In the world of high-end and innovative instrument builders, few names are as widely known or highly regarded as Ervin Somogyi‘s. This man has singelhandedly reinvented many aspects of the modern luthier’s trade, expanding the horizons of what is artistically and functionally possible. Somogyi’s landmark texts, The Responsive Guitar and Making the Responsive Guitar, represent decades of dedicated practice and study, and yet the impact of this immense body of knowledge on his guitars is organic, controlled, elegant. Take this Somogyi 2011 Classical “Carp,” for instance. The rosette and inlay that Somogyi carves are jaw-dropping: intricate, clean, and so perfectly installed they look like natural features of the Sitka Spruce top. Combine that with Somogyi‘s other trademarks—his peaked headstock, scalloped nut and bridge, his Ebony trim—and you find yourself holding a guitar which comfortably straddles the line between art and tool. Somogyi‘s eye has blessed this guitar with a set of Brazilian Rosewood for the back and sides which probably doesn’t have an equal: the rich, sumptuous color palette varies from creamy vanilla to rick chocolates and dusty grays. The tap tone of both the Brazilian Rosewood and the Sitka Spruce is cavernous, echoing, and drives home just how finely honed is Simogyi’s technique in voicing this guitar. Simply put, this is more than a guitar, but its not untouchable art, either. This is an instrument which, miraculously, is equally beautiful to listen to and watch. This guitar comes with a Hoffee hardshell case.
Guitars like this are why I get up in the morning. This is, in my mind, the ideal form of what a guitar�or any instrument�is capable of being. Somogyi describes his instruments as something worthy of passing onto your children. This Classical �Carp� is definitely such an instrument: one to keep and to cherish for a lifetime. | Scale Length | 25.5 in |
|---|---|
| Nut Width | 2.01 in |
| String Spacing | 2.38 in |
| Woods | Spruce - Sitka, Rosewood - Brazilian |
In the world of high-end and innovative instrument builders, few names are as widely known or highly regarded as Ervin Somogyi's. This man has singelhandedly reinvented many aspects of the modern luthier's trade, expanding the horizons of what is artistically and functionally possible
Guitars like this are why I get up in the morning. This is, in my mind, the ideal form of what a guitar�or any instrument�is capable of being 