1999 Castelluccia D Hole

This superb instrument was built in 1999 by Jean-Baptiste Castelluccia. Jacques Castelluccia was one of the many famous Italian luthiers to make his name in pre-war France (along with Busato, DiMauro, Favino, Anastasio, Maccaferri, etc.) Castelluccia is the oldest continuously running Gypsy guitar workshop in Paris, still producing guitars under the direction of Jacques Castelluccia's son, Jean-Baptiste.

While the price of guitars made by Busato (along with other Italian makers such as Favino and Maccaferri) have skyrocketed in recent years, Castelluccia's have been largely overlooked. But after playing this guitar, I think anyone would agree that Castelluccia was also capable of building guitars on par with his more famous contemporaries.

This instrument features Selmer Maccaferri like dimensions: 650mm scale, a 15 3/4"" wide body, and 4 1/8" body depth. The back and sides are solid rosewood, the top is European spruce and the neck is mahogany with a rosewood spline. The interior of the body has been lacquered. Hardware includes an original Castelluccia tailpiece and a fancy set of brass Swiss made Miller closed tuners with tortoise buttons. Generally, the workmanship is very high, in fact the build quality and materials are better than I've seen on any other Castelluccia. This guitar appears to be part of a limited run of "boutique" Castelluccias that differ considerably from the run of the mill "shop built" models. Frankly, if it hadn't had a Castelluccia label, the workmanship is so refined I would have thought JP Favino built it!

The tone is mature and bold, with an excellent balance between the bass and treble registers. It just oozes character, producing clear, rounded leads and full, yet crunchy chords. The smaller, Castelluccia style D hole yields a very balanced tone that is equally suitable for both lead and rhythm.

The condition of this instrument is very good, with some light finish checking and just a hint of fretwear. There is a top crack that runs from the tailpiece to the soundhole which has been cleated and is stable. It plays easily with low, 3mm action. All in all, this an excellent opportunity to own one of Castelluccias best models at a very reasonable price!

This is the CASH price...add 3% if you'd like to pay with a credit card. 4% for International orders.