Simpson's Wood and Horn brushes

[TheMonk]

For the benefit of those who don't have a twitter account, here are pictures of the new Simpson brushes in wood and horn:

M7 in Cocobolo Wood


M7 in Walnut Wood



Duke 3 in Natural Horn


Duke 3 in Snake Wood



Chubby 2 in Walnut Wood


Chubby 2 in Cocobolo Wood


Chubby 2 in Ebony Wood


Chubby 2 in Snake Wood


Chubby 2 in Cade Wood



Also, for those that may have missed it, the Chubby 2 in Amaranth Wood that had already been shown:




Cheers.

[rsp1202]

The D3 has been changed, hopefully only for these brushes.

[Rufus]

I like the look of the natural horn. The wood, however, doesn't do the handles justice; in fact, it detracts from the aesthetic appeal of the handles' shapes.

[brothers]

My favorite is the Duke 3 in Snake Wood. If it were available in a loft of at least 60mm, I'd seriously consider getting one.

[TheMonk]

My favorite is the Duke 3 in Snake Wood. If it were available in a loft of at least 60mm, I'd seriously consider getting one.

I don't think you'll be able to get them with such a high loft, at least not in Manchurian or 2-Band hair (and I doubt they will be made with other grades of hair). My highest loft of these grades of hair is a CH3 Manchurian, with 57mm.

[drmoss_ca]

Very nice, though I confess to being somewhat gladdened to think I need buy no more brushes. If they had the old quality hair in them, though, it might tempt me.

Chris

[jww]

I am a fan of horn handles, even though I don't own one -- I like that they are unique. The badger quality seems to look not-so-good. Maybe it's the pics, maybe it's my screen, or maybe it's my eyes. I can't be sure.

[M6Classic]

They call that "Manchurian"? To the extent...admittedly limited...that one can tell from a photograph, I am skeptical.

Buzz

[Pc4406]

I am not a fan. I do not think they add anything to the brand. I do not think the handles look very elegant in wood. In fact, to me, they look rather amateurish in their execution.

[TheMonk]

The D3 has been changed, hopefully only for these brushes.

All 3 handles seem to have suffered some changes IMO, or at least the images seem to suggest it.
The M7 has a larger ridge, with what seems to be a more ergonomic bottom half, and the base itself is not as flat, it's considerably rounder. The D3 looks quite a bit taller, and with a larger base, and the Chubby's ridge seems to be placed higher, closer to the middle of the handle. It may also be a bit taller.

[rsp1202]

The hair looks like the standard Manchurian that's been offered for a while now, which has been for the most part soft-tipped, scrubby and firm of backbone. It has dominated their lineup for a long while. They need to set it down and bring back their wonderful old 2-band Super/Silvertip.

You've right, David, they've all been changed. I've bitched for years that when Vulfix took over the Simpsons badge they set the Duke lofts too high (50mm+). It took them a long while to reverse that trend and I certainly hope they don't make that mistake again. As for the D3 specifically, my first thought was that they grafted the bottom of their M6 LE onto it.

[TheMonk]

The hair looks like the standard Manchurian that's been offered for a while now, which has been for the most part soft-tipped, scrubby and firm of backbone. It has dominated their lineup for a long while. They need to set it down and bring back their wonderful old 2-band Super/Silvertip.

Ron is right, Manchurian has dominated Simpson's LE offerings in recent times. I do enjoy my Manchurians, particularly my CH3 from an older batch, but nevertheless I would like to see more brushes with the 2-Band Silvertip hair, which generally has very soft tips and considerable backbone.

I am a fan of horn handles, even though I don't own one -- I like that they are unique. The badger quality seems to look not-so-good. Maybe it's the pics, maybe it's my screen, or maybe it's my eyes. I can't be sure.

They call that "Manchurian"? To the extent...admittedly limited...that one can tell from a photograph, I am skeptical.

Could you guys elaborate a bit more on your impressions of the badger hair? What do you see that makes you skeptical about the quality of it?

[M6Classic]

I confess that my C3 "Manchurian" is at least a couple of decades old, but the hair is predominantly white with shorter black stalks; it is a beautiful and symmetrical bulb shape. Further, these knots just don't look well constructed...there are all of these black cilii sticking out of the top and on the whole they are not particularly symmetrical or well shaped. Maybe they have nice soft tips and plenty of backbone, but for he money I expect the knots to at least look better.

Buzz

[rsp1202]

The Manchurian will look better when bloomed, but still falls far short of a well-manicured 2-band Silvertip. Nature of the beast. Nonetheless, Manchurian has a lot going for it, but many gents have also switched to Thaters and will switch to the new Shavemac to fill the vacuum left by the Simpsons 2-band disappearance.

[M6Classic]

The Manchurian will look better when bloomed, but still falls far short of a well-manicured 2-band Silvertip. Nature of the beast. Nonetheless, Manchurian has a lot going for it, but many gents have also switched to Thaters and will switch to the new Shavemac to fill the vacuum left by the Simpsons 2-band disappearance.

Nope. I have a beautiful old ivory handled Manchurian Chubby 3, now passed to my son. It very much resembles an overstuffed vintage Plisson HMW in plexiglass and, thus, not to my taste. (I use a properly stuffed Plisson.) My C3 has a beautifully constructed and trimmed knot and blooms very little. The hair is relatively thick and resilient. Comparisons to two band silvertips are specious at best, the old Manchurian hair...like the old Plisson HMW...was a different material entirely. By the way...and I know I am in a very small minority...I find the two and three band distinctions to be much ado about very little, indeed. There are many more important characteristics of badger hair and knot construction than the number of exposed bands that determine the performance of a brush.

Buzz

[brothers]

Mark confirms these wooden handles are in very short supply. His tallest lofts would be found in his Polo 14. If I could be lucky enough to get a tall lofted best knot set in one of those Duke 3 Snake wood handles I'd be in tall cotton!

[rsp1202]

I was agreeing with you, Buzz, so if you want to disagree with my agreement, okay. I was using a modern example, Simpsons 2-band Super/2-band Silvertip (their name for it), to make the distinction and not pushing the characteristic, though I personally prefer that hair to Manchurian.

[TheMonk]

Buzz, I get what you're saying about knot construction and uniformity. These knots do look a bit irregular, but as Ron said, they do look less so after blooming. The same happens with my Rooney Finest brushes, the white tips ,although considerably bigger, are also mostly irregular. That being said, I had also noticed there appear to be quite a few black tipped hairs, which will most likely give a scrubbier or even scritchier feeling.

You mentioned your two decades old CH3 Manchurian is bulb shaped? Would it be possible for you to share some pictures of it? I personally would love to see it.

The two and three band issue is something I've been wanting to discuss for some time now, I personally agree and disagree with you. Perhaps it would be better to do so in another thread, in order not to hijack this one?

[drmoss_ca]

Could you guys elaborate a bit more on your impressions of the badger hair? What do you see that makes you skeptical about the quality of it?

It's not so much what I see, but experience of modern Simpson hair (and other manufacturers' hair as well). Vulfix put the best badger hair they can source into these brushes, but the problem is that there isn't any of the quality that used to be available. My own preference is for the Somerset Simpson Best, but the Best that went into the bigger brushes like the CH2 and CH3, PJ3 and T4 not the brown Best that went into the miniatures like the Duke (a good and respectable brush that I enjoyed and regret selling, but it didn't have the same kind of hair as the big boys). I've had a lot of brushes, but the ones I use (should say used, but when I get some platelets back I'll use them again) tend to be those. Thick-shafted stiff hair, with fine soft tips. Nothing like it for the feel or the utility. It seems those days are gone and it makes me sad. All we need are some wild badgers of great age and it can be done again. The poor creatures the Chinese factory farm and kill at the most economical age just don't have coats that make the grade compared to the old days.

Chris

[rsp1202]

I wonder if you're talking about the Simpsons Best hair that comes with a darker brown cast, known as chestnut. I wasn't sure what era it was from, but despite its rarity continues to show up once in a blue moon. Supposedly just wonderful stuff.