Angelo Vailati, 2019

We have been introduced to some very fine Italian guitars recently, and this 2019 by Angelo Vailati stands right at the front of that group. It is the kind of instrument that inspires you the moment you pick it up, a guitar that feels like it could go anywhere and handle any repertoire you put in front of it.

Vailati builds strictly by hand, with no CNC machines, and only with the very best woods. That care shows everywhere on this guitar, from the glowing bearclaw spruce top to one of our favorite rosettes we have seen on an Italian guitar in some time. It is a lightweight, beautifully voiced single top that delivers a strikingly modern sound while keeping the soul of a traditional instrument.

Specifications

Luthier: Angelo Vailati
Year: 2019
Top: Spruce, bearclaw, sunburst
Back & Sides: Indian Rosewood
Construction: Traditional, five fan braced
Finish: French Polish
Bindings: Maple
Scale Length: 650 mm
Nut Width: 52 mm
Neck: Thin C-shape, Hauser style
Tuners: Alessi, white rollers and buttons
Strings: D’Addario XTC45FF with normal tension nylon first string
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Condition: Excellent, essentially mint, no marks under the strings or behind the bridge

Sound & Playability

This is a really lovely modern sound for a traditional guitar. It has many of the things you might reach for in a more modernly braced instrument, the kind of power, sustain, and response you associate with a lattice or a doubletop, but all wrapped in the package of a beautifully voiced single top.

The first string is a singer. It flies off the guitar immediately, and there is a real magic in the way sustain, overtones, attack, and response all combine here. When a guitar has a first string like this, you know it is going to be great. The third string gives you that fatness in the sound without any lack of clarity, the fourth is beautifully colorful with wonderful sustain, and the fifth opens up into a huge, open voice. Across all six strings there is a wide palette of colors to draw from.

The guitar is also remarkably lightweight, so much so that it encourages you to let the whole instrument float while you play. On the neck and setup we give this one top marks. The neck feels like a Hauser II neck, a fairly thin C-shape that most players will find very comfortable, and the action is very low and extremely easy to play.

Construction & Design

You are first struck by the burst spruce top, an incredible piece of wood with some lovely bearclaw figure and a French polish that is clean and perfect. Underneath is a five fan braced pattern with spruce braces, very lightly braced, which is a big part of why this guitar is so light and responsive.

The rosette is the detail that grabs our attention before anything else. Small diamonds create the main motif, with a meandering pattern running along the inside and outside. It rewards a close look but reads beautifully from across the room too, and it is one of our favorites on any Italian guitar recently. The handdrawn label reads Angelo Vailati, 2019.

The bridge is a simple Indian rosewood with a nice streak of brown running through the center of the tie block. The back and sides are a very nice set of Indian rosewood, flanked in the bindings by maple for a lovely halo effect on both the top and the back. The headstock design is distinctive, a combination of inspirations with a sharp edge that steps away from the traditional, topped with Alessi tuners on simple base plates with white rollers and buttons.

About the Luthier

Angelo Vailati is an Italian luthier now building very much in his own style, but that style is informed by time spent studying with a number of highly regarded makers, including Enrico Bottelli, Jose Romanillos, and Daniele Chiesa. You can see that lineage brought together and made personal on this instrument, an instrument that reflects a builder confidently coming into his own.

This guitar is in excellent, essentially mint condition. The top is clean and perfect, with no marks underneath the strings or behind the bridge. It presents as a very well cared for instrument throughout.