Questions for a champion.
A clue: a Normandy department.
Top start: the first traces of the manufacture of wind instruments go back to Henri IV.
I experienced my golden age in the 1700s. I counted more than 1,000 artisans at La Couture-Boussey.
I am… I am the south of the Eure department!
It is there, as well as in the neighboring Yvelines, that generations of manufacturers and repairers have passed through companies like Léon-Leblanc, Marigaux, Buffet Crampon or Selmer, the world leader in saxophones.
This is the case of Jean Couto, the founder 33 years ago of ACS Music in the village of Cormier.
He has just handed over to his son Yohann who transferred the workshop to the town center of Saint-André-de-l'Eure in order to continue the family legacy.
After a CAP in car mechanic, at the age of 17, Jean Couto trained at Buffet Crampon.
Six years later, he created his company: “Since then, with the six employees including my son who became the manager, we have worked exclusively for Selmer, now located in Mantes-la-Jolie (Yvelines).
It is the world leader in saxophone since they bought the patents of Adolphe Sax in 1928. They also make clarinets.
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“For them every day,” continues the founder, “I go and look for the nearly 850 varnished and polished spare parts necessary to make a sax and the 450 for a clarinet in order to mill them, adjust them to the light or the cigarette leaf , put in the springs, buffers and make the adjustments.
On a saxophone, that’s almost four and a half hours of editing.”
Jean Couto trained all his employees internally, “because this requires extremely precise know-how and delicacy so as not to scratch the parts or burn them.
It takes almost two years to be able to put together a complete instrument on your own.”
40% in China
To ensure that this craft remains a source of national pride, Jean Couto also trained his daughter and son.
The latter became the boss a few months ago and chose to relocate the workshop from the family home to commercial premises: “It’s new, bigger and close to the A13 motorway.
This is why we chose to stay in Eure despite everything.
In addition, after an experience with a store in Paris, we waste less time and our customers come from all over France without any problem to drop off their instruments with us.
Then, all the colleagues in the workshop live near here and finally, we wanted to stay in the heart of our instrumental heritage,” insists Jean Couto who is nevertheless proud that the 650 saxophones manufactured for Selmer each month go out into the world. entire, notably 40% in China.