Many years ago, while touring in the United States, we were introduced to Mike Armand through a close friend. Mike, an established carpenter in Lecompte, Louisiana, had just begun building a small number of guitars alongside his beautiful furniture work. At that stage he had only completed a handful, yet the instruments completely blew us away. The craftsmanship, attention to detail and, most importantly, the sound were exceptional. They suited our playing style perfectly.During our 2015 Spring Tour we spent a couple of days with Mike at the Aubade Guitar Workshop selecting woods and designing our custom Rosellys guitars. Both instruments were based on James Taylor’s Olson SJ body shape, refined to suit the way we play.No 41 is an SJ model built with a Sitka spruce top and East Indian rosewood back and sides. It features an ebony fingerboard and bridge with ebony pins, a mahogany neck with maple and walnut detail, Gotoh 510 tuners and Elixir strings. The scale length is 25.5 inches with a 16 inch radius, and it is finished with a bone saddle and nut and a custom Rosellys rosette.No 43 is an SJC model sharing the same specifications, but paired with striking flamed maple back and sides. It also includes a cutaway, allowing Simon easy access to those higher frets.Both guitars are fitted with an LR Baggs Anthem pickup system, and we run everything through LR Baggs Venue DI units, including the fiddle and banjo. We have found LR Baggs equipment to be flawless and consistently reliable for well over ten years.Mike completed No 41 and No 43 in time for our 2015 Autumn Tour. Below are some photos from the build as they took shape.We expected instruments of the very highest quality and we were not disappointed. They look and feel incredible, and they sound even better than they look. We could not be happier with them and are proud to endorse Aubade Acoustic Guitars.We don’t ask about No 42…… Mike Aubade
