Telecaster Guitar Forum - View Single Post - Montreal Guitar show

Telarkaster · July 5th, 2009, 10:38 AM

Wow, my head is still spinning. After going down one row out of eight of tables and talking to the builders of some of the most beautiful guitars I've ever seen, I felt like I had just finished the first layer of a multi-tiered sundae and that I was going into a diabetic coma shock. So many guitars, so many luthiers, so much eye candy.

The acoustics were in the big room, over a hundred luthiers from around the world were there: USA, France, Switzerland, Portugual, South America, etc, as well as quite a few locals. I didn't see any classical guitars that I liked, but that doesn't mean there weren't any there. There was simply too much to see. Next year...

What struck me the most was how nice the builders were. They took the time to answer questions, explain their creations and share stories. We only talked to a few because I could only stay for a couple of hours, but everyone was great.

Next year I will try to plan my entire weekend around this. You can easily spend 3 days there since there are so many guitars to try and there are mini concerts going on non stop in a side room. There are also guitar workshops on building and playing, something I want I take advantage of next year.

What I took away from my experience is that in a room filled with hundreds of guitarists and dozens of luthiers and hundreds of priceless instruments, all I really need is a $200 Yamaha acoustic. The $25000 guitars are beautiful and all, but I really need to study music theory and practice 24/7 for the next 80 years before I deserve to get one...

Here are a few snaps I took. I took quite a few at the beginning but after a few minutes I realized that there were simply too many beautiful guitars to photograph and I put the camera away. Go check it out for yourself!

Acoustic room:

They had quite a few interesting instruments in glass displays at the entrance, note the woodwork in the soundhole of this manouche guitar (helps projection?):

Alot of these fancy acoustics had a soundhole on the side so the player can hear himself, great idea (maybe not new to you, but new to me!)

July 5th, 2009, 10:38 AM	#5 (permalink)
Telarkaster Friend of Leo's Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Montreal Quebec Canada Posts: 2,752	Wow, my head is still spinning. After going down one row out of eight of tables and talking to the builders of some of the most beautiful guitars I've ever seen, I felt like I had just finished the first layer of a multi-tiered sundae and that I was going into a diabetic coma shock. So many guitars, so many luthiers, so much eye candy. The acoustics were in the big room, over a hundred luthiers from around the world were there: USA, France, Switzerland, Portugual, South America, etc, as well as quite a few locals. I didn't see any classical guitars that I liked, but that doesn't mean there weren't any there. There was simply too much to see. Next year... What struck me the most was how nice the builders were. They took the time to answer questions, explain their creations and share stories. We only talked to a few because I could only stay for a couple of hours, but everyone was great. Next year I will try to plan my entire weekend around this. You can easily spend 3 days there since there are so many guitars to try and there are mini concerts going on non stop in a side room. There are also guitar workshops on building and playing, something I want I take advantage of next year. What I took away from my experience is that in a room filled with hundreds of guitarists and dozens of luthiers and hundreds of priceless instruments, all I really need is a $200 Yamaha acoustic. The $25000 guitars are beautiful and all, but I really need to study music theory and practice 24/7 for the next 80 years before I deserve to get one... Here are a few snaps I took. I took quite a few at the beginning but after a few minutes I realized that there were simply too many beautiful guitars to photograph and I put the camera away. Go check it out for yourself! Acoustic room: They had quite a few interesting instruments in glass displays at the entrance, note the woodwork in the soundhole of this manouche guitar (helps projection?): Alot of these fancy acoustics had a soundhole on the side so the player can hear himself, great idea (maybe not new to you, but new to me!) Last edited by Telarkaster; July 5th, 2009 at 11:28 AM.