2006 Luigi Locatto SP/IN

This absolutely breathtaking and meticulously built guitar is Locatto's own design. Structurally, some elements are taken from the work of many of his influences - primarily Spanish makers of the early twentieth century such as Manuel Ramirez, Enrique Garcia, Santos Hernandez and Domingo Esteso. His goal is to reproduce a similar quality of sound as these instruments from the "golden age" - relaxed, warm and loose yet clear, balanced with a great amount of tonal color and dynamic range. It is an expressive instrument, with velvety basses and lyrical trebles. Materials used are always high quality with this maker, and this instrument features a beautiful 3-piece back made of slightly figured Indian rosewood matched with an aged spruce top showing plenty of cross-grain silk - an indication of a top-quality, quarter-sawn soundboard. Although used, this guitar is in excellent structural condition with only modest playing wear in the finish. His instruments are played by a large number of concert artists, and have been used on several recordings, most notably the Naxos release of Castelnuovo-Tedesco's works by Lorenzo Micheli (winner of GFA 1999), and of Shin-ichi Fukuda's 2007 recording of Barrios and Villa-Lobos for Meister Music. Luigi's son, Pietro Locatto has also become a very fine player and his recent recording on the Stradivarius label of the music of Torroba was recorded on one of his fathers guitars.

We'd also like to congratulate Luigi for receiving the "Golden Guitar" award from the Convention of Alessandria in 2019, along with our friend Alberto Martinez from Orfeo for photography, among others. We're very happy to be working with this fine maker and representing his instruments in the US.

Orfeo Magazine article on Tacchi, Locatto and Frignani