I was very lucky to meet Nguyen Lê after a concert he gave in Caen, in 2003. This meeting was an opportunity for me to realize the project of TAO guitar, which succeeded in 2004. The study of this instrument made me take a great leap forward into my work (the instrument I proposed had to be equal to such a musician !).
I imagined evoking Nguyen’s Vietnamese roots in the instrument through oriental calligraphy, as a guitar drawned with brush and ink.
I am honored by the way Nguyen uses the Tao guitars in his music, and by the other orders that followed the initial project. The latest one was the “Tiger” guitar in 2012.

Thanks to him for his music which reduces the distances, and extends the ears…

Specifications for this custom-made instrument :
– The same woods as the 50’s Fender Stratocaster in order to have a different sound from the Tao guitar.
– Singlecoil pickups.

Woods :
Body : French Ash
Neck and fingerboard : European curly Maple
Fingerboard inlays : violet Wood

Technical and aesthetical characteristics :
The design is inspired by Chinese calligraphy representing animals.
The body is chambered, scuplted from the block.
The neck is reinforced by two carbon fiber rods and a truss rod.
Fingerboard inlays represent Yi King signs.
24 frets fingerboard
Chinese ink and gold leaf finish, covered with cellulosed lacquer.
Vintage sunburst on all the central part of the body.

Hardware
Gotoh 510 mini tuners.
Gold Gotoh GT 1996 tremolo, patinated.

Electronics :
3 Zexcoil pickups.
3 mini switch, 1 volume, 1 tone

Specifications for this custom-made instrument :
– A silver string guitar with the same diapason and the same neck width as Tao guitar.
– A clear and shiny tone, without too « invasive » basses.

Woods :
Top : Jura Spruce
Sides and back : curly Maple
Neck : Maple
Fingerboard : Ebony
Bridge and bindings : violet Wood

Technical and aesthetical characteristics :
The cutaway continues till the superior shoulder, which allowes to have a neck-body junction on the 17th fret.
Sound leaf holes total surface corresponds to a classical circular surface.
The body is thiner on the bass side to be more comfortable to play. This design is borrowed from Linda Manzer « Wedge » concept.
Gilded Gotoh tuners.
Fingerboard and neck inlays : Boxwood and Bulnesia
Black mother-of-pearl inlay in the back, representing a Chinese ideogram.

Electronics :
The guitar is fitted with a B-Band preamp pick up.

Tao