News

July 30, 2010 This summer ...

3 guitars are in progress :
- one flattop spruce / koa
- one OM flattop Sitka / mahogany
- one archtop 17" spruce / maple

July 25, 2010 Back from Montreal

Back from Montreal. Great show one more time. Thanks to the Spectra team ( especially to Jacques-Andre and Arno ) and to Jacques Carbonneaux and Noël Alfonsi.
Here is a short article at Laguitare.com.
I would also like to thank François Vendramini for the picture on the right.

June 29, 2010 Montreal Guitar Show

I take the plane for Montreal tomorrow.
The shop will be closed until july, 10.
You will find the opening days of the shop for this summer at the "Contact" page.

June 29, 2010 Montreal Guitar Show

I take the plane for Montreal tomorrow.
The shop will be closed until july, 10.
You will find the opening days of the shop for this summer at the "Contact" page.

April 28, 2010 A new archtop guitar completed

Here is a new archtop guitar completed. It is a small and compact guitar ( 15" ) with a very plain style. Details

April 16, 2010 guitaretempo.free.fr

Antoine Payen has just launched a new website about the guitar camps he produces ( Woody Mann in 2010 and Stefan Grossman in 2011 ). More info at http://guitaretempo.free.fr/.

January 01, 2010 Happy 2010

Happy New Year !
As a gift, here is the link to my "Fretboard.php" webpage that I made to draw my fretboard plans.

December 30, 2009 New Pickguard

I have just installed the new pickguard on the "Kozmic Blues" guitar.It is made of 2 brass tubes and a brass plate that is covered with a removable plastic plate. So it is possible to easily change the color of the pickguard : black, white or "tortoise". Details

October 29, 2009 The "Kozmic Blues"

The small 15" archtop guitar is completed : the "Kozmic Blues"
Details

October 19, 2009 A new archtop on the bench

I have now started a new 17" archtop guitar. Here are some pictures of its construction.

September 14, 2009 Archtop 15"

The lacquer has been applied on the 15" archtop guitar. I now have to wait for 2 or 3 weeks before I can sand it and polish it. Until then, I should start a new 17" archtop guitar soon.

August 19, 2009 Holidays

The shop will be closed for holidays until 31-08-2009.

July 19, 2009 Back from Montreal

I am back from the Montreal Guitar Show. Good news : I managed to take much more pictures than last year. Bad news : a lot are blurred :-(
Laguitare.com publishes a lot of video articles, and one is about my Metropolis model.
Thanks a lot to the MGS crew ( and espacially to Jacques-Andre, Rebecca and Arno ) and to the Laguitare.com crew : Jacques, Noël and Aël.

June 20, 2009 The "Metropolis"

I am happy to announce that my new archtop guitar model, the "Metropolis" is now completed, 18 months after the first sketch.I choosed this name after Fritz Lang's movie from 1927 : a futuristic movie when it was released but that now looks really old ( black & white picture, silent ). It is this mix of past and future that I wanted to express into this guitar. Details

May 14, 2009 New 17" archtop guitar

The white archtop guitar that was in progress is now completed.
Details

April 09, 2009 Work in progress

The finish is now curing on the last archtop guitar. It should be completed by the beginning of may.
I have also started to work on 2 new archtop guitar models. Here are some pictures of their construction :
- Archtop 17 inches "Metropolis"
- Archtop 15 inches

February 02, 2009 New archtop started

A 17" archtop guitar is currently in progress. Here are a few pictures of the building process.

January 12, 2009 New 18" archtop guitar

A new archtop has been completed. It is an adaptation to the 18" size of the Montreux model of luthier Richard Heeres from Netherland. Details

December 09, 2008 Laguitare.com video

Laguitare.com has published several videos about the 2008 Issoudun Guitar Festival. One of these videos features Zeb Heintz presenting his 17" archtop guitar. Here it is : http://www.laguitare.com/2008/issoudun_grellier.html.

November 19, 2008 Archtop in progress

A 18" archtop guitar is currently in progress. Here are a few pictures of the building process.

November 05, 2008 Back from Issoudun

The Issoudun Guitar Festival has ended. It was a big pleasure to be there. I had not the time to take all the pictures I wished. Here are they : Issoudun 2008.

October 30, 2008 Issoudun

I leave the shop today to go to the Issoudun guitar festival. Then, I 'll have a few days off, so the shop will re-open on November, 8th.

October 18, 2008 New guitar

The guitar "Archtop P-90" has been added to the gallery. Details

September 17, 2008 New guitar

The guitar "Colorado" has been added to the gallery. Details

August 21, 2008 Holydays

The Shop is closed until August, 31.
It will re-open on september, 1st.

August 13, 2008 New tip

A new tip showing how to make the curved side of flattop guitars has been added to the "Workshop" page. Details

June 22, 2008 Montreal Guitar Show

Well, here it is. I am about to fly to the Montreal guitar show. The shop will be closed from june, 23th to july, 4th. I hope I'll find the time to take pictures of all the beautiful guitars that will be exposed there.

June 01, 2008 Jean-Luc Béranger : new CD

"Friends" is the title of the new CD of Jean-Luc Beranger. You'll find more info on his website.

May 28, 2008 New archtop

A new archtop guitar has been completed. This time, it is a small 16 inches model. Details

April 21, 2008 New guitar

The "Fedora" is a tribute to the first Gibson L-00 with 12-fret necks. Details

March 20, 2008 2 little tips

Here are 2 new tips in the "shop" page.
One for sanding the bottom of a binding and the other for checking the neck alignment.

March 12, 2008 Plans updated

The 00 and OM plans have been updated to version 1.1. The main change is a side template added to the 00 plan, and the fingerboard width reduced on the OM plan.

February 27, 2008 Plan of a Gibson L-00

The plan of a Gibson L-00 has been added to the "Plans" page. Details

February 19, 2008 Pearl inlay

Here are some pictures showing how a pearl inlay is done on a guitar peghaed. Details

January 16, 2008 Weissenborn video

Guenaick Guillo, the owner of this weissenborn has posted a video on his Youtube page where we can listen to it. It is the "Steel Guitar Rag" video. Thanks Guena !

December 11, 2007 Koa OM completed

The OM flattop with koa back / sides and Sitka spruce top is completed. Details

November 30, 2007 OM guitar plan

Here is an OM guitar plan. More info and download link on the "Plans" page on the left menu.

November 16, 2007 Back from Issoudun

Back from the Issoudun Guitar Festival, with my head full of really cool souvenirs. Thanks to the festival team for its excellent work.
The koa OM is now at the finishing step.

October 28, 2007 Issoudun 2007

Here are the guitars that I will bring to the next Issoudun Guitar Festival ( from left to right ) :
- Archtop sunburst
- Rosewood 00
- OM Rio
- L-00 sunburst

October 14, 2007 A koa OM

An OM flattop with Sitka spruce top and koa Back and sides is on the bench now.

October 08, 2007 New L-00

A new L-00 is finished. Sitka spruce top, cuban mahogany back and sides, sunburst finish. It was made following the specs of a 1940 Gibson L-00 Details

October 04, 2007 Issoudun 2007

I will be at the Issoudun Guitar Festival, on november 2 and 3.

September 13, 2007 Variations Guitares

It is the name of Antoine Payen's guitar shop. I have just added the link in the "Links" page. Antoine also organizes concerts and guitar workshops. A few days ago, it was Stefan Grossman !!! Details

September 03, 2007 2 videos

I have added 2 videos of Zeb Heintz on the page of its archtop guitar. Details

September 02, 2007 On the bench

Two guitars are almost ready for lacquer. An electric lap-steel with a sapele body and a curly koa top that will be fitted with 2 Benedetti pickups and a L-00 flattop with mahogany back and sides and Sitka spruce top.

August 13, 2007 Madagascar OM

The OM flattop with Sitka spruce top and Madagascar rosewood back and sides is completed. Details

July 24, 2007 New OM flattop

A new OM flattop is completed. European spruce top and brazilian rosewood back and sides. Details

June 24, 2007 Madagascar OM

Here is a picture of the Madagascar rosewood OM before the binding step.

June 02, 2007 New OM

A new OM flattop ( Madagascar rosewood / Sitka spruce ) is on the bench. This picture shows the back braces while they are carved.

May 23, 2007 2 lap-steel

The 2 electric lap-steel guitars that were in construction in the shop are now completed.
Lap-steel 2
Lap-steel 3

April 30, 2007 Zeb Heintz

Zeb Heintz will play live on sunday may, 6th at the "Canotier" in Nantes from 6pm to 8pm. zebheintz.com

April 29, 2007 The lap-steel are lacquered

While the lap-steel finish is now curing, I have started an OM flattop with Sitka spruce top and Madagascar rosewood back and sides.

April 03, 2007 New guitar

The 00 flattop with engelmann spruce top and indian rosewood back and sides is completed. Details

March 28, 2007 2 lap-steel

2 electric lap-steel guitars are on the workbench, with african mahogany bodies and curly koa tops.

March 25, 2007 Sunburst Jumbo

The Jumbo flattop with Sitka spruce and quilted mahogany is completed. Details

March 02, 2007 Soprano ukulele plan

Here is a plan of soprano ukulele. It is at the bottom of the "Links" page. Details

February 18, 2007 Jumbo

The quilted mahogany jumbo is ready for finishing.

February 03, 2007 Unusual archtop

This is a Crafton archtop guitar, made in Sweden in the 50's. This strange looking archtop is pretty big : 18.5 " wide !

January 27, 2007 Zeb Heintz ...

... for whom I made the last archtop guitar, now has a website : zebheintz.com.

December 21, 2006 Making an archtop guitar

I just put in the "Workshop" page quite a lot of pictures of the construction of the last archtop guitar.
Merry Christmas. Details

December 12, 2006 New archtop

A new archtop has been completed : Details

November 26, 2006 3 flattops

3 flat-top guitars are in progress. From left to right :
- jumbo 17" ( sitka spruce, quilted mahogany )
- 00 ( Engelmann spruce, indian rosewood )
- OM ( european spruce, brazilian rosewood )

November 13, 2006 Test

Laguitare.com, in its article about the Issoudun Guitar Festival, publishes a test of the 12 strings jumbo.

October 28, 2006 00 steel-string guitar plan

Here is a plan of a small 00 steel-string guitar. It is at the bottom of the "Links" page. Details

October 11, 2006 A little lutherie tip

... to help drawing the tuners holes. Details

October 11, 2006 00 Koa

The 00 guitar is now finished. Sitka spruce top and curly koa back and sides. Details

October 01, 2006 17" archtop

Here is a picture of the 17" archtop i'm working on.

September 21, 2006 17" archtop

As the lacquer has been sprayed on the koa 00, I started a 17" archtop guitar. This picture shows the top being routed to its outside arch shape.

September 12, 2006 The koa 00 ...

... will soon be finished. The "saxo" archtop did progress too.

August 17, 2006 Lap-steel plan

I tried to make a lap-steel guitar plan with Qcad. It is at the bottom of the "Links" page. Details

August 08, 2006 12 string Jumbo

The 12 string Jumbo is now finished. Sitka spruce top and curly koa back and sides. Details

August 01, 2006 New address

The workshop has moved to a new address, on the road from Nantes to Pornic :
8, rue de Rouans - 44680 Chéméré
Tél. 02-40-64-17-96

July 22, 2006 The koa 00

While the finish of the 12 strings jumbo is curing, I had time to on the koa 00 guitar.

July 03, 2006 The 12 strings jumbo is going on ...

Gluing the fingerboard, fretting and shaping the neck are the last steps before finishing.

June 14, 2006 New OM flattop

A new OM flattop is finished. Sitka spruce top, mahogany back and sides. The body is slightly deeper than a standard OM, so the guitar has a little more bass. Details

June 05, 2006 Gluing a purfling strip to a binding

Here is a little tip to glue a purfling strip to a binding strip. Details

June 03, 2006 Top Bracing

Here are 2 pictures of the top bracings of the 00 and the 12 strings jumbo.

May 28, 2006 Jumbo and 00

While I am making the 12-strings jumbo flattop, I have also begun the making of a little 00 flattop ( curly koa back and sides and Sitka spruce top ). This picture let you compare the sizes of these two models.

May 22, 2006 New weissenborn

I have just finished a new koa weissenborn. Details

May 13, 2006 12 strings Jumbo

I have just started the construction of a 12 strings jumbo with sitka spruce top and curly koa back and sides.

May 09, 2006 Sax player

Here is a picture of an headstock inlay made of white and gold mother of pearl I have just finished for an archtop guitar.

May 06, 2006 The weissenborn is nearly finished

I have just sprayed the finish on. It will be completed in about 2-3 weeks. Beside the weissenborn is an OM flattop ( sitka and mahogany ) that I started about 2 years ago ! ( I didn't have time to work on it )