Marco Maguolo – 2022 No. 276 “Ducale Aurea” REG Limited Edition

Description

Marco Maguolo was born in Mestre (Venice, Italy) in 1976. After attending technical schools, his passion for the guitar took over, and he started building his first guitar under the guidance of Maestro M. Novelli. Starting from the autumn of 2003, he devoted himself entirely to making classical guitars. On top of his classical guitar-making skills, Marco Maguolo attended a bow service and repair course at the Civica Scuola di Liuteria di Milano held by Maestro Pietro Cavalazzi, and a violin-making course at the Scuola di Liuteria di Pieve di Cento in Bologna under the guidance of Maestro Marcello Bellei. Since 2004, Marco Maguolo’s waiting list kept growing quickly, and his guitars, played in concerts worldwide, gained broad recognition for their tone qualities and projection.

Due to the large number of excellent luthiers exhibiting their instruments and the outstanding quality of the guitars presented at the Roma Guitar Expo, it is certainly a globally unique event in the area of classical guitars. Every year, carefully selected guitar makers are invited to present a special edition, a one- of-a-kind guitar that sets a very high benchmark in terms of woodworking, craftsmanship and sound.

Marco Maguolo’s 2022 REG Limited Edition guitar is the third and last of Marco Maguolo’s “Ducale Aurea” guitars. This art piece, named “Unde Origo Inde Salus,” is dedicated to Venice’s “Chiesa della Salute” church. In the centre of the latter’s floor, one can find the sentence mentioned above, “Unde Origo Inde Salus” meaning “Salvation comes only from the origin”. This church was built from 1631 to 1687 to celebrate the end of the bubonic plague pandemic in Venice, and this instrument is Marco Maguolo’s message of hope for an ending time of the COVID pandemic period. It is interesting to note that the label represents the church’s floor and was designed by the guitar teacher and architect Marco Costa. Looking from the sound hole, it seems like one looks down to the floor from the dome. One of Marco Maguolo’s masterpiece’s most striking features is that the instrument’s inside is covered in gold leaves, matching the golden dome of the St Mark’s Basilica in Venice. This unique feature gave its name to this tryptic, three extremely rare and complex instruments, of which this one is the very last, the “Ducale Aurea” guitars.

Check out the presentation video of this specific guitar below in which you will find plenty of extra information about its playability and sound.

As always with Marco’s guitars, this is a lightweight, traditional powerhouse. The responsiveness, volume and overall energy of this instrument are a revelation. With lyrical baryton basses and crystal clear, strikingly coloured trebles, this is a sound you won’t forget. On top of that, the playability is superb, resulting in an inspiring instrument that is a joy to play and supports the player in every way.