In the W o r k s h o p
“Inspiration exists,
but it has to find you
working.”Pablo Picasso
Current experimentation with the acoustic horn component as part
of the guitar:
You read correctly. The -78- hollow body guitar is in progress and although its primary application is more electric, it will allow me to validate certain ideas related to the theme of the acoustic horn, naturally complementing the sound of the guitar box as such.
From this experimentation, my aim is to have the guitar's complete system to generate an output of frequencies specific to the mid-highs of the -Wah- type, i.e. pronounced midrange sound focused towards the player, particularly interesting for sampling and recording work. Next up will be finding a way to amplify those new sounds within the context of live applications.
Latest bowl-back steel-string guitar :
The recent (2023) Raga 2 with its bowl-back configuration:
Raga 2 sound box is made up of of 22 laminated ribs, assembled on a multifaceted detachable mold.
“A standard steel-string guitar has a compliant back. When you strike a note, the back will pump air and move. It will give you bass notes in this way, acting as a trampoline,” he says. “But with the oudtar, the double-curved back makes the whole soundbox reflective. It’s like a dome or vault that gives reverb to the sound.”
“André likens this to the acoustics in a cathedral whose design allows people to hear their voices echoing up the walls. Since the oudtar doesn’t have the sharp edges of a guitar box, the sound resonates like an oud or a lute, instruments that also have a rounded back.” J.H. White, Magnifissance Magazine (Read more)
Raga 2 with opalescent silver dust laquer finish.
Basic structure of my soundboxes:
The Maya Bass features laminated -neck wings- connecting its neck block its to sides in a triangular fashion :
A reinforcement of the neck-body junction originally developed by guitar genius Steve Klein, the neck wings provide stability to the guitar's neck angle, preventing the neck from lifting-up, and essentially folding the guitar soundbox. This at first structural quality also (to my ear) has quite interesting acoustic benefits - i.e. the guitar neck being thus stabilized laterally, the pulsating energy of the string is maintained more effectively (less loss in the neck itself) and is in return, fully directed to the bridge of the guitar.
Inside the Multi 2 Harp-guitar - View of its monocoque, ergonomic soundbox & structurally reinforced neck/body junction area.
Harp Guitars with sympathetic strings: Multi, Echoes of Time, Multi 2.
Inside the flat-back Clara Archtop. Note the even footprint of contact on top's perimeter as influenced by violin & cello-making.
2025: A year dedicated to the acoustic archtop guitar.
I have been designing my archtop guitar -Blue- for the Archtop Foundation's -The Blue Guitars- project for a year now.
With this preliminary stage completed, construction details and more information will be announced gradually in the coming weeks.
Let's just say that this commission is most revealing, in terms of the dedication required and the level of construction complexity that surrounds the entire archtop guitar tradition.
Above: The Clara Archtop - acoustic / electric archtop guitar with floating (through the top) humbucker (2022).
Main materials: : Red Cedar, ziricote, black limba, ebony, rosewood, aluminium, dyed sycomore, recon stone.
In a word, it is completely an honor, and the archtop is beyond fascinating to study, to view perhaps in an -Andre- version while respecting those who first imagined and refined this icon, and those who play it.
Outside my workshop is a cardboard sign -BLUE- that I made to announce with my family (pictured below) my nomination. Notable fact; While picking up some -blue- balloons at the local Canadian Tire, the clerk exclaims: -"The blue guitars! I know that; my guitar teacher told me about it... He's also very good, so much so that his guitar is signed by the best guitarist in the world too"
To think that, in La Pocatière Qc, the Blue Guitars are famous - And, that I couldn't find out (sorry!) who the best guitarist in the world is.
Definitely a story to follow!
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