The story
Patrice Vigier, a self-taught luthier from les Ulis, began modifying guitars and building finished necks at the end of the 1970s. He later built his first fretless guitar with a glass fingerboard. Through a friend, Philippe Lacour of Distribution Music, Vigier met his first customers in Montparnasse. In 1980, he founded the company, Vigier, and introduced his first model, the Arpege, at a music fair. That guitar featured:
Neck-through construction with a trapezoidal extension
Metal reinforcement board underneath the fingerboard
Metal fretboard on the fretless version
Active electronics
A fixed bridge
Benedetti custom humbuckers
In 1981, instead of using standard batteries, Vigier powered its electronics with a rechargeable power supply. In 1983, another model came equipped with a built-in equalizer and sound memory system called Nautilus. Vigier launched two other models: the Passion in 1983 and the Marilyn in 1985. In 1986, Vigier diversified by creating a wholesale division to import and distribute instruments, amplifiers, and accessories. Distributed brands included Ampeg, DiMarzio, Ernie Ball, Music Man, Orange, Premier, and Trace Elliot. Two years later, Vigier renamed the division High Tech Distribution to separate the manufacturing and distribution operations. In the 1990s, Vigier introduced new models. The Excalibur came in 1991, its fretless variant, the Surfreter in 1998, and the Excess bass in 1996.
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In 2000, Vigier celebrated its 20th anniversary with an Excalibur Surfreter adorned with gold, diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds. The instrument was valued at EUR 30,000. In the same year, the company launched the Expert, a model inspired by the classic Fender Stratocaster. Vigier also developed a guitar with a MIDI-controlled selector, volume, and tone knob. The company presented a prototype at the 2003 Frankfurt music fair, but never finalized the project as Patrice Vigier never approved the final version. In the second half of the 2000s, Vigier began introducing signature models—including the Excalibur Shawn Lane in 2005, and the Excalibur Bumblefoot Ron Thal and Excess Roger Glover in 2006. In 2009 Vigier introduced its model singlecut, G.V., in reference to Georges Vigier, Patrice's late father.
In 2025, Patrice Vigier posted on the forums that he has retired and no longer makes any instruments.
From Wikipedia’s article on Vigier Guitars, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4