Brentrup coming home with me tomorrow?

[Chip Booth]

Hi folks, just wanted to to share my excitement. I'm going to look at a Brentrup 21V on Tuesday and I just can't wait. I have never played one, but I have a feeling about them. Wish me luck, if all goes well I may have a new baby.

Chip

[JAK]

Good luck, of course, but in my opinion it's skill when it comes to making a Brentrup. Everybody has their own "sound" preferences, but I don't think you can go wrong with a Brentrup's sound, playability, fit and finish, and just a work of art. Go for it!

[bones12]

Chip, I think you will like the sound and the fit and finish. My Brentrup F4 (model 22V) is amazing and the sound is fantastic. Hans knows his mandolins. Congratulations. Doug

[Flowerpot]

Your feeling is well founded. I'd wager you'll fall in love with it! Good luck.

[JEStanek]

I'm green with envy!
Jamie
PS Congrats and enjoy.

[cgwilsonjr]

I have a 2004 L-21V that is simply an awe-inspiring instrument. Mine is red spruce and Bosnian maple. Good luck. Chuck

[mandolooter]

Did ya bring 'er home?

[357mag]

If I could afford a mandolin of that quality, the Brentrup would be my first choice. Congradulations!! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Rich Michaud]

You should love the Brentrup. Hans makes great instruments. I have one, another on order, and have played about a dozen or so. They are wonderful instruments as to tone and craftsmanship. Rich M.

[Chip Booth]

Oh yeah, it came home with me. In a Calton case, with a Tone Gaurd, and a '24 snakehead A Jr for a little brother http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif Man did I have a good trip! I'll post more details later. I gotta go play...

Chip

[G. Fisher]

Chip did you get the mandos at Greg Boyds' shop?

Welcome to the ever growing group of happy Brentrup owners. It is hard to stop at just one. My second one is almost ready to come home.

[iampeterfonda]

Congrats. Is that the proto-type that's in the classifieds. If so I played that a few years ago and thought it was great.

Hans says he's going to start cutting wood on my model 23 next week. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Mandobar]

here's a pic of my upcoming new brentrup.

http://www.mandobar.com/mystealth1.jpg

#5 for me.

[Flowerpot]

Wow, Mandobar, that's too cool. I'd love to try that one out some day.

I wonder how many Brentrup owners have gone back for seconds (or more)? I'm another guilty party (German and Italian M23's). It says a lot about the instruments, that people order a 2nd or 3rd, rather than going to another builder -- yea Hans!

[Jim Roberts]

Congratulations, Chip. #Hope your Brentrup gives you many hours of mirth and merriment!

Hans is a first class builder and a real gentleman. #I've got one of his German Spruce M21's and hope to someday own a Brentrup A4 or an F4.

Cheers!

[Chip Booth]

I did get these at Greg Boyd's. I will give a full trip report and some thoughts on the other instruments there as well when I get a chance. This not the Brentrup in the classifieds. It's a sunburst 21V with an Italian spruce top. The A jr is old, has a few cracks, may be oversprayed, in no way has original parts and just sounds great!

Chip

[elenbrandt-redux]

Mary (mandobar) - you just have to keep torturing me with your new toys. I am at 2 and (weakly) holding...

Mandotater -- much pleasure and joy to you!

(aside) Well, we won't be seeing him around for a while... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Chip Booth]

It's been a long crazy week where I didn't get the required Cafe time. #I wanted to finally chime in with my thoughts on the Brentrup and Greg boyd's shop.

First of all I want to thank Greg and Chad for letting me and my guitar playing buddy come in and have the run of the place. #It's safe to say I played basically everything with eight strings in the shop, and even a tiple with ten strings. #In fact, Greg would constantly pull things out of cases and say "here you gotta try this one..." #even when the deal was done, or it obviously wasn't the kind of thing I was interested in purchasing. #He just enjoys what he does, and spreads the joy of instruments around. #Chad also was kind enough to allow me to play and use his Gilchrist to test things against. #That mandolin is hands down the finest I have ever played, which made it tough to settle for anything else http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

I went with the hope of returning with the Brentrup, largely due to the great things I have heard and the obvious attention to detail he puts in. #I find his asthetic to be just what I am looking for. #I tried to have an open mind however, just because it looks right doesn't mean it has the sound you are looking for. #I've made that mistake before... #I tried the Brentrup right away and immediately liked it, but#the action was too low and it was obviously affecting volume and tone. #They took it the shop right away so that Greg could adjust things more to my liking. #In the meantime I played Webers, Pruchas and Givens, a Rigel, a Mowry, a Cole, even a Monteleone, and a lot more. #First off, the Webers were mostly cedar topped models, including some "Chad Fadley" models. #I have to say these are the best sounding Webers I have played. #The cedar solves the usual low mid clunkiness Webers have and are much more lively. #There is a full gloss burst Chad model seriously worth checking out. #This mando tempted me, but in the end I was looking for something a little different. I really liked the Givens, but the earlier models are very plain and the sound was comparable to my Flatiron. #The 90's A and F he has are very nice looking and sound great. #Most all of the Pruchas in the shop are really nice mandos, and have a sound in the direction of Chad's Gilchrist, stringy and full, but not overly bassy. #I have played several of these in the past and think they are well worth considering, though they aren't exactly a bargain. #I'm not knocking them at all, and have no bias against Cech # builders, just saying they seem priced just about how you expect a similar American handmade mando to be priced.

I think the real sleeper in the shop is the Schofield F-5. #It's hard to justify the money for a relatively unknown (to me at least) builder and a mandolin that has been this serioulsy beat up. #The peghead was broken off, it has several cracks and has been played to death, but still, this mandolin sounds great, and if I could have brought it home I would have. # And the Vega cylinderback sounds really interesting, I hadn't tried one of those before. #Not sure I want one, but it was pretty cool. Also of interest to me was a Rigel G110, a plain F holes A style. #I hadn;t played a Rigle in a good listening situation before. It was not what I would want to play acoustically around the house, but it's styling and electric tone might make it a cool rock and roll mando.

In the end, I liked a lot of the instruments there, but after several hours of comparing them the Brentrup still spoke to me on several levels. #I think in terms of sound there were several things there I could have been happy with, but the Brentrup was much improved with a few adjustments, and sounded as good or better than any of my other choices. #It has the stringy, reedy (almost jangly) sound I loved from the Gilchrist, with maybe a little bit more pronounced low end. #I can't claim it's anywhere near as loud or clear as the Gil, but, again, that's the best mandolin I have ever played and nothing in my price range is likely to be that nice. #The fit and finish of the Brentrup are far better than most everything I saw there. #It just felt right.

Oh yeah, and while I noodled around trying everything I fell in love with a beat up ol' '24 Gibson snakehead A Jr. #I was able to compare it to an excellent condition '23 or '24 A2Z and, honestly, I liked it better. #It has a much brighter, clearer tone that the earlier A models I have played, but still has that roundedness of sound, and something indefinable that only 80 years of playing can do for you. I couldn't resist, it had to come home with me.

Again, thanks to Greg and Chad for great service and a good time. #

Chip