December 2012
11 posts
November 2012
11 posts
October 2012
14 posts
Winter for Guitars
While the cold winter months are at our doorsteps, I thought it might be a good idea to remind a few points which may seem obvious but a lot of people tend to forget. Taking good care of your guitar is important and I will write more about this but this goes beyond maintenance, it I about the impact of humidity change and heating systems.
While I spend most of my time in eastern France where we...
February 2012
1 post
November 2011
2 posts
October 2011
4 posts
4 tags
THE VELVET JOURNEY 9
Chapter 9: The Final Set-Up and QC
The final set-up work is the final touch making a big difference when done properly, not that we mean that the rest of the work has less importance but the final set-up basically comes at the moment where the guitar is supposed to be finished and go out of the workshop. Here again, it is very important not to go too fast and to do all steps properly. At Magneto...
4 tags
THE VELVET JOURNEY 8
Chapter 8: The final assembly
Patience is a virtue, probably even more so when you are building a guitar. You must be able to keep self control and tolerate delays. The kind of patience that comes with experience, every step you are trying to achieve too fast would lead to failure. This is all the difference you should see and feel on guitars made by experienced luthiers versus mass produced...
5 tags
THE VELVET JOURNEY 7
Chapter 7: The Sum of Parts
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” These are the words of famous French writer & aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery. We very much agree with this.
It is our theory that the more you add parts or features to a guitar, the more you alter its most natural tonal characteristics and vibrations....
September 2011
5 posts
6 tags
THE VELVET JOURNEY 6
Chapter 6: Dressing up!
Well to be honest, there is always something barbarian in showing the making of a guitar, isn’t it? The instrument has such an emotional meaning to most guitar players whereas showing bare bodies and parts almost takes the magic away. Well… time to put a dress over this naked body!
While we like to use nitrocellulose or urethane finishes on most our guitars, in this...
5 tags
THE VELVET JOURNEY 5
Chapter 5: The Coupling
That might sound like a funny title but we really mean it! We’ve reached the point where the neck is being joined to the body and it is a fact that the character of each part will influence the other in the complexe transmission of vibrations. Just like humans; when a team of people have an overall positive influence on each other, the group should be stronger than the...
5 tags
THE VELVET JOURNEY 4
Chapter 4: Body Language
So we finally made it to talk about the body of our new guitar. For the specific tone we wanted to achieve, we decided to go for a 1-piece Mahogany with a 2-piece Maple top. The depth of the Mahogany combined to the high midrange flavour of the maple top will give it that focussed and tight tone.
Well, here again, the wood combinations are nothing new and we chose them...
THE VELVET JOURNEY 3
Chapter 3: Mr. Fretboard
What? We’re in chapter 3 and we still haven’t talked about the body? I mean come on!!! Well sit back and relax because we would like to tell you the story of Mr. Fretboard, the unknown poet. We like to call him this way because we hear his voice a lot, yet we do not notice him that much.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have to face the truth, the fret board is that other part of...
August 2011
3 posts
5 tags
The Velvet Journey 2
Chapter 2: The Neck and its secrets
While you probaby expected that we start exploring the body, we intentionally started to talk about the neck in order to explain its important points.
The neck has a massive impact both on the sound and the overall feeling you have when playing the guitar. In other terms, the neck woods will produce intense vibrations. You cam make the experience by simply...
5 tags
The Velvet Journey 1
Chapter 1: Design or the search of the perfect curves
“Design” has become a very common word these days. In the field of electric guitars “Design” not only means the actual shape and form of the guitar but it also includes the technical aspects such as mass of woods, scale length, hardware types, pickup types etc… In short, the design of an electric guitar is very much the combination of all...
