Fritz Ober

Recently, I'd put a deposit for a new guitar to be built for me - by renowned German luthier Fritz Ober.

Like Robert Ruck (from whom I'd placed an order some 10 years ago now), whom I had not met, nor even played a single guitar made by him before placing the order, I am placing my faith on reviews put up by other players/collectors/etc. and a little "instinct".

But why Fritz Ober? Why not some other luthiers? Sure, there are many others whom I could've gone to - established names like Jeffrey Elliot, Eric Sahlin, Paul Jacobson (USA); Marin Montero, Manuel Contreras, Paulino Bernabe, Jose Ramirez (Spain); Paul Fischer, Kevin Aram (UK), Daniel Frederich, Dominique Field (France), Matthais Dammann, Hermann Hauser(Germany), Greg Smallman (Australia), etc. all spring to mind.

Some of these luthiers have built up such a reputation that their waiting list is prohibitorily long or even closed. I heard Dominique Field's waiting list is 17 years and counting.. (geez!). Furthermore, some of their prices are near stratospheric or near-impossible levels. For instance, I saw a second hand Field being sold for USD25,000, not sure how much a new one would cost (invariably, these are tagged as "Inquire", so I can only assume it's in the 30-35k region if not more). Dammanns and Smallman also go for these kinds of prices. Not to mention Frederich's... those are like untouchable, at least for me.

I'm crazy about guitars, but not THAT crazy.

Then, because I have a US luthier-made guitar, I kind of want to try one made by another region (possibly using differnet kinds of woods/materials). The Spanish guitars are tempting, but many of these are no longer made solely by the master luthier himself - think Ramirez, Bernabe, Contreras. These brands have made such a name for themselves that unless you go for the Top-of-the-line model, I doubt the guitar even passes through the hands of the man himself! More than likely, the guitars will be made by a senior apprentice in their workshop, at most under close supervision by the master, to maintain certain levels of workmanship. I just don't fancy that.

Back to Fritz Ober's guitars. He has been building up a reputation for making more than decent replicas of Hausers and historical instruments. At the same time, he has made importants strides in experimenting with low body resonance, giving the guitar a supposedly warmer bass, without sacrificing volume and projection. Of course, being a sucker for looks, I am also attracted by the beautiful spruce tops and Brazilian rosewood sides of Ober guitars from pictures I've seen on the web. They are truly stunningly beautiful instruments.

The other factor being - I have a little more faith in German-made stuff, these folks are just so well-known for their precision and consistency in producing some of the world's best consumer goods.

You can only read so much into reviews and opinions of others. At the end of the day, the choice of a classical guitar is a personal thing. Everybody has their own "taste" when it comes to sound quality and playability. Furthermore, a guitar may sound godlike in one's hands, but pretty ordinary in another's - something which I will never forget...

It's just another 1.5 years of wait, till I get my hands on my second (and probably last) handcrafted concert guitar. I am filled with anticipation and excitement (almost like waiting for the arrival of my baby daughter, who's due in Feb 2012! haha).

Until then...