2026 Valerio Licari "Lesna - REG Special Edition" SP/IN

The 2026 Valerio Licari "Lesna – REG Special Edition" is a classical guitar with an Italian spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides, built in Turin, Italy, as a one-of-a-kind showpiece for Roma Expo Guitars 2026.

The "Lesna" Model: A Roma Expo Guitars Special Edition

This is a fantastic guitar from Valerio Licari, now living and working in Turin, Italy. Although thoroughly "Spanish" in its build, the aesthetic details on this guitar are drawn from Valerio's Italian roots. This "special edition" model was built for presentation at the 2026 Roma Guitar Expo, and after seeing it on display we knew it had to come to GSI, so we feel very lucky to have it here! Valerio calls this model "Lesna", and it has the same body shape and detailing found in his "Albayzín" model, but with a new, modified 6-fan bracing system internally.

Sound

Our immediate response when tuning the guitar up and playing it upon arrival was that it does not feel like a "new" spruce. It's very loose and responsive – the sound literally jumps out of it with great ease, and it has a great blend of overtones & clarity. It's an extremely fun and satisfying guitar to play – very hard to put down!

Florentine Design Inspired by Santa Maria del Fiore

Like some of his previous builds, the detailing on this guitar is inspired by the famous "Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore" in Florence (see photos in gallery), which has particularly influenced the decorative motifs in the rosette and tie-block (what Valerio calls his "Florentine design", using maple, sycamore and rosewood), giving the guitar a very satisfying "architectural" look. Materials are his top materials: AAA-quality Italian spruce covered in bearclaw for the soundboard (aged 20 years), matched with a set of equally high-quality Indian rosewood for the back and sides. The neck is Honduran cedar (with internal carbon fiber reinforcement), and it has an ebony fingerboard with 20 frets and a compound radius. Tuning machines are by Alessi – his "Hauser" style with ebony knobs.

A Practical Finish for the Working Musician

The guitar is French polished on the soundboard, with high-gloss and very durable polyester on the back and sides – an extremely practical finish combination for the working musician who needs a durable, but high-quality concert guitar. Overall, this is simply a stunning instrument. Valerio's instruments have been played most notably by Pat Metheny and Charlie Burchill, to name a couple of well-known guitarists. We are very pleased to be representing this fine maker.

Valerio Licari: From Rome to Cremona

Valerio Licari was born in Rome, Italy, in 1981. As a teenager, his musical studies began with the classical guitar, but he later learned to play other styles including acoustic fingerstyle, blues and ragtime, and eventually even started taking violin lessons. His academic work was entirely focused on music, including ethnomusicology, musical art and performance. He also enrolled in the International School of Violin Making "Antonio Stradivari" in Cremona and did an internship in bow making, ultimately receiving his diploma from this respected institution.

Guitar Making in Spain: Málaga and Granada

In 2012, after working for six months as guitar wood production manager at Tonewood International in Cremona, Valerio moved to Málaga, Spain, for a six-month apprenticeship with classical guitar maker Daniele Chiesa. It was at this time that he decided to settle in Spain – in order to more deeply study its traditional methods of classical and flamenco guitar making. He set up his workshop in Granada, where he remained until late 2019.

Back in Italy: Valerio Licari in Turin

At the end of 2019 Valerio decided to move back to his home country of Italy. He is now based in Turin, where he also teaches at the musical instrument-making school Accademia Liuteria Piemontese San Filippo.