This is Sebastian Stenzel's latest "Enhanced Wood" guitar, our last one being from 2020. Prior to its unveiling, Sebastian had been refining this design for over a decade. Basically, it has a new type of laminated soundboard, providing an enhanced dynamic range and enhanced malleability of sound, made for players who want to push the limits of nuanced musical expression. Rather than typical double-tops which use two super-thin pieces of wood with either balsa or composition materials "sandwiched" in a middle, third layer, Sebastian's top is only two layers of wood that are fastened together with a system of grooves cut to precisely chosen areas of the grain to optimize the sonic qualities Sebastian is seeking. This includes greater dynamic range, both on the high and on the low end, greater ease in modulating sound colors, and a faster attack without being percussive. For a cedar guitar, the brightness and separation in all ranges is remarkable, and the overall responsiveness will delight even the most sensitive player. Its emphasis is on radiance and balance, a pure concert guitar with long sustain. To complement the cedar top, Sebastian chose some absolutely stunning Canadian quilted maple for the back, sides, headstock and neck. The marbling patterns under light seem to have an almost 3D texture, like the effects of a lava lamp. He also used 150-year old ebony obtained from an ebanista in Vienna. The bridge, the binding and the headstock veneer are made from Katalox. Materials in this guitar are world-class.
As hypnotic as it is to look at, the sound is just as exquisite. It's what we like to call his “crème brulee” sound - which featured a layered sound of creamy body with crunchy attack (analogous to tapping a spoon through the hardened sugar layer into the creamy interior of a crème brulee). It also boasts a very deep bottom-end (but maintaining perfect balance across all registers), noticeable “springiness” in the trebles (almost like an old mid-century flamenco in terms of responsiveness) and a haunted/dark sound that is very appealing and romantic. It has the volume of any modern instrument that we've seen and is also very lightweight but very solid-feeling 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. This is the third in his line of "Exclusive Collection" guitars which have specifications he will not build a second time, each is a one-of-a-kind, totally unique. We had his first in 2016 so these are very rarely built. Extremely enjoyable to play, hear or simply gaze at, this is another great, unique guitar from Sebastian Stenzel.
Photos of this guitar being built
