SJ for Patrick Woods

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JJDonohue

SJ for Patrick Woods

Post by JJDonohue »

This is my first guitar commissioned for a genuine professional. 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-ne ... -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=s9R7kTSD ... re=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:
017 - Patrick 072.jpg
017 - Patrick 076.jpg
017 - Patrick 077.jpg
017 - Patrick 080.jpg
017 - Patrick 078.jpg
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Tony_in_NYC
Posts: 827
Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2010 9:11 pm

Re: SJ for Patrick Woods

Post by Tony_in_NYC »

Thats a nice looking guitar JJ. Very well done. A guy I am building for wants Sperzel tuners. Are they a pain to install?
Why dont you like them?
deadedith

Re: SJ for Patrick Woods

Post by deadedith »

Outstanding. That's all I have to say. :-)
Dave B
kencierp

Re: SJ for Patrick Woods

Post by kencierp »

In contrast to jj's exquisite work this is my first commisioned guitar the "Comdophone" I built it for Phil Garrard who was the long time MC at the Detroit Yacht Club back in 1969. I saw the darn thing all over the place even on TV.

Image
JJDonohue

Re: SJ for Patrick Woods

Post by JJDonohue »

Tony_in_NYC wrote:Thats a nice looking guitar JJ. Very well done. A guy I am building for wants Sperzel tuners. Are they a pain to install?
Why dont you like them?
Tony...they're no problem in installing. I dislike them for 2 reasons: 1) they're much heavier and more clunky looking than the Waverly's I prefer. 2) during setup, I must have gone through 4 sets of strings...they break easily from metal fatigue at the pivot point on the post lock. They're not designed for the off and on string movement of setup work. Make sure you charge the guy and extra $20 just for strings! <grin>

OTOH, Patrick loves them...he swears that strings stay in tune longer and that they can be changed much faster if one breaks on stage. They definitely change faster.

But in the end, the customer is always right.
johnnparchem
Posts: 2354
Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2010 10:50 pm
Location: Seattle
Contact:

Re: SJ for Patrick Woods

Post by johnnparchem »

It will be fun to hear some clips of Patrick with the guitar. It is a wonderful looking instruments.
tippie53
Posts: 7011
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:09 pm
Location: Hegins, Pa
Contact:

Re: SJ for Patrick Woods

Post by tippie53 »

Ken
that guitar is just a great guitar. It shows that while we take our building skills seriously we can still show some humor
thanks for sharing
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Ken C

Re: SJ for Patrick Woods

Post by Ken C »

Fine looking guitar, JJ! I hope it works out great for Patrick! Pretty cool milestone!

Ken
naccoachbob
Posts: 477
Joined: Thu Dec 03, 2009 9:25 am
Location: Nacogdoches, Tx

Re: SJ for Patrick Woods

Post by naccoachbob »

Congrats, JJ. Very nice instrument. It's great when you exceed someone's expectations. Did you have the same feeling he did when you first played it? Were the steel frets because of constant use to keep from wearing them out?
Well done.
Bob
JJDonohue

Re: SJ for Patrick Woods

Post by JJDonohue »

Bob...when I was voicing this top, I could tell that it was on the special side. After the box was closed up it continued to over-achieve and tapped beautifully...so I had a positive sense all along. The fact that this was a deep body also had something going for it...as long as I could keep it from becoming boomy and unfocused in the bass area. As soon as I strung it up and went through the setup process, I knew that he would like it...and he did. Sometimes we get lucky. I'm anxious to see it in action at a concert next weekend.

I started using SS frets on the last 4 guitars. It's not an option anymore, I just like them that much. They don't wear, they hold a polish forever and the players say that the strings slide and bend better. Some claim that they sound better but I can't detect any sonic difference.
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