Hi everyone,
We are launching a new series featuring interviews with luthiers who have been making some exceptionally cool guitars and basses using Guyker parts.
For this opening installment, here is the background behind Anthony Carayon’s fantastic bass build for JP.
Hi Anthony, can you tell our readers about yourself?
My name is Anthony Carayon, I'm a 33-year-old Luthier based in France, and the owner and creator of Famous Guitars Paris. I graduated from Art School, own software companies, and a holding called AC Global Group based in UAE. You can consider me a designer, an inventor/engineer, and a businessman.
OK, excellent, how did you get started with guitar/bass making?
Since my childhood, I have loved creating, drawing, and crafting stuff. When I started to play bass guitar in my teenage years, I naturally started to take care of my basses. Starting with simple stuff such as changing strings, oiling, and taking care of the neck, fingerboard, etc. Then, I started to take off each part to carefully clean up every centimeter of my guitars and made truss rod adjustments, etc. Then my friends and family started asking me to take care of their instruments.
One day, I decided to create my first bass guitar. I bought a piece of cherrywood from a luthier friend, ordered some barnwood for the neck and fingerboard, and started making it. My first bass guitar was a 100% homemade instrument that I had designed by myself. Honestly, I never really understood why I should create another copy of a Fender or Gibson type guitar when I can create my own design.
Can you tell us how you learned to make bass guitars? Were you self-taught, or did you attend any formal course to get a qualification?
Before creating my first bass guitar, I followed the building process of an Australian Luthier called David Fletcher. He's responsible for about 80% of my knowledge. I complemented this with advice and tricks that another famous French Luthier gave me, Christian Noguera (who no longer builds instruments), and a few more tips from a carpenter I knew who was close to retirement. In particular, he helped me finish my first bass.
But I would say that I'm self-taught in general. There are not really any schools that teach you how to create electric bass guitars, especially if you want to create innovative instruments like I do.
There was recently a post on our Facebook page featuring a bass guitar you created, the JP bass, could you tell us a little more about JP?
Jean-Paul (JP) is my dad's best friend. He's probably the first person, outside my family, that I met in my life. My dad and JP used to have a rock band together, my dad on guitar and Jean-Paul playing the bass. So, it's because of Jean-Paul that I started to play bass guitar when I was a young teenager.
As you can guess, Jean-Paul is someone important to me. So, when his wife (after being impressed by another bass I had recently created) asked me to create a 100% custom-made bass guitar for Jean-Paul, I was really excited!
How did you decide on the design?
Knowing Jean-Paul, I knew what kind of music he liked. He's a big fan of Bruce Springsteen and American culture (he rides a Harley Davidson!). So, I opened OpenAI Chat GPT and asked the AI to create an ideal prompt for another AI (image generative) called MidJourney. Chat GPT was able to create a super detailed prompt for Midjourney. And this last app created a few images of a bass guitar based on Jean-Paul's tastes.
After adapting the drawing on my CAD software, with more coherent shapes, I started the real design. But for my design, I needed a centerpiece: a Tune-o-matic "Gibson Style" Bridge for BASS! In Gold if possible.
And what bridge did you choose?
I discovered a Guyker bridge for sale on AliExpress. Considering the price, I was curious to try it! And when I received it... WAH! What a damn beautiful piece! The finish was very impressive, the feeling of quality, the weight. And I was super happy because I finally had the piece that I would design all the bass around, the centerpiece of the instrument.
Could you tell us a bit more about the materials you used?
To stay in the "American" state of mind, I made the body with American Black Walnut with a big "pickguard" made of flame maple which occupies almost the entire face of the bass. I decided to paint something that evokes the American flag, in reference to a bandana that Jean-Paul likes to wear on his head when he's in concert. However, it's not really an American flag, because it doesn't have the same number of stripes and stars. It's an (obvious) evocation.
Could you explain why you decided on the 3- pickup design?
MidJourney AI also made an image of a bass with 3 humbucker pickups. It's very unusual for a bass guitar but I was like "why not?". The knobs also come from the Guyker collection, Bullet gun was just perfect for this project!
For the rest, this bass is pretty standard… 34" scale (basically a Jazz Bass neck, with a neck profile a bit more round). The bass is entirely chambered, pretty thin - 40mm (I like doing thin basses), and the tuning machines are also from Guyker. I've put small Gibson frets on it and made a "JP" inlay with colored resin.
What did JP think when you gave him the bass?
I created the bass in time for Jean-Paul's 60th Birthday. If you could have seen this strong virile biker cry with such emotion when he saw this bass for the first time... it was adorable!
What are your plans for future guitar and bass builds?
After a break in 2019 to create my software companies, it's time to come back to guitars! I am actually working very hard on the "rebirth" of my guitar brand. Recreating a fresh website (https://www.famous-guitars-paris.com), all workflow, and creating a range of coherent instruments. It's an interesting process because it's pretty easy to create a unique guitar prototype but way harder to identically recreate a series of guitars!
I'm currently in this process and plan to create a series of exceptional bass guitars. The next one will have a crazy "old French style" inlay on the neck and a body covered in gold. And the next one will be a crazy 7 string bass, all equipped with Guyker hardware and maybe pickups, of course!
Unlike the majority of luthiers who are focused on creating unique "on-demand" guitars, I am proposing four models and a series of finishes, a bit like Strandberg does. I think that 99% of musicians don't really know what they want, apart from wanting it to be a good instrument, so I will simplify the process for them (and for me).
What do you consider essential to your trade?
The most important thing is to enjoy what you're doing. If you're passionate and love what you do, you'll create extraordinary instruments.
In addition to impeccable manufacturing quality, I've noticed that offering branded accessories gives great added value to the instruments you create, which is also important.
But to be honest, it's hard to say what's essential, because in the end, to create something beautiful and coherent, everything is essential!
