2021 Gabriele Lodi "Torres" SP/MP

Italian luthier Gabriele Lodi comes from a family of classical guitar makers, happily spending the majority of his childhood helping out in his father's workshop. By the age of 20, he had officially made guitar making his profession and began to focus on his fascination with historical instruments. Because of this interest, many of his guitars today are strongly rooted in traditional design and aesthetic.

This instrument is part of Gabriele's "Expo Series" and a milestone for him as a builder - his 100th instrument to date, and is his latest tribute to the great Antonio de Torres. It was recently featured at the 2021 Roma Guitar Expo. For this occasion, Gabriele drew heavily from the 1858 "Cumbre" guitar (catalogued by Jose Romanillos as "FE 08") that Torres himself exhibited 163 years ago at the Seville Expo. This can be seen primarily in the quantity (and virtuosic execution) of inlay work throughout the instrument, the use of birds-eye maple for the back and sides (which comes from Gabriele's father's stock of wood that he acquired in the 1970s from a colleague who was a violin maker), MOP inlays in the rosette (the design coming not from Torres, but from the Cadiz school) and bridge, and an abundance of "meander" patterning in much of the detailing. Having said this, it is important to remember that Gabriele prefers to avoid making literal copies or replicas of any single Torres, and he rather synthesizes his favorite elements of various Torres instruments he has seen together with his own construction details that he believes satisfies the needs of modern players, particularly in their use of nylon strings combined with a 21st-century playing technique. Hence the "My Torres Interpretation" notated on the label. Although the inlay work is inspired primarily by "FE 08", the body shape is modeled more closely on "SE 113" from 1888 with a slightly deeper box and larger plantilla. Rest assured that the same amount of attention Gabriele spends to the aesthetic details is also spent in refining the tonal characteristics. Lodi's careful application of his modified Torres bracing pattern, combined with several other structural details delivers a guitar with a warm, loose, harmonically rich, old-world quality of sound. It has both a "relaxed" feel and at the same time, great focus is found in each note, providing excellent separation, balance and projection - in other words, an ideal modern concert instrument that pulls on the heartstrings of lovers of the traditional Spanish guitar. Although this guitar was previously owned, it is in brand-new condition, looking virtually unplayed.

This is an exquisitely built instrument with no detail overlooked. We believe Torres himself would be astonished and proud to see his legacy being carried out, more than a century after his death by the important work of many makers such as Gabriele, and in particular with this instrument. Our congratulations to Gabriele on what can only be considered nothing short of a masterpiece!

Orfeo Magazine #13 – Lodi, Bottelli, Coriani, Peruffo