2023 Wolfgang Jellinghaus "La Romantica 1a" SP/MP

Wolfgang Jellinghaus has dedicated this model to honor the work of René François Lacôte (1785-1868), one of the great heroes in the history or guitar making before the time of Antonio de Torres. During the Romantic or Biedermeier time, there was no electricity, radio, TV or cinema and no microphone or speaker systems. Guitar concerts became very popular, but the audience was limited to the volume of the slim body and ladder braced instruments being built at that time. And so "Please make my next guitar louder" was a standard request touring artists gave to the builders. Lacote reacted by introducing two major design changes. He gave the slim body shape more belly and spread the lower bout ladder braces in an unparallel manner. This allowed a larger part of the lower bout top to act as a membrane. The ladder brace construction was kept and the result was a louder but still charming guitar sound. The sound of the "La Romantica" model was principally designed for the purposes of performing early guitar music with an authentic "period" sound, but performers everywhere will find that it has enormous charm when playing virtually any kind of music. The guitar is beautifully made as well, with the "antiqued" look meant to represent an aged, played-in looking guitar. It is entirely French polished as well and features a shorter string length for greater ease of play. Overall another very charming replica from this fine workshop.

Note: Stock photos may be used for this model listing. The exact guitar pictured may no longer be available, and may differ slightly from current inventory. Please contact us with any questions.

Wolfgang Jellinghaus was born in 1951 in Dortmund, Germany. His father, Walter Jellinghaus, was himself a guitar maker and naturally introduced the craft to Wolfgang at a young age. In 1978, Wolfgang opened a retail music shop called Musik Jellinghaus GmbH and in 1983, he became involved in manufacturing and so created Martinez Guitars, designing their first line of guitars. In 2003, production of Martinez Guitars was moved to China with Wolfgang's assistance. In 2013, he sold Musik Jellinghaus GmbH, and set up an independent workshop in China, building guitars under the name "Milestones of Music", a small boutique traditional workshop that specialized in making high-quality guitars in the style of such great historical makers as Lacote, Torres, Hauser and Ramirez, among others. Wolfgang has now begun a new line of instruments under his name.