Official Luthiers Forum!

A friend recently purchased a guitar from a luthier named Martin Brunkalla in Merengo, IL. The guitar is unique in that a carbon fiber cage is built inside the body and the top has no standard bracing, only some strips to help prevent/stop cracking. The bridge is in place only to help set the action. Here are some pics and a video of Shane messing around a little. I have to say that I have never heard another guitar with the volume and tone of this one. It is huge.

Martin's a good friend. I told you guys about his non-braced guitars a few times. Nobody believed me, I guess.

While plenty powerful, they're no louder than some other guitars of regular construction. But they do have their own tone.

His violin-family instruments are outstanding, also!

Wow Chris, is that you pickin' that gitbox? That was pretty good.

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

It could be a trick of the camera angle, but it looks to me as though its a deeper body than a regular dread... Is that so?? This Ive noticed with (discussions concerning and soundclips)OM/D's and certain other deep boddy modifications can increase volume also...
appearantly an OM/D is pretty on par with the volume of a regular dread.,,,, although Im going by others opinions and have never done a direct comparison..
Anyhoo cool good for your bud to have a unique building method... its what alot of people strive for,,,
Cheers
Charlie

If the OM/D that you're referring to are mine, they're no deeper than any other OM....

I don't think the Brunkalla's are deeper than normal.

Chuck,
Sorry to say it is not me playing in the video. That is one of our local musician heroes and friend, Shane. He plays the banjo but learned a little guitar method in the meantime. (Shane if you're reading this, .)

Charlie, I didn't take any measurements, but it didn't seem larger than your typical dread. We are going to be picking down at a festival this weekend, I'll grab a few measurements then and post back if it is larger.

chris

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Chris Oliver
Infinity Luthiers
...in the shop.

live every minute...

how does that bridge work with the 2 saddles

Its an interesting concept. The central brass piece creates a string break over the saddle, emulating a normal bridge. The back saddle is probably intended to protect the wood from strings digging in.

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Build log

sounds interesting ,I have not seen ( nor heard) any manmade products( plastics ,tortis, etc etc) that produce the tone of natural materials...it may , or may not be a good design,,, in 20-30 years we will have an answer to that question ! Jody

it is certainly unique!

As far as the OM/D and sound, My Model "DM" is very similar in size and shape to an OM, but it has the same body depth as a dread.

So far I have been pleased with the volume and tone these are producing. I posted a vid of me playing an Osage Orange DM model over on luthertube.com if you want to hear how much punch this one has.

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Reguards,

Ken H

I am the guy playing (badly) in that video and I can say in my opinion, this guitar is louder than most acoustics I've played. It absolutely has its own tone, and the sustain is awesome for an acoustic. I have a D-28 that I love and this guitar is definitely louder and fatter sounding. Every person who has played it has fallen in love with it. It plays like a dream as well!
One thing you really notice about this guitar is the resonance, when you tap on the front, or tap on the bridge, it goes boooom like a big drum. I've played Martins violins too, also very nice.

How long has Martin Brunkalla been making these? It is for me personally, yet another guitar that predates (the label says "2005" on the Brunkalla in this thread) many of the ideas that I thought I "invented". The bridge looks very close to a bridge technology ("Stress free bridge") patented by Ned Steinberger and Steve Grimes in 1995. If the rear "saddle" lifts the strings to the same height as the string height at the (real) saddle, then I think it is actually an adaptation (whether purposely or not) of Steinberger's and Grimes's patent.

I have to laugh looking at the carbon fiber rods extending from neckblock to tailblock. Laugh only because it is something else I thought was innovative for 5 of my guitars in progress. (I used a triangulated approach to suspended bracing last time - and figured this straight path was simpler.) I'm using wood dowels instead of carbon fiber rods, but have not ruled out carbon fiber.

With no soundboard bracing in the Brunkalla guitar, I guess it must be a true flattop. I'm using a single transverse brace beneath the bridge/saddle, which will hold an arch in the top, and very small radial braces which (in my "mind's ear") should help to quickly spread the vibrations across the top, and to bolster trebles. I don't doubt that Brunkalla's "New Tradition" has very powerful bass, I think the design is kind of optimized for bass. Even after hearing the audio portion of that YouTube video, I suspect the tonal range of the guitar leans toward bass. I'm hoping the modifications I'm doing will keep the bass and mid bass, and open up the high mids and trebles, to make my next attempt better balanced.

Thanks to Chris Oliver for posting this, and hey Grumpy, you did not jump up and down loudly enough - I never heard you!

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Dennis,
You're welcome. Also, I think this was Martin's first model. It has a #1 in the top left of his tag.
chris

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Chris Oliver
Infinity Luthiers
...in the shop.

live every minute...

I've been reading this thread with some interest, but I didn't know why until this morning.

If the pictures are showing what I think they are showing then, this instrument in essence vibrates more closely to the way a violin or cello vibrate, which is something the guitar has never done.

The bracing system has coupled the back and top with several "sound posts."

This is a very interesting concept and I wonder if some of the more experienced luthiers could comment on this.

Thanks

Dave