Dominique Field, 2016

Every so often a guitar comes through the shop that we are genuinely sad to let go of, and this 2016 Dominique Field is exactly that. Field is the leading French luthier of today, part of the celebrated lineage that runs through Robert Bouchet and Daniel Friederich, and his instruments are notoriously hard to come by, with a waiting list reported to be more than twelve years. What makes this one especially rare is the top: it is a cedar Dominique Field, and cedar examples of his work are very unusual. He built almost exclusively with spruce for many years, going roughly fifteen years without a cedar top before revisiting the wood, and even now he returns to it only occasionally.

This is his 237th guitar, and it is the only newer Field we have had the chance to get to know on a truly intimate level. Something about it, whether the cedar top or other small choices Field made here, sets it apart. It carries all the elegance and refinement you expect from his work, but with a more immediate, more excited character that is genuinely thrilling to play.

Specifications

Luthier: Dominique Field
Year: 2016
Number: 237
Top: Cedar
Back & Sides: Brazilian Rosewood
Construction: Traditional, five fan braced
Finish: French Polish
Scale Length: 650 mm
Nut Width: 52 mm
Neck Profile: C shape
Air Resonance: F sharp
Tuners: Rodgers, engraved, with dark mother of pearl buttons and white rollers
Strings: D'Addario XTC45FF with normal tension nylon first string
https://ddar.io/guitar-collection
Condition: Excellent

Sound & Character

From the very first chord you know you have something special, and this guitar rewards a heavy hand. Where some of the great refined French instruments, the Bouchets, the Friederichs, and many Fields, lean toward an elegant and understated voice, this one is a little more excited and ready to punch. It is refined, absolutely, but it is also the kind of guitar that will get in a street fight for you. The basses are aggressive and powerful with real depth, and the guitar seems to vibrate against your arm, chest, and legs with every note.

The trebles are the surprise. They have a beautiful sparkle that is almost uncharacteristic for a guitar with basses this aggressive, and they seem ready to set the instrument on fire. The first string is refined, loud, and remarkably responsive; the second is extraordinarily rich in harmonic content with enormous sustain; the third has real thickness and character. Across the range there is that same palette of colors you expect from a great spruce Field, but with the added warmth and immediacy that cedar can bring.

One detail sets this guitar apart sonically. Most of the Fields we have encountered sit somewhere between G sharp and A in their main air resonance. This one is tuned much lower, right around F sharp, which gives it a haunting low voice and lets that high F sharp ring with a clarity you almost never hear. It is the kind of guitar that would stump us in a blind test: it has such a combination of everything we love in a great traditional guitar that it is hard to place, and yet those trebles give it away as a Field.

Playability

The neck is a standard 650 mm scale with a 52 mm nut width, with nice tall frets and very low action. The profile is a comfortable C shape, and while it is not always the shape we reach for, we find it very natural and easy on this instrument. Everything comes out cleanly across the fingerboard, and the guitar responds instantly to whatever you give it.

Construction & Design

The cedar top sits over a five fan bracing pattern with two closing braces at the lower bout. Field also runs small side braces all along the interior of the guitar, thirty on each side, and adds a bracing system to the inside of the back with fairly substantial braces. The result, we believe, is a touch more punch, clarity, and volume than you might otherwise expect.

The rosette is a beautiful, intricate design, with some reds, hints of light green, and an elegant pattern down the center. The bridge and tie block are simple and refined. Turn the guitar over and you are met with a gorgeous set of Brazilian rosewood back and sides with a mirror like finish, in remarkable condition. The headstock carries the classic Field design with a Brazilian rosewood veneer that is very hard to identify as Brazilian until it catches the light and glows. It is topped with what are, in our opinion, the finest tuners made: Rodgers machines, beautifully engraved, with dark mother of pearl buttons and white rollers. It is an exceptionally elegant instrument.

About the Luthier

Dominique Field is widely regarded as the foremost French maker of his generation. Working in Paris in the tradition descending from Robert Bouchet and Daniel Friederich, his guitars are prized for their refinement, power, playability, and unmistakable design identity, from the elegant headstock and rosette to the overall aesthetic. His instruments are exceptionally rare on the open market. He continues to build today, but with a waiting list well over a decade long, making it nearly impossible to acquire a new instrument of his, and rarer still to find a cedar top example like this one.

Press & Provenance

This guitar was featured in Orfeo Magazine No. 7 (Spring 2016), the respected French publication devoted to fine classical guitars and their makers. Dominique Field and his workshop appear across pages 12 and 13, with photographs of the building process and Field's own reflections on his choice of top woods, including his occasional turn to red cedar over spruce. Being documented in Orfeo adds a meaningful layer of provenance to an already rare cedar top example.

The guitar is in excellent condition. The top shows a little bit of wear and some nail marks here and there, but there are no string dings, no cracks, and no repairs. The Brazilian rosewood back is in perfect condition, with that mirror like finish looking as though it could have been built yesterday. The instrument presents beautifully throughout.