Guitar hero

>> Luthier to the stars
crafts the ultimate axe

by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Michael Greenfield

Age: 49

Occupation: Luthier

Bio: This nimble-fingered Mile-End resident has been playing guitar “for over 40 years” now, regularly wowing audiences far and wide in the 1970’s with his “disco” band Jasmine. But after taking his beloved Gibson Les Paul to a well-respected local repair shop only to have it returned to him virtually unplayable, Michael decided it was high time he learned to fix his own axes, which he did, and which eventually grew into “my becoming totally enamoured with the process of building guitars.” Now one of the world’s foremost luthiers, he continues to build every inch of his guitars, “except the fret wires and tuning heads” by his own hand, and has people waiting in line for the chance to acquire the end product, their very own custom Greenfield guitar. He drives a 1990 Acura Integra “held together with rubber bands and chewing gum.”

What a Greenfield guitar will cost you: “This year, the average guitar leaving my shop is in the $14,000 to $15,000 range and they go up to...whatever. So far though, the most expensive guitar I’ve sold was $20,000.”

The number of guitars he builds every year: 15. “You know, just the woodworking takes five or six weeks, and then there’s the finishing to do. Depending on the instrument, I’ll spend between 100 and 200 hours building it. My guitars, while they may look like just guitars on the outside, inside they’re super complicated, which is part of the reason why they sound the way they do. Each guitar is a complete system, with everything working in concert with everything else. There’s a lot of physics that goes into my guitars, I’ve spent a lot of time studying these things. It’s not just gluing a few sticks of wood together, there’s a lot of thought and methodology to it. And it’s tedious, time-consuming stuff.”

How long you’ll have to wait if you want him to build an axe for you: “My current waiting list extends to 2012.”

Somebody who got to jump the queue and get a couple of Greenfield guitars made for him right away: Keith Richards. “Apparently the first one he bought is his favourite guitar. It never ever leaves his side, or at least that’s what I’ve been told. And that’s something, you know? The Stones tour with 84 guitars, and every one of them would give you a hard-on.”

Something that comes with each Greenfield guitar: A lifetime warranty.

When they come back for servicing, does he remember each and every guitar, and does he view them sort of like a son returning home after a tour of duty in Afghanistan or something? “Absolutely. But unfortunately, most of the time I never see them again. But if they’ve been sold to a touring artist who’s coming through Montreal, we’ll usually get together and I’ll get to see the instrument again, which is important because you really want to know how the guitar has matured since it left the shop.”

Last book read: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers.

Musical preferences: Rickie Lee Jones, Miles Davis, Jeff Beck.

Words of wisdom: “Pick a career that you love and do it.”

Comments: dimwit@hdot.net