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Although born in Armenia in 1911, Manouk Papazian eventually settled in the USA, and set up shop in New York City in 1956. It was there that he built concert guitars, renaissance lutes, vihuelas, violins, cellos and did repair work for a quarter of a century. This particular guitar, built in 1973, was made using the finest woods available to him - Papazian had a reputation for being very, very selective with his materials, as this guitar attests. Papazian was also very gifted with inlay work - this instrument features elaborate mosaic work in the purfling area around the perimeter of the top, as well as his name (also in mosaics) at the bottom part of the outer ring of the rosette. Sound and playability are stylistically very similar to another great New York maker - Manuel Velazquez. Although Papazian's aesthetic is unique - his plantilla much more "square in the shoulders", the sound has the clean, transparent clarity typical of the great Velazquez instruments. Condition is very good - structuarlly there are no cracks or repairs but there is a good amount of healthy playing wear and some normal, aged checking in the finish. Easy playability and a firm, bold sound make this a recital-ready guitar for either concert stage or recording studio.
