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There are as many ways to build a guitar as there are guitarmakers. I studied guitarmaking with the highly regarded luthier, educator, and innovator Charles Fox. I build in the Fox method, employing many of the same techniques and processes that are practiced by luthiers all over the world, and I've adapted and added numerous techniques and design features that I picked up along the way.

Musicians of some proficiency often mistake the limitations of their instrument as the limitations of their own ability. Playing a truly fine handcrafted instrument can be a very liberating experience for a musician, ultimately opening up the potential for enhanced subtlety and dynamic expression in their playing, and effectively enabling them to exhibit the highest possible levels of excellence in their musicianship and be the best musicians that they can be.

My guitars are currently available in two sizes with the same basic sound box shape: Concert (C) and Small Jumbo (SJ). Dimensions for both are listed on the specifications page.

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The top and back of my guitars have a spherical shape, rising higher near the bridge and soundhole and falling away towards the edges of the sides.

The domed profile makes it much stronger than a completely flat soundboard, enabling me to brace it much lighter and effectively allowing it to move more freely. This higher strength/lower mass soundboard results in a more open sounding guitar with greater projection. The effect of bending a piece of wood into a dome shape is similar to the effect of bending a piece of sheet metal: the fundamental tone of the top rises in pitch, creating a brighter sounding instrument.

My tops are braced in a traditional x-brace style. The top is planed down to about .110" and I carve the braces about as thin as they can be while still maintaining a high degree of structural integrity. The super-sturdy yet very flexible nature of my tops helps to create a "hot" sound with bright, full tone and highly responsive dynamics

blondehole1

The soundhole on my guitars is just slightly smaller than a traditional sized instrument. This gives the air cavity of the sound box a deeper overtone (think "bass reflex" speakers) and ultimately creates an instrument with bigger, warmer bass.

My treatment of the soundboard alone contributes in a substantial way to the superior tonal balance, clarity, and projection every guitar I build.  

I can also tailor the tonal and dynamic response of each guitar to be more suitable for a particular style or player.

designkerfs

I use oversized double thickness linings (kerfings) where the guitar sides meet the top and back. These 'super kerfings' create a rim that exhibits a high degree of rigidity and that retains its shape independently of the top and back

designneckblock

Along with a double-footed neck block that acts as a powerful cornerstone at the junction of the top, back, sides, and neck, the resulting superior strength of the super-rigid rim enables me to brace the top and back more lightly, minimizing any dampening effect on the soundboard, and effectively enabling both plates to vibrate more freely and help create the big, open, clear sound that emanates from my guitars.

rosewoodtrim

The shape of my guitars is a variation on - and combination of - several different traditional body styles; I created a template that combines the subtlety and elegance of a smaller bodied instrument with the more robust and emphatic lines sometimes found in a jumbo or archtop guitar.

All bindings, purflings, and engrafts on my guitars are made from hand selected pieces of beautiful hardwood.

redgraft

Plastic can also be used for the bindings and trim on a guitar and is often standard practice in factory operations because it is very fast and inexpensive to it to install. Using wood for all of the guitar trim is more time-consuming than using plastic. All of the wooden bindings and purflings need to be bent individually before installation and require much more attention to detail during fitting, but are unquestionably far more beautiful than plastic and far more appropriate for a fine handcrafted instrument

soundport

The soundport is a second soundhole in the side of the guitar that projects sound at the player. Along with radiating sound in an upward direction – in addition to the sound that is already directed out of the sound hole on the face of the guitar – there's a whole dynamic exchange going on with air and sound that changes because of the soundport.

When a string is plucked, it vibrates hundreds of times a second; every time it arcs out of center and back again it pulls on the top of the guitar and then releases it, and every time this happens air is expelled from the sound hole and vice versa.

When a second soundport is introduced, the vacuum effect of having just one location for that air to enter and exit the sound box is eliminated, literally opening up both the sound and the flow of air through the guitar, ultimately creating a bigger and more open sounding instrument.

neck

Every neck has a two-way fully adjustable truss rod to help facilitate quick and easy adjustment of string action and neck angle. Also built into every neck are dual low-weight high-strength carbon-fiber rods to help prevent them from ever warping.

Fully bound fretboards are bordered by ebony binding so all fret tangs are hidden and are radiused to create a more ergonomic and comfortable playing surface as well as improve string intonation.

Frets are polished to a high-gloss to help create a feel of faster action, and all fret ends are dressed to the highest possible degree of roundness and smoothness to maximize playing comfort and facility.

Fretboards have a modern offset dot inlay scheme in mother of pearl.

For information on commissions and ordering as well as current pricing and wait time, please send an email to peter@ciluzziguitars.com.