. Beautifully selected and executed. Thanks!

Thanks, a compilation video is coming soon for Ralph's website! Ok, perhaps not for his website as that is not on the cards, but there will be more videos soon.

Originally Posted by Yrksman

Other than a reminder of who it was who brought Bown OO-12 for you to play, I have to say that words fail me! Absolutely wonderful.

Big thank you Chris... as you know, mine had to be even better than yours, well...

Originally Posted by pegleghowell

Sounds great....."heavily braced"...pffffttt!!!

What can I say? I've responded - Ralph follows this thread!

Originally Posted by Jofari

That's a beautiful looking and sounding guitar! Wonderful playing as well. Congrats!

Thanks. I think I'll be inspired for the foreseeable future.

Originally Posted by usb_chord

I'm still laughing about the "heavily braced" comment from the other page. You gotta love this forum. Lovely sounding guitar . . . congrats!

Thanks. I still need to source a photo of the bracing from an early 00, just out of interest.

Jonny

[Guitars44me]

A lovely instrument for sure, and very nice playing too!

Sounds wonderful!

Sorry I missed this thread before...

Enjoy it in fine health and high spirits

Salud

Paul

[Vaillant75]

Hi Jonny,

Thanks for the recordings. Obviously very fine playing (nothing new under the sun), but I also want to stress the impeccable production and style of your videos. British class at its finest, and as a French it hurts a little to admit it

That format clearly fits you well. I would have needed a cutaway, but I know your classical training developed great hand technique past the 12th fret. Will you still keep your Sobell as full size complement? I really hope we can meet some day and try our respective instruments.

Please keep us posted in case you do other recordings.
Cheers,

[jonnymosco]

Originally Posted by Vaillant75

Hi Jonny,

Thanks for the recordings. Obviously very fine playing (nothing new under the sun), but I also want to stress the impeccable production and style of your videos. British class at its finest, and as a French it hurts a little to admit it

That format clearly fits you well. I would have needed a cutaway, but I know your classical training developed great hand technique past the 12th fret. Will you still keep your Sobell as full size complement? I really hope we can meet some day and try our respective instruments.

Please keep us posted in case you do other recordings.
Cheers,

Merci Thom - I'm always striving for the videos to highlight the music so that nothing visual detracts, it's all work in progress though.

Playing the 00 size means that there is little adjustment when playing a classical, which is good for me. The Sobell is a tamed beast and does complement the 00 well, I'll also keep it for sentimental reasons.

I'm working on other videos now.

Jonny

[jonnymosco]

I finally found the time to make a demo video, exploring a range of pieces and styles to give a taste of what Ralph's 00 can do. It is his preferred body size and I now understand why.

I hope you enjoy it and find some pieces you may know.

Jonny

[TRose]

Impressive playing, guitar and video.
Thanks for sharing with us.
You do your new Bown justice.
Well done.

[Diamondave]

Spectacular....!!!

[steveh]

The polar opposite of most build threads around here, i.e. at its conclusion we get a very full and expansive demo of the guitar in question, played with great skill and finesse, and in a wide range of styles. Bravo and kudos to you.

Bravo also for achieving such a great sound with a solitary Apogee MiC: Proof positive that's 99% is in the fingers...and the guitar of course!

I know YouTube is deceptive etc. but if it's anything as good in "real life" then it's one of the very best I've heard from Ralph.

I know Ralph shies away from advertising his guitars: He'll want you to take that video down immediately, 'cos it's one of the best adverts for his craft that I've heard!

Will you sell it to me (and give me lessons)?!

Cheers,
Steve

[MThomson]

Fantastic demo. Really lets you see what the guitar is capable of in good hands. I think you've set the bar for build thread demos.