Marc Beneteau Alpine/Walnut SJ (VIDEO ADDED!)
 

Excited to have recently put the deposit down on my very first custom build with my favorite luthier! I've been a fan on Marc's work for a long time and every one of his guitar's I have heard in quality demo's has a distinguishable voice that I've grown fond of. Clear, muscular tone with just the right amount of overtones and always balanced.

I've enjoyed my Model M that I purchased from GuitarGal immensely however have always had my eyes on the lookout for a jumbo much like Don Ross or Craig D'Andrea play however they're extremely rare.

I asked Marc for an Alpine spruce soundboard but really any high-grade Euro would do. I've always been a fan of the versatility of European spruce and I figured the slight overtone content it tends to provide would be nice for the dry, woody tone of Black Walnut. I've always been a rosewood guy however my past experiences with walnut have been lovely and I reckon the bass from the 17' lower bout jumbo body will have a full sound regardless of what b/s is used...rather it not be too thuddy.

When Marc said he had some nice sets of 20-year-old black walnut I expected him to send some pretty basic looking walnut but I'm incredibly excited for what he sent me:

https://i.imgur.com/AivV7ON.jpg

He also offered to do a black walnut neck which I happily agreed to for a nice change!

Other upgrades include:

Koa body binding with walnut purfings
Koa Ryan-style arm bevel and ribrest
Sound port w/ lid
Spalted maple rosette with walnut purflings
Pinless bridge

I'll be posting updates as I get pictures from Marc!

Cheers,
DF

Killer guitar! So pleased that you get to have this experience, Dustin. You certainly know Marc's work and how this will fit for you. The frosting on the cake is how very personal and individual this connection is with the builder...a connection or even friendship that could last indefinitely. It's a very special time when it all works well together.....as it did for me with Tom Doerr.
Will love following this build!
Fred

With a 17" lower bout, I'm thinking it's a "J" rather than an "SJ." I too am a walnut fan. Good luck sleeping until this one is finished!!
Steve

Indeed! Marc has been extremely informative and seems like a lax, friendly guy as most have said he is. During one of our side-conversations he mentioned his own personal Model M in Braz/Sitka and the origin of the Brazilian that had little to do with our project, just good ole guitar-talk.

I've yet to play a Doerr but boy do I love their sound. I believe one of my favorite players Frank Smith plays one and the tone is heavenly.

Marc actually labels his "SJ" as a "Super Jumbo" and the 16' as a "MJ"..I actually almost ordered an MJ until I realized the SJ was what Don and Craig were playing. The MJ had a tighter waist and was too much like the "M" model for me to justify. "Go big, or go home" as they say :)

Beneteau Build
 

Congratulations and thanks for posting. We rarely get to see a Beneteau build. My first custom build was with Marc too and he certainly does not disappoint. My Brazilian/Englemann concert standard is a lifetime guitar for me. I too was drawn to the balanced, dynamic, earthy and woody tone of Marc's guitars. My Beneteau CS is also noticeably louder than my other guitars. The setup and finish has also held up great; it looks and plays like the day I received it. Plus, Marc was a fantastic builder to work with and an extremely nice guy.

I will certainly be following this build thread with anticipation.

Yes! Frank is a Doerr endorser and I believe he has 3 guitars from Tom. The most recent was either a cross over, or classical (forget which one) which was the build just ahead of mine.

Islandguitar, I listened to some of your tunes, great work my man.

Dustin.....thanks so much! Really appreciate your taking a listen. Now, if I could only bring lyrics and playing together as you have......well, that would be something!! :D

Seriously, glad to catch your ear with a few of my tunes........thanks for that shout out!
Fred

Hey Dustin, nice to see a Beneteau build thread. Thanks for posting.

And walnut, even better! My first custom build was an Italian/walnut CX by Mike Baranik and it is a really fine wood combination. I’ve only played one Beneteau (John’s in Tucson) and it was a great guitar. So enjoy the build and please, post some more photos!

Col

I certainly will! I'm extremely excited to see what Euro/walnut will sound like in Marc's hands. The ebony b/s model M I own is the finest guitar I've ever played, from setup to looks to sheer power and complexity...idve never thought an ebony guitar would stay put in my stable but Marc's balance and clarity are still there.

Engelmann and Brazilian sure sounds like it'd be a treat to the ears though! I find it interesting that most will say Engelmann is generally a quieter Spruce without the headroom of say, Adirondack or Euro, but John said it's his loudest guitar.

In one of our emails Marc made the point in saying "NOTHING IS SET IN STONE" in regards to tonewood generalizations and I couldn't agree more.
That fella could probably make some driftwood and Home Depot plywood sound good XD

Dustin, I know exactly what you love about Marc's tone - I was immediatelly intrigued by the distinctive voice of his instruments, when I played a Benetau Standard Concert for the very first time. And I always found that familiar kind of tone in each of his instruments that I heard so far. Guess your walnut/euro will be no exception there and a fantastic guitar for sure! Congrats. :)

Looks nice. Marc does good work, you won't be disappointed.

Englemann
 

Dustin,

I have not heard that Englemann spruce is a quieter top wood. I believe that most would describe the tone and dynamics of Englemann to be quite similar to European spruce. Perhaps some of the luthiers could chime in.

This wood supplier is selling Englemann, so may be biased, but here is his description:
http://www.dt-luthier-supplies.com/w...ruce-tonewood/

With my initial discussions with Marc, I told him that I wanted a guitar for fingerstyle primarily and that I wanted a dynamic sound with lots of overtones. Marc recommended Englemann to me, in particular some that he had in his shop for over 10 years (and closer to 20). Marc cuts a lot of his own tops from logs and has many that are well seasoned. Plus, he has built lots of guitars with these batches and knows precisely the characteristic of each.

I would not get hung up on having Euro spruce if Marc does not have a supply on hand to choose from. I would rather have a top that Marc is familiar with and has seasoned himself, and from a batch that he has built other guitars.

Marc nailed the tone I wanted so I would trust him to select the best top for the type of sound and response you are looking for.

Also, I have not seen another Beneteau with a walnut neck so yours will be special. A walnut neck with a center mahogany stripe would be cool too. Marc separates the sections with a pinstripe of black ebony so his 5 piece necks look really nice. I have one on my CS but with all mahogany.

Perhaps what I meant was Id heard it has less headroom than a majority of euro spruce or adi topped guitars. I've owned two Englemann guitars in the past, one with Claro walnut and one with cocobolo and they both had a nice, lush sound for fingerstyle but did compress a bit If I strummed or flatpicked hard..however I'm sure that's not the case in Marc's hands! He recommended the Alpine spruce as i have had good experiences with it and has similar characteristics in his experience as Englemann. I really appreciate the link and sharing your experience John!