Michaud Made - Memphis Bound

[Marcus Wong]

Hi guys, this shall be a thread dedicated to Canadian Luthier Joel Michaud's Memphis bound guitars for the Memphis Acoustic Guitar Festival (shout out to Bob Singer for making all this possible). I believe Joel is already a sponsor here but he isn't much of a forum guy so here I am doing his dirty work for him Kidding, I had to talk Joel into letting me do this and it is an excuse to get my hands on all his photos

I've known Joel close to year now and have been in constant contact with him throughout due to my build which I must say has so far exceeded my expectations in every possible way. Joel is an INCREDIBLE person and friend, and it has been such a great joy working with him on this dream guitar of ours. He has made the experience so much more meaningful than just building a guitar and has thus changed my perspective of commissioning an instrument. I am not going to bother talking about how good his guitars are because hopefully, the photos alone would be enough to draw you towards his booth at the festival so you can try and test out for yourself just how phenomenal they are.

Without further ado, let's get the show on the road. I shall be posting photos over the next few days so stay tuned!

[Marcus Wong]

Wood Meets Metal

Guitars can be very utilitarian. First and foremost they are made to produce sounds waves. These sound waves are then in turn used to create music. A guitar doesn't need to be aesthetically special to produce beautiful tone. I have a strong respect for those who favour tone above all else. But why cant we have both? In my mind if a guitar is visually exciting it will further inspire the player to pick it up and create something new once again.

Guitar making is both a practice in precise woodworking as well as an artistic discipline. I believe that many of the modern guitar makers consider themselves as not only as wood workers, but as artists aswell. I certainly have a real appreciation for the design work that I see many of the new builders putting out.

One thing that has surprised me however is that it seems to be extremely rare for a guitar maker to collaborate with another artist outside of the guitar world. (I do realize a lot of inlay work is 'subbed' out to the masters [Jimmy and Larry come to mind right away] and these are extremely talented artists, but they are somewhat already a part of the guitar culture) I have always been inspired by artists I see in different disciplines. With this in mind, I was very excited about the idea of collaborating with another artist for a special guitar.

Frances Strathern of Franny E is an artist who's work I have long admired. http://franny-e-fine-jewlery.myshopify.com/
Franny E creates one of a kind fine jewellery with a unqiue aesthetic quality that screams natural beauty. It is complex, organic, rough while still retaining an understated elegance. I find this style to be a perfect compliment to my usual clean, reserved, architectural like design. Through collaboration with Frances, we were able to come up with a design that pays homage to both our crafts. I wanted to display her art in a form that would allow it to be seen, touched, and appreciated in all its beauty. Simply inlaying and then lacquering over did not sit well with me. Instead we used a jewellers technique of 'setting' the finished metal, into the finished wood, hence Wood meets Metal.

Due to this nature you can interact with the metal pieces. They stay out of the way for playing but are there to be admired.

Tonally I wanted this instrument to be very balanced, a bit of an all rounder. Because it is a spec instrument I don't yet know who the client will be so instead I tailored it to be its own tonal palette. I want each register to be as true and equal as possible. A big yet controlled bass, powerful trebles and a solid midrange that doesn't fade away. I want the trebles to be strong and never sharp. In fact I spend a lot of time voicing in those big trebles, a lot of finger style arrangements count on this power even more so than a big bass. The bass is strong (due partly to the german and madi) but I also never want it to be muddy. A controlled, pure, yet very responsive instrument. All in all I love the tone so far an look forward to the sound maturing over time.

Spec:

OM-R with Cutaway
Top: German Spruce
Back and Sides: Madagascar Rosewood
Fretboard/ Binding: Ebony
Frets: Evo
Scale: 25
Bridge: Bois De Rose
Nut/Saddle: Bone 1 3/4- 2 1/4
Tuners: Robson
Appointments: Franny E/ Michaud Made
Jewelry: Hand formed Sterling Silver, Fine Silver, Bronze, Natural Genuine Orange Rhodalite Garnets and 0.1 Carat Brown Diamond, Conflict Free

[prickards]

Wowza! Stunning, truly inspired.

[TomB'sox]

Welcome Joelcus to the forum. I will be following this thread religiously. You have a very loyal following on the forum already due to Marcus whom you may know....

[JJI]

incredibly beautiful!

[theEdwinson]

All the best art museums in the world need to know about Joel Michaud. He's a modern legend. And yet, timeless. I mean, time stands still when you look at his guitars.

[dreamincolor]

Thanks for taking this on Marcus. This is Joel's artistry at its best. I'm loving my new Michaud guitar

[Sage97]

Whoa baby! Very nice!

[Marcus Wong]

Originally Posted by prickards

Wowza! Stunning, truly inspired.

Originally Posted by JJI

incredibly beautiful!

Originally Posted by theEdwinson

All the best art museums in the world need to know about Joel Michaud. He's a modern legend. And yet, timeless. I mean, time stands still when you look at his guitars.

Originally Posted by Sage97

Whoa baby! Very nice!

Thanks for the kind comments guys! And Steve, I AGREE! Anyone you can recommend him to?

I shall have photos of this finished build soon.

[Marcus Wong]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Welcome Joelcus to the forum. I will be following this thread religiously. You have a very loyal following on the forum already due to Marcus whom you may know....

Thank you Tom for your warm welcome! Are you the Tom who sees imaginary things which Marcus has told me about? Hang in there, I have more to show!

[Marcus Wong]

Originally Posted by dreamincolor

Thanks for taking this on Marcus. This is Joel's artistry at its best. I'm loving my new Michaud guitar

No need to thank me, you shall have to thank Joel for letting me post these. I had to beg him to let me do this as he is a very humble person but I insisted

Do update your thread sometime with more on your Michaud Made! I would love to hear more

[Marcus Wong]

This is a Michaud OO-R Sinker Redwood/Macassar Ebony. Visually, guitars are usually most exciting to look at from the back side. However, the sinker/ebony combo has a similar vibe carried throughout the entire instrument - interesting yet not overpowering figure.

Tonally, Redwood adds in a nice darkness to the mix. Although not as crystalline as the Spruce models, the Redwood still maintains a nice quick attack, with an overall more coloured tonality. This would be the perfect couch finger-style guitar.

[Marcus Wong]

Blacks tops are not really a part of my design state of mind. That is to say that I would usually much prefer the look of a natural soundboard. With that being said, I like to venture out every once in a while in order to push my comfort zone. Underneath this black top is a master grade Swiss Spruce top.

I wanted this guitar to be a bit of a blues machine. I believe I somewhat succeeded but in reality, it is likely closer to my usual tone than it is to vintage blues - quick response with a little bit of growl in the mid range. This Michaud Made is great for fast and varied finger-picking. The overtone content is present but doesn't muddy the mix for picking patterns.

[Marcus Wong]

Good news is that Joel's instruments are on their way to Memphis as we speak. Bad news is that Joel has totally forgotten, only to remember a couple of hours ago, that he has another guitar show in Calgary....TOMORROW! So he shall be having to make do with some of his old builds lying around. Poor fella...

[TomB'sox]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wong

Thank you Tom for your warm welcome! Are you the Tom who sees imaginary things which Marcus has told me about? Hang in there, I have more to show!

They are only imaginary to those who are unable to see them, I have no words to console those unfortunate souls...

What I can see on this page are some beautiful guitars....I was just thinking how nervous I would be as a luthier to pack up and ship all the guitars they have made over the better half of the last year....how nervous that would make me...will they arrive on time, in good shape, not be misplaced....aaarrrgghhhh makes me crazy thinking about it right now....gotta breath, just breath....

Tom