Girouard Mandolins and Mandolin Family Instruments​

Max@Girouardmandolins.com

We Love Wood

Living in New England gives us access to some beautiful local woods.   It is not an uncommon experience to see us at a sawmill going through pallets of woods in search of that perfect piece of sugar, red maple or even black walnut.    We also like the idea of repurposing wood that has already had a prior life.   The purple birds eye instrument in this slide show is an example of that, the back side was the front of a  old cabinet drawer and the sides were taken from the floor of an old mill building.   We also like to use what is called "sinker wood",  perfectly preserved wood that has sat  under water or mud for possibly 100's of years.  Some of our best recent work comes from a western red cedar log that was submerged in mud for an undetermined amount of years on Orcas Island, Washington. We loved the wood from that log so much we bought pretty much all of it up!!  When you see one of our instruments with a western red cedar top, it is most likley that log.    We also work with only the best wood suppliers in the industry, like Orcas Island Tonewoods and Old World Tonewoods for our wood stock.  

Finishing Touches

People are often surprised when they hear that  one of the most difficult parts of building an instrument is getting the color right  and applying a finish.   Lauri who has been a lifetime hobby painter,  brings to this area a strong background in color matching and mixing.  For our finishes, we use a durable spirit varnish that brings out the beauty of the wood.   

Girouard Mandolins 

Innovation, exploration and taking the time to get it right is what we are about.  

Repairs and Set Up

Expertise in old Gibson repairs and exceptional set up work on all stringed instruments. 

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Custom Inlay

Custom inlay services are available.   If you have an idea, we can probably inlay it.