SJ for Patrick Woods
Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 5:37 pm
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:
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:
