pmc

Châteauneuf says that any form of art, be it architecture or African art, can be a source of inspiration for him.

Pierre-Marie Châteauneuf, who handcrafts guitars out of a one-man workshop in the small town of Montferrier-sur- Lez outside Montpelier in Southern France, says it was Slash that “injected the guitar venom” into him when he was 14. That same year, he got his first taste of lutherie when he sought someone to fix his very first guitar that was “just impossible to play.”

Châteauneuf had always been good with his hands—growing up he built toys with his amateur-woodworker grandfather. At age 16, he made his unofficial start as a luthier when his best friend approached him to fix a broken-in-two guitar. Because the result was so successful, several other guitar-playing friends started coming to Châteauneuf with their instruments.

Read MoreShow less