African Blackwood B&S, Double Sinker/Spruce top Concert guitar. Nov 25, 2009.

I've had bad luck with both my wives.
The first one left me and the second one didn't

African Blackwood B&S, Doble tapa (Contreras style Variation 1) 270 years old Sinker redwood + Cedar. Bird's eye Maple bindings, 16" radiused ebony fingerboard, violin tie, armrest & bridge. Master inlay work on bridge, violin tie and, rosette. 640mm fret spacing. Embossed leather case included. 1 in a MILLION concert guitar !
Whenever I build one of this masterpieces I feel like there is no better profession in the world. The over 280 hours that took to produce this amazing masterpiece, were worth every single second. The project started with Tanzanian set of African Blackwood. Marvelous tap tone...by far the hardest wood on the planet. It took a whole day to bend the sides alone. I matched it with a breathtaking set of 270 years old Sinker redwood. To complete her, I made her a Contreras style double top Variation 1. The second top (Western Redcedar) is set halfway the main sinker top and the back...it vibrates a fraction of a second after the main top nd it creates an AMAZING sustain and reverb effect. Her sound is GLORIOUS. Listen how the basses boom in the bach prelude. At the same time, the melody is always in center stage and my excitement grows with every measure. As I finished playing the piece, my daughter Chiara clapped her hand vivaciously and her brown eyes shined like stars... "Que belleza papi !" were her words....
The mother of pearl detailing are meant to decorate her like the Empress that she is and take her beauty beyond the possibilities of my words and my photographic skills... Easy 640mm scale and radiused fingerboard will make this your best buy in 2009!

View of the second top

3 tops Blend

Sinker logs like the ones above, are pulled from the bottom of lakes and rivers. Sometimes, scuba divers are needed to achieve the extraction. Most of these logs are hundreds of years old (In one of the pictures above, you can see that the tree was cut with an hatchet). Due to a series of factors (The logs were too big and heavy to be pulled out of the rivers or the logs were caught by currents and were sucked to the bottom) these logs were trapped by the muddy buttons of these water beds and this created like a time capsule where the wood was preserved in fantastic humidity conditions that made the wood season in a slow natural way during many centuries. Some of the logs are selected for musical instruments construction. The sound that these woods produce is unique and the grain has a beautiful coloration that changes according to the type of mud present in the water bed.

Bellucci guitars
Premium Embossed Leather case with Brown plush interior

The doble tapa VARIATION 1, was developed and introduced by Master Luthier Manuel Contreras the II at the end of the 70s and reached its peak in the 80s. The Variation 1 consists of a second top, in this case cedar, which is placed halfway between top 1 and the back. The second top vibrates a fraction of a second later. The sustain that this top produces is simply amazing.

Radiused or flat fingerboard?
The radiused fingerboard has been around the acoustic and the electric guitar since day one. The same is true for most instruments of the Stringed family of instruments (violas, violins cellos, bass). Radiusing (image above) makes barre and left hand stopping A LOT easier. The only drawback is that you will NEVER want to play a flat fingerboard after that. If you are having your custom guitar built, I am all pro radiusing the fingerboard. The standard fingerboard is flat.

The hand embossed leather case is a work of art on its own right. Built by one of a handful of very talented leather embossers in Latin America. Its built following my specifications for the interior to fit Bellucci guitars like a glove. All Plush interior, key and accessories compartment. You can request an upgrade to a Cow hive front and back version.

640mm or 650 mm?
Guitar scale lenght