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Whether you are here to browse or are seriously considering purchasing a hand built instrument, it is assumed that you are looking for an alternative to a factory produced instrument. Here is some information that may help you decide which path to take.
How To Choose:
Large guitar manufacturer’s profits depend on producing a few models consistently and while extremely well crafted, their models are conceived and built based on what appeals to the broadest base of customers, but not for individuals. Assembly line construction is great for consistency but cannot address the individual tastes of the prospective customer.
There are many advantages of working with an independent luthier to commission a hand built guitar as opposed to purchasing a factory built instrument. First, your guitar will be built only after information is known about what you are looking for in an instrument. Even though I offer ‘standard’ models, these can be tailored to the individual’s preference regarding tone, ‘feel’ and aesthetics. I have total control over the building process and will see your guitar through from initial concept to shipping it to you. Every part of your guitar will be fashioned, fitted and finished by me with you in mind. Also, I can offer you many choices regarding materials and other details that will affect the ‘vibe’ of your guitar. The end result will be that your hand built Joel Guitar will be a unique, one of a kind instrument that was built for your individual preferences and needs in mind.
Tonewood: The wood used to produce musical instruments has specific qualities that set it apart from other wood. Only a few species of trees produce wood that is suitable for instruments and of these, only a small percentage of this wood harvested can be classified as ‘tonewood.’ Once harvested, it must be sawn and dried correctly; and then aged under controlled climatic conditions. For these reasons tonewood is expensive and in the hands of a craftsman, it is what gives the guitar its character and voice. Wood grading is somewhat subjective but most agree on some standards. First, wood should be sound and free from defects such as decay or knots. For soundboards, it is critical that the wood be quarter sawn (grain is perpendicular to the flat surface) and with as little ‘run-out’ as possible. For backs and sides, quarter sawn is desirable but some exotic woods are flat sawn to make best visual advantage of the figure and colorations. All Joel Guitars are made with solid ‘fine’ or better grade wood. The wood that I use is hand selected and is at least and often higher grade than wood used by large guitar manufacturers
Top: The top plate or ‘soundboard’ of the guitar is the most important component on a guitar and is responsible for the tone, volume, and balance of the instrument. Spruce and cedar is the wood of choice for soundboards because of their high stiffness-to-weight ratio.
Sitka Spruce grows in a coastal "pocket" from Northern California to Alaska. This is a great choice because of its stiffness and because it has one of the highest strength-to-weight ratios of any wood. High quality stock is readily available and it is a great choice for steel string guitars.
Engelman spruce grows in the Rocky Mountain range (a lot of the best Engelman comes from high elevations forests of New Mexico, Idaho, and Montana), and has many of the desirable traits of German spruce—including workability and a lustrous "ivory" hue. Because its stiffness and weight differ from that of Sitka spruce, Engelman soundboards produce a smoother, slightly mellower tone, one that many players describe as "more mature." Engelman spruce is also a good choice for classical instruments.
Red Cedar has been used for decades as a soundboard material on classical guitars, and it's becoming popular among steel-string enthusiasts, as well. Cedar is a "soft" wood known for producing a "warm," mellow tone, one whose overtones are evenly distributed, rather than concentrated on the highs and lows, making it especially suitable for fingerstyle playing. Cedar's light brown color also lends a visual warmth that many players find appealing.
Back & Sides: Tropical hardwoods and a few northern hardwoods have been used to form the back and sides of the guitar. While the top plate of the guitar is the most important component of a guitar, the back and sides also contribute to the tonal color and projection of the guitar. Dense hardwoods like the various rosewoods and ‘rosewood like’ woods tend to produce guitars with stronger bass, more complex overtones and greater sustain. While mahogany and other less dense woods produce guitars with a ‘dryer’ and more ‘one dimensional’ sound.
Brazilian rosewood is considered by many to be the ‘Holy Grail’ of tonewoods but it is extremely rare and what is available is beyond the budget of many. Indian Rosewood is the current standard for high-end guitars. High quality wood is easily obtained and is relatively inexpensive. It has many of the tonal properties of Brazilian rosewood, which include strong bass response and long sustain. Its coloration can very greatly but often is dark brown with a slight purplish hue. It remains the most popular tonewoods used in the making of high-quality acoustic guitars.
There are many species of tropical hardwoods that have similar tonal characteristics to Brazilian and Indian rosewoods based on their density and hardness. Some of these have subtle differences of coloration and figure and some are downright wild. Check these out if you are looking for a very ‘unique’ looking instrument.
Maple, Myrtle and Walnut are also great North American alternatives to the tropical hardwoods for back and sides. All are a great value because high quality, highly figured stock is available and they all have great tonal properties and will produce and beautiful guitar.
Please see the wood section of this site for more information.
Bracing: The bracing of the top is as important to the structure of the guitar as it is to the voice of the guitar. The pattern that I use is based on the typical ‘X’ pattern, which has been used on Martin steel string guitars for nearly a century. My goal when bracing a top is to obtain a balance between supporting the structure of the top, under stress of the strings, and allowing free movement of the top plate by the vibrating string. Spruce is an ideal wood for this purpose, again because of its stiffness and strength to weight ratio. ‘Scalloping’ the braces is one methods used achieve this and to shape the tone of the guitar
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