Michel Aboudib

 Profil

I was born in Syria and have also lived in France and in the US. I have lived long enough in each of these countries for the different cultures to be part of me and for me to be, in a way, from nowhere.

I was introduced very young to music and to the amazing world of making things by hand. I learned several crafts and also studied arts and science and even made a guitar before guitar making became the obvious road to follow.

To me all our senses are involved in our relationship with the guitar—well, usually one doesn’t taste a guitar but smell is important. They all have an influence on what we feel and how we interact with the instrument. And just like the player when they play, making the guitar involves all my senses. The aesthetics of course, the grain of the wood, the shapes, the colors, build our expectations. There is also the smell of the wood when I work it, of the resins I use in the varnish and of the finished guitar when you open the case and when you hold it to play. It is already the promise of another world. Then the feel of the wood, the texture of the finish, the response of the guitar to the touch and the vibrations that carry into your body when you play. Finally there is the sound, which to me is the most important part since it creates all the relationships, between the player and the guitar and between them and the listener. I listen to each piece of wood I use and I keep listening as I build so that what the player and their audience hear hopefully transcends our world or maybe simply honors it.

Michel Aboudib