2015 Bertrand Ligier SP/IN

This 2015 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 43rd instrument.

A Swiss Spruce Top and French Mounting

By this point Bertrand had decided to focus his creative energies exclusively on European spruce soundboards (he had built with cedar in the past), and this guitar has a very fine Swiss Alpine spruce top, braced with an asymmetrical fan system. The sides are doubled (the inner layer of cypress), 4.5 mm thick in total, and the back is reinforced by a structure 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, body and neck are built separately and only assembled at the end - the method known as "French mounting". The resulting sound is beautifully lyrical, loose and open, even for a new spruce instrument.

Snakewood-Inlaid Alessi Tuners

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 by Nicolo Alessi, with exotic and beautiful snakewood in the buttons and plate inlays.

This instrument (his 43rd to date) fully represents his work of the time and is remarkable for its beauty of tone, quality of build and aesthetic.

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.