François Chanot violin-guitar

Built in 1831 by Maline, this violin model follows the design invented and patented by François Chanot in 1818.

François Chanot learned to make violins in his father's workshop in Mirecourt, France. After serving in the French navy, he returned to his father's workshop in 1815 and began experimenting with violin making based on the latest acoustic theories. He moved to Paris around 1818, just as he was presenting his cornerless violin model.

He asked Nicolas Simoutre, whom he had met in the workshop of Nicolas Lupot, to take charge of the manufacturing. However, Simoutre, who had just opened his guitar luthier workshop in Mirecourt, declined the proposal. He recommended a young luthier from Mirecourt for this production: Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, who thus began the immense career we know he had. This "violin guitar" was very successful and won sound competitions, notably against a Stradivarius. François Chanot, restored to his political functions, returned to Paris. The luthiers of Mirecourt, always ready to meet a new demand for beautiful instruments, made this "Chanot" model until around 1828/30. After that date, the fashion passed, and the violin-guitar fell into oblivion.

Inspired by the guitar, the body of the instrument, according to its creator, resembles a violin without corners or edges, allowing the sound volume to be the same as that of a violin. The instrument's sound holes lose the traditional F shape of the violin, providing more uninterrupted straight grain in the top plate for vibration. His model also featured a scroll bent backward, away from the fingerboard, and finally dispensed with the tailpiece, attaching the strings directly to the top plate of the violin like guitars.