We continue the our in-depth path among the Italian artisan / industrial “musical” companies.
This it's the turn of "Sciuscià Guitars", laboratory of handcrafted lutherie of the master luthier Vincent Romano.
Vincent Romano, class'73 luthier and musician, opens his lutherie workshop in Portici (NA) in 1999 "Sciuscia Guitars & Ideas". In a short time, some of his customized productions, made with and for account of the likes of Edoardo Bennato, Enzo Gragnaniello, Joseph Scarpato, Michele Montefusco and still others, become instruments of choice of these and other musicians, spreading on stages around the world.
The name Scuscià, as he tells us V. Roman, was born with the desire to synthesize the concept of craftsmanship with that of geographical origin (Neapolitan). Indeed, sciuscià were the "lustrascarpe", a name derived from shoe shine (Neapolitanized in sciuscià). So Sciuscià to identify the manual craftsmanship, the Neapolitan imagination, the attention to detail, with solid foundations in tradition to be able to approach the present and look to the future.
The own production of Guitars, Basses, Mandolins is generally personalizedon the client's needs. Usually, starting from a basic proposal of the house, the customer can expose their wishes. Subsequently, under the expert guidance of the luthier, an ad hoc, exclusive instrument will be designed and built to meet the musical, aesthetic and practical needs of those who commission it.
By analogy, we could affirm that from Sciuscià, in the realization of a musical instrument, a path similar to what happens in a "Atelier of a tailor"For the creation of a tailored suit ... Obviously, in addition to the production of tools, Vincent Romano also provides a "luthier service"With repairs e customizations of existing tools.
As Vincenzo explains, the work takes place in modality completely handcrafted, we start from the choice of wooden board and then gradually, step by step, the instrument is made.
Even if today some producers easily wink at woods that are "simply appealing" aesthetically, Romano prefers to use beautiful woods, yes, but always tested and specific for the production of musical instruments such as: Maple, Ash, Alder, Mogano, Rosewood, Ebony… Because, the design philosophy always remains the same - the instrument must, first of all, sound and sound good.
The current production of Sciuscia Guitar is particularly focused on products hollow body, conceived, designed and built for reproduce amplified acoustic / classic sound guitar, mandolin and bass. Among the guitars, the best known to the general public is definitely the sunshine.
The Sunshine A shape is the first model of acoustic guitar made by Sciuscià. It is a hollow body and its realization is also the result of specifications dictated by Edoardo Bennato, which has been using the Sunshine A shape since 2001. It is composed of a completely hollow mahogany case in order to emphasize the "acousticity" of the instrument, the harmonic plane and the neck is in mahogany, screwed to the case, the fingerboard is in rosewood, the soundhole is in the shape of a stylized sun, a symbol that distinguished all the subsequent production of Sciuscià electro-acoustic instruments.
The amplified sound is given by a Piezo Fishman located under the bridge crossbar. Extremely simple and effective in the management on stage, in fact it has a single volume control on the top and a trimmer located inside the circuit compartment (Fishman) to allow the tone control in order to customize the cut of the mids to your liking.
Sunshine C shape
Parallel to the Sunshine A shape, it saw the light there Sunshine C shape, with nylon strings and always hollow body. Among his admirers, we find Enzo Gragnaniello, an artist of the Neapolitan musical tradition who has been using this guitar continuously since 2001.
The Sunshine C shape features a completely hollow mahogany case, mahogany or spruce soundboard, mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard. The hole is shaped like a stylized sun.
The amplified sound is provided by a Fishman piezo located under the bridge cross member. Also here for the controls we find a potentiometer of the volume on the top and a trimmer located inside the circuit compartment (Fishman) for allow tone control so that you can customize the cut of the mids.
EA 5 Electro-Acoustic Bass
Il Bass Electroacoustic EA 5 it's a bass fretless 5 strings with ebony fingerboard, mahogany body with tonal chambers and briar top, for bass players who want an electric fretless sound and an acoustic sound with warm timbres with “double bass” tendencies.
The magnetic sound is due to a dual coil pickup with controls that allow you to choose between passive / active sounds, two-band tone control, splitting of the pickup in single / series / parallel configurations. The more strictly acoustic sound is instead entrusted to a Fishman piezo located under the crosspiece of the bridge built in acoustic style to allow the piezo to read the sound exclusively from the woods and thus have a warmer and mellow tone. The Fishman has a volume control and a mid-centered tone control. The Bass has two separate outputs, one for the magnetic and the other for the piezo, so you can use dedicated amplifications.
Neamandolin
The Neamandolin is a mandolin designed to achieve an amplified mandolin sound without the feedback or larsen problems that plague traditional mandolins when are amplified. Furthermore, it is possible to use effects, even in a pushed way, without having any problems and thus experimenting with new sounds / opportunities.
The instrument is composed of a mahogany block for the construction of the body / neck, the case is completely empty in order to emphasize the acoustic aspect of the instrument, closed by a soundboard in solid spruce, while the keyboard and the armrest are in rosewood.
The sound to be amplified is entrusted to a Fishman piezo located under the bridge crosspiece. As per Sciuscià characteristic, the piezo has a volume control on the top and a trimmer located inside the circuit compartment (Fishman) for the tone control for customize the cut of the mids.
Obviously, the tools exposed so far represent only a small example of what it is possible to obtain / produce from Sciuscià. Just take a look at the production to see, to complete the offer, also Solid Body instruments (such as the low Pandora) or completely classic.
However, it is obvious and intuitive to understand that, in an artisan lutherie workshop, working on customized choices and solutions, we can easily go beyond the "already proposed" to obtain the our customized tool.
Here are some links to learn more with Sciuscia Guitars and his creator / mentor - Vincenzo Romano.
Facebook page: Sciuscià guitars & ideas
Facebook Profile: Vincenzo Romano Luthier
Instagram: EnzoGuitars
