2023 Valerio Licari "Albayzín" SP/IN

This is a fantastic guitar from Valerio Licari, now based out of Turin, Italy. Although thoroughly "Spanish" in its build, the aesthetic details on this guitar are drawn from Valerio's Italian roots. The "Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore" in Florence has particulary influenced the decorative motifs found in the rosette and tie-block (what Valerio calls his "Florentine design" which uses maple, sycamore and rosewood), giving the guitar a very satisfying "architectural" look. Materials used are Italian spruce with an amazing amount of beautiful "bearclaw" throughout for the top, paired with beautifully quartersawn Indian rosewood back and sides, a Honduran cedar neck (with internal carbon fiber reinforcement), ebony fingerboard with 20 frets and bone saddle and nut. Tuning machines are by Alessi - his "Hauser" style with ebony knobs. The guitar is finely French polished. Because Valerio built this with the traditional 5 bars-fan bracing inspired by Antonio Marin Montero, he has lovingly named this guitar "Albayzín" as a tribute to his guitarmaking roots in Granada, Spain. The guitar boasts a robust, rich sound - quite warm for a spruce yet retaining great clarity and balance across all registers. His instruments have been played most-notably by Andrea de Vitis and Pat Metheny, to name a couple of top guitarists. We are very pleased to be representing this fine maker as his exclusive US dealer.

Photos of this guitar taken during construction