It is rare to be able to have insight into the making of a modern guitar. And equally interesting to see one art piece in depth, and with details. Sun, Moon, and Vibrations is a unique guitar from a gifted luthier and this is the story.
SOUND BYTES
These demos are the luthier (Andre Thierry) playing the freshly strung-up guitar on day one, left-handed (as he is a LH player), while having the strings in the reversed configuration.
https://soundcloud.com/user-448828105/sets/andre-instruments-no105-sunmoon-and-vibrations-demo-1-2-3
BUILD PROCESS
Since it is unusual to carve-out such a deep -bowl- for to make a guitar soundbox, here one can visualize how I did it: Working the Poplar shape in one unit (held first by a dedicated fixture), then working both halves separately to carve their inside, before joining them together to make final voicing.
The presence of the laminated -neck wings- element (picture 6), attached to the neck block area, transfers the traction exerted on that block, to the perimeter of the bowl. This system was initiated back in the day by Steve Klein and Mike Doolin. In this way I do too, and as every time the case with my acoustic/hollowbody guitar builds, the neck won’t eventually pull-up, and the soundbox will not -fold- in time either.
This frees-up the soundboard to vibrate in the upper bout area and offers the benefit of not having to do a neck -reset- periodically, as often the case with some great sounding acoustics.
The final picture shows that the bridge is actually a dense ebony wood, before it being covered by a layer of laquered, white Japanese Kasagami paper. This kept the bridge a lighter color while keeping the ebony factor in.
ABOUT THE GUITAR
The guitar merges my faith for the good old designs, with a
willingness to explore new grounds. The rounded soundbox is something I have worked on several occasions in the last ten years. This time, sound, ergonomics, visuals, all came into one place where they worked beautifully as one vibrant unit. It is difficult to label such instrument as either being -modern- or -ancient- … and this is the interesting crossing line where I am (un) comfortable working at, when a creation feels timeless. When a build-idea like this shows-up, I get a very intuitive -kick- to do it.
What I am learning every year from my work is to keep aware of this very human trait: When the thought of a beautiful yet -very risky- project comes to mind, and resonates with our guts, telling us that it would be incredibly awesome to do it, we only have a few seconds to say -yes- to it, before our mental security system comes-in as default, and shuts this thought down.
The project -Sun, Moon, and Vibrations- is the material expression of such a -yes-. It is the best way that I can -explain- exactly from where that guitar comes from.
From a more pragmatic perspective, I find some logic in having a vibrating guitar body that is as long as the string itself. This is the case with most of the bowed instruments.
Another -long- guitar is planned for this year! This next one will be an arched-top with f-holes, and regular bent sides. It should be ready for the International Quebec Guitar Show at the end of October 2019.
Thierry André, Mai 2019