video  masterclasses

classical guitar  technique

audio  and video

classical guitar  articles

first steps  to mastery

                Feel free to submit any extra customization that you would like your Bellucci to have via mail. For instance:- 49 VS 52 mm width at the nut (or other measures), special thickness for the neck, etc. Unless you specify otherwise, I make the neck very thin for maximum playability (18 mm at  fret 1 and 52 mm wide at the nut).

1-Select back and sides:

When it comes to choosing the wood for the back and sides and for the top, you may feel a little lost because you do not know what is more convenient for you. Before I go into explaining the factors to be kept in mind when you make your choice, keep in mind the following. If I built a guitar with any set of back and sides and with any top and passed it to a concert player, he would give a fabulous concert no matter what the selection of woods I made was. He would only need an hour or so with the guitar  prior to getting on stage in order to make her sound her best.  It is very similar to choosing a wine or the brand of cigars. This goes to say that  you cannot go wrong. Tropical woods are all very dense and have similar tone characteristics. The reason why some are more expensive than others is in relation with the rarity of the wood and the resistance that the wood offers when it is worked by the luthier. African Blackwood literally destroys some tools when it's worked, Padauk produces a very irritating dust when sanded and requires the use of a mask at all times,  Cocobolo requires specialized gluing techniques and so on.  Aesthetically, it is a very personal choice that inclines you to have a preference for darker VS lighter woods, or highly flamed cuts VS more uniformed cuts.  Soundwise, you can use the following table to make your choice:   Back & Sides WOOD Samples SOUND Weight Sound Sample SCORE 1-10 Recommended FOR: African Blackwood The Deepest basses, well defined trebles, excellent tone wood, very responsive, with a terrific tap tone Heavy 9.5 All types of music, advanced-pro players Black limba Well defined basses, clear trebles, balanced sound throughout the scale Light 8.5 Classical and Flamenco, intermediate-pro players Bloodwood Very balanced sound, ideal for Baroque music, great volume and very nice quick response, great balance and separation of voices. Medium 8 Classical & Baroque music especially, Intermediate-pro players Bocote Deep sounding basses and an overall BIG sound. Very similar to African Blackwood. Terrific tap tone Medium-heavy 8.5 All types of music, novice-pro players Bolivian rosewood Well Balanced sound, good volume and perfect balance of voices. Quick response Medium-heavy 9 All types of music, novice-pro players Brazilian rosewood Deep basses, well defined trebles. Bright and ringing tone, Great sustain, tap tone and separation of voices. Considered by many to be the best wood for Back and sides. Medium-heavy 9.5 All types of music, advanced-pro players Lapacho Round basses and very clear trebles, competes with Brazilian rosewood when it comes to punch and definition of voices. Superb tap tone Medium 9 All types of music, advanced-pro players Cocobolo Almost identical to Brazilian rosewood, can be called Brazilian rosewood younger brother. Liquid tone and great color palette  Medium-heavy . 9 All types of music, with the cutaway it is chosen by Bossa and Jazz players A LOT, advanced-pro players Cypress Clear penetrating sound excellent response and tap tone Light 7 Flamenco, novice-pro players Goncalo Alves Well balanced sound throughout the strings, quick response  Light . 8 Classical and Flamenco. advanced-pro players Koa Clear warm sounding basses and crystal clear trebles. Similar tone characteristics as Bubinga Light . 8 Classical, Flamenco, advanced-pro players Macassar ebony Deep clean basses and great sustain preferred to Brazilian rosewood by many guitarists and builders Heavy 9 All types of music, with the cutaway it is chosen by Bossa and Jazz players A LOT, advanced-pro players Maple Well balanced sound on all 6 strings,  Light . Classical and Flamenco, advanced-pro players Padauk Big sound with penetrating basses, fast response and clear trebles. Very similar to the rosewoods. Medium-heavy 9 Classical and Bossa (with the cutaway) especially, advanced-pro players Walnut Very bright sound on all registers, clear, open tone with excellent depth and strong trebles. Medium 7.5 All types of music, shines with Baroque, advanced-pro players Zebra wood Well defined basses and trebles, good volume and excellent distribution of voices Medium-light 9 All types of music, all levels of playing Ziricote Big deep sound in the bass, clear trebles, similar to Macassar Ebony and Brazilian rosewood Heavy 9 All types of music, great for Bossa (with the cutaway) advanced-pro players Bubinga Well balanced tone on all registers. Quick response. Very similar to Koa. Medium . 8 Classical, Flamenco and Bossa (with the cutaway), advanced-pro players Indian Rosewood Very stable, clear tone and good separation of voices. The most popular wood for classical guitar construction. Medium 8 Classical, all levels of playing If you go to the Bellucci guitars Gallery, you can see fabulous guitars built with these outstanding woods

2: Top:  These are the main characteristics or Spruce, cedar and redwood: Spruce will give you a  brighter crispier sound with more punch....open, clear tone. Cedar, will be slightly warmer. Spruce takes longer to open up.  You can also see it this way: Baroque Classical and Renaissance music will sound better on spruce, Romantic, Spanish and program music will sound better on cedar. These are of course generalizations and what is definitely true is that both Cedar and Spruce make for excellent sound boards. Redwood is very similar to Cedar but with more presence. . You will be prompted to make your choices on checkout

3: Purflings (And bridge decoration)  4: Bindings Also available: Koa,  Bloodwood, Camatillo (purple), Cocobolo, Maple, Pernambuco (burnt orange), Snakewood

5:Linings

Radiused or flat fingerboard? The radiused fingerboard has been around the acoustic and the electric guitar since day one. The same is true for most instruments of the Stringed family of instruments (violas, violins cellos, bass). Radiusing (image to the left) makes barre and left hand stopping A LOT easier. The only drawback is that you will NEVER want to play a  flat fingerboard after that. If you are having your custom guitar built, I am all pro radiusing the fingerboard.  Unless you specify by e-mail otherwise, the fingerboard is flat.  640mm or 650 mm? Regarding 650mm or 640 mm guitar construction, keep the following rule at hand: If the distance between the tip of your thumb and the tip of your little finger is equal or less than 9 in. when fully stretched, use 640 mm. (image below)

6: Neck reinforcement

.
7: Select Machine head:
 

model #1 Parini Machine head with oval black buttons add US$ 0.00	model #2 Parini waisted Machine  headwith red  perloid buttons add US$ 0.00	model #3 Parini Lyra Machine head  with perloid buttons add US$ 0.00
Model # 7 Fustero gold plated tuners with mother of pearl buttons  add US$ 470	Model # 8 Fustero gold plated tuners with wood buttons  add US$ 480	Model # 9 Fustero gold plated tuners with gray pearl buttons add US$ 470

.
 

8: Select Rosette

8: Highly detailed mother of pearl inlay work Inlay work on the fingerboard, rosette and tuners. See this inlay beauty we built recently    Add US$ 577 for fingerboard .........Add US$ 120 for rosette

10: More choices
 

Classical or cutaway cutaway: add US$ 160 Truss rod  Bellucci guitars come set-up for maximum playability. Still, some players like to try different strings and the thickness changes from brand to brand resulting in unwanted buzzes. Acoustic and electric guitar players are especially attached to this gadget. The Truss rod is an excellent remedy which is a lot safer than tinkering with the saddle and nut bones. The action is only moved a few millimeters or fractions of a millimeter by means of a regulator which is placed on the headstock, after the nut. The truss rod is not meant to adjust the height of the strings on the fingerboard but to counter the pull or thickness of the strings especially if you like high tension strings. add US$ 488 Position markers Position markers are used by novice and pros alike. Using them is a very personal decision. They come very handy helping one of memory's strongest allies: sight.   none or: mother of pearl add US$ 20 each Diamond, brilliant cut, position markers add US$ 75 each   Number of frets  19 (standard)  or 20: add US$ 80  Scale length  640 mm, 650 mm (standard)  660 mm: add US$ 70  Select Electronics  Onboard equalizers have no effect on the acoustic performance of the instrument. Installing them, is not just a matter of making a couple of holes on the ring but a time consuming highly precise labor. The tuner which comes with the EQ is in my opinion a GREAT plus which you will find useful many times over. Optional Electronics Optional Quick-Mount  Classical Guitar Pickup System  (no holes required on your instrument) add US$ 399 Optional Artec 4-band equalizer/tuner add US$ 499 Nut and saddle -Bone -Buffalo Horn -Ivory -Corian 18 kt gold gold plaque with your name  and 4 essential accessories Solid 18kt gold plaque with your name engraved Bellucci hard-shell case & DHL door to door included You will be prompted to make your choices on checkout VISIT THE BELLUCCI GUITARS GALLERY