2024 Marco Bortolozzo Guitar - Milan
About the Maker in his own words
Years go by and I enrolled in university: course of studies in industrial design. These years have been fundamental for my training as a luthier, because I learned about the production processes and the design stages, I knew the materials and processes of a product. I lived for 5 years in a fantastic environment, surrounded by friends who are passionate about the most varied forms of creativity.
Towards the end of my studies, I realize that guitars don’t just come out of factories, but that there are also craftsmen who manage to live building splendid musical instruments. So I decide to go and meet one: I choose it at random, from the yellow pages and the next day I go to his laboratory: the luthier is Dario Pontiggia.
Dario immediately proves to be very kind and begins to tell me the story of Antonio De Torres. After an hour of conversation I understand that this job is “what I want to do when I grow up”.
Today I’m grown up and I’m a professional luthier, guitars have become my life. I have built many: they are the result of the passion and study of the great guitar makers of the past. These same guitars today are around the world and are played now in various continents: this is the aspect that makes me most proud of my work.
About the Guitar
Review
l believe Marco Bortolozzo of Milan, Italy, by his craftsmanship and selecting only the finest tone-woods, is one of the few guitar makers that with his celebrated Torres FE09-inspired model, guitar after guitar, has succeeded in bringing back to life the vivid sound, touch and feel of this exciting instrument from 1859 that for good reason, was Miguel Llobet’s favourite guitar.”
Owner of a Marco Bortolozzo “Torres” #66-2018
Jan Depreter
This is latest arrival in Australia and to my knowledge the only guitar from Marco Bortolozzo here, yet another artistic masterpiece from this fine maker.
As a starting point in developing this new model, Marco used the plans for Andres Segovia's iconic 1937 Hermann Hauser. He used a thick "torrefied" (hence the darker color) spruce top and thicknessed it with a variable pattern.
At the same time, he tried to lower the pitch of the guitar by making adjustments to the structure and the general weight. He also added a low-depth tornavoz.
The thicker soundboard gives the treble strings much clarity while retaining a good sustain. The lowered resonance pitch (around E) gives the guitar deep basses. All the adjustments and measurements were made with the help of a microphone and special software to monitor the frequencies.
The guitar also has a hidden adjustable titanium rod inside the neck for stability. The aesthetic details of this guitar are (as usual) of Marco's individual style, although one can distinguish some inspiration in the rosette design from one of the more spectular rosettes of Vicente Arias featuring interlocking circles - meticulously and perfectly executed.
Many of his aesthetic ideas are deeply connected with his background in industrial design. The hard "modern" edges and angles of the inlays and shapes of the guitar (look at the headstock for example) are fused with traditional elements that Marco draws from the architectural wonders of his residence (Milan), one of the great design capitals of the world.
He even gives a "tip of the hat" to his good friend Richard Reynoso with similar style inlay work in the heel cap.
As bold as its appearance, it is equally matched in sound and playability.
The lightweight and efficient build results in a powerful, explosive sound with deep resonant basses and singing, voice-like trebles.
The guitar has immediate and fast response making it incredible easy to play, particularly for the right hand due to the quick attack.
At the same time, there is a solid firmness to every note, reminiscent to us of the more lightweight guitars of Hauser I and II.
Marco has nuanced the top to maximize sustain and also to control the overtones to help the guitar modulate easily with a variety of tonal colors and dynamic range.
He also does very thin double sides which gives this guitar additional power, sustain and assists in giving the bottom-end some extra boost as well as to provide additional clarity and brilliance to the trebles.
The guitar plays very comfortably with both hands thanks to the smooth neck shape, easy action and fast responsiveness.
Absolutely delightful to play and hear, this is a fantastic guitar built on the most traditional of foundations, but with a unique and very tasteful aesthetic.
features
TOP: Solid Spruce
SIDES & BACK: Solid Ziricote
NECK: Spanish Cedar Reinforced inside with Ebony Wood
FINGERBOARD: Ebony
MACHINE HEADS: Allessi Luxury High Quality Machine Heads
Finish: French Polish
Tornavoz
Strings: Savarez
in impeccable condition because it's new. It's a stunning instrument as you'll see from the photos attachedhowever, the neck doesn't suit the new owner due to age and has decided not to keep it after barely playing it.
It has a torrefied spruce top, ziricote back and sides (all French polished), Alessi tuners and comes with a plush-lined hard case, also brand-new.
The interesting feature of this guitar is that is has a tornavoz and hence a body resonance of E.
You can it being played on YouTube by Francisco Luis playing Luis de Narvaez's "Fantasia X" & "Fantasia XIV".
About the Maker in his own words
Years go by and I enrolled in university: course of studies in industrial design. These years have been fundamental for my training as a luthier, because I learned about the production processes and the design stages, I knew the materials and processes of a product. I lived for 5 years in a fantastic environment, surrounded by friends who are passionate about the most varied forms of creativity.
Towards the end of my studies, I realize that guitars don’t just come out of factories, but that there are also craftsmen who manage to live building splendid musical instruments. So I decide to go and meet one: I choose it at random, from the yellow pages and the next day I go to his laboratory: the luthier is Dario Pontiggia.
Dario immediately proves to be very kind and begins to tell me the story of Antonio De Torres. After an hour of conversation I understand that this job is “what I want to do when I grow up”.
Today I’m grown up and I’m a professional luthier, guitars have become my life. I have built many: they are the result of the passion and study of the great guitar makers of the past. These same guitars today are around the world and are played now in various continents: this is the aspect that makes me most proud of my work.
About the Guitar
Review
l believe Marco Bortolozzo of Milan, Italy, by his craftsmanship and selecting only the finest tone-woods, is one of the few guitar makers that with his celebrated Torres FE09-inspired model, guitar after guitar, has succeeded in bringing back to life the vivid sound, touch and feel of this exciting instrument from 1859 that for good reason, was Miguel Llobet’s favourite guitar.”
Owner of a Marco Bortolozzo “Torres” #66-2018
Jan Depreter
This is latest arrival in Australia and to my knowledge the only guitar from Marco Bortolozzo here, yet another artistic masterpiece from this fine maker.
As a starting point in developing this new model, Marco used the plans for Andres Segovia's iconic 1937 Hermann Hauser. He used a thick "torrefied" (hence the darker color) spruce top and thicknessed it with a variable pattern.
At the same time, he tried to lower the pitch of the guitar by making adjustments to the structure and the general weight. He also added a low-depth tornavoz.
The thicker soundboard gives the treble strings much clarity while retaining a good sustain. The lowered resonance pitch (around E) gives the guitar deep basses. All the adjustments and measurements were made with the help of a microphone and special software to monitor the frequencies.
The guitar also has a hidden adjustable titanium rod inside the neck for stability. The aesthetic details of this guitar are (as usual) of Marco's individual style, although one can distinguish some inspiration in the rosette design from one of the more spectular rosettes of Vicente Arias featuring interlocking circles - meticulously and perfectly executed.
Many of his aesthetic ideas are deeply connected with his background in industrial design. The hard "modern" edges and angles of the inlays and shapes of the guitar (look at the headstock for example) are fused with traditional elements that Marco draws from the architectural wonders of his residence (Milan), one of the great design capitals of the world.
He even gives a "tip of the hat" to his good friend Richard Reynoso with similar style inlay work in the heel cap.
As bold as its appearance, it is equally matched in sound and playability.
The lightweight and efficient build results in a powerful, explosive sound with deep resonant basses and singing, voice-like trebles.
The guitar has immediate and fast response making it incredible easy to play, particularly for the right hand due to the quick attack.
At the same time, there is a solid firmness to every note, reminiscent to us of the more lightweight guitars of Hauser I and II.
Marco has nuanced the top to maximize sustain and also to control the overtones to help the guitar modulate easily with a variety of tonal colors and dynamic range.
He also does very thin double sides which gives this guitar additional power, sustain and assists in giving the bottom-end some extra boost as well as to provide additional clarity and brilliance to the trebles.
The guitar plays very comfortably with both hands thanks to the smooth neck shape, easy action and fast responsiveness.
Absolutely delightful to play and hear, this is a fantastic guitar built on the most traditional of foundations, but with a unique and very tasteful aesthetic.
features
TOP: Solid Spruce
SIDES & BACK: Solid Ziricote
NECK: Spanish Cedar Reinforced inside with Ebony Wood
FINGERBOARD: Ebony
MACHINE HEADS: Allessi Luxury High Quality Machine Heads
Finish: French Polish
Tornavoz
Strings: Savarez
in impeccable condition because it's new. It's a stunning instrument as you'll see from the photos attachedhowever, the neck doesn't suit the new owner due to age and has decided not to keep it after barely playing it.
It has a torrefied spruce top, ziricote back and sides (all French polished), Alessi tuners and comes with a plush-lined hard case, also brand-new.
The interesting feature of this guitar is that is has a tornavoz and hence a body resonance of E.
You can it being played on YouTube by Francisco Luis playing Luis de Narvaez's "Fantasia X" & "Fantasia XIV".
About the Maker in his own words
Years go by and I enrolled in university: course of studies in industrial design. These years have been fundamental for my training as a luthier, because I learned about the production processes and the design stages, I knew the materials and processes of a product. I lived for 5 years in a fantastic environment, surrounded by friends who are passionate about the most varied forms of creativity.
Towards the end of my studies, I realize that guitars don’t just come out of factories, but that there are also craftsmen who manage to live building splendid musical instruments. So I decide to go and meet one: I choose it at random, from the yellow pages and the next day I go to his laboratory: the luthier is Dario Pontiggia.
Dario immediately proves to be very kind and begins to tell me the story of Antonio De Torres. After an hour of conversation I understand that this job is “what I want to do when I grow up”.
Today I’m grown up and I’m a professional luthier, guitars have become my life. I have built many: they are the result of the passion and study of the great guitar makers of the past. These same guitars today are around the world and are played now in various continents: this is the aspect that makes me most proud of my work.
About the Guitar
Review
l believe Marco Bortolozzo of Milan, Italy, by his craftsmanship and selecting only the finest tone-woods, is one of the few guitar makers that with his celebrated Torres FE09-inspired model, guitar after guitar, has succeeded in bringing back to life the vivid sound, touch and feel of this exciting instrument from 1859 that for good reason, was Miguel Llobet’s favourite guitar.”
Owner of a Marco Bortolozzo “Torres” #66-2018
Jan Depreter
This is latest arrival in Australia and to my knowledge the only guitar from Marco Bortolozzo here, yet another artistic masterpiece from this fine maker.
As a starting point in developing this new model, Marco used the plans for Andres Segovia's iconic 1937 Hermann Hauser. He used a thick "torrefied" (hence the darker color) spruce top and thicknessed it with a variable pattern.
At the same time, he tried to lower the pitch of the guitar by making adjustments to the structure and the general weight. He also added a low-depth tornavoz.
The thicker soundboard gives the treble strings much clarity while retaining a good sustain. The lowered resonance pitch (around E) gives the guitar deep basses. All the adjustments and measurements were made with the help of a microphone and special software to monitor the frequencies.
The guitar also has a hidden adjustable titanium rod inside the neck for stability. The aesthetic details of this guitar are (as usual) of Marco's individual style, although one can distinguish some inspiration in the rosette design from one of the more spectular rosettes of Vicente Arias featuring interlocking circles - meticulously and perfectly executed.
Many of his aesthetic ideas are deeply connected with his background in industrial design. The hard "modern" edges and angles of the inlays and shapes of the guitar (look at the headstock for example) are fused with traditional elements that Marco draws from the architectural wonders of his residence (Milan), one of the great design capitals of the world.
He even gives a "tip of the hat" to his good friend Richard Reynoso with similar style inlay work in the heel cap.
As bold as its appearance, it is equally matched in sound and playability.
The lightweight and efficient build results in a powerful, explosive sound with deep resonant basses and singing, voice-like trebles.
The guitar has immediate and fast response making it incredible easy to play, particularly for the right hand due to the quick attack.
At the same time, there is a solid firmness to every note, reminiscent to us of the more lightweight guitars of Hauser I and II.
Marco has nuanced the top to maximize sustain and also to control the overtones to help the guitar modulate easily with a variety of tonal colors and dynamic range.
He also does very thin double sides which gives this guitar additional power, sustain and assists in giving the bottom-end some extra boost as well as to provide additional clarity and brilliance to the trebles.
The guitar plays very comfortably with both hands thanks to the smooth neck shape, easy action and fast responsiveness.
Absolutely delightful to play and hear, this is a fantastic guitar built on the most traditional of foundations, but with a unique and very tasteful aesthetic.
features
TOP: Solid Spruce
SIDES & BACK: Solid Ziricote
NECK: Spanish Cedar Reinforced inside with Ebony Wood
FINGERBOARD: Ebony
MACHINE HEADS: Allessi Luxury High Quality Machine Heads
Finish: French Polish
Tornavoz
Strings: Savarez
in impeccable condition because it's new. It's a stunning instrument as you'll see from the photos attachedhowever, the neck doesn't suit the new owner due to age and has decided not to keep it after barely playing it.
It has a torrefied spruce top, ziricote back and sides (all French polished), Alessi tuners and comes with a plush-lined hard case, also brand-new.
The interesting feature of this guitar is that is has a tornavoz and hence a body resonance of E.
You can it being played on YouTube by Francisco Luis playing Luis de Narvaez's "Fantasia X" & "Fantasia XIV".
See the Guitar in action
Andrea González Caballero - Live in Concert
Guitar: José Maria Vilaplana NT
Composition: Francisco Tárrega and Regino Sainz de la Maza
This video is an excerpt from the concert organized by the Florida Guitar Foundation and the Frost School of Muisc, University of Miami in September 2022 at Gusman Concert Hall.
