Labraid LXIV

[joebrent]

Today I very proudly took ownership of Brian's newest instrument, which he created after many discussions between the two of us. I'll be writing a little article about the creation process of this instrument in the next Mandolin Journal, but the crux of it was that I wanted an instrument I would never have to amplify when I play in chamber settings, that blended with a harp, and most importantly, was big, dark, and loud. And having now played on it for all of 45 minutes -- 5 of which were spent changing the E string which disintegrated after having been left in hot trucks and warehouses for the last week -- I can say unequivocally that this is the loudest mandolin I have ever played. It is stunningly, shockingly, face-meltingly loud, but yet consistent in tone from pp to ff. It never feels pushed, no matter where I am or what dynamic I'm playing at. It's just unbelievable, this thing. I'll attach the picture he sent me a few days ago, which I've already shown to some of you, and I'll have some sound files in a few days after it's played in a bit and I have Yuriy tweak the action for me, but even now, though it's been through UPS purgatory and emerged hot, dry, and cranky, I can tell that this is going to be just an unmitigated joy to play and to own. Thank you Brian, for having the guts to create something new and amazing, and for the craftsmanship that allowed you to create one of the finest mandolin I've ever played!

[DougC]

Woah! I have a whole lot of questions about this one. Perhaps they should be in the builders forum.
However, is the neck wider that usual? Scale length is ___? Wood used on the top plate?

And the sound, that's a big one.
And wow, another cool one Dean. Good work.

Doug

[Andrew DeMarco]

Sound clips! Videos!

[joebrent]

Brian, care to step in and tell everyone about her? By the way, I've named this one Pähkinä, which is Finnish for nut, since she has a walnut top. Isabella is very jealous...

[Ted Eschliman]

Outstanding! Bravo.

[Jim MacDaniel]

Intriguing and beautiful. Looking forward to the sound clips.

[Michael Wolf]

That´s very exciting and also very refreshing to see something totally unexpected like this. Very beautiful, it looks old and modern in the same time. Reminds me a bit on these Epiphone Recording Models, on the other hand there are seemingly some classic european elements.

May I ask if this is a flat top? There is a bend behind the bridge, isn´t it? And the back is a "semi-bowl"? What scale length does it have?

[labraid]

I'd be happy to answer some of your questions. Quite simply, this mandolin is Joe Brent's persona in mandolin form, from a builder's point of view. I did my very best to imagine Joe on stage with.. something. ...what was it? Well it was new and it was modern, it was sleek and it was completely innovative -- like Joe's style. I saw something, as Michael said, old and modern at the same time. This was the design which resulted.
The design is based in part on Fibonacci and other dimensional scales, but also largely on eye. In my early Fib studies, I did not trust my eye well enough. I wanted to correct that with this design.
Joe had asked me for a big sound, and he also had the impression that his box wasn't big enough. I fixed this very quickly with a box roughly two to three times normal volume -- we wanted a dark, cavernous sound. This was his request, I might not have had the gumption to do it otherwise.
This is as much Joe's creation as mine.
The scale is 14.25", 362mm. Joe had asked for high tension. I like high tension for several reasons, not all of which are desired in any given mandolin. But this one was different. High tension, for one, helps lower action possibilities, and I'll take that when I can get it. It also contributes a purer fundamental. This is in part what we were after.
The top is walnut. It is nothing special as far as woods go, and I have no interest in deceiving anyone that my wood is magical. I knew that using a wood with shorter fibres, a hardwood, would lower stiffness. It is also more porous, and therefore can be left thicker, for a broader tone spectrum -- depth, darkness. This would balance out the longer scale slightly, and also its light weight would add to volume. He had asked me for loud and of course I did everything in my power to bring that to reality. Walnut is a very fine, and oft overlooked tonewood. A straight grained piece was chosen to maximize stiffness.
Two spruce braces reinforce the top.
Inside the mandolin body you will find a speaker cone of sorts, suspended in mid-air. This is our true back, and it is carved of spruce, heavily into almost bowl form. Thick in the center, flexible near the edges, it is not much different than any other modern carved plate except that the curve is exaggerated, and because of this I was able to carve it to a delicate state. An "eggshell", much like my bowlbacks, but highly reactive in this case as well as the usual stiffness. This would give the tone greater push, power. Lightweight, it would add to tone, acting sympathetically and lengthening the attack when the mandolin would be pushed to its limits.
This delicate back would need much protection. Joe had already mentioned he had wanted a Tone-Gard. I liked the idea of, well, what a Tone Gard is meant to do, but I wanted to integrate the idea somehow. This was the perfect occasion. I am very fond of staved backs as you know, so I decided on the configuration you see here. The small hole is a relief valve if you will. It allows the true back to be driven by the top plate, and not held back by sound pressure formed with the muted plate against the body, however slight.
The top, I forgot to mention, is completely carved. Joe was looking for focus in his tone, there could be no slop. At the same time, I wanted to include what the cant has to offer tone in this case. I was happy to meld the two to create a tone which likely has never existed to date.
The name of this new mandolin I have decided will be "Grand Concert".

[mandobuzz]

Wowza! This is off-the-charts bold. I am still trying to wrap my mind around the look and the description of the design. I am SO looking forward to sound clips and more pictures (as I am sure many others are).

[joebrent]

I'd love for people to see some of the other photos Brian sent me during the build, if he doesn't mind --

PS luthiers, take note, if you want to build anticipation, send photos in drips and drabs over a year like Brian did, it drives the player crazy

[JEStanek]

Joe, thanks so much for the additional photos so I could see how the bowl back/tone guard works with the internal soundboard. So cool. Congratulations again. Amazing how such a new design can look so old!

Jamie

[JeffD]

Does it make any difference to the sound that the ninth fret is at the body? as opposed to say 12 or 14. I guess just that there is more box to boom.

Ever since the tone guard was invented I have thought about what a built in tone guard would be. I thought along the lines of an open lattice of staves behind the true back, as if you made an arch top, and added a bowl back, but only every other stave.

Its really cool the way you did it.

You do some amazing work. I am in awe.

[Martin Jonas]

Fascinating design. Bits of it remind me of the Harry Garmont mandolin, and bits of the Selmer design. Sound clips would indeed be most interesting. How are you getting on with the longer scale length, Joe? Any problems with fingering classical pieces?

Martin

[Jim Garber]

Fascinating, Brian and Joe. Thanks for the view into the design/thinking process. Amazing stuff. Joe: I must make an appointment to see and try this beauty. Congratulations... a great example of the beauty of collaboration between two artists.

[joebrent]

OK, well, here's a few seconds of a Bach flute sonata, recorded into my cheapo Edirol. The bridge is cut for Elixirs, although I have D'Addarios (which I've never liked) on it now because the original strings were destroyed in transit and apparently nobody in NYC carries Elixir mandolin strings. Also it's not nearly played in yet, and the Bailey strap I ordered hasn't arrived so technical playing is still kind of hard because it's not really meant to be played in your lap with nothing holding it up... blah blah blah, it'll give you the gist of how huge this thing is until next week when I can post some proper clips.

[JEStanek]

Nice voice. I think I can hear the higher tension in it too. Looking forward to more!

Jamie

[Mark Vaughan]

Brian's work is truly amazing. He recently completed a killer F5 for me (one of the only ones he's built). To my knowledge, his last four mandolins were a Lyon and Healy "reproduction" (not really the right word when it comes to Brian's work), my F5, a Roman classical, and now this new creation from his very fertile imagination. I can't think of another builder who is so aggressively pushing the boundaries of both the instrument and his repertoire of lutherie. In spite of the diversity of his projects, by all accounts his instruments are excellent (this is certainly the case for my F5). On top of all this, he's a great guy to work with - he seems to thrive on the exchange of ideas and there's nothing formulaic in his process. I'm looking forward to the time when I can hear more of his instruments (including this new beast) in person.

[labraid]

Mark, very nice to have you on the board, and happy you're enjoying your new mandolin. I can still hear the thump of the bass register from that one, ringing, ringing.
I look forward very much to your duo recording some time in the near future.

[billhay4]

Brian is, of course, a builder of an entirely different caliber than any other. But this instrument represents a quantum leap in his work. He incorporates thinking most of us aren't capable of, or if we do stray into such realms, are frightened to pursue.
I personally need to see and hear more of this instrument, so I hope this thread continues to develop.
Bravo, Brian.
Bill Hay

[Jake Wildwood]

Brian: What an incredible instrument -- I love to see a design pushed so far. Even through that poor little mic I think we're all getting the gist of this instrument: yikes!

[SGraham]

This mandolin has a sweet percussiveness that evokes the sound of a harp. I'd love to hear the two instruments together.

[vkioulaphides]

... and that may have been the very sound Joe and Brian heard in their heads, before this instrument was even conceived. As you know, Joe's future holds lots and lots of mandolin & harp music.

Cheers,

Victor

[joebrent]

I'll be on the Johnny Mandolin show with the new Labraid Sep 28th at 8 EST -- it streams live on the Dolce Channel http://www.dolcechannel.com/pages/liveradio.php if you want to see. More audio/video coming soon.

[Nat]

Joe was kind enough to let me play his new Labraid, and I was very impressed.

It's a shock to hear that much sound coming from such a narrow body. It is indeed dark and cavernous (a lot of sustain), but what impressed me was that it didn't have any of that metallic hollowness I've come to associate with "big" sounding mandolins (and which I dislike so much in some Gibson paddlehead A's).

Neither did it have that too-focused F-hole "cut" that comes across as muffled if you've been playing an oval-hole on a daily basis.

It was even across the strings, but I admit that the D string is particularly fantastic... that seems to be where its heart is.

In Joe's hands, it had a lute-like quality, particularly in the D and A strings. The combination of delicacy and volume was distinctive. I'd bet that, blindfolded, I could pick this mandolin out of a crowd.

When I was playing it, I couldn't hear so much of that lute quality. My suspicion is that the player's ears aren't in a spot that gets as much of that sound (though it's interesting to contemplate whether the F-hole overhang acts as a de facto side port). This might also be attributable to Joe being a better musician.

There are so many novel elements to this mandolin (the body shape, the double back, the pickguard routed into the top, the overhanging f-holes, the long scale length, etc.), that it's hard to pinpoint what each construction element adds, in particular, to the sound. But I can confirm that, collectively, it sounds great.

[Andrew DeMarco]

Sounds a bit like a banjo, almost like the strings are steel....

...or maybe it's just the onset of my annual obsession with Perpetual Motion in the past couple weeks.