2020 Mark Usherovich w/pegs SP/CY

Although built in 2020, this is a brand-new (not pre-owned) guitar that Mark recently brought in to show us as that he built during the pandemic in 2020. We liked it so much we not only ordered a future guitar but we bought this one! Although thoroughly traditional all around, it does have one very interesting experimental element - the back is in 3 layers - the outside (like the sides) is of cypress, the inside layer is spruce (like the soundboard) and the inside layer "core" is of cedar struts, allowing for a very lightweight structure overall. Actually the entire guitar is extremely lightweight - one of the lightest guitars in our inventory. Mark's idea with this back system was to create a stiff "structure" to the box that would force additional resonance and vibration to the soundboard (for improved volume and sustain) and at the same time, maximize the "spruce" quality of sound bouncing around in the box before exiting through the soundhole. We dubbed it a "Torres of the 21st century" since it really does have an earthy, traditional, old-world Spanish quality of sound and "feel" when being played, but with increased power and projection. It is fitted with mechanical pegs which look old-school but easily stay in tune with no fuss. In addition to being ultra-lightweight, it has immediate response and dry, woody sound. Although never pre-owned, Mark did show this guitar recently at a guitar festival and it did pick up a few small nicks and scratches (which is reflected in his price - for a new guitar Mark's list price for this model is $9,000), but it has never been sold until now. Really a joy and a breeze to play.

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 Mark builds 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.