This 2022 Marco Bortolozzo is a spruce and exotic ebony classical guitar made in Milan, Italy, designed around a "perfect circle" motif, in excellent, almost like-new condition.
The "Perfect Circle" Design
This is a stunning instrument from Marco Bortolozzo, who has really gone above and beyond to create an aesthetic and sonic wonder! This design is deeply connected with his background in industrial design. For this guitar he has explored the motif of the "perfect circle", which starts with the soundhole shape and then becomes morphed into other areas of the guitar, like the top of the headstock and his inlay work – with "overlapping" circles inlaid in the rosette, heel cap and even the plates of the tuning machines. These were also built by Marco with Gotoh parts, to his exacting standards, with "hidden" gears for a flush look head-on (note that the buttons of the machines are also circular).
The hard "modern" edges and angles are fused with traditional elements that Marco draws from the architectural wonders of his home city, Milan, one of the great design capitals of the world, and in particular he has paid homage to the 19th-century Parisian luthier René François Lacôte, especially in his headstock design.
A Hauser-Like Sound
The guitar is extremely lightweight and efficiently built, which results in a powerful, explosive sound with deep, resonant basses and singing, voice-like trebles. It has an immediate and fast response, making it incredibly easy to play, particularly for the right hand due to the quick attack. At the same time, there is a solid firmness to every note, and the sound is reminiscent to us of the more lightweight guitars of Hauser I and II – which should not be surprising, seeing as Marco has thicknessed the top quite thin, which helps give a longer sustain and controls the overtones, so the guitar modulates easily with a variety of tonal colors and dynamic range. It has a low body resonance and is fitted with a low-depth tornavoz with carbon fiber reinforcement and very thin double sides, which give this guitar a very impressive bottom end in addition to its clear, brilliant trebles.
Playability and Condition
The guitar plays very comfortably with both hands – and although the guitar is French polished, the neck is done in oil for a very comfortable "non-sticky" feel for the thumb of the left hand, which makes left-hand shifting a very smooth experience. Absolutely delightful to play and hear, this is a fantastic guitar built on the most traditional of foundations, but with a unique and very tasteful aesthetic. Although used, this guitar is in excellent, almost like-new condition with barely any signs of prior use. Overall a fantastic concert guitar by any standard.
Photos of this guitar taken during construction.
