TAO Guitars by John Joveniaux & Serge Michiels

What do you get when you combine inspiration from the classics, futuristic minimalism, über-precise craftsmanship, and ultra-high-end materials and components? This is Premier Guitar, so we’re not talking about an upscale furniture design house in Denmark. We’re talking about TAO Guitars and their out-of-this-world instruments that would be just as at home in the MoMA as they are in the hands of players like Billy Gibbons.

Belgian luthiers Serge Michiels and John Joveniaux met about nine years ago in Brussels, when Joveniaux, fresh out of luthier school in France, joined Michiels in the workshop of another builder. It wasn’t long before the two realized they had a lot in common insofar as musical tastes and design matters, and decided to strike out on their own by setting up a workshop out of Joveniaux’s apartment. A good omen for their future, TAO’s very first client was Belgium’s most well-known jazz guitarist, Philip Catherine.

One look at any of the duo’s instruments and it’s immediately apparent that a driving force for them is to push boundaries in design while searching out the perfect blend of form and function. It’s no surprise that Michiels cites Ulrich Teuffel as the builder that’s had the biggest impact on his work, citing “Teuffel’s willingness to create something different and stand for it, not to mention the fact that he’s one of the nicest guys around.” Joveniaux calls out Teuffel a great inspiration for his work as well, but also mentioned his respect for Claudio Pagelli’s “endless great ideas on designs.”

As sleek and modern looking as TAO’s offerings are, the luthiers take a decidedly traditional approach. “We try to keep the job the old way—just routers, rasps, scrapers, a little bit of sanding, and a lot of elbow oil,” says Michiels. “We like to have this special relationship with every instrument we make, so everything is crafted by hand by the two of us—even some of the metal parts.” Early on, they modified existing parts because they often couldn’t find what they needed on the market. They shopped around for someone to craft proprietary parts, but according to Michiels, they couldn’t find anyone that could do the job how they wanted, so they and had no choice but to craft certain hardware parts themselves. “We’re so picky and demanding when it comes to guitar building that it would be a real nightmare for someone else to try and integrate into our duo,” says Michiels.

PG Magazine.