Michel continues to astound me with his relentless pursuit of perfection, and has firmly established himself as one of the world's finest double top Luthiers. His years of experience not only as a traditional fan braced luthier, but also as the restoration artist for some major collectors in Europe over the years, has endowed him with a vast intuitive understanding of the great European masters, and this is clearly evident in the character of his instruments. Michel's waiting list has grown as fast as his reputation and is now upwards of 8 years, a reflection of the ever broadening consensus of the quality of his double tops. Fortunately Michel is a good friend and has agreed to provide a limited number of guitars for my shop every year. This guitar is the first guitar that I have had from him this year and I have been so eager to see and hear it. Well, as always, the wait was well worth it and my interest was peaked as soon as I opened the case. Possibly the most beautifully refined and flawlessly finished Brück to date, I really don't know how he can get any better regarding the minute attention to details and finish work, but in fact, he does. Simply Flawless and elegant. Lift her gently out of the case, and you notice at once the feather light feel that seems to accompany the finest, most responsive and most resonant double tops, which contributes to the involvement of every component of the instrument in producing tone and volume. Beautiful Rosewood, and an exquisite set of Rodgers tuners, with the finest French Polished finish of Shellac. Finally I set her in my lap, tune her up, and even though she has been tuned down for her trip across the Atlantic and has not been under tension for days during the journey, she immediately sings. I find myself thinking ' Can't wait until tomorrow after she has been up to tension for a few hours". I make a note to check back in the next day. Note to self " as open and resonant as she was last night, she has fully flowered and opened after being strung to tension overnight". This day she is fully awake and eager to play. Lively, vibrating and resonant, she has a singing quality reminiscent of a fine Dammann but with a character all it's own, which I once described as a "Fine Hauser 11 on steroids", an effort to paint the tonal beauty of a great Hauser with a responsiveness and volume that is beyond those fine instruments, really the best of all worlds. The other aspect of interest is that the guitar has 'that touch', that certain feel that the utmost comfortable to play guitars possess, which is impossible to describe but instantly recognizable to the touch. A refined and completely satisfying double top from Michel, but then, this has become expected.

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