2014 François Leonard SP/IN

A 2014 classical guitar by Lorient luthier François Leonard, with a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides – pre-owned, with only minor signs of wear in the finish.

Influences

Trained at Newark in England and at Lakewood in Germany, and mentored from time to time by Dominique Field, François follows the French school of Daniel Friederich in aesthetics and structure, including double sides.

Sound and Condition

Each note is full and juicy, from bass to treble, and the sound is nuanced and expressive, with power for any concert situation. Apart from minor finish wear, it is in excellent condition.

François Leonard: A French Luthier in Lorient

François Leonard was born in Nantes, France, in 1973. After studying the guitar for a few years he moved to England in 1995, at 22, to learn guitar making at the Newark School under Roy Courtnall, and stayed five years, also building traditional instruments such as the Swedish nyckelharpa and the hammered dulcimer. In 2006 he set up his own workshop in Lorient, Brittany.

Lakewood, Tobias Berg and Dominique Field

Around 2000 he moved to Germany, where for five years he worked at Lakewood Guitars alongside Tobias Berg, in charge of body construction on several thousand guitars – learning above all how to choose tops and hear their thicknesses – and where Michel Brück taught him French polishing. In the French tradition of Daniel Friederich and Dominique Field, whom he visits regularly, he builds with double sides, and he meets with acousticians to add science to the intuitive side of his craft.