FGC Introduces a World Class Swiss Luthiery team to the US
From Our Sample Gallery: 
'Wallpaper' #1 by Claudio and Claudia Pagelli

NOTE: This is not a 'model.' No two Pagelli guitars are alike. This sample is here to exemplify the level of the Pagellis' craft. You can play 'Wallpaper' when you choose to visit us here in San Diego.
"Please welcome a well-established husband and wife team from Europe, Claudio and Claudia Pagelli. Claudia does the design process after luthier/husband Claudio creates the musical soul and purpose for the guitar in a way that will embody the highest function for the instrument. Claudia's design--the first thing you notice 'eye-candy-coats' a perfect and very musical instrument.
Here is Wallpaper's story: One day the Pagellis were looking through a 1950s Home Decorating book and Claudio's eye was stopped by a photo of a piece of wallpaper. He asked Claudia if she could do a guitar design for him to make, based on that pattern. This guitar, so beautifully executed, is the result of that creative impulse. You can see this and other Pagelli instruments featured in the first DVD of the 'Gourmet Guitars Best Luthiers DVD Series.'
As for this instrument, the soundboard is fashioned from Alpine spruce. This high altitude wood is from the same forest where Stradivarius harvested wood for his violins. It is also where the Pagellis make their home, in the town of Chur, Switzerland's oldest village. Carefully inlaid into the top are flowing pieces of ebony and sterling silver. A 3-dimensionally applied piece of spruce, dyed pink, becomes part of the top's design under Claudio's hands. The maple bridge is designed not to call attention to itself. It blends into the background of the 'Wallpaper' guitar. A slightly suspended Brazilian rosewood armrest allows your arm to hang over the guitar without dampening the vibration of the soundboard. The back and sides of this comfortably asymmetrical guitar are of unusually figured, old growth Brazilian rosewood. The Pagellis carefully gather and store some of the most beautiful tonewoods from their sources around the world. The sound of this instrument is both large and well-defined. Perfect clarity and separation of the notes--enveloped in a warm tone that is inviting. Luxuriant sustain and harmonic overtones will make your body smile. This is a masterpiece. The Pagellis succeed time after time...with solidbody and hollowbody electrics, too. Their focus with us in America will be on acoustic guitars. FGC is the only US source for Pagelli guitars. We are honored to have been chosen by the Pagellis as their representative here." --Richard

'Wallpaper' #1 is a permanent sample (Pagelli acoustic guitars run generally in the $11,000 to $17,000 range--no extra import duties)

And now for something completely different...

2006 'Gitanenouveaux' by Claudio and Claudia Pagelli

"Though no two Pagelli guitars are exactly alike, we can ask the Pagellis to reference this guitar or any existing Pagelli creation and design one that is similar. This instrument is very light in weight. It is crisp and powerful with an underlying warmth balanced in. Certainly, it is versatile and will offer delightfully differing results in each player's hands. The tone and timbre have such a range, that it will be the player's challenge to bring out all the possibilities. Here is a follow-up email from Claudio Pagelli himself, as he tells us some of the story. (Since he speaks and understands English perfectly--we have helped clean up his English spelling and we have linked the drawing he refers to...)"
"Hello Richard, I am happy that you like the guitar. Great! Annetta, too? The design was an old design that Claudia did years ago when we were fooling arround with a new electric guitar idea. I always liked that 'uniqueness!. see the attached original design. Sometimes I review all our past ideas--you must know that we do several designs for each guitar and we dont erase them at the end of the process. As a result, we now have a huge design inventory. Last year, an opportunity came our way to exhibit at a Django Reinhardt memorial. That design came to mind and I thought that this would be a great new gypsy style guitar. For us it was no question that when we arrived on the scene for the first time we wanted to make a statement. The guitar was the talk of the event, for sure! The traditionalists where shocked, but the more modern thinking gypsys where delighted. David Reinhardt, Django's grandson, loved the guitar! Soon I will make another similar one for a client, and one for us, as well (a purplish blue green one), but with a different bracing pattern for more of a steel string sound. The woods on this Gitanenouveaux are Canadian maple back and sides with a Swiss alpine spruce top and padouk neck. The fingerboard is Indian rosewood. The bridge is ebony, as is the tailpiece and headplate. Schaller open tuners finish off the slotted head stock. Tortoise style plastic binding lends an antique look to the modern design. You will get also a booklet like we made for the other guitars. I hope to do that for you very soon."
"You can see other Pagelli instruments featured in the first DVD of the 'Gourmet Guitars Best Luthiers DVD Series.' FGC is the only source in the US for Pagelli guitars. We are honored to have been chosen by the Pagellis as their representative here." --Richard

SOLD (another coming in 'Petrol Green!')  
(Pagelli acoustic guitars run generally in the $11,000 to $17,000 range--no extra import duties)

An Outrageous Electric guitar that is one of a kind...

'Avantair' #1 by Claudio and Claudia Pagelli

You can read an in-depth profile of this guitar at 'Guitars From Another Realm' This is a primo example of creativity at work (play). There are so many hip touches in the design--and on close inspection--some smart science and ergonomic approaches to the Pagelli's build style. There is a lot going on here, so let's look a little closer. Is this a plastic toy guitar? The look is playful, but this is no toy. First, the only plastic in use here, is the black infrared sphere rising above the upper bout. Play a chord and pass your hand across the dome for a chance to generate some spacy special effects! This is a real-time improvisational tool for showcasing your experimental side! So lets get mental! The Alesis Airfx unit is actually built in to this one of a kind instrument. Move your hand or arm through the invisible infrared sphere to twist and shape sounds into awesome sound effects. It's loaded with sounds such as panning, flanging, vinylizing, skratching, pitch-shifting, and vocoding for hands-off sound shaping, enabling intuitive and creative performance! The body of the guitar is hand carved from great tonewoods and finished in nitrocellulose lacquer. The neck is a lamination of maple and thin ebony support sections for strength and looks.

On Hold

1999 Boaz Elkayam 'Clarita Negra #1' steel string prototype, one made.

"This guitar is feather weight, bright, rich and powerfull. Tremendous clarity and power. A third generation Master luthier, Boaz Elkayam is one of the most highly skilled guitar luthiers alive in the world today. His artistry is 'old-world'; his knowledge of acoustic sciences--just as formidable.

I am quite excited that we have this guitar available now for one of you. I have held this unusual one-off guitar, at Boaz's request, for 8 years. Once Boaz visited FGC and took measurements of the guitar, he gave his blessing to find a home for it. In the years since it was constructed, it has not moved or changed shape. I have kept it to show Boaz's work in the steel string arena because it is next to impossible to get to play one, short of ordering your own Boaz guitar from FGC. This guitar is so remarkable, I know you will enjoy reading about it...so read on: The interesting shape of this guitar holds the secret of opposing torque. This is what keeps the top in place and provides support, lending strength. There are no construction braces on the soundboard. The only small 'braces' present there are for voicing purposes only. The instrument was made with knives, finger planes and chisels, as are all his instruments. While not for sale (until now), the guitar was shown privately and played and marveled at by some of our world's top artists. The air dried 40+ year-old spruce top and back were hand worked and thicknessed with Boaz's fingers constantly in touch with the vibrations of the plates (a term also used for soundboards). The Brazilian rosewood sides were harvested more than 40 years ago from the Baia shore in the Santos region of Brazil. Ask any luthier about what you are about to read here and they will likely tell you it is impossible. The ones who have seen and studied this particular guitar know that Boaz accomplished it on his third try. I cringe to think that Boaz broke two sets of this valuable side wood attempting this feat before achieving success. Every angle that you see in the photos was accomplished by hand bending the sides. There are no glued joints, except where the sides meet at the bottom of the guitar. In one case, next to the neck/body joint, there is a bend at a 70 degree angle--which is greater than 90 degrees! Brazilian rosewood is famously brittle and hard enough to bend into a gentle cutaway. The neck is hand carved from old Brazilian rosewood and reinforced with man made high tech materials. No truss rod is present or necessary. The soundboard is Englemann spruce that is very special and very rare. This wood was used for hand made propellers of some Piper airplanes in the 1920s. It has tremendous tensile strength. Well, enough about the impossible heroics in building this instrument. If you click here, you will hear a telephone interview with Boaz about the making of this guitar. The sound is unique, as well. It is bright, crisp, and presents itself with the attitude of an upright grand piano. The side sound port gives the player a home court advantage. The sound strongly emanates up as well as out. Originally a multi-scaled instrument with its frets fanning out in two directions, I asked Boaz to convert the guitar to a standard fretboard, though the Delrin frets were utilized in the conversion. The slotted headstock, fitted with precision hand made Gilbert tuners, bears evidence of the former fret angles in a single diagonal fret above the nut. Cool. This is another example of what art and science can do together in the right hands." --Richard (NOTE: Boaz's current triumph is the Clarita Negra Steel String series. We have 2 on order. Call Richard for details at (619) 265-5900.)

$14,000

2004 Spira 14-fret OM (Another Lucky 12/Blackwood coming this year)

Sitka Spruce top over Western Australia Sheoak back and sides. This wood is a cousin to both lacewood and koa that sounds like generally like mahogany. The wonderfully rock solid Victorian ash neck is well carved. An omnibus design is inlaid and etched in pearl on the Indian rosewood fretboard. The bridge material is also rosewood. Sheoak peghead overlay, Gotoh chrome tuners with pearloid buttons. Superb sustain, crisp attack, strong fundamental notes, good headroom, clarity with a sweet punch. This is a little beauty. We'll be hearing more from Jack Spira. This is his 116th guitar. Tommy Emmanuel played it when it first came in and appreciated his fellow countryman's work! Great job, Jack. We'll find a home for it. Perhaps yours? Give a call. Jack Spira will be doing another guitar with our "Lucky 12" wood.

$3,300

2006 Myka 'Sungazer' Semi-hollow electric, Serial No. 040

What a cool looking tribute with a twist. This 'goldtop' has metamorphed into something new. Born of a custom guitar order, the design, by permission, has been repeated for your benefit. David Myka is one of our favorite lesser-known-highly-gifted makers. His work is being highly acknowledged. His shop was in upstate New York and now is in Seattle. His Dragonfly DeLuxe has been making FGC clients happy for several years now. (In fact, one more is coming very soon--call to discuss it.) The Sungazer's headstock veneer and tailpiece are ebony. The fingerboard is beautifully figured Indian Rosewood. It is a nice touch that adds a little warmth to the sound and the look, and is bound in curly maple. Sperzel locking tuners with pearloid buttons are another element that adds a good look to good function. The neck profile is a medium 'C' shape. The 24.625 scale length adds to the fun feel. This is a happy guitar that is out for delivish fun. A hair under 1 3/4", the nut width makes this guitar work well for fingerstyle and flat pick. If you play rock or country and have beefier fingertips, this guitar will feel great in your hand, too. The gold speed knobs, cream pick guard, gold top nitro-lacquer finish are all a 'vintage send-up.' The quality of the build on this guitar is pure hand made David Myka. It is several cuts above what you may have experienced in a good vintage manufactured guitar. The 3-way selectable Lindy Fralin P-90 pickups are married to an L.R. Baggs T-Bridge Piezo system with a Control-X preamp. This set-up will give you wide acoustic and electric textural possibilities for your music. This is a knock-out." --Richard

SOLD (We can order you another)

Demo For Sale: 
2004 Myka 'Double Cutaway Solidbody' electric, Serial No. 010

David Myka has shipped his former shop demo guitar to us at FGC. The guitar is warranted by Myka as new, though it shows light wear, as you would expect. It is a pleasure to see excellence like this. No surprise that is an electric guitar of high integrity! A curvy, curly Black Limba body has a nice 24-fret neck on its shoulders: the C-shaped profile Bolivian rosewood neck (aka Marado or Pau Ferro) gives the player a great bare wood feel; The top cap is Quilted maple in a deep see-through 'eyes-blue' color. The Brazillian rosewood fingerboard is simply complemented with an inlaid Mother-of-Pearl geometric design at the 12th fret. Nice look. Indian rosewood binding with 5-ply wood purfling makes for thoughtful detail. Schaller M6 tuners with ebony buttons frame the head, punctuated with the pearl Myka logo. Hand wound Jason Lollar Imperial humbucking pickups with 5-way switching give the player useful tonal control. Consider this setup: 1 Tone and 1 Volume with series/parallel push/pull. Simple flexibility. Creative wiring is one of David Myka's many strong suits. The bridge is a TonePros tune-o-matic. An ebony tailpiece finishes things off. The 25" scale length and 3 degree neck angle feels just right. This is a guitar that will take Smith fans to a higher place they will enjoy.

$3,900 (If custom ordered from FGC today: $4,675)

2006 David Myka "Dragonfly Deluxe" hollowbody electric

With a lower bout of 13 1/2" and a nut width of 1 3/4" at the nut, this guitar is light, versatile, and fun to play. This one has a full feel to the neck, helping to prevent hand fatigue.Read more about this guitar by clicking here. As gifted guitar makers are discovered, prices can rise. Most often, their guitars are considerably underpriced while their name is still relatively unknown. We are proud to offer you the best of the "unknowns" as we help them get out in the guitar world to get the recognition they deserve. David is one of these, and players are now picking up on his ability to nail what he does consistently. A note about the electronics in this instrument: An unusual pair of knobs replace the tone controls. These individual knobs actually revoice the respective pickups on a continuum--from humbucking to single coil. Since the pickups are each of a different tonal breed of Bartolini models, the variety of tones is broad and fun to control for subtle or dramatic variety.

SOLD (Another coming) 

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Why consider New Custom guitars from us?

Custom Guitars are an important part of what we do. We offer a balanced range of gifted, consistent luthiers. Prices from us are the same as direct from the maker. We will guide you to the likliest guitar builder and particular models that best match your needs. Let's talk guitars and have some fun together! We are here to serve you in a straight forward way. Give us a call. Often, a new instrument, coupled with new strong direction from a teacher with whom you have good communication can blast you out of your "rut."Let's work together to make your music more satisfying. Live life to the fullest. As a musician, this is what money is for!

All Instruments come with better hard shell cases unless otherwise noted. US Money Orders, Checks, or simple computer bank wire transfers are accepted. Financing, Terms, Trade-ins Available. Not responsible for errors or ommissions, subject to prior sale, and price changes due to market conditions.

We are responsible for taking all the time you need to help get you what you want.