Luigi Legnani - 9 caprices on 9 guitars

Full disclosure, this is not meant to be any sort of scientific comparisons between the guitars, just a fun project I had during the lockdowns. However, you do get a sense of the tone and a good look at the craftsmanship. I just kept whatever strings were on them.

1) Caprice #1 (0:12): Joshia de Jonge (Canada), spruce/nomex/cedar double-top. Rodgers tuners, African Blackwood back and sides, Augustine Imperial strings. What a lovely instrument, it was difficult to give back! These are the types of guitars I love, with a very rich sound that can be pushed without the tone thinning out. Beautiful design in the rosette and bindings. There is also a tornavoz (the cylinder under the rosette) which you can see in one of the shots, which is supposed to lower the resonant frequency of the body.
joshiadejonge.com

2) Caprice #4 (2:24): Jeff Sigurdson (Canada), cedar top, Dominique Field inspired, D'addario EJ45. Jeff always impresses me with improvements and experiments he constantly pursues. I was surprised this guitar wasn't a double-top because of how responsive it was. The tone is very sweet, and Jeff's neck profiles are amazing. This guitar is just easy to play, and does what you want it to. Jeff's new polishing technique is mirror like, and perfectly even.
sigurdsonguitars.com

3) Caprice #3 (3:35): Mark Usherovich (Canada), Lacôte inspired Romantic guitar, spruce top, maple back and sides, Aquilla Nylguy strings, 630mm. When I asked Mark about this guitar he said "I didn't copy any particular instrument, but created my own version of a Romantic instrument inspired by Lacote's style and look". I played an original Lacôte (as you can see in a couple of my earlier videos), and it was actually more difficult to play than one may suspect because the strings are quite close together. This guitar has a refreshing mixture of traditional and modern building techniques which are for the better. I would love to own one of these guitars one day, as music from this era sounds and feels just right.
usherovichguitar.com

4) Caprice #2 (5:14): Marcus Dominelli (Canada). Cedar/nomex/spruce double-top, D'addario Carbon strings. This guitar is courtesy of Bahar Ossareh. When a guitar is described as a "cannon" that would be this guitar. It's incredibly responsive, easy to play and has lots of colour. Speaking of colour, check out the rosette and headstock, I don't think I've ever seen such a striking colour palette. I would personally love to try it again with nylon strings, as it was almost too alive with the carbons!
dominelliguitars.com

5) Caprice #33 (6:21): Mark Usherovich, Cedar, carbon lattice braced (aka "Active"), koa back and sides, 645mm, D'addario EJ45. Check out that fretboard, it's actually white ebony. I love how you can see a little of the typical black in the figuring. Another instrument with a perfect mixture of volume and tone. His guitars are on my short list!

6) Caprice #15 (7:45): Roberto de Miranda (Milan, Italy), cedar top, traditional fan bracing, Alessi tuners, Savarez Crystal strings. This guitar is courtesy of Michael Kolk. I actually owned the sister of this guitar which we recorded our 'Ravel, Bach, Tedesco, Lhoyer' album. It was the only guitar I regret selling. Admittedly, this guitar still needed to be "woken up" a bit more before I recorded (especially for this piece), as we both play our Blackwells mainly now, so the old "DeMi" was a little closed sounding. These guitars are very light, responsive, and colourful, often described as a Ferrari. Perhaps for a better demonstration, check out Emanuele Buono, Lorenzo Micheli, or Michael Kolk! Roberto is very elusive, and has no website.

7) Caprice #7 (9:05): Martin Blackwell, spruce/balsa/cedar double-top, Augustine Imperial strings. This was a 40th birthday present to myself. I had always wanted a Blackwell, they are so resonant, rich and beautiful to look at. I'm very happy with this one, and happy I waited until he starting incorporating balsa into his design. One little alteration I asked from him was to make the neck a little thinner for me, as I found some of the older models a bit thick. This is a forever guitar. There was no label shot at the end because it unfortunately sustained a little water damage from a defective humidifier. blackwellguitars.com/

8) Caprice #29 (10:50): Paulino Bernabe (Spain). Cedar top, fan bracing, Brazilian rosewood back and sides, D'addario DynaCore strings. I used to own a Bernabe formerly owned by Norbert Kraft, actually a lot of players here in Toronto played Bernabes! It was nice to reacquaint myself with these guitars after so many years.
paulinobernabe.com

9) Caprice #36 (11:43): Jeff Sigurdson, Cedar/balsa/cedar double-top. This was actually a prototype that Jeff sent to a mutual friend who told me I needed to try it. He was right! I bought it and never looked back. It is extremely powerful with a very "woody" tone as most cedar double-tops have. This guitar just works for me.

Видео Luigi Legnani - 9 caprices on 9 guitars канала Drew Henderson