Official Luthiers Forum!

After meeting Patrick Woods about a year ago and getting to know each other, he decided to commission a new guitar from my shop. This week, I finally delivered it to him. Check out the history and other information on the guitar in the News section at my website http://www.donohueguitars.com/recent-news-updates/101-patrick-woods-sj-cutaway-delivered

Patrick is an amazing performer. His style is such that he uses every square millimeter if the top and fretboard as either a percussive surface or a source of a musical note. As such, it was interesting to define his needs in both areas. Check out his bio here http://www.pwguitar.com/about.shtml and some of his YouTube performances here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9R7kTSDfJU&feature=related

The guitar is a deep-bodied SJ with a Florentine cutaway. It uses the following woods and appointments:
...Bearclaw Lutz from Shane
...Indian Rosewood B&S
...Curly Koa bindings, headplate, Florentine point, etc
...Stainless steel frets
...Sperzel locking tuners (I hate em' but the client insisted)
...Medium strings
...Joe White Finish...Glossy top and headplate, Satin everything else
...I-Beam electronics

One of Patrick's desires was to be able to record through a mic while still maintaining the same nuances of tone and timbre when plugged in on stage. He seemed to like the voice of my trial guitars and wanted more of it in his working instrument. He also liked the percussive effects of a lighter-built guitar. "And another thing, JJ...medium strings with electric guitar shredder action!"

After going through the requisite setup of both action and electronics, he would stop by for trials and nit-picking until we both concluded that it was just right. I would not install the electronics until we were both happy with its acoustic response. So after the PUP install we played through my little practice amp... he was happy with its sound and response and took it home so he could play it through his sound system. He called me the next day and said as soon as he plugged it in and started playing he began laughing uncontrollably! ...Gee, I was at least hoping he'd wet his pants! His conclusion was that the guitar turned out far better than he ever expected or wanted and concluded that it will make him a much better player and performer...he said I wouldn't understand.

So he's now planning to re-do all of his videos and promotional materials and says he's hitting the road with a renewed spirit and confidence. I'm still a bit numb and just had to share the news with my builder friends. This was an amazing experience and in the end Patrick became more than a client but more importantly a new friend.

Check out some pics:

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Not much for cutaways myself, but a VERY pretty instrument JJ.

Well deserved accolades JJ! You SHOULD be stoked!! She turned out beautiful!

Congrats

Shane

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Canada

Very cool JJ. Congratulations! You learn a lot from working with a pro don't you?

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

That is killer stuff, JJ. You should be very proud!! Lots of lovely details and I love the top especially.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Way to go JJ, that's a home run for sure. And, the guitar is gorgeous too!

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Nice looking guitar JJ
jack

Indeed, Terry...for one thing, they seem to be able to make every guitar they play sound great. They do something different with their fretting fingers that just can't be taught. They also have acquired an innate sensitivity on their right hand that enables them to attack each string with exactly the right force...every time. It's a more advanced state of muscle memory IMO...I swear that they transfer brain cells to their fingertips. I've seen this with several advanced players now. They also can recognize a guitar that brings out the best in their abilities. I definitely saw this when we were at Elderly's and he would favor one over another for qualities that I never before perceived until he brought it to my attention.

Conversely, he admitted that he learned a lot from me in terms of how a guitar could be tweaked and adjusted to eliminate those pesky intonation issues. No longer does he have to play different areas of the fretboard differently to get intonation spot on. My only challenge right now is convincing him to regard humidity issues a lot more seriously than he had in the past. Making a habit of humidity awareness could be a challenge. On the other hand, a good sign is the fact that he is planning to buy an airline seat for his guitar when travels to and performs at NAMM.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Congratulations JJ. And thanks much for sharing this!
Very fine work .

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

The cutaway issue was my biggest concern initially. His go to guitar for the past many years was a 16 fret body join double cutaway Wechter Pathfinder. My concern was whether his access to the nether regions would be compromised. After playing normal cutaway 14 fret body joins at Elderly's, he was convinced that he could get his thing done. Nevertheless, I tried to make it more accessible and at the same time be as ergonomic as possible...the depth of the cutaway was maximized and the heel carved closer to the body than my normal profiles. The flush neck/body join just seems to make most sense anyway but it also facilitates access.

Sometimes the priority of needs seem to prevail in just the right way. In early discussions, Patrick rated the sound quality higher than having a 16th fret join. "Hey, you're a pro...you should be able to do the same thing with a normally joined guitar...what do other pros use" was probably a nudge that helped him decide on a 14 fretter. In the end, we made the right call.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Good for you JJ, congrats, fun when stuff like that happens!!

Greg

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Gwaltney Guitars

Congratulations JJ, couldn't happen to a nicer bloke. Working with a professional player can do nothing but good for your building and for your reputation among the industry. However, I think the Florentine should come with a health warning, you could take someone's eye out with that!

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Outstanding experience JJ. Thanks for sharing it with us!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

What a great story JJ, and what a great experience for you and Patrick!
Hats off my friend, you did a great job.

Joe

Really nice, JJ.
I love the cutaway, and that top is beautiful.
Is that a marker on the 12th fret?

Alan.

Alan...it's a copper triangle with 3 copper dots. It represents my 3 sons. Before I went to a signature, I used to have a similar triangular logo on the headstock. It seems to work well on the 12th fret now.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Very cool.
I like it when something one builds has more of a meaning behind it.
I built an electric chambered body many years ago,
and used copper for the bindings, and malachite oval fretmarkers.
Copper is nice.
Mine didn't have any meaning behind it though.
Looks good though.

Hey amigo, we're all happy for you. And for good reason...that's a nice, nice, nice guitar.
I'm glad you included your triangle logo.
And, by the way, those miters on the purfling are top-drawer.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Beautiful!! Congratulations.

Many thanks to all for the kind words. Thanks for looking.

A special note of gratitude to my long time and true friends, Colin and Steve K. who have set such high standards for me to shoot for over the years. Your kudos and encouragement mean more than you can imagine.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

JJ, that guitar is a stunner to be sure. I know for certain these things are real canons and inspiring to play. I'm glad you are still using the tulip headstock shape, it's very elegant.

Congratulations for this commission, and I hope it is the first of many!!!

Beautiful gutar, JJ! You have every right to be proud.

Best wishes,
Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

dang JJ,
This guitar is just freakin' STUNNING !!! It is flawless. And what a great story behind this thing.

Good job man, thank you for sharing with us.

Hutch


P.S. = Now I know the word Dang is not in my vocabulary, I used the word dam n....lol Must be that silly little word filter again.

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

She's a beaut, JJ! There's nothing like a client calling or emailing and just gushing over a guitar that you made for him...(or her)...come to think of it, I'm missing that feeling over the last year...anyone wanna buy a guitar?

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Looks great, JJ. Congratulations!

Wait 'til he expounds about his new guitar onstage. That would be a boost, eh?

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com