La Patrie Guitars

[adso]

Hi all!

I am considering to buy a La Patrie presentation or collection and I am not sure if I should buy it. Does anyone have any experience with these Canadian guitars? I played one and my first impression was positive, but I'd like to hear opinions of people who had experience with these guitars. They are a little unusual for classical guitars; they have a truss rod, marks on the side of the neck, etc. Do such different features make them better as classical guitars or do they not have a significant effect on the tone of the guitar? I will greatly appreciate any comments...

Adso

[TheEvan]

I've played several, fom the cheapie to the rosewood models. I find them easy to play, well made, and very dead in tone...

[DownUnder]

If you want to play baroque/classical music, I won't recommend La Patrie guitars. I used to own a La Patrie Presentation guitar before. Bought new for AUD 820. Sold after 8 months for AUD 450. If you are not careful, you can easily scratch the cedar soundboard, even with a slight impact. No doubt, the guitar is very easy to play. The overall length and action is comfortable for most players. I don't quite like the sound produced. It sounds a bit dull. It does not have the "bell" like sound. The marks on the side of the neck does not look too appealing to me. I believe a good guitarist should know the positioning well. When I owned the guitar, I did not notice that there was a truss rod. Therefore, I have no comments on that.

Anyway, I bought the guitar primarily because I heard lot's of good comments about the guitar. After playing on it for about 8 months, I realised that the La Patrie Presentation is not for me. The person that I sold my La Patrie to, loves the guitar very much. From my knowledge, he's not a classical/flamenco player. He loves the sound of the guitar. I guess different people have different opinions. You have to play the guitar for weeks/months before you know if the guitar suits you.

[NewLuthier]

I have a La Patrie Etude A/E that I picked up for a mere $200, for the money, it's hard to beat. Of course it's not a "great" guitar, but that's why it's not several thousand dollars. There are very few decent classical guitars in the low-mid price range (under $500) and this is one of them. Strings make all the difference on this guitar as well. The sound can be intolerable with the wrong set of strings, but Hannabach 815s seem to open it up beautifully. If you need a guitar on a budget, I'd definately recommend it. I bought mine used, and have never regretted it.

[chapmab]

I've been using an Etude model for about a year (the length of time I've been playing classical guitar)...and it's done pretty well. However, I quickly outgrew it and now I'm only using it because I don't have the money to replace it. I agree with the earlier posts that it has a dead tone and is very easily scratched, dented, chipped, etc. I'm not familiar witih the other guitars in this price range so I can't really offer a comparison.

Brian

[Mark]

I've had a Presentation for about a year now. If you're looking for a reasonably-priced intro classical or, if you, like me, are a steel string player who wants to expand your horizons without a major investment, it's a nice guitar. The tone is a little dull and the cedar top is very soft, so be careful (my two year old discovered that a microphone attached to a boom stand makes great carvings on a guitar top). Also, if you have the extra $150, buy the Collection. I played it when I was shopping and I like the solid Rosewood back -- much better projection than the Presentation (which has a laminated Rosewood back). Overall, not buying the Collection is my only regret.

In short, the La Patrie is a good (not great) guitar that's a good buy as long as you don't expect too much.

[Armando]

LaPatrie Guitars are comming from the house of Robert Godin (Godin Guitars) in the Canadian village La Patrie.

Godin is more famous for his electric guitars.
I own a "Norman" western steelstring guitar which also belongs to Godin.
The relation between price/quality is excellent. The guitar looks and sounds like a Martin but costs much less.

They use really excellent quality tonewoods, but their classical line guitars are not built in the traditonal spanish method.

I would therefore not buy a classical guitar from them.

I found the following article on their homepage:

Classics that are comfortable to play
Classical guitars of the past have typically been made with thick neck dimensions, while this promoted a certain amount of neck stability, it often made certain playing aspects difficult to execute. It is for this reason that special attention was directed to the neck design of the LaPatrie guitars. Neck width and string spacing conform to classical standards, but a new truss rod system allows the profile of the neck to be reduced producing a neck of extraordinary comfort, while increasing stability. The LaPatrie necks are carved from Honduras mahogany. All LaPatrie models feature a rosewood fingerboard and bridge.

Armando

[mel]

i had a rosewood concert model la patrie. it was a nice playing guitarm had a decent sound, but was not really a classical sounding instrument. i used it just as a beater. but i ended up beating it too hard, sadly. now i have a lyle that serves the same purpose that i got for $80. hard to beat the lyle.

[compsonheir]

i own an etude so i won't have to travel with my more expensive guitar. i wouldn't say the sound is any more dead than any other instrument that doesn't have a solid top. they're a great value for the price and i'm a great advocate of learning on a cedar-top instrument before picking up one with a spruce top. if you've been playing for awhile and are very serious about it then it's probably not the ideal instrument for you.

[manana]

I own a La Patrie Collection that I like very much. The tone does not sound dead to me. I found that the dots on the neck helped when I was just beginning. I bought a Pavan TP 30-64 because my hands are small and not as flexible as they used to be (I'm not a kid anymore !) I love my Pavan but I am hanging onto my La Patrie. I would recommend La Patrie guitars for beginners, especially due to their price. I think it's a good introductory guitar.