Marc Beneteau OM 12-Fret (German/Wenge)

[Ryan Alexander]

Hi friends,

I'm very excited to report that my next guitar from the great Marc Beneteau is underway! This is my 2nd commission with Marc and will be the 6th Beneteau I've had the pleasure of owning. 2024 marks his 50th year at the craft! When I reminded him of this, he immediately excused himself to go lie down

Off the top, I just want to say that I've been working with Marc for about 20 years. I haven't been without one of his guitars for the majority of this time and am really looking forward to having one back in my life. Ever since he performed a neck reset and bridge replacement on my first used Beneteau out of warranty, I was sold. The man stands behind his work and is a fellow Canuck to boot. While we've never met in person, he has patiently answered all my often ridiculous questions with honesty, grace and wit.

I was all over the map when attempting to spec this guitar. In the end, I decided to lean into something really ergonomic. I've been finding myself really inspired by the many killer examples of modern powerhouse 12-fret guitars in recent years. Marc offers a traditional 000-12 model and a 12-fret version of his Concert Standard, neither of which were quite hitting the note for me. I love OM size guitars and asked if he'd ever built a 12-fret version. He hasn't but was excited by the prospect of it. I get excited when he gets excited so we decided to go for it!

We're using a lovely German spruce top from Marc's stash. Out of curiosity, I asked whether he was confident it was German or possibly some other variety of European spruce and we jokingly started calling it Master Grade Ger-ital-wiss (German-Italian-Swiss). He bought is as German so thats what im calling it. Whatever it is, I'm happy so far!

Wenge has been on my radar for years. After Ervin wrote his article, it seemed like a ton of high-end luthiers were using and having great success with it. I randomly asked Marc one day if he had ever built with it. He did make one a few years back for the LaConner show and was happy with how it turned out. As it happens, he had pulled two sets from his stash a few days prior as he was considering using one on another guitar in the current batch that he has been given carte blanche on. I figured that was some kind of sign and decided to go for it. He's actually building that other Wenge guitar in parallel with mine now - pretty cool!

Can't forget the tasty details!

-OM 12-fret
-25" scale
-1-13/16" nut
-2-5/16" bridge
-Bridge - undecided, leaning towards pinless
-Spanish Cedar linings for some olfactory joy (thanks to Dustin, Marc had made a few sets for him and had one left over he graciously offered to use on my build).
-Florentine cutaway
-EVO Gold 47095 frets
-Ebony bindings
-Solid headstock w/Antique Gold Gotoh 510s

The soundhole is shifted down slightly as will be the bridge. The rosette is something unique and cool as well. I had been sending Marc some examples of segmented rosettes I liked and he decided to mock up a few ideas of his own. You can see the result I liked best below which uses Wenge in the segments.

I've received a few good updates lately and figured it was a good time to kick this off. Hope you enjoy the ride!

[Ryan Alexander]

Here is the Wenge in the raw:



And here is a better shot of the German top and new rosette design:




Back bracing in progress:



Top and back fully braced:




Next up is fitting the top and back to the sides.

[Guitars44me]

I am sure you’ll be pleased! I’ve had a couple of Beneteau guitars myself, and they were wonderful Instruments!

Plus the tonal and ergonomic benefits of a 12 fret are hard to beat.

Add the killer Woods, and this will be a very fun guitar!

Cheers

Paul

[canuck57]

An exciting build, envious to be sure. That creamy top and rosette are very, very classy!

[Ryan Alexander]

Originally Posted by Guitars44me

I am sure you’ll be pleased! I’ve had a couple of Beneteau guitars myself, and they were wonderful Instruments!

Plus the tonal and ergonomic benefits of a 12 fret are hard to beat.

Add the killer Woods, and this will be a very fun guitar!

Cheers

Paul

Cheers, Paul! The only 12 fret guitars I've owned have been Waterloos; a different vibe than this to be sure, but they introduced me to the power and sweetness that is possible. Knowing what I know about Marc's signature sound, I'm very excited to hear how this turns out.

Originally Posted by canuck57

An exciting build, envious to be sure. That creamy top and rosette are very, very classy!

Ron, my friend, great to hear from you! I knew the name looked familiar Thanks for the kind words. I'll drop you a line soon to check in on your Bown and your Martin project.

-

A bit more background on the rosette. I sent Marc a few examples of segmented Somogyi rosettes that I liked, particularly the fact they were bound on all sides. Marc ran with that and drafted several examples of his own asymmetrical segmented interpretation. I chose this one for 2 reasons; I like how one end of the longest segment extends past the center seam of the top and I also like how the size of the segments gets progressively smaller. The pic below is Marc's first mock up and you can see how the fretboard extension will partially cover the last segment, making it appear smaller than the one next to it.

[IMG][/IMG]

[SuperB23]

Going to be a great guitar, I’m excited for you, I’ve heard great things about Beneteau guitars!!

[jibberibber]

Congrats Ryan, I'm sure it will be a magical instrument. I actually just bought my first Beneteau, an SJ in Sitka/Padauk from 2018 that you may be familiar with.

You have great taste in builds. Finding the build thread from your previous commission with Marc was one of the things that helped me pull the trigger on this guitar. It now lives in Victoria, BC.

I hope the new build works out wonderfully for you.

[Ryan Alexander]

Originally Posted by SuperB23

Going to be a great guitar, I’m excited for you, I’ve heard great things about Beneteau guitars!!

Thanks, Bobby! How have you never played one?!

Originally Posted by jibberibber

Congrats Ryan, I'm sure it will be a magical instrument. I actually just bought my first Beneteau, an SJ in Sitka/Padauk from 2018 that you may be familiar with.

You have great taste in builds. Finding the build thread from your previous commission with Marc was one of the things that helped me pull the trigger on this guitar. It now lives in Victoria, BC.

I hope the new build works out wonderfully for you.

Hey, it's great to hear from you! Thanks for the kind words. I'm very happy the SJ found a good home. It's a wonderful guitar that I only sold for ergonomic reasons. There are many great things I can say about it, one of which is that it's a notably great recording guitar. I often listen to old iPhone clips of it and marvel at the quality of the results. Enjoy it in good health!