(Un)Official Melancon Guitars Thread - Come on in...

[Scott Peterson]

The Melancon Forum is no more. Sigh. So it struck me as a good idea to start an (Un)Official Melancon Guitars thread here on TGP.

Gerard is a one man shop; he's building guitars in Thibodaux, Louisiana with some of the best quality tone-woods and craftsmanship on Earth.

My Melancon Guitars story has been told on these pages many times; but in short, I had a lot of guitars at one time and wanted a back up to my Anderson Drop Top I was playing at the time. Having met Gerard and seeing his guitars at a NAMM show, I pursued having him make one for me and at the time, it was to be a back up guitar.

Well, that guitar showed up in early summer 2004 and it was like a bolt out of the blue. It was one of those watershed moments in your life where you just all the sudden know everything has changed.

Since that day, I whittled my guitar harems down from well over 30+ prime instruments to well into the single digits and that one guitar, a Melancon Custom Artist "S" shape has never let me down. It's been my #1 from the day it hit here. I loved it SO much that in fall 2004 I commissioned a second Melancon based on my first but in a Tele shape, that guitar is #1-a here.

The tones, playability, resonant necks, top notch finishing, pristine workmanship in crafting these guitars has stood the test of time for me. My main guitar has had 2 partial refrets and I wore the finish off the back the "T" from simply playing them so much. Everything from hard rock, country, funk, pop, classic rock, R&B and Motown has been no problem for these two guitars.

On top of all this is the man himself. Humble, honest, straightforward; Gerard would give you the shirt off his back. He's a helluva player himself too - the man has guitars in his blood. His shop has been through hurricanes and floods; and he's survived these disasters and economic times by going back to his roots and just building guitars that he can take pride in having his name on.

I just had him refinish the back of my Custom Artist T's neck; he turned that thing around inside of a week for me. The guitar's like new again; and with that sort of customer service on top of everything else... this man deserves a thread here in the Small Company Luthier's section on TGP.

Share your pictures, your thoughts, your stories, your experiences and your questions here - and I'll do what I can to make Gerard aware of this thread and if he can't answer directly; I'll see if I can get answers from him if you post them.

His guitars can hang with ANY of the big boys, the high end boutique guys or anyone else. They are world class and deserve to be talked about.

[Scott Peterson]

Hey and what the heck is a Melancon Guitars thread without pictures from me of my two Melancons?

My 2004 Melancon Custom Artist "S": Koa top over chambered Swamp Ash, +.40 oversize neck carve, Koa dot fretboard inlays, Koa humbucker ring; WCR Goodwood/SR/SR (H/S/S) pickups, Stellartone electronics, Tremol-No on the Melancon trem bridge; 6 lbs. 8oz..





My 2005 Melancon Custom Artist "T": Koa top over chambered Swamp Ash, +.20 oversize neck carve, Koa dot fretboard inlays, Koa humbucker ring; WCR Goodwood/SR/SR (H/S/S) pickups, Stellartone electronics, Melancon hard-tail bridge; 6 lbs. 5oz.. Has the FIRST Melancon Koa overlaid peg head with Paua Melancon logo. Back of the headstock is signed by Gerard.








My ugly mug playing live:

[mojocaster.com]

I love Gerard's work as you know... here are vids of the Cajun Gentleman I used to own:

http://mojocaster.wordpress.com/cate...ancon-guitars/

Some pics:

[atquinn]

This recently-received Melancon is the finest HSH Superstrat I've played:


It's a recent (2008) guitar with ss frets (yummy) and Melancon's custom pickups, which I assume are wound by Dimarzio (given that they're double cream) and would love to know more about specs-wise.

-Austin

[Millul]

I like it!!!

[Shreve]

Not much to add here, but HOLY CRAP! Awesome instruments.

[ford]

Very cool guitars.

[jetattblue]

The cream plastics on that superstrat are a great touch. They look awesome.

[jiml]

Had one for a bit. Great axe, neck was too skinny for me...

[atquinn]

Originally Posted by jiml

Had one for a bit. Great axe, neck was too skinny for me...

I think he has changed that recently. My guitar is listed as having a Standard neck carve and it feels close to the Vintage C Medium neck on my Suhr; definitely not tiny. I get the impression that the standard neck carve used to be more like Suhr's even C slim carve.

-Austin

[OldSchool]

Everyone knows how I go through guitars here like I change my underwear. I have a stressful Job sometimes and it helps me relax. Anyhow as a result I rarely have anything in my stable over 1-2 years. 1 guitar I still have and I don't ever see myself getting Rid of is my Melacon Custom Artist T. Just the besk neck I've ever played and it plays and sounds amazing. I never took any Pics because I usually only take Pics of guitars I want to sell.

I'll take a few of her and post them tonight......she is also one of my most beautiful guitars.

[john b]

Hey Scott - thanks for beginning this thread. Gerard deserves major props and it was sad to see the Mel forum go under. My jaw always drops open when you post pics of your two koa axes. Your description of Gerard and his work is right on.

I'll have pics this weekend of a Mel that's being delivered on Friday. Working with Gerard on this has been a great experience. He says that this is the first of this particular set up that he's made. I can't wait to get my hands on it and I'm sure some folks around here will freak when the pics go up!

[Wildwind]

This is my number 1 as it has been for years now. It's a dream guitar that gets better with age. It was my honor to meet Gerard and call him friend (as he is to all who meet him) and order this from him personally. This guitar is used exclusively for praise & worship music with a very dynamic worship team. It is beautiful to the eye, to the touch, and to the ears (most of the time anyway...). Scott, thanks for posting this! I miss the old forum terribly and just yesterday finally deleted the links from my favorites, hoping that the power of denial would prevail!

Greg

[terrapin]

I LOVE Gerard's work. Here is a pic of mine which is my favorite guitar I have ever played!!!!

[mojocaster.com]

Pure hotness!