Joining the Girouard club - commissioned a build!

[Jill McAuley]

Jill, I know you liked your Collings oval, how does this differ? Seems like I am seeing a lot of oval hole mandolins coming from the dynamic duo at Girouard.

The first thing I notice is how much LOUDER the Girouard is. The tone is warmer with more midrange than the Collings had as well. The other significant thing is I'm realizing that the 1 1/18th nut width works so much better for me than the wide nut that the Collings had. When I had the Collings I assumed that things felt a little tougher playing wise because I'd had a 5 year hiatus from the mandolin, but now I'm seeing that part of that was down to the wider nut being less than ideal for me (all my mandolins prior to the Collings had a 1 1/18th nut). I had a similar experience when I went from playing an acoustic guitar with a 1 3/4 nut to one with a 1 11/16th nut.

[yankees1]

The first thing I notice is how much LOUDER the Girouard is. The tone is warmer with more midrange than the Collings had as well. The other significant thing is I'm realizing that the 1 1/18th nut width works so much better for me than the wide nut that the Collings had. When I had the Collings I assumed that things felt a little tougher playing wise because I'd had a 5 year hiatus from the mandolin, but now I'm seeing that part of that was down to the wider nut being less than ideal for me (all my mandolins prior to the Collings had a 1 1/18th nut). I had a similar experience when I went from playing an acoustic guitar with a 1 3/4 nut to one with a 1 11/16th nut.

Let us a hear a sample Jill !

[Jill McAuley]

Here ye go: A great Tommy Coen reel, called "Christmas Eve", keeping with the season and all:

[bruce.b]

Wow Jill, this is a forever mandolin. I just listened to the two tunes you put on Utube and it sounds as good as it looks. It sounds fantastic! Great playing too!

[Jill McAuley]

Wow Jill, this is a forever mandolin. I just listened to the two tunes you put on Utube and it sounds as good as it looks. It sounds fantastic! Great playing too!

Cheers, Bruce! Yeah, this mandolin is definitely a keeper!

[seankeegan]

Sounds great Jill

[yankees1]

Wow Jill, why does your Girouard sound better than mine ?? I get it, it's the player !! The sound of the mandolin duplicates what my Girouard oval voices but you are a better player than me ! Great job and happy for you that it finally arrived ! I have to wait until next fall to get my Girouard F4 !!

[Charles E.]

Sounds great Jill, we have Mandolin Mondays but this video makes it Mandolin Tuesday.

[mtucker]

Sounds very open for being so new, great tone and attack. Very nice!

[Gerry Cassidy]

Here ye go: A great Tommy Coen reel, called "Christmas Eve", keeping with the season and all:

Jill! What a creation you have there... starting with your vision and now in your hands, by way of one of the best builders out there. This is what I call a "Fantastic Journey" :-)

Congrats on finding your new musical soulmate.

[Jill McAuley]

Sounds very open for being so new, great tone and attack. Very nice!

That's exactly what I noticed - if it sounds this open now, I can't imagine how even more amazing it'll sound in 6 months, a year etc.!!

[Teak]

Very nice!

Jill, what is the inlay in the headstock? It looks like a type of dog, is that correct?

[Charles E.]

Look at post number one of this thread.

[Jill McAuley]

Very nice!

Jill, what is the inlay in the headstock? It looks like a type of dog, is that correct?

It's a silhouette of my Beagle, Janey Mack - scroll back a little in the thread to find a close up photo of the headstock.

[Randi Gormley]

What a lovely sound! and of course a great rendition of Christmas Eve. That is a spectacular mandolin.

[yankees1]

What a lovely sound! and of course a great rendition of Christmas Eve. That is a spectacular mandolin.

I think all Girouards are spectacular !

[Gary Leonard]

Curse you Girouard club members! You made me commission a build, they look and sound so lovely.

Like you Jill, I will be coming over from an MTO. If I had to point out one thing about my MTO, I'd say it was just a bit on the tubby side on the low strings. My string choice contributes some to that, I prefer Thomastik flatwounds. Have any you tried them yet? I like to play ITM, a bit of choro, and old time/fiddle tunes.

Yankees, my oval will probably end up very similar to yours, material and build wise, spruce top, EVO frets and an engraved James. I am not a fan of sunbursts, though a darker cremora burst like Jill's may work. I will probably do a deluxe solid color finish. Were the fancier wood grades an option? I didn't see that on the website.

[Jim Garber]

Gary: I wonder if Max would voice your mandolin to optimize for T-I strings? Have you asked? Since Phoenix closed shop the only other luthier I know of who will do that is Marty Jacobson.

[Al Trujillo]

Wow!! It sounds every bit as lovely as it looks!

[Jill McAuley]

Curse you Girouard club members! You made me commission a build, they look and sound so lovely.

Like you Jill, I will be coming over from an MTO. If I had to point out one thing about my MTO, I'd say it was just a bit on the tubby side on the low strings. My string choice contributes some to that, I prefer Thomastik flatwounds. Have any you tried them yet? I like to play ITM, a bit of choro, and old time/fiddle tunes.

Yankees, my oval will probably end up very similar to yours, material and build wise, spruce top, EVO frets and an engraved James. I am not a fan of sunbursts, though a darker cremora burst like Jill's may work. I will probably do a deluxe solid color finish. Were the fancier wood grades an option? I didn't see that on the website.

Congratulations Gary!! I haven't ever tried Thomastik flat wounds on the mandolin though did have some on an tenor banjo I used to own. Re: the wood grades, Max emailed me photos of several sets of top wood to choose from - at the time I don't think either of us expected the amount of figure on the top wood to be as visible as it was, definitely a nice surprise!

[Gary Leonard]

Gary: I wonder if Max would voice your mandolin to optimize for T-I strings? Have you asked? Since Phoenix closed shop the only other luthier I know of who will do that is Marty Jacobson.

Jim, I think that is what will happen, Max responded in an email and explained the build process. Built to their standard specs, and like Jill and Blue showed us, stringing up in the white, some final tweaks, and then off to finish. I won't mess with success!

It is fun to spec this out, it's like Christmas all over again.

[Charles E.]

You could not work with two nicer people then Max and Lauri. Looking forward to seeing what they build for you.

[Barbes]

Curse you Girouard club members! You made me commission a build, they look and sound so lovely.

Like you Jill, I will be coming over from an MTO. If I had to point out one thing about my MTO, I'd say it was just a bit on the tubby side on the low strings. My string choice contributes some to that, I prefer Thomastik flatwounds. Have any you tried them yet? I like to play ITM, a bit of choro, and old time/fiddle tunes.

Yankees, my oval will probably end up very similar to yours, material and build wise, spruce top, EVO frets and an engraved James. I am not a fan of sunbursts, though a darker cremora burst like Jill's may work. I will probably do a deluxe solid color finish. Were the fancier wood grades an option? I didn't see that on the website.

I’ve got a Girouard two-point with Thomastiks on it, and it sounds great.

[seankeegan]

Best of luck with your new build Gary. Max and Lauri are a delight to work with. My Girouard is #174, a custom oval. It's a beast! Loud, great tone and lots of fun to play.

[yankees1]

Curse you Girouard club members! You made me commission a build, they look and sound so lovely.

Like you Jill, I will be coming over from an MTO. If I had to point out one thing about my MTO, I'd say it was just a bit on the tubby side on the low strings. My string choice contributes some to that, I prefer Thomastik flatwounds. Have any you tried them yet? I like to play ITM, a bit of choro, and old time/fiddle tunes.

Yankees, my oval will probably end up very similar to yours, material and build wise, spruce top, EVO frets and an engraved James. I am not a fan of sunbursts, though a darker cremora burst like Jill's may work. I will probably do a deluxe solid color finish. Were the fancier wood grades an option? I didn't see that on the website.

Max is trying to locate a PO top similar to Jill's if he can ! If not I will go with a spruce top. You will not find a better oval than a Girouard, sound wise or build wise !