Build Thread: Joel Michaud, OO-R

[IBKuz]

Woohoo! ... just noticed I've finally hit 100 posts. Now I can shoot for 150, or dare I say it, 200 ... lol

[IBKuz]

Originally Posted by cigarfan

Love the decision on the endgraft. Looks really nice!

Been said before but the Manchinga has that something that draws you in. I am looking forward to your impressions when you get it.

Thanks Dennis, I've actually really been enjoying the contrasts (and similarities) between our builds.

[Marcus Wong]

I had the opportunity to see Ian's build when I was at Joel's workshop. The photos really don't do the guitar justice and it is easily one of the most beautiful guitars I've seen! A very clean build with the Spalted Machinga doing all the talking. Joel is very excited about the build and I'm not surprised why. Joel also had a lot of good things to say about about you Ian

My favourite aspects of the build are the end graft and the headstock which Ian has already posted.

As I had grown attached to the guitar the couple of days I had spent with it, I could not leave without leaving my mark on it



But don't worry, it still looks pretty playable!



And now, here are some guitar shots without my face ruining it

[cigarfan]

Gonna be special! Now it has Wong juice on it.

[IBKuz]

Originally Posted by cigarfan

Gonna be special! Now it has Wong juice on it.

Hey, never thought about it that way, I could use all the mojo I can get. I'll have to tell Joel not to sand it too much where he left his marks, might rub off some of the magic.

Thanks also to Marcus for the additional pics, never can have too many build pics.

[Marcus Wong]

Haha! Maybe you shouldn't even have any finish over it. It looks good enough as it is anyways

[Nemoman]

Looking amazing!

[IBKuz]

Originally Posted by Nemoman

Looking amazing!

Can hardly wait for the finish to be applied

[IBKuz]

While most of the information posted so far has been visually oriented I don't want to make it seem as if this has been our sole focus. We have discussed in length my sonic preferences and expected player experience factors (sizing, neck dimensions, tuners and other such things). I asked Joel to sum up his working this Adi top to give everyone an idea of his thought process and decisions, while building. Here is the builders own comments (word smithed by me as I wanted him to keep focused on the job at hand ... lol).


"Your top is special, very 'un Adi' in appearance and runout. Nearly all Adi on the market has either runout or very dark graining, with wide lines; this set has little of either. As for medullary rays they will not have the power sometimes found in other species but for Adi, they are very strong!! Grain spacing is pleasant going from supertight in the centre to even and slightly wider on the wings. I actually prefer this as it gives a healthy natural appearance.

As for structure, I won't use a top that doesn't pass my initial deflection testing at a set thickness. This Adi set stands up there among the best sets for stiffness longitudinally. I find Adi sometimes gets floppy across the grain, also important to be minimized, yet not as important as parallel to the grain direction. Your set did not suffer from this.

When Marcus was in the shop I explained to him that although taptone should be considered it is not a top priority for me. Instead, I choose to base my initial decisions off of deflection, starting only with my hands and muscle memory. I then look for density and any hidden rattling within the set [possible cracks]. Where tap tuning comes into play for me is when I start attaching the plates to the rims. It is at this point I adjust the bracing (top and back), rim height, plate thickness and graduation. What I am doing here is guaranteeing I won't have any interference issues. Whether in my matching of plate frequency or wolf note potential.

Every client plays different and you are no exception. With a heavy hand and most of your playing being with a pick, I need to ensure I have enough headroom built in so you don't distort immediately when driving hard. Trying not to sacrifice responsiveness is always tricky in this situation. Essentially, what I have done is beef up the monopole response while keeping the diapoles in check. It should be cannon like, with power, and have just enough overtones to color the mix without getting in the way of the next notes."


There you have it, words from the luthier himself. Getting the itch now to give this guitar a spin and see how she handles. Unfortunately, I will have a little time still until I have her in my hands.

[IBKuz]

We're in the home stretch now with the last piece of the puzzle getting finalized. We have been working out our details as we have moved forward and the last outstanding feature is the fret markers. There must be enough people requesting markers of Joel that are not just the standard dot patterns, that he has come up with his own take on the versions that wrap around the Fretboard surface and continue around the side of the neck (if there is a term for this style, I have not heard it yet, anyone that can pass this info along, please do).

In our original discussions, Joel was not particularly enamoured with this style of marker but when the pedal was about to meet the metal, and it was time to finalize these for the build, he surprised me with his version of this feature. Very interesting to say the least and this new design seemed to blend well with the modern feel of our build. Rather than describe it, pictures would likely be best. Here is the first look at his new fret markers minus the frets -





Rather than a solid bar, he has imbedded a bronze "U" Channel into the top of the Fretboard giving double thin lines on the top and leaving the "U" showing on the edge. He then fills the channel with the Fretboard material (actually this is how I figure he does it, but he could be using pixie dust for all I know). I would like to take some credit for this design but Joel showed me this from another guitar he is building. We did adapt his original version to suit this build. Here is the edge detail -



I like this as the bronze will not get dirty from playing and the double thin line gives a nice "airy" feel to the overall design. Here is another detail shot showing the transition from the neck into the body -



For this build I like the black Rocklite and bronze colouring with the Manchinga, and with the gold frets this should be homogeneous for the build. Just waiting for the next pics with the frets installed. This last picture also shows the termination of the Fretboard at the rosette. In our original discussions we had looked to have the edge of the sound hole bound with Rocklite. We decided against this and I kind of like the way now that the end of the Fretboard is framed with the Manchinga instead.

So while I wait for those next neck pics with frets, here are some more full body shots that I thought had nice camera angles (and we get more shots of tools) -





Must be getting close for this guitar to be sent to finishing

[Marcus Wong]

Ian, that is looking really good. I saw mock ups of Joel's new fret marker when I was in his shop and I told him that I wanted it on my next build with him hahah can't wait to see this under finish!

[virob]

IBKuz, you are one lucky guy!
This guitar is going to be one of my all time favourite Michaud builds. Just stunning. I am a big fan of spalted maple, never heard of Manchinga before this build, and am fascinated by it. I'll be very interested to hear your opinion once you have had a chance to play it for awhile.

[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.

[cigarfan]

Really cool Ian! Although Manchinga decking would be better.

How long do you think this round will last?

[IBKuz]

Originally Posted by cigarfan

Really cool Ian! Although Manchinga decking would be better.

How long do you think this round will last?

Mmmmm ... Manchinga decking. Not sure I could afford the upgrade charge

This should last as long or longer. I think we used Hemlock for the structure last time and I wasn't as happy with the longevity of the boards. While it worked well for the first 10 years, at this point, parts had rotted completely through while the rest of the Cedar decking still had a lot of integrity left (when we took the dock apart, the decking was all that was holding it together in some places). With Cedar it just seems to get punky at the surface and ends, but the inner section still keeps fairly solid. It slowly wears away until it breaks through from both sides.

It also depends on the boards we can purchase each time we build a dock. The quality seems to be getting poorer this time around (ie. more knots, more bark left on the edges). I also noted that there were thinner boards and the width was less than normal. Usually we get no less than a full 2x6 on all the boards or usually larger. This time around, half the boards were 1 3/4" thick and 5 3/4" wide. One of the 2x8's was clear for a 12' length, I tried to save it for another project yet we needed all the wood we purchased for the dock