My luthier's journey
I am Louis Manteau, I now live and have my shop in Bordeaux, France.
During the 7 years I studied law, I discovered woodworking as a hobby. During one summer, I made my first electric guitar from scratch, from a Youtube tutorial. That’s when my true vocation and career appeared to me.
I had a first professional experience in lutherie during an internship at Crimson Guitars for a few months.
I still managed to graduate from a M1 Master’s degree in “Droit Notarial”, before I realised it was time to follow my dream.
From a dream to a passionate career
I contacted the famous Ervin Somogyi, showed him some of my work and exchanged a few mails, which caught his interest.
Mr. Somogyi gave me the opportunity to travel to Oakland, California to demonstrate my skills during a two-week period of tests and interviews.
Mr. Somogyi was pleased and impressed with my work. He offered me the position of being one of the few apprentices who studied under his tutelage.
I’ll forever be grateful towards Ervin Somogyi for his trust.
After COVID, I was finally able to travel back to Oakland, where I stayed for the next two years. It was two intensive years, full of work, discoveries, creation and learning. I was able to develop my creative sense, aesthetics and techniques.
It gave me the confidence and skills to be able to run my own shop.
The woods and techniques
Thats where all the magic starts. I deeply love the variety and hidden beauty in woods. Luthiery has the unique benefit from bringing planks of wood to life, enabling the player to create music with them.
My job is to allow the player to experience a comfortable and enjoyable sounding instrument.
I purchase woods that express something to me, that inspires and have their own stories. I bring these materials to life and turn them into functioning art, that creates emotion.
Carefully selected the materials with the player, I dedicate myself to making sure the finished instrument will meet and, hopefully, exceed expectations, while making the playing experience as unique as possible.
It is important to me to be mindful that wood is a precious material. I try to limit my use of endangered woods. I try to lean torwards more commonly available species.
During my apprenticeship with Ervin Somogyi, I learnt a lot of new techniques. My understanding of the guitar changed dramatically.
My guitars are entirely made by hand, using a lot of traditional hand tools. I trust in the precision that my hand planes, chisels and Japanese saws offer me.
I embrace the added time and skill it requires to use hand tools. This allows me to keep the love and excitement I first felt during my discovery of woodworking.
