Hey AGF,
VERY excited to be starting my third commission with Marc Beneteau from Ontario, CA. Every guitar of his that I have had the opportunity to play has fit my style of playing astonishingly well and his fit/finish is just perfect. Most of my albums and singles have been recorded with Marc's guitars as they strike a razor sharp balance of modern overtones and traditional woody tone. He voices his guitars with contemporary fingerstyle/dropped tunings in mind and I love that. I've yet to hear any guitars that sound like his, which is the mark of a great luthier of over 30 years. Very unique and consistently powerful tone.
My tune "Once More, with Feeling" on a Carpathian/Ebony Model M
My tune "Finally" on an Italian/Walnut SJ
My tune "Remembrance" on an Italian/African Blackwood MJ fanfret
For this build we decided to do something pretty different than what I normally go for. A shorter scale and baked sitka for the soundboard vs. longer scale(s) with Euro spruce. Marc prides himself on his stash of seasoned, perfectly quartersawn woods that he often processes himself and after sending some sets of Alaskan Sitka to a wood torrefaction processor he felt very confident about now offering torrefied, or "baked" Sitka tops as an option. After chatting he said he could confirm there was extra sustain and warmth to the tone of the guitars he'd made with it from the beginning that wasn't typically there with standard Sitka sets. For the back and sides we decided on a beautiful set of Indian rosewood from his stash that's over 20 years dried and seasoned.
For those who might follow my banter on Cedar Rock Studio Gallery reviews - I am a huge fan of Italian spruce, almost always. But my first two Beneteau's were made with this wood and I am anticipating going with Italian for my upcoming Taran build due this Fall so I felt it was time for something different and I have loved the sound Marc gets with his standard Sitka.
To my way of thinking, good Sitka is in no way inferior to the higher-sought after European spruces on most high end builds. I used to not think very highly of it for fingerstyle guitar that generally involves a light touch and a need for complexity in the overtones. After spending the last year or so gigging with my limited series Larrivee "DF" model in master grade Sitka/Ziricote I actually see some advantages and find it to be a fine choice for this style of playing when paired with a resonant back/sides wood. I see the added benefit most where there is a bit more urgency to the tempo of a song or when I want to dig in harder with the midrange. There is a maturity and "no B/S" quality to it that I find appealing, however I say all of this knowing that I am still a complete sucker for the beauty and bell-like trebles you find in good European tops that can bring out the melody like no other top wood choice.
Below are the specs we have settled on and the first photo of the wood sets Marc picked out. This ought to be finished sometime in late summer. I look forward to sharing the journey with you all again and posting the demo upon it's delivery.
-Soundboard: Torrefied Alaskan Sitka
-Back and Sides: Indian Rosewood
-Nut Width: 1.78
-Bridge string spacing: 2.31
-Scale Length: 25
-Body depth at endpin: 4 3/8
-Cutaway: Florentine
-Body bindings/bevel: Ebony
-Fingerboard: Maple-Bound Ebony
-Soundboard inner purflings: Rosewood/maple/ebony
-Heel cap: Indian rosewood
-Backstrip: Ebony with maple borders
-Arm Bevel: Ryan style
-Soundport: Yes
-Bridge: Pinless
-Headstock front and back veneers: Maple-bound Indian Rosewood, B logo for front
-Rosette: 8mm wide Spalted Maple
Misc:
-neck thickness at 1st fret: 0.83
-Ebony or gold strap pin for neck heel (dealer choice)
-Side MOP dots up to 21st fret
-Evo Gold fretwire medium jumbo (0.047 x 0.104)
-Standard gold Gotoh 510s 18:1 with Ebonoid buttons
-clear pickguard
-Nut string spacing 1 9/16"
-cedar kerflings
-drilled endpin hole for future pickup jack, centered, no endpin necessary
Action/String height:
-Straight (or nearly straight) neck preferred
-Low E: 3/32 off the 12th fret wire
-High E: 2/32 off the 12th fret wireless
