In my experience, a responsive archtop with f-holes is an oxymoron. You can have a great volume on one of these guitars, mostly based on mid and mid-high response, but bass is always poor, something that large soundboxes can somehow mitigate. However, f-holes are one of the most recognizable characteristics of jazz guitars, one that many players are not willing to put down. […]
I’ll have a guitar there, a Siracusa 16E+, as part of the Boutique Guitar Showcase exhibition! […]
I have redesigned the pickguard in my Siracusa 16R models. I extended it, substituted a slide switch for a smaller unit with several times larger life expectancy (mechanically and electrically) and changed the way it connects to the preamp board inside the guitar. […]
I’ll be there! September 9-11 in Arvada, Colorado (USA)
I have just finished two guitars, the “R” and “E” versions of my Siracusa model. I have worked hard on every single step, in a process that has taken months, changing my methods and making significant improvements for many parts in terms of mass, robustness, reliability, etc. […]
My archtops without f-holes (the different versions of the Berlín and Siracusa models) are the ones that I build more these days. These manuals will give you an idea of their characteristics.
A few months ago a client asked me for some way to cover the soundhole on the guitar that I was making for him. I didn’t want an ugly piece just to skirt the issue, I wanted to make a beautiful piece that also worked well. […]
Recently I had to modify the pickups that I use for my Siracusa guitars. They had three terminals, and I wanted to add a fourth, which I will use for a really interesting variation that I’ll explain soon. I thought that I could take a few photographs and explain how crazy it is to do Read more about Pickups for Siracusa Guitars[…]
Not long ago, in my last post here, I explained how I had modified the design of the pickguard in my Siracusa 16R model so that it had a master volume control. There I wrote:
Throwing away a design and a complex component does not make anybody feel good, but this other design is so stuffed with great ideas that I feel happy after all. Right now I can’t find anything that I dislike (we’ll see in a few weeks…)
And, as expected, I found something that I didn’t like. […]
I have been making guitars with piezo sensors integrated inside the bridge, that I make myself from piezo plates. I am not going to talk about that now (I’ll do it), but about a particular design, that I call “Siracusa 16R”, that I have been working on.
I finished this guitar a few days ago. It has 17 inches, and it was going to be acoustic, but a pickup was added later.
Note (January 2021): This content was published (with some modifications) in issue #141 of the prestigious magazine American Lutherie.
Some of my guitars are very light. On these, I must refine my building techniques to guarantee that they have a long life without problems. Recently, I devised a new technique for making the side lining of these instruments that will make them stronger. I liked it so much that I’ll use it for all my models. To my knowledge, no one has done this before, so I am happy to share it with the guitar making community!
The Siracusa 16 is the new addition to the Siracusa concept family, this one with a larger soundbox. Far from being a catch phrase, this guitar is 100% acoustic, 100% electric!
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I just delivered this seven-string guitar, based on my Berlin-II model. At first glance both look similar, but there are important differences.
Guitarras Jaén will exhibit at the Luthier Guitar Show in Madrid, October 13 and 14.
I have two more guitars of this model, one of them already finished. […]
