Build Thread: Joel Michaud, OO-R - Page 7

IBKuz · #91 10-06-2017, 02:34 PM

Ive been negligent and haven't posted anything for awhile yet stuff has been moving along. Don't have any good full shots yet but thought I would post up some of the teaser shots Joel has sent me -

Hopefully next week I will be able to post up some better images before Joel attaches the bridge and strings her up for the first time

Ergoetal · #92 10-06-2017, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IBKuz

While some of us "back seat" luthiers may never get the chance to build a guitar, it doesn't mean we don't get any special wood projects to practice on. As I await my guitar to come back from the finisher, I thought I would share pictures of our family cottage project for this year. I was planning/building this while Joel was working on my guitar. It might just be me, yet I think there are a few similarities.

The ice this spring after 20 years has finally won the battle and sheared the structure off of the cribs. When we stripped the decking we found that the structure underneath was a bit rotten as well.

Our original plans were just to strip out the bad wood and add a few more clean supports, but after doing that and rebuilding the cribs, this is what we started back up with ... lol -

Then the frame/structure for the decking was rebuilt -

A closeup of some of the structural joints -

And then the new decking laid back on -

This is all local, rough sawn Eastern White Cedar from the Ottawa valley in Ontario. Made with 4x4's for the cribs, 2x10's and 2x8's for the floor structure, and 2x6's for the decking. The main "T" beam is 24' x 16' in length. My rough estimate is the wood tops out at about 1500 lbs, and the rocks in the 2 cribs weigh in at another 800 - 1000 lbs, for a combined total of 2500 lbs

. With no road access, this is all brought up by boat to the cottage; thank goodness for family and friends (and, we were able to reuse the rocks from the original cribs ... lol).

Joel thought I should have topped it with Adi to match my build, yet for me it was cedar all the way. I can tap the deck with a mallet and it rings like a bell (not really, but here in the Custom Forum, everyone's always asking how the build sounds

). It also makes our little corner of paradise smell like heaven when the dew evaporates off the dock in the morning sun, or after a rain on a hot summers day.

No Brazilian around?

emmsone · #93 10-07-2017, 02:34 AM

Wow! that black satin neck!!

Joel is really smashing it out the park at the moment, i didn't see that coming on this build at all but it just fits so well!

IBKuz · #94 10-07-2017, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ergoetal

No Brazilian around?

Haha .. truth be told, I was torn on this issue for my build. My supplier has a nice stock of reclaimed BRW; nice straight grain, lovely spider webbing. Unfortunately, his chain of custody was incomplete and he didn't have the right CITIES documentation. If we ever wanted to move or travel with our dock, this may have caused issues at the boarder and I didn't want to take the risk. In hindsight, we likely could have used it for the binding and the custom agents would never have known what it was. We do have another build scheduled for next year, maybe I will reconsider if the supplier still has stock left. The BRW may look lovely with the fall colours of our Canadian autumn

Quote:

Originally Posted by emmsone

Wow! that black satin neck!!

Joel is really smashing it out the park at the moment, i didn't see that coming on this build at all but it just fits so well!

Joel has used this finish on some recent and current builds and plans on using it some more in the future. He is very pleased with how his finisher is applying this coating and says it gives a very "silky" feeling in your hands, allowing very smooth action while playing up and down the neck. I have not played too many satin necks so I'm curious as to how this will work out. As for the black, most Manchinga builds I have seen (there aren't to many), seem to have black or coloured necks. Though a lighter coloured mahogany neck should look nice as well, as that is what we used on the purling for this build.

emmsone · #95 10-07-2017, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IBKuz

Joel has used this finish on some recent and current builds and plans on using it some more in the future. He is very pleased with how his finisher is applying this coating and says it gives a very "silky" feeling in your hands, allowing very smooth action while playing up and down the neck. I have not played too many satin necks so I'm curious as to how this will work out. As for the black, most Manchinga builds I have seen (there aren't to many), seem to have black or coloured necks. Though a lighter coloured mahogany neck should look nice as well, as that is what we used on the purling for this build.

This is true, his all satin black batman-esque one I saw on instagram is just stunning.

Now you mention it, I haven't seen many light coloured necks on the manchinga builds, which is now interesting me as I have ideas for a spalted maple build sometime soon.

I doubt its the same satin lacquer Joel's finisher uses, but I put a semi-gloss / satin finish on my last guitar and I love it, I find the feel on the neck much nicer than the gloss finish. Comparing it to an oiled finished neck it's pretty similar, the lack of "sticking" to your hands makes a noticeable difference to me, and to me its all positive.

David

IBKuz · #96 10-16-2017, 10:09 AM

Was expecting to be able to put up some nice pics of the completed guitar this week, but Joel has run into a finishing issue. After getting the neck attached and the frets installed, he noticed a minor issue with the finish not being what I would call "fully cured". He gave me the details but the description is hard to understand without being there to see it. The net-net is ... he is going to have to send the body back to be refinished as this was not satisfactory to him ... sigh.

I was hoping the guitar would ship this week or next at the latest, which would have been perfect for an early birthday present (Nov 01). Now with his move to Montreal happening at the end of the month and re-finishing time, the new ETA is likely mid November. No big whoop, now it's going to be a late BD present. Better to get it right, then to get it quick. For those interested, here is a preliminary shot of the (almost) completed guitar -

They say that you should always look for the positives in any situation. With Joel going to Montreal, he is now just a 5 hour drive to go pick this guitar up. Not having ever met in person, this seems like it would be an opportune time to do so. Can you say "Road Trip"

Marcus Wong · #97 10-17-2017, 12:08 AM

Hey Ian! Oh man, that's a bummer. But like you said, better to get it right and Joel's a real stickler for such things. You're in good hands

But aside from the slight delay, man does that guitar look great!! You're in for a real treat!

cigarfan · #98 10-17-2017, 05:16 PM

It does look great. Everything happens for a reason. Enjoy your road trip.

Marcus Wong · #99 11-16-2017, 12:16 AM

Hey Ian, how's the progress with this build looking?? Can't wait to see it in your hands

IBKuz · #**100** 11-16-2017, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus Wong

Hey Ian, how's the progress with this build looking?? Can't wait to see it in your hands

Alas, I'm still going to have too wait a little longer. The issue that affected my guitar has been traced back to a bad batch of material. Unfortunately, this has affected some of Joel's other guitars as well. Looks like it will be another week before I will see any final assembly started. Now looking out to late November to be strung up and then final set-up.

Still, I'm starting to get excited

IBKuz · #**101** 01-07-2018, 08:32 PM

Well I had hoped by now to be showing off some final pictures and giving feedback on my new guitar, but it is still going to be a little while longer yet.

As per my last report of a finish issue, this was finally attributed to a bad batch of polyester material. This affected a couple of Joel's builds, which I believe have all now been reworked. Unfortunately, on my build, the finish rework requires the top to be stripped back past the sealer coat to bare wood. Joel's concern now is that this would change the top thickness and no matter how carful the work is done, this would fundamentally affect the original voicing and his normal boxing process. Joel's fix for this is to re-top the guitar

His note was that this action while the most work, would guaranty the correct voicing for our build. But as any builder I think would agree, re-topping a guitar is not without some risk as well.

We discussed other options but Joel was adamant that he was not comfortable sanding any wood off the top as he was not sure as to what the final results would be. As he has been well pleased with all the other aspects of the build, Joel did not want to take a chance with how the guitar would sound. My concern now was what to use for a new top? Again Joel stepped up as he had a sister Adi top set from the same batch that he could use for a replacement. As raw wood pics are enjoyed here on the AGF, here are the original rough pics of the first Adi top and then the sister set.

Original Set

Sister Set

As I hope you can see from the images the new set looks to be a good match for the original. Sanding to a preliminary 0.120" thickness indicates almost identical stiffness/deflection with similar colouring, medullar rays, and lack of visible runout as per the original set. With this replacement, it looks like we at least have another excellent set for the build.

Throughout these issues, Joel has been very upfront and professional. Can't fault him on his efforts or keeping me informed as to the issues he has been facing. As this will be no cost to me, other than a delay in receiving my new build, I don't have any complaints. As my Webber guitar had to be re-topped mid-build due to a pitch pocket, this seems like a risky but doable procedure (certainly not the first re-topping of a guitar here in the Custom Forum).

The only unknown at this time is being able to reuse the original rosette as there is no more similar material available and the first one turned out so nice that we want to try to re-use it. One step at a time, get the new top started and then look to getting the original rosette out cleanly. So stay tuned, more pictures to come and hopefully a new guitar to show and play in the next month or two.

cigarfan · #**102** 01-08-2018, 02:33 PM

You’ve been through a lot. Hope things go smoothly this time.

virob · #**103** 01-09-2018, 09:53 PM

That’s tough news. Sorry you got caught in the middle.
Luckily, you have an upstanding individual with the integrity, skill, and desire to do everything possible to make it right.
Looking forward to your review when you finally get this beautiful instrument in your hands.

LouieAtienza · #**104** 01-09-2018, 10:53 PM

I think better for a builder to be upfront about something he's not comfortable with rather than just ship it out. He knows that you wouldn't be truly happy with it if he wasn't, which is commendable indeed...

printer2 · #**105** 01-10-2018, 10:30 AM

I would have tried sanding down to the top, nothing to loose. I built a ukulele for some people and two days before I was going to give it to them the top got damage as the bridge was being put on. I told them I could not give it to them and will have to put a new top on it. Showed them the uke and explained the damage and explained if the sound hole was big enough I could have repaired it. It was not really apparent from the outside but I could not guarantee the long term health of the instrument so off comes the top.