Printable View
I exchanged emails with Max and have sent a deposit to have him build me one of his Girouard F Concert Master mandolins with an oval hole. It will feature complete binding in triple bound, Waverly tuners, James tailpiece, and master grade wood top and back with a varnish finish. Max has already picked out a beautiful one piece back of master grade Red Maple for the mandolin.
Attachment 188417
Congratulations! Looking forward to seeing the final result!
Good for you!
Good for you. Max made me an oval a style. Engelmann spruce and Red Maple back and sides. It's an amazing instrument, and Max is a brilliant builder. He shared a wealth of information during the build. I learnt an awful lot during the whole process.
If I may make one humble suggestion; have a conversation about the finish options with Max. I went for the spirit varnish finish, and I'm very happy I did. Since I've owned it (about 2 years) the varnish has really shrunken down into the wood, to the point where if the light goes across it, it's really easy to see the grain of the wood, and especially on the binding edges. Plus the binding has a lovely warm aged yellowness to it. But it's really strong and tough. It's not a finish you need to be over protective of to ensure you don't leave a mark. Max and Andrew Mowry wrote a joint article about the varnish a while ago. I'll see if I can find the article, and a photo to try and demonstrate what I'm saying. Not saying you should go for spirit varnish, but worth having a chat with Max about it. Himself and Lauri do a fantastic job on staining and finishing a mandolin.
Congrats on the order.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jill McAuley
After reading your post on the Mandolin Cafe about how happy you were with your Girouard Concert oval A that Max made for you helped me in deciding on getting Max to make me a Girouard F oval hole mandolin. Thank Jill.....
Will be following this. He's on the very short list for a carved top oval build.
Seankeegan,Quote:
Originally Posted by seankeegan
First I want to say thanks for sharing the article written by Max and Andrew Mowry about the Varnish finishing on a mandolin which was very helpful. Also, I want to say thanks for sharing a photo of the finish on you Girouard oval hole mandolin it looks beautiful and I'm sure it sounds just as good as it looks.
As a happy owner of a F-5 by Max and Lauri, the only other thing I would covet, would be an F-4 from them.
Look forward to seeing pics of the mandolin.
The best of the best ! Great sound, great workmanship, great people ! Love my Girouard A oval and my Girouard F oval !
Yankees1,Quote:
Originally Posted by yankees1
After reading your post on the Mandolin Cafe about how happy you were and posting photos of your Girouard F oval hole really got me going in asking Max to make me a F oval hole mandolin. I must admit both you and Jill added to my Mandolin Acquisition Syndrome (MAS) big time!!!:))
Thanks but let's not just give all the credit to Max ! :) Behind most every successful man is a successful, inspiring and dedicated woman ! That woman is Lauri Girouard who is a master at staining and coloring Girouard mandolins !! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by MT2
That's gonna be nice. A while back, I asked Max to build an F5 for me (I have a wonderful Girouard A5, now 2 years old). I met Max in 2013 at a Mando Festival and bought an A5 he had with him, then thought I was going to concentrate on guitar, stupidly sold it and now, here we are. I was looking at mandolins up to some pretty high price points but then I thought about how much I like the one I have and especially, the neck and it's overall playability. Max can duplicate the neck profile exactly but what really got me on the build list is that I saw a Red Diamond that I loved the finish on ($15K, gulp). Anyway, I asked Max if he could do something similar. I believe I told him I was looking for something that looked like it came from the Civil War and had been kicked around in the leaves. Not sure why I was that specific but he seemed to understand. I'll add the photo of that Red Diamond here in a sec. Ever since the lockdown started, almost everyday I have been tempted to ask about build status but I really did not want to apply pressure and had already told Max to take all the time he needs but you know, it's hard to wait :-) Anyway, saw your post last night and sent him an email this morning and turns out my build starts end of month with potential delivery Jan/Feb. So, thanks for the nudge. I'm even more excited, now. He found a nice piece of bear claw spruce for the top.
Attachment 188457
Another satisfied Girouard owner here!
Absolutely love my A.
Here is a photo of the Master Grade Red Spruce wood that Max picked out and is using for the top of my Girouard F oval hole, rough planed and not joined. It's one of the best Master Grade Red Spruce wood that I have seen!!!
I'm so lucky to have Max Girouard building me one of his Concert Master F oval hole mandolins. And I can't wait to see what its going to look like when Lauri Girouard works her magic at staining and coloring the mandolins.
Attachment 188635