The story | Marceau Guitars

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Pickups

Regarding pickups, they are also part of strict specifications. They are entirely built in the workshop from the Forbon slab cutting to the wax potting, included winding or supplying. In that extent I choose to build my own pickups.

Why?
On the one hand, I would just say that it is a matter of personal taste. I was and I’m still never convinced by the cold aspect of the retail pickups. They might be too modern, too impersonal. This is one of the reasons of why I don’t use these pickups.
On the other hand, I would mention the wish to create something 100% custom. It is obvious that the sound depends on the wood and the shape but as a guitar-maker, I think this is rather important to find the perfect winding and the perfect magnets which will suit the player best.

Neck-through body

All Marceau instruments are equipped with a neck-through, multi-layered wood body (i.e. 2 pieces of 35mm – 1.5", 2 pieces of 10mm – 0.39" and 5 veneer of 0.6mm – 0.02")
I choose to build neck-through guitars and basses rather than to use bolt-on neck or set-in neck mainly because of its comfort.
Indeed, the higher frets are more easy to reach and more easy to play.
Moreover, it opens more possibility in terms of shape designing regarding the body/neck junction and it is esthetically more interesting.
Nevertheless, I didn’t choose this option for its sound because the three types of neck offers three different sounds which are, in my opinion as interesting as the others.

Philosophy

I am not pretending to do better than anyone else, as there are a lot of talented guitar makers around.

However, I'm always trying to think and craft differently, to always bring something new. Being very demanding of myself, my work makes me overcome my limits to craft superior instruments.

Knowing that the perfect guitar is yet to be made, I always try to get as close to it as possible, designing every instrument on demand to allow my customer to be completely satisfied. We collaborate on every decision, as everyone sees the "perfect instrument" differently. Being able to adapt to one's wishes is one of my top priorities and so is customer satisfaction. Possibilities are infinite to get the instrument of your dream !

And what about now ?

I work with a lot of different artists, with very different musical influences and ages. The variety is truly a part of the way I work, and it is really enjoyable to work both with professional musicians and passionate players who may have completely different day-jobs. Thank you to all of these customers, around 70 instruments have been crafted so far. I'm also working with French harpist, Alan Stivell, who has had a great influence on his generation.

After spending several years together setting up and modifying his harps, we recently created a new electric Celtic harp together.

Moving along

In 2008, a life-changing meeting with Lucky Peterson occurred. After trying out one of my guitars, he soon ordered a first signature model from me. I am still very grateful for his trust back then, when I was a beginner in the art of crafting instruments.

As more and more orders were made, I decided to settle in the north of Rennes, France, and to open a workshop the same year. Marceau Guitars was born.

Then, I started participating in many events as the brand began to be known (Paris Music congress in 2008, Musikmesse in 2009, etc.)

Beginnings

Music is a virus I caught very young. I was 8 when I first began to play guitar, and I fell in love with instrument-making as an adolescent.

When I was 15, I was given an old Squier strat and the whole body demanded repairs. Then, I got to work on an instrument for the first time with great pleasure.

From then, everything went pretty fast and soon, I felt like building a complete instrument myself. People seemed to like my instruments, and the compliments I received made me want to do this as a living.