2015 Mark Usherovich CD/IN

Although built in 2015, this is a brand-new (not pre-owned) guitar that Mark recently brought in to show us as a demo guitar of his current style. We liked it so much we not only ordered a future guitar but we bought this one! Mark told us that among the old traditional makers he finds the most interesting and inspiring are Santos Hernandez, Antonio de Torres, and Miguel Rodriguez. Oddly somehow traces of all three of these builders can be detected in this cedar-topped guitar. The rosette detailing is obviously a tip of the hat to Daniel Friederich. So there are many influences at play here. The guitar is lightweight, has immediate response and thick, bold sound. Really a joy and a breeze to play. This is our first instrument from this very interesting maker and we look forward to many more.

Mark Usherovich is an Israeli luthier currently based in Canada. He was born in 1975 and started making guitars, self-taught in Jerusalem in 2004. The timbre of bowed (violins and cellos) and percussion instruments have influenced him tremendously in terms of his preferred guitar tonal characteristics. Before Mark started building guitars, he made wooden skin drums as a hobby that helped him to feel the rhythm and dynamic nature of musical sound. Later on, he was able to build these qualities into his guitars. All guitars built by Mark Usherovich have their own distinguished sound personality. Interacting with a diversity of people and extensive travel through different parts of the world have given Mark a feel for the rhythm and folkloric nature of all people. Guitar building for Mark is a personal expression of life. Mark's more serious studies of the guitar began when he was able to meet and get to know Tom Blackshear from San Antonio, TX whom he is indebted to greatly for sharing his knowledge and experience with Mark. Tom passed on his unique fine tuning technique, and in many other ways helped Mark understand the acoustic nature of how guitars work - how to tune the body resonances, and how to control the direction and quality of the sound as its produced. As a result, Mark was able to use this understanding to develop his own construction by combining the sound of traditionally built instruments with modern ideals of power, dynamics, and playability. To this day, Mark and Tom remain good friends.