Michael Cyr strives for perfection.
The wood he has pulled from mill yards must have an unrivaled strength and beauty and be free of discoloration, knots and rot.
He could spend an hour walking up and down aisles where piles of red spruce, also known as Adirondack spruce, lie, looking at more than 1,000 cords of wood. But after looking at all that wood, he may only pull three or four logs — and he may only come home with one.
These logs provide Cyr, a tonewood supplier, with the material used to run his business, Noteworthy Wood. Tonewood refers to woods used to make stringed instruments and that possess tonal properties, which means they produce different sounds depending on their weight, density and other factors. Cyr procures, prepares and sells this wood, which leaves his shop in Liberty as the beginnings of soundboards used for acoustic guitars by C.F. Martin & Co.
“Red spruce is the holy grail for guitar wood,” Cyr said.
Red spruce is the classic spruce species used for acoustic guitars. The wood is known for its stiffness, and it is difficult to find pieces that are cosmetically perfect, but it’s Cyr’s job to try.
“It’s like an old saying in the Bible — ‘Many are called, but few are chosen.’ That’s what it’s like, but I’m getting better at it,” Cyr, who started his business in 2004, said. “You have to look at a lot, a lot of wood and just be patient, because after awhile, you start to see more and more indicators of quality.”
Cyr has a history of working in the woods. He started as a forester in 1969 and has worked with wood ever since. In the 1980s, he did marketing work for the state and others, from mills to loggers. Most recently, he did procurement work, which involved buying and selling timber.
Now, his business combines his passion for music, his work as a forester and his love of wood.
“I used to sell thousands of truckloads of wood. … Now I’m looking at individual logs, one at a time,” Cyr said.
Cyr’s work starts with his suppliers. He gets logs pulled from various mill yards and from loggers around the state.
“I go to mill yards to find this stuff, and I could spend a good hour walking up and down piles, maybe 1,000 cords of wood, and I’ll find three or four logs, and then they pull those out, set them aside for me,” he said.
Out of those three or four logs, Cyr is lucky if he finds one to bring home.
Afterward comes the sawing.
“It’s not only pretty, but radial sawn wood pulls out all the good characteristics — all the strength, all the stiffness, all the sound,” Cyr said.
Then comes the more detailed work, which takes place at his shop in Liberty.
“It’s like butchering up a really prime steer. Well the first thing you want is steak, right? My steak is here where I have a nice 10- or 12-inch piece,” Cyr said, motioning to the middle part of a quarter portion of a log. “That will be my big guitars. And then in between that you see these [smaller] pieces here. They don’t quite make the grade because of the size, but I’ll make those into mandolins or fiddles.”
Though Cyr specializes in supplying the wood for the soundboards of acoustic guitars for C.F. Martin & Co., he also buys materials for mandolins, fiddles, ukuleles and even banjos. For banjo necks he uses mahogany, which is supplied to him by a reputable family with foresters in Peru.
Cyr learned parts of his business while living in Tennessee, where he not only picked up tricks of the trade but also picked banjo along the way.
“Luckily I knew how to pick banjo. And if you can go to a jam and hold your own and keep your mouth shut, after awhile you get to know people. And they say there’s a Yankee down the street here that’s got some spruce. And he’ll come and other guys come,” Cyr said.
That’s how he began making connections in Tennessee and making his name and business prospects known.
“I sold a lot of mahogany to the Gibson custom shop in Nashville. They make the Les Paul guitar. B.B. King played one. It’s a classic — it’s like a Mustang. … They’re really, really picky about their mahogany. That helped me get started,” Cyr said.
Cyr since has developed important relationships with Maine mill yards and loggers. Perhaps his favorite part of the job is creating these connections.
“I like to think that I really know how to talk to loggers. They’re a different breed,” Cyr said.
Cyr’s job isn’t only important to him, it’s important to those who help him pull logs.
“These guys have so many things to do every day — they’ve got tons of wood to move, but they really look out for what I’m trying to do. They ask me 100 questions,” Cyr said.
“It’s important to them, too. For them to take out a big fat log and know it went for a guitar or guitars, means a lot to them,” he added.
Cyr’s finished product for a soundboard is two pieces of flat, rectangular wood with a beautiful straight grain and a consistent coloring. He traces out the shape of the acoustic guitar’s soundboard with a pencil and an example soundboard he uses. Finally, he grades their quality and sends them out and the company takes it from there, constructing beautifully made guitars.
For Cyr, this undertaking has been a combination of all the important parts of his life, and he plans to continue supplying tonewood from Maine for high-quality acoustic guitars.
“I’m a musician, I’m a forester and I love wood,” he said.
