Account & Info
  • About
    • Close
    • The Shop
      • Request Appointment
      • Our Team
    • Community Involvement
      • House Concerts
    • Custom Builds
      • Our Builders
      • All Builders
      • Repairs
    • Reviews, Testimonials, & Awards
      • Awards
      • Pro Player Comments
      • Client Testimonials
  • Resources
    • Close
    • Services
      • Appraisals
      • Consignments
      • Custom Builds
      • Estates
      • Layaways
      • Repairs
    • Policies
      • Store Policies
      • Trading/Selling
      • Shipping Policy
      • Methods of Payment
      • Terms of Service
      • Copyright & Trademark
      • Privacy Policy
    • Education
      • Body Sizes, Explained
      • Tonewoods
      • Baritone Guitars
      • Builders
      • Suggested Links
  • Returns
  • Account
    • Close
    • My Account
    • My Cart
    • Checkout
    • Register
    • Log In
  • Cart
  • Connect with Us
Dream Guitars
  • Connect with Us
  • 0Shopping Cart

3 Day Trial on All In-Stock Instruments Anywhere in the US
Showroom By Appointment Only

Call Dream Guitars
Dream Guitars
Menu
  • Instruments
    • spotlight-sizedBrowse By
      • New Arrivals
      • On Sale
      • Our Builders
      • All Builders
      • Instruments Wanted
    • acoustic-sizedAll Steel
        • Flattop
        • 12 Fret
        • Baritone
        • Multiscale
        • Composite
        • Resonator
        • Travel/Mini
        • 12 String
        • Harp
        • Vintage
    • classical-sizedAll Nylon
        • Classical Guitars
        • Flamenco Guitars
        • Crossover Guitars
        • Vintage
    • electric-sizedAll Electric
        • Solid Body
        • Semi-Hollow
        • Hollow Body
        • Vintage
    • archtop-sizedAll Archtop Guitars
        • Electric
        • Acoustic
        • Vintage
    • banjo-sizedAll Other Strings
        • Ukuleles
        • Banjos
        • Mandolins
        • Basses
        • Left Handed
        • Vintage
    • Close
  • Amplification
      • New Arrivals
        • Audio Sprockets
        • Grace Design
        • Dumble
    • Close
  • Cases
      • All
        • Case Accessories
        • Access
        • Calton
        • Caseadillo Case Covers
        • Hoffee
        • Karura (no longer available)
        • Reunion Blues
        • Visesnut
        • Other
    • Close
  • Accessories
        • Cables
        • Capos
        • Dream Guitars Gear
        • Humidification
        • Music CDs and Tabulature
        • Stands
        • Straps
        • Tools
        • ToneRite
        • Tone Traveler by DrHerringbone
        • Tuners
        • Tuning Machines
        • Miscellaneous
    • Close
  • Instruments Wanted
  • Videos
    • perform_thmPerformances
        • Al Petteway
        • Antoine Dufour
        • Cliff Eberhardt
        • Clive Carroll
        • Craig D’Andrea
        • Grant Gordy & Ross Martin
        • Jimmy Bookout & Tom Billotto
        • Jordan McConnell
        • Konarak Reddy
        • Loren and Mark
        • Paul Asbell
        • Peppino D’Agostino
        • Peter Thorn
        • Preston Reed
        • Scott Ainslie
        • Steve James
        • Toby Walker
        • Tony McManus & Beppe Gambetta
        • Vicki Genfan
    • lessons_thmLessons
        • Al Petteway
        • Allen Shadd
        • Clive Carroll
        • Doug Young
        • Grant Gordy
        • Juan Benavides
        • Konarak Reddy
        • Pat Donohue
        • Paul Asbell
        • Paul Heumiller
        • Ross Martin
        • Scott Ainslie
        • Steve James
        • Toby Walker
        • Vicki Genfan
    • interview_thmInterviews
        • Al Petteway
        • Bill Tippin
        • Brad Daniels
        • Cliff Eberhardt
        • Danny Ellis
        • Jason Kostal
        • John Osthoff
        • Jordan McConnell
        • Kevin Pederson
        • Larry Brown
        • Larry Robinson
        • Leo Buendia
        • Paul Heumiller
        • Preston Reed
        • Steve James
        • Thomas Rein
    • perform_thmCollections
        • Applegate Guitars
        • Blanchard Guitars
        • Circa Guitars
        • Greenfield Guitars
        • Henderson Guitars
        • Klein Guitars
        • Laskin Guitars
        • Matsuda Guitars
        • McConnell Guitars
        • Olson Guitars
        • Petros Guitars
        • Ramirez Guitars
        • Somogyi Guitars
        • Tippin Guitars
        • Traugott Guitars
        • Kim Walker Guitars
        • Dream Guitars Builder Spotlights
        • Classical Guitars – Legendary Makers
        • Flamenco Guitars
        • Vintage (Pre-1970) Gibson Guitars
        • Vintage (Pre-1970) Martin Guitars
    • interview_thmGear
        • Humphrey Amplifiers
    • lessons_thmOther
        • Shop Tour
        • Visit Us
    • Close
  • Blog
  • Visit Us
    • Advanced Instrument Search
    • Close
  • Menu Menu
The Dream Guitars Blog

New Builder Profile: Michel Pellerin

Paul Heumiller | March 9, 2017
Handbuilt Guitars, Luthier profile, Paul's Pick

Paul attended two shows last year, the Santa Barbara Acoustic Instrument Celebration and the Woodstock Invitational Luthier’s Showcase, and there he met a number of new builders with some truly awe-inspiring builds. Naturally, we took several of them on as new builders for Dream Guitars! Alongside Isaac Jang and Loïc Bortot, we’re also proud to have added Michel Pellerin to our ranks! We have one of his big-voiced Jumbos in the shop right now, which you can find on out site here: https://www.dreamguitars.com/builder/501-pellerin-guitars/. In addition, we’d like to share his responses in a brief interview we conducted with Michel earlier this year. Enjoy!

What or who inspired you to begin building guitars?

When I was in college studying jazz and classical music, I was in a guitar ensemble class. I was 17 years old. There were 30 students in the same room, all with their personal guitars, and I discovered that there were so many different sounds, levels of volume and tone. Mine was one of the worst in every aspect, an all-plywood Sonata classical guitar (I’m not proud of it, but it is what I could afford at this time). The year after that I applied to the Quebec National School of Lutherie with the thought of building two nice guitars for myself. I didn’t plan on guitar building becoming my career at that time.

2016 Pellerin Jumbo in Engelmann Spruce

 

What builders inspire you today?

Without any hesitation, Mario Beauregard is the one! I have always loved his artistic taste and his classy lines; always astonishing. The first time I really played one of his guitars (an OMC Blackwood/German spruce I remember like it was yesterday), I realized that perfection could be achievable.

Please describe your goals in voicing an instrument. How did you first find your voice, and how do you continue to experiment?

My goal is to have a balanced instrument. Strong and defined bass notes, but not too much, a wide and even midrange, and clear and rounded trebles. Highs with an envelope, not harsh, and sparkling harmonics. All of this with nice bloom and long decay, like a grand piano. Of course, I can adjust these qualities regarding what the musician needs.

Birdseye Maple Heelcap, Wenge Bindings

 

Where do you think your building style will take you in the next five years?

I have had a wonderful evolution since 2011, when I took Ervin Somogyi’s plate voicing class. Since then, my guitar tone has improved a lot due to refining my bracing, recording data, tuning tops and backs to a specific note, and minimizing energy loss. My goal is always to maximize evenness, tone, and volume for a wonderful playing experience. In the next five years, I hope to achieve what Mario Beuregard is able to do in his instruments today. I don`t mean to copy his voicing or his guitar building, but to learn to know exactly how a guitar will sound before closing the soundbox. I want to be able to know where to carve to remove a wolf-note, or how to mitigate a boosted frequency. I want to achieve what I would call “Anticipated Fine-Tuning.” Of course, studying with him would be a dream come true.

Any interesting facts about your building process or shop arrangement that you’d like to share?

I work in my shop with my friend of almost 15 years. François Paradis is a luthier specializing in oriental music. He`s a multi-instrumentalist and a djembé music teacher, but mostly an Indian sitar player, left-handed, and…he’s got perfect pitch. What luck I have to have him in the shop! I like to try and test different woods, different bracing patterns, but, always following my tone. Even a guitar with 6 or 12 strings or a multi-stringed instrument such as a harp-guitar (one of my specialties), a Pellerin will stay a Pellerin to your ears.

2016 Pellerin Jumbo in Birdseye Maple

 

What was your favorite, or your first, instrument that you ever played?

The first instrument I received from my mother was an EL Dégas electric guitar. I was 15 year old. It was not the best guitar, but I wasn’t able to leave it alone. I slept with it. I only stopped playing when my fingers hurt. I loved this guitar so much.

What do you enjoy doing outside of building instruments?

Playing (and camping in the summer) with my children; I have two (Florence, 7 years old, and Jérémie, 11 years old). Training myself (running outside, hiking, gym, crossfit). I’m fascinated by ancient cultures like the Mayas, Incas, and Aztecs. I love sushis (making them and most of all eatting them!). I love to travel and discover other cultures, especially for food!

If you had not become a guitar maker, where do you think life would have led you?

I would say: technical designer on Solidworks, Autocad, etc., a CNC operator, or maybe a mechanical engineer.

What music are you listening to right now?

I love a lot of different styles. Snarky Puppy, Steve Vai, Michel Cusson, Justin St-Pierre, Antoine Dufour, Stephen Bennett, but also Gentle Giant, Yes, Mr.Bungle, NOFX, Metallica or Animals as Leader, depending on my mood. Right now, I have Marie-Mai (a Quebec female singer) in my car’s CD player…my daughter’s choice.

March 9, 2017/by Paul Heumiller
https://cdn.dreamguitars.com/2021/06/oM8d2F8D-front-4.jpg 733 550 Paul Heumiller https://cdn.dreamguitars.com/2021/06/dreamguitars-logo.png Paul Heumiller2017-03-09 05:00:002021-06-30 13:27:50New Builder Profile: Michel Pellerin

Recent Posts

  • Q&A with Dontcho Ivanov
  • Double Trouble: Buendia 12-String Commission
  • Incoming Bresnan GS!
  • First 2020 Buendia OM Commission!
  • Caton’s In The Kitchen, Cookin’ Up Tone

Tags

acoustic guitar acoustic guitar music acoustic guitars Al Petteway Asheville Bill Tippin Blue Ridge Mountains boutique guitar Brazilian Rosewood Bruce Petros Carly Simon Chubbuck Guitars classical guitar Cocobolo Custom guitar custom guitars Dream Guitars Dream Series Ervin Somogyi fingerstyle Fingerstyle Guitar guitar lessons Hand-built guitars James Taylor Joe Veillette Jordan McConnell Keller Guitars luthier Luthiery Martin Guitars Martin Simpson Michael Keller North Carolina Nylon String Guitar Paul Heumiller Paul Reed Smith Peter Calo PRS Steven Dembroski Thomas Humphrey Tippin Guitars Tony McManus Veillette Guitars vintage guitar Wayne Henderson

Players Say: "Paul can kidnap me anytime. His place is WAY better than any candy store!! He is the Willie Wonka of the ultimate guitar shop... Dream Guitars."

Here’s my Dream…

Paul Heumiller pulls up in his car, rolls down his window and calls out – ‘Hey there kid, wanna see a land where the finest vintage guitars sit beside beautiful, modern instruments, all just waiting to be picked up and played?

Where you can relax, take your time and get lost in the sound of each one and possibly take one home with you? Just get in and I’ll take you there.

Find an Instrument

Looking for something else? Join our DreamCatcher™. We’ll do our best to find it for you quickly…
(By sending this form you consent to receive emails from us. We will only send emails related to this request)

Please enter instruments in the format Year Brand Model [Optional: woods, details] Comma separated
Please enter instruments in the format Year Brand Model [Optional: woods, details] Comma separated
Please hold down the 'Control' button on your keyboard ('Command' on OSX) to select more than one option.

Reload

Copyright 2023 © Dream Guitars All Rights Reserved.
Website by Integritive Web Design :: Asheville, NC
Looking to Trade or Sell?
Scroll to top