2025 Paula Lazzarini "Limited Edition - REG 2025" SP/AR

This 2025 Paula Lazzarini "Limited Edition – REG 2025" is a classical guitar with a bearclaw spruce top and African rosewood back and sides, made in Turin, Italy, by the 2021 Granada first-prize winner and shown at the 2025 Roma Guitar Expo.

A Tribute to Rafael Moreno's "Sueño"

Paula built this "Limited Edition" guitar in honor of the Granada maker Rafael Moreno Rodríguez and, in particular, his "Sueño" model with its signature swirling inlays, which Paula has incorporated into her central back wedge and into the sides at the foot. In Paula's words:

“On this occasion, for the limited edition guitar, I chose bearclaw spruce and African rosewood with the intention of paying a small tribute to the Granada guitar maker Rafael Moreno and his guitar called 'Sueño'. Rafa and I had several meetings in his workshop in Granada, always sharing a passion for guitars and, above all, for the aesthetics of the 'Sueño' model, which he generously helped me understand and learn about its technique. Rafael remains an inspiration for many of us to this day, and that is why I share this tribute. Unlike red cedar-top guitars, my spruce-top guitars have five fan-bracing for added rigidity and low weight.”
– Paula Lazzarini

Bearclaw Spruce, African Rosewood and an "Architectural" Look

In addition to the beautiful inlay work, Paula has chosen some really great materials as always – as she mentions above, a beautiful spruce top covered in bearclaw, matched with some very elegant African rosewood. Her bold, almost "architectural" aesthetic can be seen in the head design and in the highly symmetrical inlays of her mosaic work in the triple-layered rosette.

Sound of Paula Lazzarini's Spruce-Top Classical Guitar

Soundwise, the guitar has her usual Friederich-esque qualities – thick and full-bodied in the overtone content of every note while retaining great clarity and separation/balance between notes. Once again we are thrilled to have this here at GSI and look forward to many more instruments from this award-winning luthier in the future.

Read more on Paula Lazzarini

Photos of this guitar taken during construction

Paula Lazzarini: From Buenos Aires to Cremona, Turin and Paris

Paula Lazzarini was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has a degree in History, and a strong interest in objects and artifacts from the past led her to a Master's program in Restoration and Conservation at the University of San Martín. Her curiosity for woods and musical instruments gradually drew her to lutherie: she started with repairs and, from 2007, began making classical guitars under the guidance of Ricardo Louzao.

In 2016 Paula moved to Cremona, Italy, where she set up her first Italian workshop. She later moved to Turin, where she completed a two-year project as a visiting professor at the Accademia di Liuteria in Piemonte and then dedicated herself full-time to guitar making. In 2026 she moved her workshop to Paris, France.

Learning from Daniel Friederich and Antonio Marín Montero

In 2011 and 2012 Paula met a number of maestros and guitar makers from Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and France, with whom she shared her experience of guitar making and restoration. For a brief time she also had the privilege of learning from Daniel Friederich and Antonio Marín Montero, who generously shared their insights into working the wood and their concepts of construction. She builds both traditional Spanish classical guitars and more contemporary lattice-braced guitars, and the needs of the many players she has worked with have encouraged her to combine the sound of the Río de la Plata with that of the traditional Spanish guitar. GSI is proud to be Paula's exclusive dealer in the USA.

First Prize in Granada

In 2021 Paula won First Prize at the 4th Antonio Marín Montero Guitar Building Competition in Granada, Spain – the first woman to win this prestigious prize. The jury included Yuris Zeltins, Manuel Cáceres, Edmund Blöchinger, Juan Carlos Martos, Alberto Cuéllar and GSI's David Collett.