2013 Bertrand Ligier SP/IN

This 2013 Bertrand Ligier is a classical guitar with a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides, built in the Languedoc region of southern France, and his 33rd instrument.

Bertrand Ligier's 33rd Guitar

This instrument (his 33rd to date) fully represents his work of the time and is remarkable for its beauty of tone, quality of build and aesthetic.

Having built with cedar in his early years, Bertrand had by then chosen to work exclusively with European spruce tops - this guitar being made with a very fine top from the Swiss Alps, braced with an asymmetrical fan system. It has double sides (the interior layer being of cypress) with a combined thickness of 4.5 mm, and the back is designed with a structure composed of five crossed rods. This reinforced back-and-sides system allows an optimal transfer of energy from the strings to the soundboard and the neck, improving projection and giving deep, sturdy basses with rounded, focused trebles. Most interestingly, the guitar body is built separately from the neck. These two parts are assembled at the end of the process, a method known as "French mounting". The resulting sound is beautifully lyrical, loose and open, even for a new spruce instrument.

Hints of the French Masters

Its look comes from Bertrand's studies of the great master guitars of past and present: one can see hints of Bouchet in the headstock, Friederich in the plantilla and Field in the rosette, yet the guitar as a whole is uniquely Ligier. Tuning machines are Alessi "Hauser 11".

We're very pleased to be working with this fine young maker, and this is an impressive concert-level guitar in every regard - one we recommend to players of any level, from the advanced student to accomplished professional.

Photos of this guitar being built

Orfeo Magazine article on Bertrand Ligier

Bertrand Ligier and the French School

Based in southern France, Bertrand Ligier is considered one of the best makers of the new French generation. Since we have been working with him, his work has constantly evolved with each guitar to reach higher levels of craftsmanship and musicality that are now internationally recognized. His attention to aesthetics and his keen sense of sound place him in the tradition of the French school that begins with Robert Bouchet, followed by Daniel Friederich, Dominique Field, Jean-Noël Rohé and now Bertrand Ligier. Indeed, both Dominique Field and Jean-Noël Rohé have played an important role for Bertrand through their helpful advice and continuous support of his work for many years.

A Workshop in Connaux, near Avignon

Before turning to the guitar, Bertrand studied art history and then trained as a cabinet-maker, with apprenticeships in the south of France and in Spain. He works in Connaux, a village between Avignon, Nîmes and Uzès, in a former silkworm house that he renovated himself into his workshop. With a growing wait-list and increasing international demand, we are pleased to have US exclusivity with this fine maker, who provides us one instrument per year.