NGD: Baranik Retreux Parlor

[jaymarsch]

Sweet! I played a Baranik Retreux parlor a number of years back at Schoenberg’s and it was a monster of dynamics. Italian spruce/African Blackwood. You could make that guitar positively roar or whisper at will.
And, speaking of Will, nice video. Glad that you are enjoying your guitar in such a beautiful location.
Best,
Jayne

[TRose]

Sounds like a wonderful instrument. Continue to enjoy it in good health.
Thanks for the introduction to Will McNicol. I will check out his music.
Best,
Tom

[Deft Tungsman]

Here's a rough clip I made this morning of a song I wrote about a year ago.

The vocal performance is mediocre, but the little Baranik is golden!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np-lHYr6uBk

[colins]

A little guitar with a big sound!

[FormerFoodie]

I miss my Baranik Retreux. Italian over coco. It was super fun to play and packed a punch that belies it's little size.

When I was on my quest for the couch guitar of my dreams, the Retreux was at the top of my list for a while. Eventually, my tastes evolved and I came to the conclusion that an O-sized guitar was the smallest I would want in my stable and ultimately moved the Retreux in favor of a slightly larger, but subliminal guitar. I definitely loved my time with the Retreux!!!!

Thanks for sharing!

[Deft Tungsman]

Originally Posted by FormerFoodie

I miss my Baranik Retreux. Italian over coco. It was super fun to play and packed a punch that belies it's little size.



When I was on my quest for the couch guitar of my dreams, the Retreux was at the top of my list for a while. Eventually, my tastes evolved and I came to the conclusion that an O-sized guitar was the smallest I would want in my stable and ultimately moved the Retreux in favor of a slightly larger, but subliminal guitar. I definitely loved my time with the Retreux!!!!



Thanks for sharing!

I remember that guitar!! It had a gorgeous headstock overlay.

I’m always in awe at Mike Baranik’s creativity and sense of style. Every Retreux has unique aesthetic appointments and color combinations to showcase all the lovely pieces of wood he works with. Each one is given a name in addition to its own Retreux serial number. There’s a guy in France who has three Baranik parlors in addition to some very fine prewar Martin parlors. How much fun is that?

My evolution as a player could easily have been similar to yours, FF. In 2020 I played a Martin single-0 for the first time, and the format seemed like it was designed precisely for my body. Several months later, I lucked into the ‘33 0-17 in my signature and embarked upon a love affair that lasted many months. That could have been the end of the road for me and the Retreux. (See post #12 above).

These days, I play the Baranik just as much as the Martin. In my mind, neither one is a “couch guitar”, however. They’re both fantastic guitars that happen to be small and are fantastic because they are small.

But the similarities pretty much end there. I’ve got a lot of variety between the two. Of course the Retreux sounds boxier than the 0-17, but it’s such a full sound, there’s so much resonance and sustain, that you forget about “boxiness” and sink into the fun of playing a guitar with surprising dynamic range that’s so easy to control.