The silo

THE SILO:

The photo of the building you can see was taken at the beginning of the adventure, a long time ago now, in 2009 I suppose.

It makes you want to exclaim a WOW, that's awesome!

But to properly tell the story, I think a novel format in a paperback book, about 150 pages would be necessary. So here, I pause (but I really want to try writing this book... this thriller). To be continued…

It is located in the heart of a village in the Aude, Salles sur l’Hers, in the Piège valley, on the edge of the large Lauragais plain between the Pyrenees and the Black Mountain. Very close to Toulouse (about 35 minutes), Castelnaudary (15 minutes) and 10 minutes from the Seuil de Naurouze which is the water divide of the Canal du Midi.

What to say, except that I find the setting exceptional.

The place is ideal for a holiday stay, taking advantage for example of the small municipal camping site, full of trees, located on the banks of our beautiful Régambert lake or in other places offering lodging and meals.

Countless paths in the hills for walks with exceptional views are available to you... But also all kinds of water activities, offered at the Ganguise Lake for sports enthusiasts (5 minutes from the village).

This whetting the appetite, you will find many places where it is good to taste the famous cassoulet, a locally and globally recognized specialty.

THE WORKSHOP

Here is a small anthology of images from inside the premises. A large part is still under construction and this will inevitably spread over the years since I do everything myself.

The guitar manufacturing space is a sealed block arranged on two levels. Sealed because it is under control to maintain a relative humidity around 45%.

This is not the case for the varnishing room, which is still to be perfected (redone) in "bypass" mode, and will then be used for heavier work. Currently, it works, but I have to play with the weather, which makes its use for guitars heavily random. It's often too hot and humid in the summer, too cold in the winter. It's very annoying.

That's why I'm going to build another space dedicated to guitars. It will be completely sealed and will operate in a closed circuit (air-conditioned, of course), by using a ventilation system with three stages of filtration associated with 32 cartridges each containing 3.5kg of activated charcoal. I have had all the elements stored for years. Unfortunately, I lack the time and also the energy. But it is fundamental for me and the quality standard I impose on myself to succeed in my Ultra thin PU varnish because applied (after sequences of pore filler application by pad, sanded down to the wood), directly on wood.

It will also be a clean room where drying, final sandings, and polishes will be done wonderfully, without particles that could scratch during the final approach. And I can tell you that in the end, what remains is very fine. So, it vibrates well, it sounds good, it "snaps" and it projects far. Incidentally, this unalterable varnish allows you to clean the instrument with a hydroalcoholic gel solution if you have nothing else (there are stocks😊). I vehemently defend this solution because the guitar is a contact instrument, and French polish finishes always end up suffering from human contact.

I have built some machine-tools that intervene minimally where manual tools would make the task extremely long and complicated. Other more standard machines are used for extraction and then for the preparation of components constituting the guitar.

Here, I have made most of my tools, and it's not over yet.

The main tool of this workshop, with brain and digital controls, is not available in stores because my mother made it (thanks, mom!).

This is H441.