First stop on the Kragenbrink Road Trip - My Review!

[CalvinBW]

If you were wondering how this whole Road Trip event came to be, you wouldn’t believe that it all started with my boredom at work…heck I still don’t even believe that it happened. While surfing the AGF, I noticed an interesting link on Lance Kragenbrink’s handle. It said…”my chat” with a smiley face right next to it. My curiosity aroused, I did the only logical thing I could have done at that point - look around the office, make sure no one was looking, and click that link for all I was worth. Lo and behold, it brought me to a Google chat room where Lance was habituating for the moment. We started talking a bit about guitars and luthiery. I also told him how much I enjoyed the clips I heard of his Malaysian blackwood guitar. After modestly thanking me, he casually responded that the exact model I heard was going on sale and that I should check it out – to which I replied with a hearty sad face. I just did not have the money to purchase such a fine looking instrument. After he realized the depths of my poverty, Lance casually asked me if I wanted to test out the guitar and then send it back. The only string attached was that I would have to write a review on it. I couldn’t believe it. Are you kidding? I thought he was yankin’ my chain. Who lets a random stranger test out a guitar worth thousands of dollars?

Lance Kragenbrink. That’s who.

So anyway, I waited for the guitar with bated breath. I think about a month went by in my world, but it was actually only a couple of days that passed until I received this instrument. I took it out of the box, took some quick photos, and I played that bad boy like there was no tomorrow (very carefully though, Lance!). Here are its specs:
The guitar that you will be hearing about is one of the E2 models, built in 2007 http://www.kragenbrinkguitars.com/models.htm.

This particular guitar has:
• Adirondack top with Malaysian Blackwood back and sides
• Adirondack bracing top and bottom
• SJ body shape
• Flamed Koa rosette and bindings, Ebony fretboard, bridge and headstock overlay
• B/w/B/RED/B/w/B top purflings, b/w/b fine side purflings
• FWI Nut and Saddle
• Five piece Mahogany neck, and MOP logo
• 1 3/4 nut, 2 1/4 saddle, and 25.4 scale

So this will be the first of many reviews on this particular guitar. I have decided to break down my review into different sections for ease of reading. Here are just some of my thoughts:

Fit and Finish:

The first thing I did when I got the E2 was to check out the aesthetics. You can judge for yourself on the pictures, but man…this is a purty guitar. Lance told me that there were some minor “boo boo’s” on the body after the Healdsburg festival…I think he was lying. I have a pretty discriminating eye and I could not find the aforementioned wounds. The Adi top he chose had beautiful straight graining with some brown streaks that I thought are quite tasteful. The Malaysian blackwood had unique and distinct graining that added tremendously to the overall look not to mention that it has a great piece of sapwood towards the bottom. I love it! The headstock is well designed, the koa rosette matched very well with the rest of the guitar, pickguard well chosen, and the use of the red purfling was excellent. I could not find one thing out of place. Gosh, the guitar even smelled great. This guitar has very neat lines and you can tell that it was crafted with much care. There wasn’t any inlay so I cannot comment on that, but the headstock with the “kragenbrink” logo is very sleek and well done.

Playability:

This guitar came with the action perfectly set up. The neck had a glossy finish and it was not a standard Taylor GA neck size…it is a bit fatter. Although I have smaller hands and I prefer satin necks, I found this guitar to be very easy to play. There was no buzzing and the guitar handled well finger-picking, flat-picking, and aggressive strumming. Oh yeah, this guitar is light too! I was surprised, but it is not heavy at all.

Tone:

This is what you’re all waiting for, I bet (if you are still reading this heinously long post that is). So the tone…geez, where do I even begin. This is probably the best sounding guitar I have ever played. Granted, I have not played too many hand-built guitars, but I have played many high-end Taylor’s, Martin’s, R. Taylor, Collings etc. The adi top gave the guitar great projection, power, sustain, and headroom. I played a simple D chord and it kept ringing for about 22 seconds. Not too shabby! The Malaysian blackwood gave the notes a crispness and rich sound that reminded me more of rosewood than mahogany or maple. It is a very unique sound, but if I had to pinpoint it, strumming kind of sounds like a mix of rosewood’s rich tone with Koa’s brightness and punch. Picked, the notes are full and lush....It really sounded great while picking and I was very impressed about how well it handled aggressive strumming. It had fantastic note-to-note separation and the complex overtones that were produced were very musical. It had the familiar boomy bass that the SJ body lends itself to, but it did not sacrifice any of the mids or high. Tonally balanced across the spectrum probably describes this guitar very accurately. As such, this is an extremely versatile guitar that could pretty much handle anything that you threw at it. I did feel like the guitar could still get better once the top opens. It still sounds a bit, “tight” and compressed, but I’m sure that will end after a little bit of time and playing. You will have to mic it up though because it does not have a pickup nor does it have any strap pins.

Cons:

Okay, so I had to really dig deep to fill out this section. The only things that I did not like about the guitar were mostly personal preferences. For example, I did not like the bigger and glossy neck, and I did not think that the heel cap and neck were particularly attractive. I was also not particularly thrilled about the choice of strings. I think they are D’addarios EJ16’s and they were not the most comfortable to play…but I got over that. And that’s pretty much it in terms of cons. I think these are all pretty minor issues though.

Overall:

I think that this is a fantastic guitar, if you haven’t gotten that impression yet. Lance is a fantastic luthier that has a very bright future ahead of him - he makes a truly outstanding guitar. I think pretty soon, he could start charging even more for his instruments. Anyway, that is my review. I will try to post pictures up soon. For now though, I need to sleep. It is late on the east coast! Leave me any questions you may have and I will get to them soon. Thanks for reading this and great big thanks to Lance for being so kind as to let us try out his guitars and do some shameless plugs for him.
Hopefully I didn’t make too many writing errors on this…

[Dave R]

Thanks for the detailed review.

I played this guitar briefly at Lance's house when I was picking up my cocobolo/LS redwood guitar, and I agree it's a good one. I also heard it played by Steve Wildley at the Montreal guitar show a few weeks ago; he really made it sing.

Lance is making some truly fine guitars these days.

Dave

[CalvinBW]

Sorry guys, the bottom bit of the review was cut off. I have attached it now. Pictures to come soon!

[fitness1]

I'm excited about finally getting to play one of Lance's creations.....the link you put up has a little note about a Carpathian and Flamed Mahogany E2 "for sale" ....needless to say, Mr K just got an email!!!

[CalvinBW]

Here are some pictures that I took...not great photos, but they give you the general idea!

[Brent Hutto]

Calvin,

Nice review. No pics of the big grin on yer face when you were strumming away on that thing?

[cotten]

Thanks, Calvin, for letting us in on a great looking, fine sounding guitar. And thank YOU, Lance, for the road trip. I suspect you're going to make a number of people happy with this one!

cotten

[sayheyjeff]

Decided to let Calvin's thread stand and not start a new one for the 2nd stop on the tour. Before continuing to sing the praises, let me say Calvin did a great job in writing his review and really did the guitar justice. Calvin and I did a convenient transfer in a strip mall parking lot. He headed to lunch with friends and I loaded the guitar and its box in the back of my mini (could have got another one in too if someone wants to send two guitars on tour next time) and headed home. Played a couple of hours that afternoon, another hour that evening, and then hosted a gathering of 7 AGFers, friends and a neighbor. Folks stayed and played about 3 hours or so. A few Taylors and Martins showed up to go with my Larrivees and the old Gibson. The little gathering provided an opportunity to hear different guitars, different music, picking, fingerpicking and strumming. A relatively 'shy' group extremely modest about its playing, there was far more noodling than playing and almost no singing til neighbor Kevin played and sang a bunch of his songs at the end of the afternoon. No picture taking either. Just bought an H-2 but haven't learned to use it yet and 2 things I cannot do are sing or take pictures. Calvin gave us really good picturres. Playing is just starting to come a little I think.

But enough of my weekend. Let me add to Calvin's comments:

Fit and Finish: This guitar was understated elegance! To me it was just gorgeous. Not a big bling guy, but I loved the beautiful woods, the glossy shine, and the subtle trimwork. Liked the look of the neck and the heel too. I love the way the mahogany of my Larrivee L05MT looks, but the light colored spruce top contrasted with the dark back and sides and the koa rosette was just another beautiful look. Agree with Calvin on the pickguard too.

Playability: Really comfortable to hold and play. Low action was just how I like it and the fretboard felt good to me. And this is one light guitar. Boone's OM35 was lighter than my L05MT too, but not like this. Nice. The neck was closer in shape and feel to my Larrivee than it was to the 2 Martins or the 3 Taylors people brought over. I think the consensus was the neck was a little big or wide for smaller and not what some people would choose. Again, it was much like my L05 so I found it pretty comfortable and wasn't thinking about it after a few minutes. Comfortable - but it will be interesting to see what others say.

Tone: This guitar just sang out and it sang out forever. It wasn't just new strings or the fact that it was tuned down a half step, either. I agree with Calvin that it had phenominal balance. I was particularly interested in hearing it played with a flatpick, since that is what I am learning. Loved the sound. In the few hours I got to play it on my own, got to play everything I have been working on out of the Fiddler's Fakebook and Flatpicking Guitar Magazine. It was great for the old time and bluegrass songs I've been learning like Angelina Baker, Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine, June Apple, Liberty, and St. Anne's Reel. Then I was really surprised how it sounded like it was built for flatpicking old time and Irish tunes such as and The Battle of Aughrim, After the Battle of Aughrim, Farewell to Whiskey, Don Tremaine's Reel, Durang's Hornpipe, Folding Down the Sheets (don't do a search for that one on youtube), and Gallopede.

I can't speak for opening up. Don't have the experience to know it if and when I hear it. For tone and clarity tho, I felt the same way about this guitar I did when I played some very special guitars at Fine Acoustics in Westminster, and when some folks brought some omegas and goodalls (and others) to DC area AGF gatherings in the last year or so. There are some wonderful guitars being made and I am glad for the opportunity to try them out.

Con(s): How about that I couldn't adopt it like a stray puppy? Or maybe there is no place I can go to try some of Lance's other creations.

This guitar can be added to the list of guitars out there that should be considered a keeper. The only thing better than having a guitar like that would be able to play well enough to really make it sing. I say thanks again for the opportunity, and I recommend anyone who can make an opportunity to try it out while it is on this tour should do so.

jeff

[banpreso]

thanks for the reviews guys
still waiting for my turn

[L Kragenbrink]

Thanks for the kind reviews folks! Cant wait to hear what Chris Ruble has to say! I suspect he is jammin away as we speak!

[marty bradbury]

Great review and BEAUTIFUL guitar!!

[Ruble]

I greatly enjoyed my time with this guitar last night. I hope to have time to write a full review this evening (if I can stop playing long enough).

Chris

[Ruble]

Lance et al...

This is a really awesome experience to get to sample a handbuilt guitar in the comfort of my own home without a salesperson hovering over me. Thanks for taking the risk to ship this guitar all over the US.

So lets get down to my stream of conciousness review...

I really like the custom case. It is different and more interesting than the plain black cases many guitars come in. It felt sturdy and appeared to protect the guitar well.

I think the guitar is beautiful to look at...the Koa body binding and rosette are very nice. The back wood was particularly appealing. My wife disagreed and said the sapwood on the back (which extends up towards the waist of the guitar) made the guitar look like a butt from behind...I thought that was pretty funny.

I played this guitar back to back in comparison to my other guitars and felt that it held its own in volume and tone (except for my Wenge guitar that is just stinking LOUD). The comparison did make me wish this guitar had a soundport as I felt that would have improved the experience for the player.

I play almost entirely in drop tunings and went through DADGAD, Open D, Low C, Orkney, CGCGCD and CGCGAD and it sounds great in each tuning. I did like the neck and the spacing and felt it was a very easy guitar to play. I thought it did an especially nice on Don Ross' "Brooke's Waltz" and the harmonics just jumped out of the guitar.

One thing that was strange to me was how comfortable this guitar was to play. It is a full sized SJ but in the lap it feels smaller. I even took a few pictures of it between some of my guitars to make sure I wasn't crazy.

There are a few things I am not crazy about...I do not like the tuners, or at least I really prefer the Gotoh 510s. The Koa binding is beautiful and I wonder why it wasn't continued up the neck and around the headstock.

This experience makes me really want to finagle a way to try one of Lance's Redwood topped OM-FS models...I really like Redwood topped guitars (I have two now and one coming next week...an LS topped Charis)...

Thanks again Lance...Send me an email with info on sending this baby on to its next stop.

Chris

[L Kragenbrink]

Thanks for the review Chris!
I too prefer the Gotoh tuners, This was a speck guitar and I had a set of schallers that were sitting on my bench screaming use me!

To answer your question about the koa binding not on the fretboard and headstock, in general I bind my boards with the same material the board is made from, and I rarely bind the headstock. This is of course a personal preference and what looks "right" to my eyes. It goes with my less is more simplistic approach
That said, I have bound the headstock and fretboard in other material, it all depends on what I'm asked to do....

Thanks again! Next stop Humberto New York,NY 10128
ill get you the address tomorrow!

[L Kragenbrink]

Chris you've got mail.......