Sauvage guitars is clearly aimed at the super high-end luxury guitar market. At this price level, it is entering some uncharted territory for modern guitar markets.
Their main model “One Piece Master” has some interesting construction techniques and materials. The body is a 100+ year old one-piece ash olive burl, carved out. The neck, headstock, and body are machined from a single piece of wood, making it unique in this respect and more difficult in construction. You need a much larger piece of wood to accomplish this, making it more rare. You could also argue that it may not be as reliable since any wood flaws evident in the neck or in the area where it meets the body could cause failure. Olive Ash is really Ash that resembles Olive wood, and is typically European Ash (Fraxinus excelsior). It’s not really known as a tonewood for bodies, and it certainly is almost never used in a guitar neck (I guess that’s why there are 4 titanium rods used in this neck), so it would be very interesting to hear what it sounds like.
Other rare and unique materials are the Mammoth fossil nut, bridge from Damascus steel, silver-plated knobs, etc. Nearly every item or component is “blinged” in some way — befitting a luxury instrument. Many of these items don’t affect the tone or playability — only the aesthetic and rarity.
However, it is still unclear what separates this so much from other high-end guitars when it comes to pricing. The guitar starting price is 60000 euros. This is stratospheric. I know of no other production guitars (or one-off customs) made with such a high price tag. Typically guitars in this price range (if any) exhibit one or more of the following qualities:
- Provenance: if the guitar is or has been owned by someone famous like Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, etc. These have typically been the most expensive guitars bought/sold.
- Historical and/or cult significance: examples include pre-war Martins, 1954 Stratocaster,
1959 Les Paul, etc. - Luthier provenance: Luthiers who have made a name for themselves in one way or another. Examples include Parker, Benedetto, D’Aquisto, Sakashta, Traugott, etc.
- Design and engineering: some unique design or engineering
- Materials: rare or expensive elements
For Sauvage guitars, it appears that the last two items are what are used to distinguish themselves from the rest. The design itself does not seem too innovative in shape or function, however. Sort of a cross between Tao and Hartung guitars. The construction and materials seem to be the main distinctions, but at these prices, and without any demonstrated superiority in sound, playability and re-sale value, it remains to be seen if this is sustainable. But you won’t know until you try!
Here’s a video on how it’s made, but unfortunately no sound samples.