Daniele Chiesa - 2025 64 cm

About the luthier

Daniele Chiesa was born in Bergamo, Italy in 1973. Initially pursuing a career as a guitarist, he studied both classical and jazz guitar from an early age. In 1994 he moved to Cremona to study musicology at the university located in the historic centre of Italian violin making. Cremona has been renowned for centuries as the home of the Amati, Guarneri and Stradivari families, whose work represents some of the highest achievements in string instrument making.

During his studies, the theft of his personal guitar unexpectedly led him toward instrument making. Unable to replace the instrument, he decided to build one himself. The experience sparked a lasting fascination with the craft and prompted him to change direction and train as a luthier. In 1998 he graduated from the violin making school in Cremona as a Maestro Liutaio.

Chiesa continued his education through a series of formative workshops. In Santa Cruz, California, he worked with Kenny Hill, where he gained direct insight into the construction of the traditional Spanish guitar. After returning briefly to Italy to work with guitarist and maker Paolo Viscardi, he travelled again to California to spend a year in the workshop of Tom Ribbecke in the San Francisco Bay Area. There he encountered a different approach to guitar making while participating in the construction of Ribbecke’s archtop instruments.

Further experience followed in the preparation and grading of tonewoods, including rare Brazilian rosewood. A decisive moment came when Chiesa attended a guitar festival in Córdoba, where he studied with Paco Santiago Marín. This encounter led him to settle in Granada, placing himself within the centre of the Spanish guitar making tradition. Working alongside masters such as Antonio Marín Montero, José Plazuelo and Rolf Eichinger, he refined the techniques that would shape his own instruments. Since the early 2000s he has continued to build his guitars in Andalucía, gradually developing a personal style rooted in the Granada tradition.

About the guitar

This guitar represents Daniele Chiesa’s long developed traditional model, a design that traces its origins to his years in Granada and has been refined for more than two decades. While structurally rooted in the classical Spanish tradition, the instrument reflects Chiesa’s careful study of balance, sustain and tonal flexibility through many successive generations of guitars.

The spruce soundboard is supported by a five fan brace system combined with a very thin cross reinforcement beneath the bridge. The fan braces are shaped to sit above this reinforcement, a configuration that Chiesa employs to preserve the traditional tonal character of a spruce top while improving the evenness of response across the fingerboard and extending the natural sustain of the instrument.

With its 640 mm scale length the guitar offers a slightly reduced string tension compared with the standard 650 mm design. In Chiesa’s conception this allows the player to access a wide range of tonal colours without requiring excessive playing force. The result is a sound that remains refined and balanced while still responding easily to subtle variations of touch.

In tonal character the instrument displays a remarkable evenness across the entire register. Notes develop with clarity and sustain, while the voice retains an elegant and singing quality. The basses provide depth and resonance, and the overall balance between registers allows melodic lines to unfold with great continuity. Combined with a highly comfortable playing feel, the guitar offers a refined interpretation of the modern Granada tradition.