2026 Mario Grimaldi "1920 Santos" SP/AR

This 2026 Mario Grimaldi "1920 Santos" is a classical guitar with a German spruce top and African rosewood back and sides, made in Ovada, Italy, as a bench copy of a 1920 Santos Hernández – label No. 315, shown at Roma Expo Guitars 2026.

A Bench Copy of a 1920 Santos Hernández

Mario based the build on a 1920 Santos Hernández from the collection of one of his close friends. He was able to evaluate and measure every aspect of the original and has been very familiar with it for years. Unlike his "Friederich ex Presti" model we've previously had from him, this one is pretty much a pure bench copy, as Mario tells us he replicated the body design, the soundboard bracing system, the headstock design and the rosette design – so this all sounds quite thorough!

Aged Woods, French Polish and Alessi Tuners

Materials are aged and well selected: a soundboard of German spruce, a body of dark, very homogeneous African rosewood, and a neck of Spanish cedar. The varnish is shellac, all applied by hand using the French polish method. The tuners were custom made by Alessi in the style of the machines on the 1920 Santos. So overall a very accurate replica in every way – including, most importantly, sound.

The Santos Sound

The Santos sound is a fan favorite amongst almost anyone who has ever played an authentic Santos, and Mario's guitar does a fantastic job of capturing the essentials – a mysterious "dark" depth that is heard and felt behind the brighter and crisper attack, a blend of sound that has a unique character unto itself. The responsiveness is quick and snappy, almost like a flamenco, due in large part to the lighter build and the lightweight materials selected. And although a brand-new guitar, it is out of the box incredibly loose, broken-in and resonant, and sounds like an old-world Spanish guitar. This is quite remarkable, as most "replicas" we see capture the look but not the sound of the originals being copied. This guitar already feels and sounds like a guitar that has been played for decades. Overall a very impressive guitar from this fascinating builder, with such a varied and interesting background and with experience and knowledge gained over many decades of dedicated work and research.

Of note: this guitar was displayed at the 2026 Rome Guitar Expo.

Mario Grimaldi: From Model Maker to Guitar Maker

Born in Filippa di Mesoraca (Crotone), Italy, in 1957, Mario Grimaldi started working with wood at the age of sixteen as a model maker at the Eligio Re Fraschini company, where the models for the Ferrari Formula 1 cars were made. He first entered the world of the classical guitar as a player, studying classical guitar and double bass at the civic music school in Milan from 1982. In 1986 he took the lutherie course with luthier Carlo Raspagni, who gave him the bug to become a professional builder, and in 1989 he opened his own workshop dedicated exclusively to classical guitar making. Today his workshop is in Ovada (Alessandria), and GSI is proud to be his exclusive dealer in the USA.

Bouchet, Hauser and Alirio Díaz

Mario's early guitars were based largely on the work of Robert Bouchet. When the great Alirio Díaz commissioned a guitar from him in 1996, Díaz allowed Mario to study his 1951 Hermann Hauser I, which greatly affected Mario's developing style; he has since adopted many of its design features, including a Hauser-style model of his own.

The Gallinotti Legacy

In 2001 Mario befriended Carlo Gallinotti, the son and only assistant of Pietro Gallinotti (1885–1979), an iconic figure in Italian guitar making and likely the original inventor of the cedar top. Mario became fascinated with Gallinotti's legacy and style, and inherited many of the molds, tools and materials from the Gallinotti workshop, which he has studied and written about extensively. He credits Gallinotti as another influence in his eclectic style.

Restoration, Research and Books

In addition to building guitars, Mario restores vintage and historical guitars, and for many years he has looked after an important private collection of 20th-century guitars by the great Spanish and European makers. He has held conferences in various Italian conservatories on historical Italian violin making of the 20th century and has published the books "Pietro Gallinotti liutaio di Solero" (2006, written with Mario Dell'Ara) and "Il legno che canta" (Curci, 2013, written with Angelo Gilardino).