Luthier Patrice Vigier has never been afraid to embrace the new when it comes to guitar craft. From teflon nuts to stainless steel frets and carbon-reinforced necks, each component of Vigier's designs are meant to create an inviting and frictionless playing experience that let's players focus on what matters most: the music. We recently caught up with Patrice to learn more Vigier Guitars, and what goes into the development of each.
Reverb: It seems like you take a lot of pride in using primarily woods from France. What goes into your wood selection process? How do you decide which piece of wood is best for each guitar?
Patrice Vigier: I wouldn't say pride. I'm using wood that grows around my facility simply because I can find good pieces. France has the largest forest in Europe, both in its diversity and quantity. I choose the tree (by the trunk) and we cut it with the logger into slabs and I keep the best and leave him the rest. The wood is selected by three things: size, health, and grain.We leave it to air dry 3 to 5 years before we make a guitar.
Vigier instruments use carbon reinforced bars instead of conventional truss rods. What advantages does this system provide?
We have uses this system since 1988. It was a continuation of our 100% carbon neck. It merges the advantage of both worlds - wood and carbon. The carbon brings the neck rigidity, which is good for tonal balance. It also brings tuning stability which is excellent when you are touring and going from cold to hot or dry to humid. The fact that we eliminated the trussrod is also good for stability when using the tremolo as we eliminate internal neck frictions.
Guitarist might be skeptical about "no trussrod", but they forget that luthiers only used trussrods in guitar necks because necks were not strong enough previously. Our neck is much stronger, so there's not really a need for a trussrod. This isn't a unique approach, there are a plethora of stringed instruments with no trussrods (double bass, classical guitar, violin etc.) It's really the trussrod that's an anomaly.
Between the teflon nuts, 2011 and 2017 model tremolo bridges, and stainless steel frets, your designs clearly place a priority on smooth, frictionless playing. What sorts of players and styles of music do you think this appeals to most?
All of this is done so musicians can forget about their instrument and focus on what matters most: the music. I think this is ideal for musicians playing any kind of music.
Vigier guitars have never been afraid of embracing state-of-art technologies. What are some new concepts and innovations you'd like to experiment with in the future?
We are always looking at improvements and you will see some in the future. At present, just try our guitars if you can and you'll see how we're already ahead. It's extremely easy to play a Vigier, and do things like push our non-locking tremolo to the limit and have the guitar still be totally in-tune.
Is there a single guitar or model that you're most proud of or one that you think represents your biggest accomplishment as a builder?
I'm lucky and happy to be able to make guitars, and making guitars the way we do is my accomplishment.
One model that does make me emotional is the G.V. because it is named after the initials of my father, Georges Vigier, who helped Vigier a lot. The name was chosen in a poll by the players that make up the Vigier community.
Are there any other luthiers or historic guitars that have influenced your work? What have you learned from them?
My very first influence was my father. He taught me "If you want, you can achieve everything." My second influence was at 17 I had a bad experience with my first expensive guitar. I bought it as a player and thought: "this can be done better." My third influence, at 19, was with two French brothers who were luthiers named Jacobacci. They didn't invent it, but they are why I started to use the zero fret.
Vigier Guitars