2020 Florian Blöchinger SP/TW

These are among the most impressive guitars we have seen from a maker this early in their career. It is built to an incredibly high standard, in terms of materials, craftsmanship, playability and sound quality. Woods selected are stunning - the perfect quarter-sawn spruce top, with its dark grain patterns, beautifully compliments the dramatic "Tigerwood" used for the back and sides - these materials were given to Florian by his father Edmund who has built some amazing guitars with this spruce, but Florian is the first to use this exotic striped Tigerwood, after repeated requests from us over the years! Tuners are by Klaus Scheller fitted with ebony buttons. Soundwise, it is the sonic fusion of Miguel Rodriguez guitars and those of Pepe Romero Jr, with a fast, aggressive attack much like a flamenco and an extremely quick string reset, which offers the right hand freedom to play as quickly as possible. Florian achieves this through the use of a 7-fan bracing system, very similar to the 5 fan system of Miguel Rodriguez from the 1970s but with two narrower braces added in the middle. The basses are thick, powerful and dense. This is balanced beautifully by the singing, vibrant, and fully-resonating treble strings. Also impressive is the amount of volume above the 12th fret - but the overall projection is excellent across all registers with a warm, robust tone and a dense core to the note, providing plenty of clarity for each note amid the wide sound. A first-rate guitar by any standards and we look forward to seeing more of these top-level instruments in the future. Like with his father, GSI is proud to be the US representative of Florian Blochinger.