Beautiful & Unusual Classical Guitars - Episode 2: Mangore 'White Tiger'
Every now again we see a guitar that captures our imagination and the White Tiger from Bellucci Guitars is definitely one of those! Read on to find out more about this stunning guitar creature.
Introduction
Bellucci Guitars headed by Renato Bellucci is known for making stunning guitars made from exotic woods and incorporating new design features like beveled cutaways, elevated fingerboards, soundports, & tailpiece bridges. Something else that they have also built a culture around is their use of unusual woods & combining them in unique ways.
In this article I will be focusing on just one of their designs as their company has too many wonderful classical guitars to cover in just one article!
The 'White Tiger' Classical Guitar
Back and Sides: Black & White Ebony
Top - Spruce
Scale Length: 630mm + Indented/Beveled Cutaway for access to the upper frets.
Violin Type Bridge made from Ebony
All headstocks need 3 Birmanian Rubies mounted in 18kt gold don't they?
The ebony armrest alla Greg Smallman in all its glory.
A nice view of the Artec Edge-Z Preamp
Full Specifications at a glance:
- Back and Sides - Black & White Ebony
- Top - Spruce
- Scale Length - 630mm
- Preamp - Artec Edge-Z
- Carbon fiber truss rod
- Indented/Beveled cutaway
- Armrest - Ebony
- Gold plated tuners
- 22 frets
- Radius fingerboard
- Bridge and Neck nuts - Buffalo horn
My Opinion
Sadly I haven't played this guitar and I probably never will as it was custom-made for a lucky gentleman from the USA but I can say that it looks stunning and is has some wonderful features that I'd certainly love to have on my custom-made guitar (when I get one).
Leave a comment and let me know what you think and make sure you check out my other articles on modern classical guitar design.
Modern Classical Guitar Design Part 2: Indented Cutaway
The 'Indented Cutaway' or 'Bevelled Cutaway' is a very new design innovation for classical guitars. Find out a little more about this newcomer to classical guitar design and which luthiers are making guitars that have this idea incorporated into their design.
Bellucci guitar with an 'Indented Cutaway' from Mangore guitars.
Introduction
Access to frets past the 12th fret has gained increasing attention from luthiers and guitarists for at least a decade. I mentioned in Part 1 of my series on modern classical guitar design that an 'indented cutaway' is a somewhat modern design feature that a few luthiers are starting to incorporate into their designs.
Standard Cutaway vs Indented Cutaway
Here are two of my own guitars showing two of the most common types of cutaway. The guitars are Takamine TNV460SC on the left and a Takamine TH5C on the right. I have two video reviews of both of these guitars that you can watch farther on in this article.
Here is a full review of my Takamine TH5C Hirade model.
The Indented Cutaway
With an indented cutaway only a small section of the soundboard, back & sides is removed. The fundamental idea is that the overall sound and projection of the guitar isn't compromised but access to the higher frets is improved. This is best shown by a picture.
One of Kris Barnett's stunning guitars featuring an indented cutaway.
As you can see the smaller cutaway leaves a significant amount of the guitars' chamber undisturbed.
Pros
- Improves access to upper frets
- Visually striking
- Has an unusual and modern look
Cons
- Has an effect on the power on tone of the instrument
- Probably not as effective as a raised fretboard
- Clearly visible departure from a standard classical guitar design
- Niche design therefore it could be difficult to resell
The same Kris Barnett guitar when viewed from the rear. As you can see the indented cutaway removed minimal wood from the guitar.
My Verdict
I'd love to try one. Sadly, I haven't had the opportunity to play a guitar with an indented cutaway for two reasons:
- Very few luthiers actually make this design
- Those that do are expensive and usually have extremely long waiting lists
I think it could be a really great feature to have on your guitar but I think I'd probably choose an elevated fretboard rather than this particularly for resale purposes.
So...where can I buy one?
Here are two luthiers that make these guitars:
Check out my other articles in the
'Modern Classical Guitar Design Series':
Part 8: Fanned Frets
Part 7: Arched back
Part 6: Double Tops
Part 5: Lattice Bracing
Part 4: Armrest
Part 3: Soundports
Part 1: Elevated Fingerboard