Montreal Guitar show - this weekend

[Geoff738]

Any of our friends from la belle province going to check it out?

Cheers,
Geoff

[Telarkaster]

I'm thinking about it, but I don't know if I want to pay $15 just to see acoustic guitars that I can't afford. I know there will be a few electrics, but I wish they had a vintage gear section.

I'd like to check out the classical guitars though, maybe I'll go on Sunday.

Here's the link:

http://www.salondeguitaredemontreal.com/accueil_en.aspx

[rocksteady Max]

Originally Posted by Telarkaster

I'm thinking about it, but I don't know if I want to pay $15 just to see acoustic guitars that I can't afford.


http://www.salondeguitaredemontreal.com/accueil_en.aspx

+1 (and I already own 1 acoustic that I can't afford )


I've been there last year . What was cool was the shows. And I played some guitars by Osthoff who insisted that I played his guitar . Cool guy !

[Telarkaster]

Okay, I'm going! Out of the blue I got an email from my old bandmate asking if I wanted to go with him. I'm excited now because my buddy is not only an ace acoustic guitar player but has put together a few himself and I'd like to hear his comments and sponge as much knowledge as I can off of him. It's been a few years since I last saw him so I'm looking forward to catching up with him.

He says that a lot of people on the acoustic guitar forums are talking about this show and quite a few big name luthiers will be there (not that I know them!).

I'm going now and will report later tonight or tomorrow how it went.

[Telarkaster]

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!)

[Telarkaster]

More pics:

This luthier likes cats:





One of the mini concerts, these guys were playing Gypsy Jazz Django style, blew me away:

[Telarkaster]

A Swiss Lukas Brunner travel guitar in action. Lukas was really nice, he took the time to explain the bracing and mechanics of his work. The neck unscrews for compact storage and easy travel, goes back on with the strings still on in less than 5 seconds.





This one does not come apart, just sounds great:

[Telarkaster]

William "Grit" Laskin guitar. Don't get too attached unless you have deep pockets. He makes 10 guitars a year. This was over $10000. I think. The numbers made me dizzy. So did the beautiful inlay. Laskin was great, explaining how he has his own supply of Brazillian rosewood, and how the laws on this wood have changed over the years.

[Telarkaster]

Do not adjust your television, this is how this Bill Tippin guitar really looks. Supposedly ergonomically friendly, it is surprisingly easy to play unless you stop and think about where you should put your fingers at which point your brain will explode. Note the dark coloured guitar to the left of it, made from "Sinker" redwood that was recovered from the bottom of the ocean worth over $25000. (Sorry, I regret not taking a better photo) That was the one my buddy really liked. I'm worried for him because I left him at the show and he said that he was going back to try it in a private booth. I'll call him today to see how far in debt he is now...



Alan Carruth (I think) also presented an ergo-guitar:

[Telarkaster]

So which one did I like the best? Mark Blanchard from Eureka Montana made a cutaway that was wider on the bottom and underside, and narrower on the top and where the neck meets the body so that it's extremely comfortable to play. Plus it sounded and played wonderfully. Price? Well I guess if you have to ask you can afford it, but I didn't ask and I know I can't afford it! Still, I don't think it was one of the most expensive ones there.

Special mention to Curtis from Oriskany guitars, he was really cool and took the time to talk about music, playing, work and life with us.

[Geoff738]

Thanks for the report!

Did you get a chance to see any of the electrics? There's a thread in the main Tele forum about Chihoe Hahn, who is at the show.

Cheers,
Geoff

[Telarkaster]

Your welcome! The pleasure was all mine!

Yes, I briefly walked around the electrics and saw the Hahn table. I also saw Mr Godin and I was going to go thank him for making the Seagull and Simon Patrick guitars (and my buddy's 5th Ave, Godin electric and Art & L) but he was surrounded by people.

There were only 30 tables in the electric section and I was exhausted and after the acoustics they didn't look very interesting...

[Telarkaster]

Update: the 12th Fret gave this review of the show:

http://www.12fret.com/new/Montreal_G...w_2009_pg.html

My hat goes off to Jacques-Andre Dupont for once again creating an extremely successful handmade guitar event ... the Salon de Guitare de Montreal ... the Montreal Guitar Show! Every year over 130 of the finest luthiers are invited from literally all over the world to display their latest creations at this prestigious gathering, and every year literally thousands of musicians attend to feast their eyes and ears on possibly the most impressive collection of fine guitars in the world!
I've attended and displayed at a number of this type of show in the last thirty-five years, and I have to say that this is the best I've seen. The quality of the work was staggering and the public attendance was beyond anyone's expectations. The venue was close to the main event stages of the Montreal Jazz Festival and included not only ample space to display for the guitar builders, but a lecture hall, a performance area and dozens of soundproof rooms where you could actually take any of the display instruments and hear them properly!

I didn't attend this year's show in any professional capacity ... I just went for a 5 day holiday to kick back and relax with friends. I couldn't resist however, setting my little point-and-shoot camera to "video" and giving you a brief taste of what the show was like. My apologies in advance to all of the builders I was not able to include in the video ... there were just so many talented people at this exhibition.

The video is just to give you a feel for the show, but the list of links below is worth taking the time to explore. From world renown guitar builder Linda Manzer's web site on the Manzer/Metheny project, to William Laskin's inlay gallery to Michihiro Matsuda's art-architectural musical masterpieces ... these sites are very definitely worth checking out!!!

Me and my buddy are actually in the video, near the Laskin table.