Hello everyone,
I hope you'll enjoy this build thread about a unique instrument that will be a stark contrast to those I've posted in the past...
A little background
For the last few months I have been exploring the idea of using an archtop guitar for certain solo fingerstyle pieces I've written. The archtop is perhaps the one member of the guitar family that I find most visually and sonically gorgeous but up until recently knew least about.
Thinking back, I guess my first serious contact with the concept of an acoustic fingerstyle archtop was at Stefan Sobell's workshop when I visited him to film an episode for the first series of Luthier Stories. The instrument in this case was the very first Sobell guitar and you can see it in action right here.
If you'd like to see the full episode with Stefan then you can check it out here too
Since that day I've had the pleasure of playing some very beautiful examples of archtop luthiery from 100-year old Gibsons like this L1
To extraordinary art pieces like Linda Manzer's Iceberg built for the Group of Seven guitar project and inspired by the works of the painter Lawren Harris
These brief encounters inspired me to experiment more with this style of guitar and Gibson Guitars, arguably one of the original creators of the archtop guitar, very kindly loaned me an L5 for a recording session which frankly raised more questions than it answered!
Seeking further insight I called up Colorado fingerstyle archtop virtuoso Sean McGowan to get his advice.
I honestly hadn't intended this thread to kick off with such an intense YouTube session but as the majority of us will be indoors for the foreseeable future (to the AGF'ers on the frontline of medical services and other vital areas around the world I can only give my heartfelt thanks and hope that you'll stay safe) you might enjoy a more measured and detailed approach.
The Luthier
Those of you who have followed my build threads over the years will be more than familiar with the results of my decade-long partnership with Jason Kostal in Phoenix Az. That is, of course, still going strong and I am still really looking forward to demonstrating Jason's impeccable work (along with that of Rory Dowling of Taran Guitars and Rosie Heydenrych of Turnstone Guitars) at the Grand Finale of the Holy Grail Guitar Show in Berlin at some point this year.
At the time of writing there has been no official notice of postponement of that show but with the restrictions placed on international travel until safety can be guaranteed it is, sadly, a reasonable assumption that the originally planned time-line will need to be revised considering the high number of transatlantic exhibitors.
Right now there are worse problems to have.
Now, as with other guitar exhibitions of this nature, The Holy Grail Show imposes an entirely sensible limit on the number of luthiers each artist can play for and although I'd fielded several inquiries I was still one short of my regulation four.
It was then that I received a message from a Thierry André, a Quebec-based luthier whose work has baffled, challenged, and inspired me for many years.
Here he is. See what I mean?
I think the first example I saw of Thierry's work was in Ervin Somogyi's book The Responsive Guitar where he shares "A Sampling of Contemporary Work Worth Sharing". Thierry's guitar is on the bottom left.
That's certainly eye-catching!
Over the years I have seen Thierry André exhibit his instruments at numerous guitar shows all over the world and his sense of design has always fascinated me. There seem to be influences from all over the world involved here from organic natural shapes and African primitivism to Cubist sculpture and lines from the Middle East. Perhaps even more importantly to me, the quality of Thierry's work is often breathtakingly sophisticated.
Here are some of my favourite examples. Each instrument is a unique piece and named accordingly.
This is "Sun, Moon and Vibrations".
Here's a side view showing the extended body.
This is "PO"
and seen from the back
Like all good build threads this one will lull you into a false sense of security with this more familiar "Old School Archtop" design
Before hitting you with "Cluster"
and "Raga Guitar"
In his initial message Thierry mentioned that he wanted to build an archtop guitar specifically for me to play at the show. He'd done some preliminary work on the instrument's design but was interested in this being a player-luthier collaboration. I was very happy to accept!
It was Thierry's birthday yesterday and as a present to him I have started this thread. As you might imagine his clientele consists mostly of art collectors and commissions from galleries but I hope you'll also find the process as fascinating as I have so far.
I'll leave you for the moment with the regulation picture of a luthier covered in sawdust staring at a piece of wood.
Until next time!
Michael
NB. I have cleared this thread with the AGF mods who have graciously allowed me to post this even though the guitar is being built for me to play, not to own.