Orfeo interview

Orfeo #13 – Enrico Bottelli, between Hauser and Torres

He started out as a guitarist playing a steel-string acoustic guitar, but quickly developed a passion for lutherie and took classes with Carlo Raspagni in Milan and later with Ervin Somogyl and Richard Schneider in the United States. As his tastes changed, he found himself increasingly drawn to the classical guitar. Two courses under José Luis Romanillos in Córdoba galvanised his decision to be a luthier.

How did you get started as a luthier?

Enrico Bottelli – I have always loved the sound of the guitar. I learned to play acoustic as a teenager and I even considered playing professionally, but since I’m not really cut out to be a rock star, I enrolled in Carlo Raspagni’s school of lutherie near Milan, where I learned the basics o

f the craft.

In 1982 I was in Berkeley, CA for three months learning the construction of the steel string guitar with Ervin Somogyi, throu

gh Ervin I began to appreciate the guitars with deep basses.

In 1988, I was apprentice of Richard Schneider, who was building nylon string guitars on the basis of the Michael Kasha design.

That’s when my interest in the classical guitar really started growing, and then I heard from some Italian colleagues about José Romanillos and his classes. I took courses with him in 1994 and 1995 in Córdoba. Romanillos’ passion for the classical guitar was contagious and from that point on, I

dropped acoustic guitar construction to focus exclusively on the Spanish classical guitar.

In 1999, I was lucky enough to restore a 1952 Hauser; I thought that it was exquisite and took the opportunity to make two replicas ofit. My rosettes were different but the construction was otherwise identical and I was very pleased with the result.

Did you keep making Hauser replicas?

1. B. – Afterwards I moved on and, while remaining faithful to the musical features of Hauser, I began building guitars with a bit more light, flexible and responsive soundboard. This was not only to satisfie a customer’s demand but was the direction of my research for an ideal instrument, modern, deep, open and sensible.

It would be true to say that my real starting point in lutherie was with the Spanish guitar, thanks to, in particular, Romanillos: those lively guitars, with their light construction. In my early years as a luthier, I built guitars the way that Romanillos had taught me, like the 1973 Julian Bream guitar, with its typical bracing and the two struts on either side of the sound hole.

The exhibition “La Chitarra di Liuteria” in Vicenza 1997 was also a major influence, as was my encounter with Stefano Grondona and the ancient Spanish guitars especially the instruments of A. de Torres. These

antique guitars left an indelible mark on me.

These days the biggest influences on my wor

k are Hauser and Torres. The Hauser sound is perfectly balanced, elegant, clear; for me, that’s the sound of the twentieth-ce

ntury classical guitar. But the Torres sound is the one that I like best; there’s something magical about it that speaks straight to the heart. Although the instrument may be less perfect than a Hauser, less balanced… it is so very moving! It is very difficult to build instruments that capture the essence of Torres guitars, to reproduce “t

hat sound” that really comes from another epoch.

The other issue, for us luthiers, is that very few guitarists actually really understand and love those instruments and know how to play them . There is little demand from concert players for that kind of guitar.

I used the Hauser design as a starting point and searched my own path, shifting toward a lighter construction (in the direction of the Spanish guitar and Torres) and using a lighter spruce. The German spruce used on Hausers tends to be quite resinous, rather heavy and the tops are often quite thick. Such guitars take a few years to “open up”. I build guitars that are quite responsive, easy to play and prompt even when new, I always look for balance, evenness and sustain but the most important thing (what makes a guitar special) is a beautiful tone, round, sweet, fat, deep, yet very clear and transparent.

What matters to most today’s young guitarists, like those who perform in the competitions, is to have a guitar with a quick explosive sound, easy to play with no effort for the right hand. This is a pity, because these young players are no longer looking for nuances. Luckily, as they progress in their careers they tend to mature and start showing an interest in the quality of the sound; that’s when they move on to guitars with greater variation in timbre, more colours.

What are your favourite woods?

3. B. – For the soundboards, I have experimented with German spruces from Bavaria, Italian ones, as well as Swiss and French spruces from the Jura Mountains. I don’t place so much importance on the spacing in between the veins. I concentrate more on flexibility and weight; the spruce that I prefer is strong and stiff and weighs 400-430 kg per m³. I use only spruce for my tops; I haven’t found the sound qualities that I like in red cedar.

For the back and sides, my favourite wood is Brazilian rosewood, for both its aesthetic and acoustic qualities.

The CITES rules have certainly made things harder for us. Now there is a complex system of certification. Considering that I turn out between ten and twelve guitars per year, the amount of wood that I would use in my entire lifetime is negligible. There should be an exemption for these small quantities of wood.

I also like Madagascar rosewood, ziricote, maple and satinwood

. I do not have much experience with cipress. I like aesthetically-pleasing woods. For me, it’s not only the sound of the guitar that needs to be beautiful; it should also be bea

utiful visually.

What are the features of your guitar construction?

1. B. – I focus especially on the weight of the wood I use, I aim for a light (but not too light) soundboard, strong but with supple bracing: less wood and more flexibility.

I have also played around with the profile of the soundboard: soundboards that are totally flat, or others that are domed. The flat ones are more flexible and it is easier to achieve deep basses.

I mainly build custom instruments, I like to satisfie the customer needs and wishes when possible, building the guitar of his dreams.

I enjoy meeting the musician, discussing things together, hearing the person play. I can change the sound, make it darker or brighter byvarying several parameters, depending on whether the guitarist plays with a lot of fingernail or more flesh. I also appreciate discussing their preferences regarding aesthetics, ornamentation and woods.

Other than that, my construction style is typically Spanish, using a “solera” and with the ribs that slot into the heel block.

Sometimes I attach the head with V-joints like a Hauser, which results in a smaller head angle: around 8 or 9°. Aesthetically, I find it more pleasing this way, and I also have the feeling that it alters the sound slightly, making it sweeter.

Do you have more than one model?

1. B. – Yes. I offer a “concert model”, a “special model” (same as concert but with fancier rosette and mosaic decorations, rare beautiful woods and exclusive machines), an Hauser 52 replica, and a Torres model based on the segunda epoca big plantilla and bracing

I also make one-off pieces; ideally one per year, which I call “art guitars”.

I am working on new aesthetic solutions (always very classical in style) combining different woods and making multicolour mosaics with woods in their natural colors. My passion is crafting rosettes and creating new mosaics.

To me the look of the instrument is as important as its sound: the guitar has to be a beautiful art object in every aspect.

In my intention I would make more guitars like the Black River. I love creating one-of-a-kind guitars!

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Maggio 2019