The 25-year-old luthier makes guitars, mostly from French wood, in his Prismatic Guitars workshop in Sète.
Behind his glasses, Maïk Chaland-Berthier’s eyes sparkle. “Look at me how beautiful it is”he says while contemplating the wood of one of his guitars. A wonder that continues when the 25-year-old luthier begins to talk about his profession: “What’s magical is taking a piece of wood and ending up with something that rings.”.
We will quickly understand that the young man is passionate. To the point of having set up his apartment above his workshop on rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau. “In the morning, I have my coffee with my feet in the wood chips,” smiles the friendly Sétois, after giving the owner a tour. In addition to the stringed instruments of different sizes and shapes decorating the premises, many other guitars are stored in the back. Including the very first one that Maïk Chaland-Berthier made from A to Z.
Working with French wood
An unusual guitar, with clouds and a wooden moon inlaid, which he designed during his training as a luthier. “It was made from Grenoble walnut and Alpine spruce”details the one who is keen to use French wood as a priority for these instruments. Although he admits to possessing certain exotic species that belonged to the former luthier who worked there, he does not intend to buy any once the stock is gone. “We are lucky, in France, to have fruit woods such as walnut, apricot, plum… which allow us to have very balanced guitars”insists this craftsman. Who easily speaks of wood as a “miraculous material”.
Before violin making, Maïk Chaland-Berthier practiced woodturning. From his father, a handyman, he got a passion for manual work and from his family, a love for music: “I’ve always gravitated towards that”. As a teenager, he formed a rock band with his friends. And starts maintaining his guitar. Upon leaving high school, he decided to train in quartet violin making (violin, viola, cello, double bass). But quickly, he turned towards guitar violin making which, according to him, offers a “greater freedom”. He graduated in 2022 and decided to open his own workshop, Prismatic Guitars, in Sète, where he grew up. Always with this desire to try new things.
“I like to cross paths with the arts”
Like with this first client who asked him to make a moon in the soundhole of the instrument. Or like this guitar he's currently working on for which the client requested a connection to Jamaica. To do this, Maïk Chaland-Berthier does not hesitate to surround himself with other artists and craftsmen: “I like to explore the arts. In the Baroque period, instruments were often illustrated. It was very beautiful and even if I like raw wood, I also like to add personalization”.
In addition to customer orders – mostly professional musicians who come for sound “expertise” -, he works on more personal projects. He plans to create, for example, a stained glass window – “perhaps amber” – inside a guitar. He also aims to manufacture electric guitars in the near future. Great projects for this enthusiast who, through his profession, ensures that he participates in “a cycle of art”: “My guitars are inspired by what I see and musicians use them to inspire people”.
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