“The warm wash of top-class tone we experienced from both these guitars was impossible to resist”: Fenech VT Camphor Laurel Auditorium and VT Professional Blackwood Dread D78 review

What is it?

We were introduced to Fenech’s guitars at this year’s NAMM Show in January, where they were added to our shopping list of instruments we’d like to take a closer look at. A few months later and here we are with two contrasting models from the Fenech range, and it’s been an interesting time getting to know them.

A quick tour of Fenech’s backstory – we take a deeper dive in the interview that follows this review – circles around Aaron Fenech, whose workshop is in Queensland, Australia. Aaron began with an apprenticeship in automotive engineering, moving on to carpentry.

After completing a BSc in environmental science, oceanography, material science and engineering, his passion for music soon led him to taking on instrument repairs, blossoming later into instrument building and the creation of Fenech Guitars in 2016.

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In the years that have followed, the brand has become known for the use of lesser-known exotic timbers, a finite understanding of acoustic guitar building that embraces style and sophistication along with superior tone. Since opening the workshop doors, an assembled cast of players have taken to using guitars from the Fenech range, although the guitars themselves are not that well known this side of the globe.

Fenech has a custom shop, where all instruments are bench-made to customers’ requirements, but Aaron’s team of highly skilled luthiers also make a standard range of instruments that end up at retail outlets. Such is the case here, where our two review samples are representative of an extensive range of variations on a central theme. One dreadnought, one Auditorium. Let’s move in for a better look.

We’ll begin by looking at the VT Camphor Laurel Auditorium and kick off by saying that if you were associating ‘Camphor’ with camphorated oil and its use in both medicine and aromatherapy, you’d be dead right. There was definitely that distinctive scent when we first opened the guitar case and it has since filled the room with its menthol-like bouquet.

Camphor laurel is certainly a wood we haven’t come across before and a little research revealed that its highly figured appearance is complemented by tonal characteristics that boast a crisp, warm midrange with a good proportion of bass. Something we’ll confirm or deny when we get to the play test a little later on.

Meanwhile, we have to admit that this little Auditorium scores highly for visual appearance, which is something to bear in mind if figured wood is on your wishlist.

It’s always interesting to see what a manufacturer says about its own instruments, and in the case of the Camphor Laurel Auditorium, Fenech reports that its “Auditorium model is a culmination of years of experience making and voicing smaller-body guitars to produce exceptional volume and tone.

“Although similar in size to a classic OM, our design differs aesthetically, allowing for a sweeter and more modern blend of curves, and tonally by producing an articulate voice with rich overtones while retaining an impressive midrange response and focused projection.”

We’d have to agree that the actual size of this Auditorium model is closer to an OM, with an upper bout measuring 280mm, a lower bout at 381mm and a depth varying from 100mm at the neck joint and 120mm at the tail end. Meanwhile, its air of compactness is accentuated by a tight 220mm waist.

The soundboard here is Sitka spruce, which is still very pale in appearance, but the years will see this journey on to that classic amber hue. The furnishings on the guitar’s topside are refreshingly simple, with a subtle rosette and a faux tortoiseshell pickguard.

Ebony is the choice for the bridge (with a compensated saddle and bridge pins courtesy of Tusq), and the same timber is used for the fingerboard, with circular mother-of-pearl position markers. The neck is a finely crafted one-piece mahogany affair with a volute at the base the headstock, which itself bears a set of Gotoh tuners.

In terms of stage readiness, the Camphor Laurel comes fitted with the excellent LR Baggs Element VTC acoustic guitar pickup system, with its volume and tone controls tucked away on the player’s side of the soundhole.

Switching over to the VT Professional Blackwood now, it’s apparent from the offset that the same quality of workmanship and ‘simple but functional’ design ethos exists here, too.

This time the star of the tonewood show is Australian blackwood, and the Oz variety is one of a few similarly named woods on the world stage and shouldn’t, for instance, be confused with African blackwood, which is a member of the rosewood family (Dalbergia Melanoxylon), while Australian blackwood is a form of acacia (Acacia Melanoxylon). It has a look similar to mahogany, or perhaps a lightly shaded Indian rosewood.

In terms of what we can expect tonally from this particular timber, it is known for its warm midrange and is often compared to koa in this respect. A little known fact is that Australian blackwood’s heartwood fluoresces under blacklight. Who knew?

Fenech’s VT Professional range – VT stands for ‘Volume and Tone’, incidentally – is slightly higher up the ladder in terms of fixtures and fittings, but we find Sitka spruce once again for the top wood, with one-piece mahogany for the neck and ebony for the fingerboard, this time with oblong mother-of-pearl position markers and upgraded Gotoh tuners with vintage‑style buttons.

The dreadnought style is iconic in the acoustic guitar world, and Fenech has very sensibly left the formula alone, telling us: “Our version of this beauty has become renowned for producing a guitar with spades of low-end power, a sweet throaty midrange and brilliant trebles. It’s this unique combination of balance and power mixed with exceptional note separation that makes this guitar a must-have for any guitarist’s collection.”

Once again, it certainly looks like it means business in its demure and understated way and so it’s time to take both these instruments out for a spin and see what we find…

Specs

Fenech VT Camphor Laurel Auditorium

• Price: £2,449 (inc hard case)
• Origin: Australia
• Type: Auditorium
• Top: AA grade Sitka spruce
• Back/Sides: AA grade camphor laurel
• Max Rim Depth: 120mm
• Max Body Width: 381mm
• Neck: Mahogany
• Scale Length: 645mm
• Tuners: Gotoh
• Nut/Width: Tusq/45mm
• Fingerboard: Ebony
• Frets: 20
• Bridge/Spacing: Ebony/53mm
• Electrics: LR Baggs Element VTC
• Weight (kg/lb): 1.76/ 3.9
• Options: Fenech makes an extensive range of custom orders plus a number of ‘off the shelf’ models available every year See Fenech Guitars for further details
• Range Options: Fenech’s Auditorium body size is available in its Standard and Select Ranges, as well as the bespoke Custom Shop Masterbuilt Series. See website for more details
• Left-Handers: To order, no upcharge
• Finish: Super satin

Fenech VT Professional Blackwood Dread D78

• Price: £2,999 (inc hard case)
• Origin: Australia
• Type: Dreadnought cutaway
• Top: AAA grade Sitka spruce
• Back/Sides: AAA grade Australian blackwood
• Max Rim Depth: 120mm
• Max Body Width: 397mm
• Neck: Mahogany
• Scale Length: 645mm
• Tuners: Gotoh
• Nut/Width: 45mm
• Fingerboard: Ebony
• Frets: 20
• Bridge/Spacing: Ebony/55mm
• Electrics: LR Baggs Element VTC
• Weight (kg/lb): 1.86/4.12
• Options: See Camphor Laurel Auditorium 
• Range Options: Fenech’s D78 dreadnought is available in its Standard and Select Ranges, plus Custom Shop Bluegrass and Masterbuilt Series. See website for more details
• Left-Handers: To order, no upcharge
• Finish: Super satin

Playability and sounds

Returning firstly to the Camphor Laurel, the guitar is perfectly balanced in the hand, with a great-feeling neck, the profile of which is that midway point between chunk and slimness, with neatly manicured and finely polished frets. With the ‘Volume And Tone’ prefix in mind, we took our first strum and were rewarded with just that: an amazing amount of volume from such a trim body shape.

The whole frequency spectrum is very well represented, too, with a very good amount of growl to the bass end but shimmering, shiny trebles as well. And everything Fenech says about the warm midrange characteristics of the camphor laurel is right on the money.

It really is an engagingly friendly instrument to play – not too big for sofa noodles but just about right for any stage setting with a voice that flies in the face of its body size. We can sum it up by saying it’s a fingerpicker’s delight.

Back to the D78 and we anticipated more of the same and were not disappointed. The bigger body size means a bigger bottom-end, but there’s all the fullness you’d expect from a dread and also something extra in the form of depth and breadth.

Digging in with a hard strum, there’s a boisterous energy that remains toneful without ever becoming harsh. Lighten up on the right hand and you’re on a more subtle soundstage, with everything neatly drawn back, frequency-wise, but still fully represented. A singer-songwriter would delight in the power and tone present here.

As you might suspect, firing up the LR Baggs VTC on both added yet another blade to their Swiss Army knife set of tonal attributes. The D78 positively sang with the kind of richness and fullness that only a dread can give, and the Camphor Laurel proved to be a little fireball, too, with all the note separation and clarity you’d expect from a really good OM/auditorium.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★½

It’s amazing how sometimes you can take an unfamiliar make of acoustic guitar and befriend it almost immediately. The warm wash of top-class tone we experienced from both these guitars was impossible to resist and we found ourselves playing for fun, above and beyond what was necessary for writing this review. And that speaks volumes.

Both models are imbued with a high degree of playability and an easy ride, neither of them putting up a fight in any respect, which is exactly what you want before taking the stage with an instrument.

Guitar World verdict: Fenech might still be a new name this side of the world, but we suspect that it will quickly become one that is on every serious player’s want list!

Hands-on videos

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• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.