I began studying the guitar at the age of twelve under Roberto Lambo, later entering the Conservatory of Music in Bari to study with Linda Calsolaro. I completed my final three years of study at the Conservatory of Castelfranco Veneto under Stefano Grondona, graduating with top marks and a distinction. Both as a student and after graduating I taught and gave concerts, but a year after graduation I started out on the long road to instrument making, gradually redirecting my activities towards building guitars, until it became my sole occupation. Over the years I had the opportunity to study and analyse all the most famous guitars of the Spanish tradition – by Santos Hernández, Francisco Simplicio, Enrique García, Manuel Ramírez,
Vicente Arias, José Ramirez and José Romanillos – as well as those of non-Spaniards Hermann Hauser and David Rubio, until I discovered the instruments of Antonio de Torres. Here my search for a point of reference ended, my own development and thinking being shaped by Torres’s guitars.
Philosophy
The search
for sound
and perfection
of construction
The search
for sound
and perfection
of construction
Tradition and history provide an indispensable foundation for the creation of the new.
Over the years, study and analysis of the guitars of the great tradition (by Torres, García, Hauser, Simplicio, Arias, Esteso, Santos Hernández), as well as the finest modern guitars, have given me the knowledge that is essential for making important innovations.
My guitars are built using modern techniques, from vacuum gluing to the use of sophisticated equipment for controlling ambient humidity, and a special, complex form of treatment for the wood of the soundboard, at the same time continuing to make use
Over the years, study and analysis of the guitars of the great tradition (by Torres, García, Hauser, Simplicio, Arias, Esteso, Santos Hernández), as well as the finest modern guitars, have given me the knowledge that is essential for making important innovations.
My guitars are built using modern techniques, from vacuum gluing to the use of sophisticated equipment for controlling ambient humidity, and a special, complex form of treatment for the wood of the soundboard, at the same time continuing to make use
of the materials, glues, varnishes, knowledge and inspiration we have inherited from the past.
The design of my guitars is entirely new and original. The interior includes an exclusive system of ‘regulators’, and a soundboard that can move with complete freedom, making it possible to attain both depth of sound and brilliance in the trebles, as well as an absolutely astonishing projection. This is a complete novelty in the field of guitar making, and is combined with the characteristic sound of the historical guitars of the great Spanish tradition.
The design of my guitars is entirely new and original. The interior includes an exclusive system of ‘regulators’, and a soundboard that can move with complete freedom, making it possible to attain both depth of sound and brilliance in the trebles, as well as an absolutely astonishing projection. This is a complete novelty in the field of guitar making, and is combined with the characteristic sound of the historical guitars of the great Spanish tradition.
-
-
The Almedina is a handmade instrument inspired by the guitars of the great Spanish tradition that were produced up to the Second World War, and as such it has all the physical and musical characteristics of those instruments:
• LIGHTNESS
• DIMENSIONS
• FLEXIBILITY
• SENSITIVITY
• EXTENSION OF THE DYNAMIC RANGE TO PIANISSIMO
• DEEP BASSES AND BRILLIANT TREBLES
• EXCEPTIONAL PROJECTIONIt is made entirely by hand according the rules of the most classical tradition of guitar making. In its materials, too, we find the most traditional kinds of wood for the back and ribs, the use of only spruce for the soundboard, cedar for the neck and rosewood for the fingerboard.
The choice of woods is determined wholly by acoustic factors, as are the ‘ingredients’ employed in construction. The only glue used in assembling the entire instrument, for example, is the traditional bone glue – the glue of choice for handmade instruments – while the varnish is shellac, another natural material indispensable to the construction of musical instruments. -
String-Plates
The ultimate solution
The ultimate solution
I have for many years been using a particular system for fastening the strings to the bridge, and have finally decided to market it under the name String-Plates.
It’s an extremely functional and elegant system, which has considerable benefits for the instrument. When a string breaks or becomes unfastened – as often happens with the first three strings – it can very easily lash against the soundboard, creating deep grooves in the wood. String-Plates solve this problem, in that even if the knot becomes untied or the string breaks, there is no lash effect on the soundboard.
The very form of the traditional knot changes the angle of the string on
It’s an extremely functional and elegant system, which has considerable benefits for the instrument. When a string breaks or becomes unfastened – as often happens with the first three strings – it can very easily lash against the soundboard, creating deep grooves in the wood. String-Plates solve this problem, in that even if the knot becomes untied or the string breaks, there is no lash effect on the soundboard.
The very form of the traditional knot changes the angle of the string on
the saddle. This angle is very important for the balance of forces at play on the soundboard, and directly affects the sound. With the use of String-Plates this angle is left unchanged, at what is calculated to be the correct angle when the instrument is being built.
The traditional way of tying the strings, though commonly used, covers and damages the design of the cordal block.
String-Plates do not damage the cordal block or interfere with its design.
The traditional way of tying the strings, though commonly used, covers and damages the design of the cordal block.
String-Plates do not damage the cordal block or interfere with its design.
Contacts
