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Pros:
- Great quality for the price
- Comfortable
- Amazing sound
Cons:
- Finish
- Change the strings for the optimum sound and feel
Dedicated to the art of guitar craftsmanship La Patrie has been creating exquisite classical nylon string acoustic guitars for over 30 years. Using some of the best tonewood available in Canada, where the company is based. La Patrie Etude QI boasts rich sound, great feel, and amazing tonewood that will find fans among beginner, intermediate and professional players, alike.
Build
La Patrie Etude QI in an acoustic-electric classical model with a solid cedar top. The cedar that they use is from trees that are on average 800 years old. The quality of this wood creates flexible yet rigid material that resonates very well. Well, the aged material is one of the major factors of how guitar vibrates and creates the sound and this one is definitely amazing. The back and side are laminated mahogany while the neck is Honduran mahogany with rosewood fretboard. While laminated tonewood might not be the top choice for lot of players, since it is on the back and sides of the guitar, it definitely does not ruin the sound, as it is coupled with an amazing cedar top. The neck of the Etude QI conforms to the standard, classical guitar dimensions to create stability, but the reduced neck profile provides immense comfort to players. That way you get best of the two worlds – stability of a thicket neck and comfort of a reduced neck profile.
Hardware
Beautifully crafted guitars need to have not only great quality tonewood but also functional yet simple hardware that is easy to use. That is definitely something that people at La Patrie understand. The Etude QI has Tusq nut and compensated saddle. The tuners are gold “Lyra” style with Pearloid buttons while the finish is satin. The special lacquer formula finish allows the guitar to vibrate, improving the guitar’s sound; however, there is one problem with the finish – its thin finish does not really protect the guitar that much. It scratches off very easily and that might be the biggest issue you will have with this mode.
La Patrie Etude Sound
As soon as you pick up Etude QI you get the feeling that someone has been playing this guitar before you. Okay, let me try to rephrase this because it sounds like you got a used guitar… When you get a new guitar with the fresh set of strings you need some time to break it in; that might take a week or two (or you know… for some – months). But with this model, somehow you instantaneously feel comfort when playing and the sound and feel are great right away. The cedar top and amazing mahogany neck show when it comes to the sound. The mesmerizing, rich sound and well-balanced tone are ridiculously amazing.
Electronics
La Patrie Etude has Godin QI (Quantum I) electronics. Overall, I would say that it is not the best thing about this guitar (the tonewood is ) but it definitely is not bad either. The saddle-transducer is responsive. The preamp with rotary volume, treble, and bass controls is easy to use and gives you control over the tone. It gives you a nice reproduction of the sound and tone of your guitar without losing anything in the process.
Conclusion
I can just imagine La Patrie luthiers crunching away at the tonewood as they prepare new, mind-blowing guitars in the middle of the forest of snowy Canada (I said “imagine”, not that this is true). And in my imagination that is how the Etude QI was created. After contemplating for a while whether you want to get this guitar when there are so many other cheaper models on the market and you finally decide to take a risk and buy this model this is exactly what will happen: you will un-box it, set up, and within 5 minutes think to yourself that you cannot believe you waited this long to get this baby. AND it is not that it is expensive but that it is criminally under priced and you cannot believe your luck that you stumbled upon this gem.
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