Luthier apprentices making ukuleles in a team effort

A ukulele mold is stored within a guitar mold.
You can see the purfling which looks
like little wooden teeth.

The Ukulele Apprentices: Social Gathering, Art Alliance, Future DIY Orchestra

My husband, Francois Vadeboncoeur, is the other half of ImagineMDD, Misenti-Despres Designs. He is a luthier, designing not only guitars but ukuleles, too.

Right now, Francois has apprentices coming to the shop learning to make ukuleles.

He is in the process of making a custom guitar for a client.

When we take a walk in the evening, he will point out things like dentil moldings on some of the older houses in the neighborhood. It reminds me of the purfling in his guitars.


Just watching him, helping out as much as I can whenever I can has taught me a lot more than I ever knew about what it takes to make a stringed instrument.

Did you know there's such a thing as a Soprano ukulele?

Every inch of that small shop is cleverly packed with instruments in progress, exotic and reclaimed woods, tools and gadgets. Everything is labeled.

Fran has shelves made from the wood inside a piano someone gave him, a piano that was beyond repair. We try to reuse everything.

An old toy ukulele hangs from the ceiling where the ukulele sides are in the molds. Some of these folks never even considered how to make a ukulele. Some always wanted to know.

The apprentices chose the wood that they wanted for each part of the instrument. Some are making it for themselves, some for themselves.

A gift you make for someone will mean that much more. It becomes an heirloom. 

Just like when someone wants Fran to make an instrument for them, they get to choose the woods they like best and they work on the design, etc.

Every holiday, every birthday, on any gift list I know he is going to ask for more clamps! I don't know just what kind he'll need but he can never have enough clamps.

Now that there are apprentices working in the shop, we're buying out all the clamps in town.

Francois has made his own clamps and tools on more than one occasion to fit the type of instrument he was making, the size needed, etc. Luthiers, woodworkers are very clever.

At night and during the day while folks are at their day jobs, the projects take over the workshop. They take over any surface that will hold them level and safe.

The joke has been that they're going to form a community Ukulele Orchestra for their graduation. :-)

The Don't Fret - I'm a Trained Luthier aprons hang beside the first aid kit. Happily that hasn't had to be used so far.

They're simultaneously ukulele making, working on  guitars and a special drum project. That whole story isn't yet authorized to be disclosed. Very cutting edge, I'm told.

As soon as we're given the go-ahead to let people know about the drums, we'll be more than happy to help get the word out about those, too.

I'm hoping to talk to the apprentices and get some information on why they're each making the ukuleles -- or guitars.

Several of them have said they are willing to be photographed for the cause, so you can look forward to some exciting action photos of sawing, bending, gluing, staining and measuring twice.... Maybe three times.

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We have our business name on the back and
We get stopped all the time when he wears this!

Lucien LaMotte, Song for George, Misenti-Despres Designs guitar

Recycled Instruments - Repurposing a broken piano

Update on the piano deconstruction. A friend who empties abandoned homes has given us three pianos (so far). They were on their way to the dump.

Francois asked about the first one, saying he'd like to take it to use its parts. Our neighbor was more than happy for him to take it!

Two of the pianos were beyond repair. The third we're still evaluating though it's in pretty bad shape.

We've harvested the wood from the first two destroyed pianos.

It's already been used for shelves and it's slated for other purposes.

There isn't a manual on deconstructing an old, dilapidated piano.

At the time we were tearing these apart, Francois had a master plan for the harps of the pianos and he set it into action right away.

First their insides had to be exposed. Which saw, which chisels and mallets would be best to cut through and remove what was left of the wooden soundboard?

Dr. Frankenstein was in the house!

As a long-time woodworker and furniture maker as well as being a luthier (guitar maker) -- now working with apprentices on ukuleles, he's not at a loss for tools.

I don't remember how many different types of saws were used!

We haven't received a piano yet that's had real ivory keys on the keyboard.

I make jewelry and Francois would like to use them for inlay on his instruments, they wouldn't go to waste.

Regardless, when you recycle instruments, there are many parts you can find to use for jewelry, artwork and other creative endeavors. Don't ever pass up something that may be repurposed.

On a side note, a while back we were able to donate some instruments we hadn't played in a while to a high school music teacher.

There are so many cuts to funding to arts programs in schools. If you have anything gathering dust in a closet or attic, think about how someone else may be able to use something that you have.

Every neighbor within a ten mile radius must've heard the GONG! sound as we hit the metal harp in attempts to remove the last pieces of wood.

Francois had been using salvaged wood already in his instruments and furniture pieces, so this was something he was used to doing.

He likes the challenge of taking someone's unusually shaped scrap pieces and forming them into one of his skinny leg tables, for instance.

His repurposed furniture, including parts of a once sad old piano, will probably have really good karma. :-)

The hammers are stained and, like the keys themselves, some were broken off completely.

The harps from the pianos have been used in our garden, per his master plan. You'll need a pal to help in moving the heavy metal harp into place.

One of the harps is for peas to climb. The other (from the player piano) is covered with climbing tomato vines.The player piano's harp is more square shaped and even this late in the season it's still virtually covered by vines.

For the first episode of the piano deconstruction, see Taking apart a piano: Harvesting the Harp, an earlier post.

 
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Upcoming: Photos & Post about the Ukulele Adventure. The making of a ukulele. A bunch of folks, a bunch of ukes in production. There's talk of a new Ukulele Orchestra in the end. Will it happen? We'll see.....

Piano Harp in the Garden

Taking apart a piano : Harvesting the Harp : Photo Tuesday

Deconstructing the remains of a piano. A neighbor was hauling part of an old, beat-up baby grand piano to the dump.

Francois asked if he could have it and now we have a great project for recycling, upcycling, new music, art and jewelry projects. 

The garden will get a piece, too.

First is the instrument autopsy.  The job sounded like we were hitting harps and piano keyboards with hammers, just resounding. Echoes.  

Awesome, in the truest sense of the word. We really wondered what the neighbors thought. Piano abuse? The folks who got to it before we did were guilty of that if anyone, I guess.

As Francois is an experienced woodworker, furniture and guitar builder, the deconstruction of the old piano has been an interesting process. 

The goal is to save as much of the whole, the wood, the keys, whatever is left, in tact as we can.

Marlene Dietrich
Instruments Everywhere
8x10 Photo
(Looks like an accordion)

We'll be posting more photos and information. There's something magical about using musical instrument parts in upcycled art and jewelry.

Saving the instrument itself was not an option.

For an update on the project please see the post, Recycled Instruments, Repurposing a Broken Piano.

Work in process, Francois' Skinny Leg Table: Orange

One of Francois' Skinny Leg Tables

... before being finished ...

Besides making guitars, Fran does other woodworking projects.
The tables and furniture he makes on a regular basis, though they're limited editions and each is unique.

He often uses scrap and salvaged woods and lets their natural shapes guide the design of the piece.
~ ~ ~

He makes the tables in all different shapes, heights and uses many different types of wood

Lucien LaMotte, Song for George, Misenti-Despres Designs guitar

Lucien LaMotte, Song for George
-- features Misenti-Despres Designs guitar



"Song for George is an instrumental acoustic guitar piece written by Eric Johnson in DADGAD tuning. I performed this piece on a guitar handmade by Luthier Francois Vadeboncoeur. The guitar is made of Indian Rosewood and Sitka Spruce and has a very resonant and even sound throughout its compass." Lucien LaMotte

We're proud to have one of Francois' guitars featured in this video. Lucien is an amazing musician.

Luthier apprentices making ukuleles in a team effort
 
Find this video on YouTube

Guitar in clamps, Blue and Tan

After two have recently sold,
Francois is working on a few different guitars at once.

[Snakewood wedge above]


The newest completed guitar
about to make its debut is
an Orchestra Model, O-6-14
Walnut Body
Bearclaw sitka spruce
Cocobolo bindings

Cherry neck

Ebony fingerboard and bridge

Rosette is amboyna burl and cocobolo
Includes various colored linings

Don't fret, information and photos coming soon.

OM 12-String Guitar underway

Peek-a-boo. Francois is finishing up his current commission for an Orchestra model 12-string guitar. More photos to come. The back and sides are cocobolo, the top is sitka spruce. Bridge and fingerboard are ebony.

When we get more information about the Indie film which features another one of his guitars, you'll read about it here, too.

They're gonna put us in the movies :)

Last night we got word that one of Fran's guitars is going to be a movie star!

A friend is appearing in an indie film and his character plays guitar. Of course they needed something nice and one of Fran's MDD guitars was in the running. Apparently there's a chance that the film will be shown at the Sundance Film Festival. How cool that one of his guitars will be on screen.

We're getting ready to put a couple of them in an Etsy shop, and we're working on getting our own web site going as well.