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Thread: Story of My Girouard Tenor

  1. #1

    Default Story of My Girouard Tenor

    One night in summer 2017 as I laid in bed, I emailed Max with a proposition to build a tenor guitar. Through some repair and set-up work he'd done for me before, I had already developed a real respect for his work.

    I thought it was a long-shot because flat-top tenors didn't appear in his current list of available models, but I gave it a try because I've always wanted to go through the custom build process, and I wanted to support a local luthier.

    I was barely finished with my morning coffee the next day when I already had an affirmative response. He explained he'd been meaning to take on a tenor project, and this was a good opportunity to do it.

    It was a particularly fun experience following the build because I also was being kept apprised of all the ancillary work involved in beginning a new model (e.g. templates, jigs, etc.).

    Max was great through the whole process. We kept in touch the whole way through, and the end product matched my vision. That compliment extends to Lauri, too, who was able to translate my vague finishing requests into a thing of beauty.

    You may have seen some sneak peeks of my tenor on the Girouard Mandolins Facebook page earlier this summer. Below is the end product.

    My thanks to Max and Lauri. I can't recommend working with them enough.

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  3. #2

    Default Re: Story of My Girouard Tenor

    And before someone asks how it sounds, here's a short clip. My apologies as this beautiful instrument deserves to be demo'd by a Matt Witler-type ala TME.

    Cedar top, mahogany back and sides, tuned GDAE.


  4. #3
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Story of My Girouard Tenor

    Nice Tenor. Looks great. I don't see the sound file.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

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  6. #4

    Default Re: Story of My Girouard Tenor

    Weird. The youtube clip embeds properly with Chrome, but not with Safari. Usually it's Chrome that does poorly on this site.

    https://youtu.be/oqZYrJTAzLs

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  8. #5
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Story of My Girouard Tenor

    Hey, it sounds good too

    Nice.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

  9. #6
    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Story of My Girouard Tenor

    Beautiful! I love the rounded lower bout. What is the story about the billy goat inlay on the head stock?
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

  10. #7
    Registered User MissingString's Avatar
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    Default Re: Story of My Girouard Tenor

    Congrats. That looks fantastic. I saw two new Girouard instruments this week at The Music Emporium and they looked/sounded awesome too.
    “Without music, life would be a mistake” Neitzsche

    Collings MF5-V
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    An electric rig with an envelope filter trying to sound like Jerry...

  11. #8

    Default Re: Story of My Girouard Tenor

    Quote Originally Posted by Charles E. View Post
    Beautiful! I love the rounded lower bout. What is the story about the billy goat inlay on the head stock?
    It's a family thing.

  12. #9

    Default Re: Story of My Girouard Tenor

    That's a thing of beauty. Sounds great. Arch top and back?
    VerneAndru.com | oKee.ComX

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  13. #10

    Default Re: Story of My Girouard Tenor

    Yes...in the most technical sense. To the naked eye it has a flat top and back, although there is a very subtle 14' radius on top and 25' on back. Max could better explain the logic behind that.

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