2015 François Leonard SP/IN

A 2015 classical guitar by French luthier François Leonard, with a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides, made in Lorient.

In the video above, Alex Tsiboulski plays Dozza's Etude No. 2 on this guitar.

Double Sides in the French Tradition

François's structural thinking owes much to Daniel Friederich and Dominique Field, and like them he builds with double sides for a stronger presence of sound. His workmanship is sharp and clean, and he takes great pride in the French polish.

Full-Bodied Spruce

The spruce top gives a full-bodied, juicy tone, with a plumpness in each note from the lowest bass to the highest treble. It is a stylish, nuanced and very expressive sound, with power for solo or ensemble use.

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.