# Canadian made 12 fret?



## jazzereh (Oct 25, 2016)

I am currently looking for a 12 fret OM or OOO size and would really like it to be Canadian made and am looking for suggestions. So far I'm aware of Boucher [the HG-56 in particular or the earlier SG 12 fret] and possibly Larrivee [an older model that would have been made while still in Canada]. Few and far between locally to try. I have a Larrivee OM 03 mahogany body so would like it made out of something else - eg, the HG-56 is Rosewood - for a different sound.

I realize I'm limiting my choices so might end up going to an American made guitar but for now, I'm hoping for Canadian.

Any thoughts? Suggestions?
Thanks


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

There's a vendor on here who I believe is Alberta based, but I can't remember the name.


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## Alsomooh (Jul 12, 2020)

Joshua House, www.houseguitars.com

I have a nice 13 (not a typo) slot head from him, but he will do non-slot, 12 fret, and many other variables.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Halcyon or Tinker both in BC


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Budda said:


> There's a vendor on here who I believe is Alberta based, but I can't remember the name.


David Gilmore of Gilmore Guitars


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Lincoln said:


> David Gilmore of Gilmore Guitars


That's the one.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

Ted Thompson makes a 12 fret model. He’s in Vernon BC.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Marc Beneteau www.beneteauguitars.com makes a number of models that suit your needs.


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## jazzereh (Oct 25, 2016)

Thanks for your suggestions so far guys, hope there are more. 

Part of the problem that I have is that many great Canadian luthiers have small productions and there would likely not be any in this area to actually try. The second issue is that I was not looking to 'order' a custom build and wait maybe a year and a half or more. I looked at the local Ottawa luthier that was mentioned and his base is above my budget as well. The Boucher I noted is about $5000 and that's my limit, unfortunately. Also, a 12 fret guitar is a bit of an anomaly so not many in the used market but these luthier names are on my watch list just in case.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Many of the Godin brands offer a small bodied 12-fret, though most of those would be somewhat less of a guitar than the ones you mentioned.


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## jazzereh (Oct 25, 2016)

I did not notice Godin with a 12 fret but I'll have another look, thanks. I have an S&P folk that I like.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

jazzereh said:


> I did not notice Godin with a 12 fret but I'll have another look, thanks. I have an S&P folk that I like.


Godin and Norman both make 12-fret parlours (Rialto and B18) but they both have those awful (IMHO) knobs on the front face. The S&P Woodland Pro parlours are nice; less guitar than the Boucher and Larrivee guitars you mentioned but less expensive and all solid wood unlike the Godin and Norman models. The A&L Roadhouse series are similar to the Rialto and B18, except available without the front-mounted knobs and with a cedar top instead of spruce.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Riffing on bw66's remark, I've hotrodded a few Norman and S&P guitars by installing bone nuts and saddles, dressing and polishing frets, upgrading machine heads and buttons (the originals were fine, but I was hotrodding), and adding a strap button on the heels. Always wanted to shave some braces. The S&P all mahogany was stellar.


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## jazzereh (Oct 25, 2016)

I did check out the Godin site and all I saw, as noted above by BW66 were the Parlor size and they are a bit smaller than I want.


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## John Rac (Jun 8, 2015)

You might want to contact John McQuarry in Sorrento B.C., builder of Northwood guitars. He has a Nick Lucas model that I was salivating over.
Curiously he seems to be better known in U.S, than CA. Check out Paramount Guitars for examples.


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## Blind Dog (Mar 4, 2016)

All great guitars. ^
Morgan, and Kronbauer, are rockin it in BC too. Bluedog, in Van, is a good ambush point for Tinkers.

And there's Norm's Gnomes.









gnome guitars


gnome guitars




www.gnomeguitars.com







https://www.facebook.com/GnomeGuitars/photos



*
*



My Larrivée OM-03 (mahogany/bear claw) is my _'forever'_ instrument.

Starting in the $1K neighbourhood, Norm's customs offer exclusivity, eye-candy, sonic-sweetness and value imo. If you're ever in the Kelowna area, and want to pick on something special, I would check out available Gnomes.

Mine's 13 fret, but he builds 12 fret too.

All the best with your search.


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## jazzereh (Oct 25, 2016)

To follow up on this thread, I have now purchased a Boucher HG-56 and it's a fabulous guitar. Very happy. However, I'm still thinking about getting one built so have been browsing some of the sites/builders mentioned above. And as a result of that have a quibble. 

Why do Canadian builders price their guitars in $US? As a Canadian, that kind of ticks me off. I realize that maybe much of their costs have been in $US but they are IN Canada and building their product here. What if many other retailers started pricing in $US? Would that be reasonable? Lots of shops have to get stuff that would be purchased in $US but put inventory on the shelf in $CDN. Do these [small] builders get that much business in the US that this pricing makes sense? There are a good number of luthiers that do price in $CDN so that when I see a web site with $US pricing I just move on.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Boucher Guitars build a 12 Fret. So does Eastman. Give The Acoustic Room in Hamilton a call. He will be able to suggest others. If you can afford it and any other members of your family that has a say in your finances are okay with it, I would try the Boucher one.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

USD is the international currency. Writing off companies because they list in USD is asinine to me.

Some sites have a button to convert. Otherwise, add 35%.


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## Eric Reesor (Jan 26, 2020)

Interesting. 12 fret designs produce a different sound and require a different bracing pattern because the bridge is further from the sound hole. They indeed can have a more focused sound than a 14 fret and are not necessarily less powerful. If I was ordering one I would make sure that the design is not a flat top but a very slight dome the same as the specs and construction methods used and perfected by Antonio De Torres. Bracing design of course is the key. It is very interesting that the great "classical" guitarist Agustin Barrios Mangore played on a Torres design beefed up for steel strings. I will dig further into the history of his guitars because he was renowned as a great performer and did not need to use amplification. But like I have said in other threads... He must have had nails that could break glass without chipping!

I have been trying to convince my brother to build a steel string guitar in the style of Barrios with at least 1 7/8" at the nut and a very slight fingerboard radius. Unfortunately all the guitars that Barrios performed upon have been converted and rebuilt to take nylons so the original specs and the history is most likely only known to luthiers who converted them. There are historic recordings of Barrios playing his music on steel strings but the recordings do not do justice to how his guitars may actually have sounded. A read of the work by Richard Stover, Six Silver Moon Beams is quite revealing, Barrios was renowned for a gorgeous sound but his music was put down by the then dominant and at times overly jealous and at times small minded maestro Andres Segovia who called his compositions archaic.

Further exploration into what is possible in future with twelve fret guitars with steel strings is well worth investigating.





And one of the last guitars that he used recently restored with modern nylon strings.


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## Bill Kerrigan (Feb 24, 2018)

jazzereh said:


> I am currently looking for a 12 fret OM or OOO size and would really like it to be Canadian made and am looking for suggestions. So far I'm aware of
> 
> 
> jazzereh said:
> ...


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## Bill Kerrigan (Feb 24, 2018)

Alsomooh said:


> Joshua House, www.houseguitars.com
> 
> I have a nice 13 (not a typo) slot head from him, but he will do non-slot, 12 fret, and many other variables.
> View attachment 323869


Looks wonderful... did you commission the build?


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Bill Kerrigan said:


> Looks wonderful... did you commission the build?


Thanks, no. Bought it off the rack at the local folk festival where he always has a booth. Typically I would commission such a thing, but I fell in love with this one...and I wasn't looking for a new guitar.


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