The sound of the traditional jazz guitar, the archtop, is the only one which everyone can imagine the same way. Thinking about the jazz sound everyone would have in mind this warm, mellow and muffled sound that characterised generations of guitarists like Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall, Joe Pass and Barney Kessel. Their sound and guitars inspired my model Giazza.
Nowadays jazz musicians play most of the time with amplified instruments, therefore a jazz guitar for me is an instrument which first of all plays well as an acoustic guitar that can excite the tonal frequencies a player needs.
The player can then choose a good pick up, according to the style he/she is looking for. If the guitar does not vibrate from the very beginning, the pick up cannot fully express their tonal qualities.
My Giazza model is an acoustic guitar with an empty soundboard with entirely handcrafted back and sides, as in the most classical tradition of these instruments.
It is important to mantain a solid wood to reach increased dynamics. The shape of the soundboard can fully vibrate when it’s built as thin as possible maintaining all the technical characteristics to resist the strings pressure. The vibration of the sounding board’s wood of a Giazza guitar can be perceived from the very fist chord.
To solve the larsen problem (feedback) that several musicians have with this kind of instruments, I designed the model with a thinner body shape, the height of the sides is below the standard and gives an increased physical comfort, it avoids successfully every larsen. Moreover the holes of the sounding board can be closed with some customised caps that I build myself.
The selection of woods, italian spruce and maple, contributes to that warm and mellow sound that so well adapt with this music genre. The pick up choice will then complete the character of the instrument.
An extraordinary guitar in all aspects.
