About
About us...
Philippe Clain Craftsman Luthier
Introduction
I was born in Paris in 1951. As a teenager, I learned the basics of the piano and discovered the violin. The first two discs that rocked my adolescence are: The concerto for piano and orchestra by Tchaikowsky and an 33 rpm by Eddy Cochrane.
Recorded music is only a transposition of the pleasure of listening to reality (live as they say). A musician or an orchestra playing in front of you, listening to the musical prowess of friends, without forgetting the moments spent learning to sing accompanied by a guitar, are incomparable and irreplaceable sensations.
I quickly fell in love with my first guitar. And among my friends who found folk music clubs,
in bluegrass, jazz, pop, rock, blues, classical or contemporary music atmospheres,
I discover all the facets of this very popular instrument, the intimate qualities of the classical guitar,
the volubility of the jazz guitar, the flights and the lyricism of the accompaniments inspired by traditional music,
the power of rock groups or the dynamism of certain accompaniments.
In fact all these qualities and others are mixed according to the needs, the circumstances and the desires of expression of the musicians. This is called interpretation.
Each musician is an interpreter and his expression is based on his sensitivity to the theme that inspires him as well as his musical discourse often rests on the instrument that accompanies it.
I will therefore talk about the guitar, without forgetting my first loves, which are bowed string instruments.
"What's the point of being a luthier if I make copies of what's already been made?"
LEARNING
After the School of the Book, and training as a cabinetmaker in restoration, I worked in Paris with the Baschet brothers, who are acoustic physicists, in the manufacture of glass organs, wind turbines or musical fountains and many other other sound structures of a sculptural or educational nature. François Baschet's workshop was a place where I met many instrument makers and luthiers from all over the world. Since then, I always ask myself a big question: sound objects? I discover new materials there and am convinced that the answers to my questions lie in the experience and know-how that each instrument maker develops in order to master his work. Above a certain level of skill, instrument makers recognized for their experience do not claim to talk about their “art”. Beautiful humility! And yet it is indeed in this word that we put all their know-how which escapes us?…, the plasticity of the object, the magic of “beauty”. The artistic notion belongs to the prototype, which is the first creation or material realization of the ideas of the luthier and the musicians. It is often a product subject to improvement to adapt it exactly to demand. The fabrications that follow have nothing more artistic than the dazzle and surprise of the first glance of the one who discovers the originality of the idea. The reproduced and improved object is not original.
FIRST GUITAR
My first guitar was very ugly, and so close to me, a real breakaway companion. I very quickly wanted to give it the appearance of what it represented in my little story. In a way, I tried to sublimate an ugly cheap Chinese object that represented great moments, just to me. I then looked at it, auscultated, observed, listened to, compared, smeared, cut out, glued, transformed, coloured, in short everything one can imagine… Whatever the treatments I subjected it to so that its image could compete with the magnificent, sparkling and famous instruments of my musician friends, one thing was obvious: the beauty and effectiveness of my transformations depended on the benefit of my technical prowess, the relevance of my ideas and my choices. There, the emotional gives way to curiosity. Interest, observation, understanding, reflection become the engines of my relationship with the instruments. Thank you François and Bernard Baschet for welcoming me into your workshops, for letting me watch, “spy”, touch, bend, weld, polish, experiment, ring, listen, question. I thus forged a sound sensitivity and trained in an acoustic approach to all these musical objects.
MATERIAL AND ACOUSTICS
The material is a very important data in acoustics. Steel, bronze, nylon, gut, fiber strings are the sound source of stringed instruments. Necks in mahogany or cedar from South America, fingerboards in rosewood from Madagascar or ebony from Gabon, tables in spruce from the Vosges or Red Cedar from Canada or sitka from North America, sides and back in rosewood from Madagascar or Rio or India, or in Macassar ebony, flamenco cypress from the shores of the Mediterranean, etc. That's a lot of countries, a great trip, a great nature, an immense need for forest in this Paris where all this material in profusion does not tell its story. It is just consumed.
DEPARTURE FOR REUNION
In 1972, I moved to Ardèche where I restored pianos in collaboration with a tuner, I also repaired violins for several provincial establishments. I propose in public schools a program of musical animation around an instrumentarium very inspired by the work of the Baschet brothers. In 1984, I left mainland France for Reunion Island, to discover the “Country” as my parents said. All of these fine woods, which come from native or introduced species, will only remain available if the entire Reunion community takes care of the future of the forest: tamarind, camphor, badamier, litchi, black wood or bannoir, Siamese acacia, cypress, grevilaria, etc. Let's not forget the woods of Madagascar which risk disappearing if they are still exploited by companies without any management of the forest heritage. We are actors in the drama that is being played out there. Because we appreciate this quality raw material, therefore give these essences added value that goes beyond the financial interest which we cannot escape, gratify our productions with an artistic dimension where any potential customer can recognize the "Lutherie Française" .
A WINDING ROUTE BUT RICH IN EXPERIENCES
Craftsman Luthier, AFPAR instructor in "Seat manufacturing", my career is winding, but meeting all the actors: producers, craftsmen, musicians, amateurs, professionals, salespeople, customers, curious people, etc., allowed me to locate my activity within the wood sector. A lot of latest generation equipment was at my disposal during my experience as a teacher in a vocational school specializing in the manufacture and restoration of antique furniture, which allowed me to develop my skills in production and computer science. And then back to my first love, violin making, which I never abandoned.
GUITAR AND AIR TRANSPORT
Reunion is a very beautiful island that I advise you to visit. His forest hat is listed as a UNESCO heritage site. I am not part of the hat, but I will receive you with pleasure during your visit. The heights of the island are the paradise of Reunion which is a golden prison. The key to the lock is a plane ticket entitling you to an average of 10 to 12 hours of flight in a luxury cattle truck. Imagine how to manage a guitar and all the care you give it, in your luggage. All companies do not always accept and often force you to put this precious object in the hold. Thank you for the damage when beauty is treated as mere baggage. These suitcases which are already suffering a lot... If the object of our attention were less voluminous, the risks would be less. Many passengers can still take their guitar in the cabin, because they are often electric and therefore less bulky than acoustic. If I like acoustics, I have to reduce their volume, as close as possible to that of a solid body to take it into the cabin. Consequently, designing acoustics with overall dimensions approximately equal to those of a solid body was my objective:
Keep sound quality in the bass with a lower sound box volume.
Compensating for the loss of partials by tuning this volume of air and by the dynamism and flexibility of the top and bottom of the instrument, that is the challenge.
The culprit must be pleasant to play while keeping the qualities of a good instrument, sound balance of notes on all strings and all positions, playing comfort, ergonomics, design and originality without remanufacturing a copy of the existing one. It must be as attractive for people to want to play it.
ABOUT MY CREATIONS…
What's the point of being a luthier if I'm making copies of what's already been made? Might as well let the creators make their creations. This is how the Costard was born, (for a volume of solid body you have an electro-acoustic equipped with 2 microphones, an electro-magnetic and a piezo).
The BERETA
The Béréta is a solid body with a top carved in badamier. The principle of his concept is that of the Fender, which I will also call light guitar, with a sound very focused on magnificent highs, well-marked mids characterized by a timbre that I will call guttural, like the voices of singers from Asia Minor and as we recognize single coil pickups. By their density, margosier or badamier lend themselves well to it, the mechanical qualities of the latter are ideal for making handles which require a stable, flexible, light, resistant wood with a good finish. The rosewood fingerboard, with hollow pores, softer than ebony, gives a better flexibility to the handle on light concepts which require less damped materials than in the concept of heavy guitars. The widths of the key allow a fast game and a desire to come to the handle. These guitars are equipped with 3 single coils and a routing similar to that of the Sratos: 1 volume, 2 tones and 1 switch with 5 positions.
BIRTH OF INSPIRATION
With a musician we wanted to equip this object with humbuckers. Which is possible because the location of the microphones is a rectangular cavity where I can mount either single or double coils by simply changing the plate where the sensors are mounted. Inspiration was born. Humbucking pickups are characterized by a rounder envelope than single coils, more obvious bass, more flexible attack, higher output level, less noise... We immediately thought of the Gibson concept that I call it a "heavy guitar" characterized by bass and richer low-frequency sounds. I therefore chose denser, more damped wood species in order to reinforce the attack of the sounds. When listening to this type of guitar, we shouldn't have the sluggish feeling of sounds that mix together because they are poorly defined on attack. Double coils fixed on a material heavier and denser than soft woods make a sound drier and more frank on the attack. Inspiration I, then Inspiration II and Inspiration III are constantly evolving. Routings, for example, change. I did not keep the Gibson configuration. The Inspiration is equipped with:
Of a volume;
A balance with midpoint which gives maximum volume for the 2 microphones, while offering a setting and a range of very progressive sounds between the neck and bridge microphones;
One tone per microphone, so 2 tones;
Which makes a total of 4 potentiometers, to which I add a switch according to the request of the musicians. The criteria of these two concepts: the "light guitar" and the "heavy guitar" can be mixed, thanks in particular to progress in electronics . And especially to the ideas of the musicians who have a very important field of freedom in the design of my instruments:
The choice of wood according to their tastes and their musical projects;
The measurements of the neck, widths, thicknesses, profile of the handle, radius of the fingerboard, fretting, threads and inlays...
Wood finish;
The fittings such as tuners, tailpiece, bridge, buttons...
Electronics;
The routing, or if you prefer the configuration of the tuning controls.
I keep for myself: the skill to make the assemblies and concretize the technical choices of the options and flourishing ideas of the dreaming musicians. Many of these ideas are inspired by playing experience that I don't have in front of my workbench. The solid body electric guitar has one very big advantage. It leaves more freedom to the creator because the acoustic constraints are different and less important than for acoustic instruments. Design, ergonomics and electronics, three words which despite everything represent vast reflections of immense enumerations of criteria of ideas of constraints which must all combine harmoniously to represent the instrument of your dreams and of my dreams too ! Because I make them.
See you soon for other projects.