New Baby Brentrup 23V

[Flowerpot]

After a two year wait, here it is, a new red spruce/red maple Brentrup. I took off a little early from work today to open the box, and I was as nervous as a cat... don't know why, I was just afraid I wouldn't like it for some reason! Silly me! Well, you do tend to have high expectations for a custom instrument, and you're never sure whether you picked the right wood, etc. Until now!

[Flowerpot]

Specs: red spruce top, one piece slab cut red maple back. Compound radius fingerboard, Bill James tailpiece, MOP tuner keys, varnish finish, tung oil only on the back of the neck for a natural wood feel.

[Flowerpot]

The peghead...

[Flowerpot]

The neck. I don't know if I've seen a better tung oil type neck finish. This one blends seamlessly into the varnish, and feels like bare wood.

[jasona]

WOW!!! Very pretty!

[Flowerpot]

Oh yea, I forgot, it has the ebony "scooped" pickguard to match the scooped fingerboard.

So how's it sound?

Hard to make too many assessments yet, as it was shipped with little string tension and it will take a couple of days for the bridge to re-seat and settle in. Right now, it's loud, throaty, deep, and has about the most perfect A string I've heard in a long time. But it's still tight and green sounding in the treble. You can hear the pure tones struggling to get out of the mud. But I can hear the potential for wonderful depth. Hans builds for tone production two or three years out, and this one is no exception; gotta beat the heck out of it and let it start ringing.

[G_Smolt]

So...if you don't need your old brentrup anymore, my address is...

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Professor PT]

Afraid you wouldn't like it?!!? What are you, certifiably insane? Looks like sheer perfection to me. Now, I will say that the tone thing does scare me a bit; I can't imagine dropping that kind of money without playing an instrument first. I know Maestro Brentrup's reputation speaks well in regard to this, but should it take two or three years for a mandolin to sound great? I know there's the "opening up" phase, but isn't it, on average, less than two years? I guess it depends on the woods used, etc. In any event, I can't hear it through the photos, but it certainly looks like a keeper.

[Gail Hester]

Congratulations, that is a really beautiful mandolin and it sure does have the look of perfection. Hans has done it again! You’ll have to let us know how it sounds down the road a bit.

[goldtopper]

That thing is just hideous, though I would be willing to trade you 2 children and a 12 pack of Hamms for it, just to be fair.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[onlyagibsonisgoodenuff]

Professor, I understand red spruce takes longer to open up than some others, but when it does . . . well!

Congrats on a great new mandolin, Mark.

[Kbone]

She's a beauty - When i saw a table full of Brentrups at the " Winterfest " I felt like Ulysses tied to the boat listening to the Sirens , it was painful ,so i just kept away and obeyed the Commandment " Thou Shalt Not Covet "

[Jonathan James]

Stunning. Hans does some of the best finish work in the business. That back is out of this world and the headstock is pure beauty. Enjoy and play the #### out of it!

[Scotti Adams]

That is certainly one sexy mandolin..congrats...treat her right and she will respond.

[Bill James]

I wasn't going to tell, but I played this mandolin a couple of weeks ago and I rate it BIG WOW! Not that I wanted to play it mind you, Hans had my arm twisted behind my back until I agreed. It is one incredible mandolin! I honestly think it sounds as good new as my Red Spruce Brentrup did after opening up for a while. And of course visually, as you can see, it's another masterpiece.

There was a gent that came by, played it, and offered to buy it on the spot. Hans said "no, but I can build you one just like it". He said, "no, that's the one I want". Guess it was speaking to him!

Enjoy!

[Lane Pryce]

Mark your new mandolin sure is great looking.The attention to the detail is something else.Is that an ivory nut?Blends well with the binding.Congrats on your axe!! Lp

[JimW]

Flowerpot, you and I have talked about wood selection a few times in posts right after I got my new Custom mandolin because we selected the exact same woods I believe, just different builders. Your new Brentrup looks amazing and while it might sound a bit tight now, that wood combo will open up the more you play it. Just play it hard and often and it'll reward you with killer tone. I bet it already sounds fantastic and as it ages and gets broken in, it will just smooth out and be a monster. Mine is only 4 months old and it develops more each day, but honestly I'm happy with it just the way it is. By the way, the look of your Brentrup and my Elliott are surpisingly alike in many ways. Enjoy that fantastic mandolin and I'm sure all of us want to hear a few sound clips of it soon.

Jim http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Tim]

What are the details of the compound radius?

[mandopete]

Holy Smokes, that is one stunning mandolin!

[Flowerpot]

Thanks for the comments! Now I'm all set, with one Brentrup to pass on to each of the twins, when they pry them from my cold lifeless fingers.

The radius is set up to allow for a flat bridge but consistent action down the neck:

nut 7.5"
3rd fret 9"
8th fret 12"
12th fret 15"
19th fret 20"
bridge flat

I think the nut is bone.

I played it again before I went to bed, and it was getting re-settled after its "bottle shock" (as they say in the wine tasting circles). All I can say is Holy $#@*%, this thing has got the goods. Play a little, shake my head, grin, repeat. I gave Hans a very narrow tonal target to hit -- halfway between the dry treble of a traditional red spruce and the complexity of an Italian, a big percussive chop but not so deep as to be muddy, midrange resonance like a Nugget/Loar, and a clean "pop" attack on every note. He somehow hit it dead center, plus it's darned loud -- my hat's off to him. I really had trouble putting it down last night to go to bed. Tune after tune kept rolling off it as it sounded better and better. You can feel the chop in your gut, but every double-stop downstroke has an attack like a rifle shot. And just as alive on the 12th fret as it is on the 1st.

This may well be the one that stops the search.

Jim W, from the way you described yours, I bet these have a lot of similarities. I'd love to see your Elliot some time.

Prof, I hear what you're saying about tone vs time. When I talk about a mandolin sounding "good" two or three years out, I mean it will reach 99% of its potential. That doesn't mean it will sound "bad" right out of the box, just not as smooth and refined. But to start with nothing but a verbal description of the tone you want, and try to get a luthier to build that for you, that takes a lot of communication, you have to get to know the person a bit, and you have to carefully examine their previous work. But in the end it takes a leap of faith.

[Rich Michaud]

Hey Flowerpot, Congratulations. Its a beauty. I share in your joy having received my Brentrup 23V with the Italian spruce top and similar appointments. I have about 20 hours on it and have A B tested it against 2 Gils, a Nugget, and a Master Model. It is there with the best of them. I am a little slow on posting pics but I will try this weekend. The workmanship is incredible and the tone is truly wonderful all the way up the neck. In many ways it sounds like the new Gil that I have but is a thicker tone with the same bell-like ring-sustain going up the neck. As I was telling Hans last nite, it is becoming a favorite instrument. Hans is truly a master craftsman with a sense of humor to boot. Anyone out there reading this should give serious consideration to a Brentrup mando. I will post pics of mine hopefully this weekend. Rich

[Flowerpot]

Great, Rich, glad yours came in. What a way to round out your collection! Post pictures soon if you can.

[Bob Kellett]

Absolutely stunning, as is every instrument that comes from Hans' shop!! He is the Master! Congratulations, may you play it in good health!

[Peakbagr]

Here's another happy Brentrup owner. My Brentrup V23 came in October. 2 piece back, Italian spruce top, Ebony Wavelies, compound radius, scooped and fretted extension.
The only thing I would have changed is that I should have ordered 2.
The wait for me was about 2 years. The first year I "forgot" it was on order, then I waited out my trip to MN to visit with Hans and select wood. Then the hard part of the wait came.
Its just a wonderful mandolin that sounds better and better as time goes on. I recently got a decent digital camera and I'd like to post some pictures. You can see my mandolin being built on an earlier thread where I posted construction pictures.
I'm a guitar player who "discovered" the mandolin about 4 years ago, so what I really need is to find some really good players on the board who can take it for the spin it deserves and post a review.

[Skip Kelley]

Boy! That is one fine looking mando! The finish on the neck really blends in nice with the rest of the finish.
Enjoy!!

[Flowerpot]

I couldn't resist a couple of more pics. The wildflowers are blooming in Arizona, and I thought it might make a nice backdrop.

[Flowerpot]

The front side.

This mandolin sounds so good, I don't want to put it down to eat supper. Rather than add more verbage which would sound like exaggeration, I'll just say this is my dream mandolin, and I hope I never wake up!

[jasona]

simply the best finishes out there. I love seeing the grain through the dark part of the burst

[Rob Griffin]

Flowerpot, you and Rich are truly lucky fellows to have such great mandolins. Congratulations! They both are really beautiful! What part of Arizona do you live in? I live in Phoenix myself.

Rob

[Flowerpot]

Rob, I live in Tucson. We have a nice stand of Mexican Poppies and other wildflowers growing in the yard. Lots of rain this spring.

If you get down this way, give me a shout.

I sure like the look of Rich's mandolin too. We got on the list one day apart, and they would have been delivered nearly at the same time, expect mine had a last minute "ding" that had to be buffed out. I think it was worth the wait.

[Picknpine]

Hi There, I have to say I love Brentrup Mandolins and this one is a beauty. WOW! I have a Brentrup in the works. I can't wait to get it. The kind of music I play and instrument has to be loud and have alot of tonal quility. When you play in a six piece band you need all of the help you can get, and Brentrup mandos are it!
Cody Shuler-Pine Mountain Rairoad http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[diamond ace]

Very nice! Looks like your happy to say the least. I'm sure you will love it for years to come. Congrats.

[Flatpick]

WOW!!!!!!!!!

[JAK]

Hey Flowerpot, what strings and gauge have you found work best on that beuaty?

[Flowerpot]

It's got the original J74's on it. It may be a while before I change strings, as I don't want to upset the break-in period. I've taken off the string tension, one pair at a time, to do some tweaking to the nut, and at this tender age (barely a month old now) it's taken a day for it to recover from each disturbance. Now that it's sounding good and breaking in nicely, I don't want to rock the boat.

In a couple of months I'll probably try some J75's, as the big hefty strings often work well with red spruce.

I've been playing this one every day, and the top is getting more supple now (you can feel it on the chop). It seems to work well to play a bunch of open chords, very hard, as in string-breaking volume, for 10 or 15 minutes to warm it up. Then it responds really well and the notes just pop right out. It makes a big difference to get it warmed up, as opposed to its older German spruce sibling, which comes out of the case pretty much ready to go.

[Peakbagr]

My Brentrup v23 is coming on 8 month old from the time it was finished in Han's shop. He mentioned leaving the original strings on as long as I could. Unless I bust one, they'll probably see their 1st birthday on the mandolin.
I too try to do some loud chording every session.