Giussani Guitars: icons of the classical guitar

The showcase of Giussani Guitars represents a unique presence in the contemporary market, positioning itself as a bastion of cultural resistance and scientific rigor. Since 1976, the business started by Gioachino Giussani in Milan and later relocated to Anghiari (Arezzo) has focused on solving the modern acoustic-environmental needs of the concert classical guitar. The entry of his son Jacopo in 2005 brought fresh vitality through the internalization of essential models and the application of a “sustainable” philosophy.

The Giussanis’ approach is based on a clear acoustic objective: to guarantee the concert performer polyphonic clarity, tonal richness, balance, sustain, projection, and volume. This performance spectrum is achieved not by adding synthetic elements foreign to the tradition of fine carpentry, but through in-depth study of kinetic energy transmission and elastic wave propagation within the soundbox.

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The collection

The Tuscan workshop’s production is structured into targeted segments capable of covering the needs of both international concert performers and advanced students or enthusiasts of historical performance practice:

• Gioachino Giussani Concert Guitars: Acoustic competition instruments made to elite specifications, optimized for large concert halls and characterized by high sound projection.
• Jacopo Giussani Guitars: Models inheriting the same construction philosophy as the concert line but with a more familiar feeling, minimal decorations, and a proprietary soundboard bracing designed to maintain an affordable price and high artisanal quality.
• Romantic 700/800 Guitars: Philological copies of historical instruments from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, made respecting exclusively the shapes and dimensions of the period’s Romantic Style.
• 7/8 Size Classical Guitars, tertias and various customizations, including variants with cutaway, crossover acoustics, and other custom options that can be evaluated and experimented with.

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Construction philosophy, techniques, and materials

The scientific advantage of Giussani manufacturing lies in the mechanical isolation of the guitar’s structural components, differentiating the parts intended for static containment from those intended for acoustic transduction:

• Energy Decoupling of Sides and Back: In Gioachino’s concert guitars, the back and sides are designed to be extremely stable and robust. The engineering goal is to ensure the structural cage vibrates as little as possible. By preventing the sides from absorbing and dispersing the kinetic energy impressed by the strings, all the energy is discharged directly onto the soundboard, which acts as the sole vibrating diaphragm. Consequently, the choice of woods for the back (such as Maple or Brazilian Rosewood) takes on a primarily aesthetic value, nullifying the influence of the density of the back and sides on pure sound production.
• Rejection of Synthetic Composite Materials: In sharp contrast to the contemporary Lattice or Double-Top school (which uses aerospace binders like Nomex or carbon fiber sheets), the Giussanis use exclusively solid wood bracing. Empirical evidence accumulated over forty years of experimentation demonstrates that only the natural fiber of wood guarantees the tonal ductility and elastic deformation necessary to preserve the Italian spruce or Canadian cedar soundboard, offering the musician a palette of dynamic and expressive micro-nuances that are superior.

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Collaborations and recognitions

International validation of the Giussani catalog is tied to the appreciation of world-renowned concert performers and professors, a success built numerically over a significant production run that has allowed the mapping of material resonances. The close collaboration started in the past with musicologist and composer Angelo Gilardino, the constant support in technical development provided by legendary Spanish guitarist Pepe Romero, and the esteem of Oscar Ghiglia and many others, testify to the instruments’ compliance with the highest standards of global guitar literature. The workshop, surrounded by the medieval villages of the Arezzo countryside, regularly attracts concert performers from foreign metropolises (such as Los Angeles), who choose to entrust the maintenance and calibration of their concert instruments to the exclusive care of the two artisans.

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Direct experience

Giussani Guitars is very attentive to building and nurturing a direct relationship with the musician, which is also possible at their workshop in Anghiari, among the Tuscan hills.