"Building in small batches or singularly, doing each aspect of design, construction, and finishing is a deeply personal and satisfying process."
~ Fletcher Brock
A Cape Cod native, Fletcher Brock showed an aptitude for detailed handwork at a young age. An early apprenticeship as an inlay cutter for banjo maker Michael Allison fueled a passion for instrument building and restoration. Brock eventually moved West and so began a career in fine woodworking. Like so many luthiers before him, Fletcher's training and experience in other woodworking domains—yacht restoration, fine furniture building, interior architecture—dovetailed beautifully with instrument building.
These days Brock is based in Bellingham, Washington, where he builds about a half-dozen instruments a year, each one assembled entirely by hand.
Brock employs a variety of tone woods, depending on the instrument and the desired voicing, predominately Red spruce and Engelmann, but also aged Sitka and even Red cedar on occassion. Backs and sides in curly eastern Red maple, Big Leaf, or Sugar maple.
Brock uses hide-glue construction throughout his builds. He employs a combinatin of spirit- and oil varnish on his mandolins and mandolas, opting for nitrocellulose lacquer on larger mandolin-family instruments, as well as on his guitars.
Notably, Fletcher hand cuts all his inlays, including his most intricate mother of pearl and abalone headstock designs.
Pictured here with Sarah Jarosz, via Sarah's Facebook page.
Learning from the Past
Fletcher builds from a deep, firsthand understanding of what made those Golden Age instruments exceptional. At the same time, his years of experience restoring vintage and modern instruments equally informs his choices as a builder, resulting in instruments that feel rooted in tradition without being bound by it.
Tonewood Selection as a Tonal Conversation
Brock uses several different species of spruce, as well as Red cedar on occasion. His intimate understanding of the parameters of different species—their densities, responsiveness, tonal properties—all inform his build choices, and the tonal results.
Strength and Flexibility
In addition to a standard, adjustable truss rod on all his instruments, Brock utilizes additional, graphite support rods on his guitars and larger mandolin-family instruments, contributing meaningfully to the instrument's overall resonance and stability over time.