Comments

• JSanta NY✭✭✭ Dupont, Gaffiero, AJL

  May 2022 Posts: 275

  Based on this thread, I think I'd go with the Petrarca. Luthier built instrument for the price of a factory made guitar is pretty attractive IMO.

  https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/12332/antonio-petrarca-guitars

  
• ChrisMartin Shellharbour NSW Australia✭✭ Di Mauro x2, Petrarca, Genovesi, Burns, Kremona Zornitsa & Paul Beuscher resonator.

  May 2022 edited May 2022 Posts: 959

  Definitely go with the Petrarca, no contest.

  To meet your criteria it is always difficult to comment on sound and playability as both are a matter of personal preference and what works for one may not for another, but I can certainly comment on build quality. You probably can not fault a Gitane either, factory made yes, but pretty consistent. Tony Petrarca however is a craftsman who pays attention to detail, knows how to select his timbers and is a fine player himself so knows what a good guitar should be. From what I have seen Tony has turned out some real gems. He only makes a few when he feels like it, I think he prefers playing in a rock band these days (or maybe it pays better) or maybe he will get back to it when there are enough enquiries but they are worth the wait. I still have the 'Chorus' style one he made for me near ten years ago and I did have a 'D' hole which I foolishly sold to a 'friend' who kept on nagging me for it, he then promptly sold it on to make a few bucks and now I can't get it back, so I may have to ask Tony to make another.

  Here is the 'Grande Bouche'; note the unique cast tailpiece which I kept and replaced with a standard Selmer type.

  

  and used that tailpiece on the Chorus model....

  

  And here is another 'Petite Bouche' by Tony Petrarca:

  

  
  

  
• Halcio New

  May 2022 Posts: 2

  Thanks for the replies guys.. I was leaning towards Petrarca myself , mainly for the fact that is handbuild.

  https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/110905#Comment_110905

  Never had a chance to hear one..do they fit into a specific tone range? I know every instrument is different, but could one classify it, in general, sound wise? For ex. I like more a full,round sound with more presence in the mids and lows , rather than a typical Selmer sound( drier, more highs)..and one more thing..hows the neck feels? Is it chunkier or more to the slim side? Thanks..Cheers!
• ChrisMartin Shellharbour NSW Australia✭✭ Di Mauro x2, Petrarca, Genovesi, Burns, Kremona Zornitsa & Paul Beuscher resonator.

  May 2022 Posts: 959

  So many have come and gone since that I can't honestly remember the sound exactly, but I think you might have thought the one I had a bit brighter than you might expect of a 'grande bouche'. It was as loud but not quite so bassy as the similar Castelluccia I had at the same time. The neck dimensions of the other Petrarcas were the same as the one I kept, which is 45mm wide at the nut and 20mm deep, so quite slim. It measures 56mm at the 14th fret where it joins the body.