Michel Aboudib MA-D Sapiens I (Fall) Build Thread

[Guitars44me]

Beautiful stuff so far! The videos sound great too.

Love the BIG BASS on the 7 string

Very interesting axe you have coming! Congratulations

And yay B.I.G. too

Paul

[doodahdoug]

Originally Posted by Guitars44me

Beautiful stuff so far! The videos sound great too.

Love the BIG BASS on the 7 string

Very interesting axe you have coming! Congratulations

And yay B.I.G. too

Paul

Thanks for your comments Paul. The strings Antoine Arbry used on the 7 string guitar are John Pearse 12-53 plus a Daddario 70 for the low B, phosphor-bronze. I agree that big bass sound is impressive.

[doodahdoug]

Michel Adding Color -



Rosette finished with a bit of varnish -




Thanks for following along, much more to come.

[TomB'sox]

So much detail in the rosette, outstanding.

[doodahdoug]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

So much detail in the rosette, outstanding.

Thanks Tom, It was the colorful carved rosette on the MA-M cocobolo guitar Michel brought with him to B.I.G. that first grabbed my attention from across the room. For this build, I asked him to make his carved rosette a bit narrower with a black outer circle inlay. We are both pleased with the results.


Carving the Braces:







Next, the neck will be attached to the soundboard. At this stage, the neck heel block is rough carved, but the rest of the neck won't be carved until later.

Rough carving the neck heel, attaching the neck and gluing blocks:









Please check back, more progress to share soon!

[Aspiring]

Loved the instrument that Michel brought to B.I.G.

Will be interesting to see how this turns out!

[doodahdoug]

Thanks Aspiring. I hope you're enjoying your new John Kinnaird guitar from B.I.G.

Here are a few pictures showing prepping and bending of the Ebony sides:





Happy Sunday and thanks for viewing.

[Kenny B]

Wow!! This is really coming together nicely.

[Aspiring]

Originally Posted by doodahdoug

Thanks Aspiring. I hope you're enjoying your new John Kinnaird guitar from B.I.G.

v.

To add to your props for Tom on B.I.G. and your comments.

In short I'm loving the JK more and more. This really goes to show how beneficial that event was. There were so many stunning guitars at the show. But, the JK was one that I didn't really play until right near the end and it grabbed me and in fact it was through the help of some new friends I made at the show that I found it.

I was almost feeling impulsive but for whatever reason it just felt right to me.

As I'm playing it at home I'm realizing more and more how my gut feel was spot on.

[s2y]

Very cool build! I look forward to sound clips!

Michel makes some impressive stuff. His prices are also very nice. We should all stock up before someone famous starts playing them and the price doubles as well as the wait time.

[cigarfan]

Looking sharp! Rosette is beyond cool and the Ebony striking! Exciting stuff!

[doodahdoug]

Originally Posted by Kenny B

Wow!! This is really coming together nicely.

Thanks Kenny, I think so too. I am looking forward to seeing your latest special guitar get into your hands too.

Originally Posted by s2y

Very cool build! I look forward to sound clips!

Michel makes some impressive stuff. His prices are also very nice. We should all stock up before someone famous starts playing them and the price doubles as well as the wait time.

Thanks Sam, it was nice meeting you at B.I.G. and getting to know you better since then. I'm sure Michel would be happy to commission another custom guitar for you!

Originally Posted by cigarfan

Looking sharp! Rosette is beyond cool and the Ebony striking! Exciting stuff!

Thanks Dennis, I'm very pleased with how it is coming together.


Attaching the sides:


Next up, attaching the sides to the neck block, tail block and cutaway tip block which were glued to the soundboard in the previous step.

1-2. Tentellones are glued in one by one.
3. Side braces installed.
4. Shaping the sides.



5. Gluing in kerfing.
6. Kerfing installed.




Thanks for following along so far.

[doodahdoug]

Michel recently began utilizing a floating back brace in his acoustic guitar builds. He spoke with Jeff Traugott and received his permission before using it for the first time.

Michel says "I made a small variation in the joinery, without affecting the function of the brace. This stronger longitudinal structure of the back also improves the stability of the heel block, so the neck angle is more stable over time."

The 7 string MA-D guitar (featured in the Antoine Aubry video in this thread, post #11) was recorded prior to his use of the floating brace. Michel went back one year later and installed a floating back brace in that guitar. He says, "the sound improvement is incredible. Comparing before and after the brace in the same conditions, same strings etc., showed the floating brace gave a more focused sound, more presence, more clarity, fuller sound across all frequencies, a sweeter sound."

For those who were able to play the MA-M guitar at B.I.G., that guitar has the floating back brace.


Building the Back:

1. Back reinforcement
2. Back bracing
3. Floating back brace being glued





More updates soon!

[Nemoman]

Those are some tiny tentellones there--and therefore, a lot of them!

Such clean work on the inside--very cool.

Digging the floating brace too--this guitar is really coming along!

[doodahdoug]

Originally Posted by Nemoman

Those are some tiny tentellones there--and therefore, a lot of them!

Such clean work on the inside--very cool.

Digging the floating brace too--this guitar is really coming along!

Thanks Kevin, I like the clean look of the inside of this guitar and the floating back brace too. I have another modified version of the Traugott floating back brace in my Michaud O-R.

Yes, things really are coming together. Here is a picture of the box closed up. This shows the top prior to the cutting of the binding channels:



Bridge and Fingerboard.

Michel is using a striped ebony bridge and peghead to tie in with the look of the back and sides. For contrast the fingerboard and bindings are black ebony.






The following picture gives a rough idea of the front look (very approximate bridge placement). The ebony binding and purfling lines can now be seen.







Thanks for having a look at the progress.