2023 Sebastian Stenzel SP/MP

This instrument was built by German maker Sebastian Stenzel in 2023, and although barely "second hand", is in pretty much brand-new condition. Materials are of course superb as always - beautiful Bosnian quilted maple for back and sides and a beautiful, quarter-sawn European spruce top taken from a tree that Sebastian cut down in 2017 (see video, below). He also used 150-year old ebony obtained from an ebanista in Vienna for the fingerboard. Notably, this guitar has a slightly more compact body size, which was his standard many years ago, and which he rarely does now - a style of his of which we've always been very fond. It also has a lighter, 6-fan assymetrical bracing system. The resulting sound is rich and layered. Up front, there is a nice, crisp quality to the attack of every note which really helps give the instrument great clarity and separation. The "body" of the note that follows the attack is thick, full and "creamy" in character. So this combined sound has both big-bodied warmth and clear definition at the same time.

As with all Stenzel guitars, the fingerboard features the compensated fret spacing and relief setup of the Frisch-Stenzel method yielding the best possible intonation. For playability, Sebastian incorporates several modifications to maximize ergonomic ease to the player - including an asymmetrical neck shape for easier access to the higher frets. All frets are slightly scalloped, resulting in a neck that "feels" much thinner than it really is. This gives the guitar added punch and a rapid response which makes it easy to play fast and retain a clean sound. Overall this guitar is extremely enjoyable to play, hear or simply gaze at!