Welcome to Pagelli's world of finest handmade guitars

Thanks to Silvio Liechti and the Swiss Radio SRF 1 for the entertaining report on our 40th anniversary.

And also thanks to Silvio for the splendid pictures he made.
 

Link to listen   and for reading  

Unfortunately both in German ;-)

Nice report of our Japan trip. unfortunately the names of the other builders and involved persons are missing, but you will get all the infos in the next chapter.

So, finally back home from our intense trip to Tokyo!

We have been invited from JERSEY GIRLS GUITARS, 
ATELIER REZIKA and Gallery SIDE2 to exhibit at the ART FAIR TOKYO.

Together with Jersey Girls Guitars, Michihiro Matsuda, Spalt Guitars, M-Tone Guitars, Ergon Guitars, Andy Manson Guitars and Malinoski Guitars we exhibited by invitation of Atelier REZIKA, Daisuke Ushiku, at the Booth of Gallery SIDE2 of Junko Shimada.  It is the first time that guitars have been officially displayed at a big international ART FAIR! First not accepted by the jury, they changed their mind when seeing the guitars.

After a walk trough the Fair we understand the concern, since the whole Fair was such a high standard. Hardly found art that was not inspiring. So even more it was a big honor to be a part of it.

Another display of the great works of the builders was at Yamano Music, the biggest store in Tokyo. Our instruments were presented on extraordinary stands, which were already art by themselfes, designed and made by JGHG.

We want to thank all involved people, especially the Jersey Girl Guitar Team (Kaz, Eiko, Akiko), Daisuke Ushiku and his lovely wife Rika, Junko Shimada from Gallery SIDE2, Yamano Music for displaying the guitars, Yoshio Nomura for the demonstration of the guitars and Hiroshi Sekita for the bass playing and Minoru Tanaka from Player Corporation Music Magazine for the nice interview.

We will keep that great time in our heart forever. JAPAN RULES!

DELIGHTED TO BE INVITED!

We will exhibit, together with some of planets most outstanding guitar builders, at the TOKYO ART FAIR in JAPAN.

It‘s the first time the fair accept guitar as art. Presented by ATELIER REZIKA in collaboration with JERSEY GIRLS GUITARS.
 

watashitachi wa totemo shiawasedesu!

We had great reactions on the new Bowtop. Of course first on the overall design, since this is the first thing you see. Then on the new concept and sound. And when we demonstrated the pick up and the attachment... just «WOW’s».

Electric
Guitar: Pagelli Bowtop 2018
Played by: Francis Coletta
Filmed by: Matthias Moser
Recorded with 1 Neumann mic TLM193 in front of an 90' Fender Vibroluxe (2x10“) straight into computer, just added a little room.

Click here for demo 1 and 2

      Copyright: Pagelli Gitarrenbau 2018

Acoustic
Guitar: Pagelli BowTop 2018
Played by: Francis Coletta
Filmed by: Matthias Moser
Recorded with 1 Neumann mic TLM193 straight into computer, just added a little room.

Click here for demo

 Copyright: Pagelli Gitarrenbau 2018

The new «Les Petites Naives» is the number 4 out of finally 9 guitars.
All those guitars are «Art brut» inspired and will be very different.
 

The new LPN no 4 is made out of an extremely hard to find, totally black African ebony and then carved by Swiss artist Gian Häne (more info about Gian below), with lines that are often found on African masks. To support that feeling of an old mask we also scratched the ebony very roughly.

The top is made out of the highest-class Swiss alpine moon spruce, the neck is African Padauk.

Inside its very modern built, with carbon rods for stabilization and some more tricks. It is just unbelievable how such a small guitar can produce such a huge sound.
 

To make the whole package perfect, the guitar is sold together with a carved picture PIZ BERNINA from Gian Häne made especially for that project.
 

Gian Häne is a Swiss artist who is very well known for his carved objects and pictures. His work is displayed in many galleries and you find them in homes of celebrities like Joe Biden, John Kerry, Roger Federer and many more.

Guitar: «Les petites Naives » no 4 (limited series of nine totally different, art brut inspired parlor sized instruments) 
Played by: Francis Coletta
Filmed by: Matthias Moser
Recorded with 1 Neumann mic TLM193 straight into computer, just added a little room.

Click here for demo 1 and 2

      Copyright: Pagelli Gitarrenbau 2018

«mystic moss of magic stone»

Located deep in the valley, the town of Vals is far removed from the hectic pulse of the cities. Although it’s a mountain village like many others, it is made unique by the special Vals quartzite rock that has shaped the region for millions of years. Blasted out of the mountain and cut to shape, Vals quartzite patiently waits to be used for its determined purpose – or simply to inspire us...

We want to guide your attention to this beautiful MASSARI Archtop that is for sale in the USA - please check our shop

So… finally back home from our trip to Woodstock and Manhattan.
The Woodstock Invitational Guitar Show was just as good as everyone promised!Great location, farm-like with a theatre, organized with heart and professionalism, very well attended, very interested visitors, great vibe and great players.
Last but not least: there were sales. One guitar stayed in the USA, another will go to Japan… and the last one is reserved.
 

We want to thank all the guys who made that show happen, in first place Baker Rorick. Then all the players who stopped at our booth. We are very sorry that we did not had the chance to take pics from all of you - actually just from a few. It was just too crowded and always something going on. Moreover, thanks to all the great builders who showed what’s today possible in guitar building.

Of course, it made us very happy that so many of the younger (and some old ones... :-)) came to our stand and told us how important we have been for them when they started building. I still remember well when I was in that position and looked up to the «heavy guys». I hope we treated you well.

Many thanks also to Martin Keith for letting me work in his shop when I was close to a heart attack. Like that, I was able to improvise a new bridge and tailpiece for the missing one.
For your info: I had an extreme busy time to be finished with our new Bowtop guitar to the show. I removed the bridge and tailpiece for the transport and stored it in the case. Then I packed the whole thing for the transport, to realize that I had overweight. Therefore, I unpacked and changed the case with a lighter one. So far so perfect. The day before the show, already in USA, I wanted to set the guitar together… just to realize that I missed the bridge and tailpiece in the other case back home. I was sooooo angry on myself. However, shit happens. Then million calls back and forth to Switzerland. We tried to get them by overnight express… no way… too late.
I contacted Baker who told us that there is a Builder not too far from Woodstock, Martin Keith. We contacted him and he was so generous to lend his shop to us. So - the day before the show, I was working till my flesh felt from the bone to make a new bridge and tailpiece.
Not as beautiful as the original… but good enough to present the innovation at the show. Uff… So finally, we presented the guitar and we were able to breathe again. It's not really what you need before a show… :-)))
 

The presented guitar «Bowtop» is a new invention from us who combines the archtop construction with the Flattop world. It has a new sound and a new and very elegant look. We just recorded a few tracks with Francis Coletta, one of the best players we know, and we will post it in a few weeks on our site, when all is edited.

Our second instrument we presented was the new «Les Petites Naives» no 4, a collaboration with Swiss artist Gian Haene. Gian well known for his carved objects and his work is hanging in the house of people like Al Gore, Bill Clinton or Roger Federer. The guitar comes together with a small artwork by Gian. 

Finally, we showed our archtop flagship, the «Massari» no 9, Cresta Lake Nün. We are so happy that this unbelievable sounding and playing guitar found a great new home in the hands of a great player and human being. It's exactly that guitar the great George Benson played and commented on: This guitar is just perfect!

Following you will see a few pics and impressions from our trip.

Have a great time! Los Pagellis

It is an honor to be invited at the WOOSTOCK Showcase.

The Woodstock Guitar Show is an invitational exhibition and only the best builders are invited. It is one of the world’s outstanding shows and we are proud to be a part of it. October 26,27 and 28, 2018

We will present our top of the line Massari Archtop No 9 in «Cresta Lake» finish, the new «Les Petites Naives» No 4, with artwork done by renowned Swiss artist Gian Haene and our newest invention, the Bowtopguitar!
 

The Bowtopguitar, a combination between a flattop and an archtop guitar, is a completely new guitar construction. It’s driven like an archtop, but top and back are not carved, they are bowed. Like that you get the ultra-fast response of an archtop guitar, but with the sustain and the wider tonal spectrum of a flattop. It’s a totally new sound.
That guitar features also for the first time our new logo, a C facing another C... standing for the two C of Claudia and Claudio.
A guitar that melts the flat and archtop world together, packed in a beautiful new design: that design will also show up in our new 40-year anniversary flattop model

Its was a big pleasure to build a guitar for and together with my friend and former band mate Sam Senn, whos playing in 2 of Swiss most known bands, BREITBILD and dabufantastic .

Hope he wont have any trouble with the lead singers, since all eyes will now be addressed to him.

How cool to win the Recognition Award of a city that has the balls to engage a free impro band! Pez Zumthor, Simon Ambüel and Dani Seiler... all that in front of paintings from H.R.Giger, another son of the city!

Also Recognition Award winners: the great Gaudenz Signorell and oustanding architect Raphael Zuber!
 

Thanks to all involved people, city councilor Patrik Degiacomi for his enthusiasm, Karin Punzi for her great laudatio and to all of you who have congratulated us.

Its a big honour for us! Proud to be Churer..;-)

Adriano Sergio and Thomas Rosberg from Ergon guitars, Lisboa in tha house!

Great people, great guitars! and great wine...

Wow... back from NAMM 2018 in Los Angeles… what a fair!

We displayed our guitars at the «Luthiers Beyond Limits» booth, a collaboration of 6 outstanding Luthiers, including Mario Beauregard, TAO, Michihiro Matsuda, Steve Klein, Jean Ives Alquier and ourselves. Since we all appreciate the work of each other we came up with the idea to celebrate that with a common booth.

Of course, it was also more visible than a single booth…. a row of 20 meters…!

Thank you all who showed up, thanks for the good talks and the great music. And sorry to all we promised to visit their booth, we just had no chance to leave the stand. I guess you all had the same problem… ;-)

Please have a look at the pics for an impression… unfortunately, we have forgotten to take more. And watch also the video «Guitar Interactive - The Free Online Guitar Magazine» for a more lively impression ;-)

We are proud to announce that PAGELLI will exhibit at NAMM Show in Los Angeles as part of a group of worlds most recognised luthiers! Find us under the common name LUTHIERS BEYOND LIMITS at NAMM from 25-28. January at Booth 3802.

Luthiers Beyond Limits are a new association of visionary builders who have, collectively, advanced the contemporary benchmark for design. They formed this group to exhibit together based on their mutual respect for and recognition of the innovations they have all made. In the past decade [and more] they have been at the forefront in design thinking and «breaking the mold» of guitar design. It is often said when a group like this assembles [and it is true]: collectively they hold centuries’ worth of hands-on knowledge and mastery, and thousands of years of wisdom.

Luthiers Beyond Limits has chosen the first hexagram from the I GING Book of Changes [Ch’ien with its six lines] as the image to represent their association «Beyond Limits».

CH‘IEN THE CREATIVE: «The first hexagram is made up of six unbroken lines. These unbroken lines stand for the primal power, which is light-giving, active, strong, and of the spirit… Its energy is represented as unrestricted by any fixed conditions in space…»

Text by Ed Keller
Ed Keller is a designer of space, image and sound, and professor at The New School, where he directs the Center for Transformative Media. http://ctm.parsons.edu

www.alquierguitars.com

www.beauregardguitars.com

www.matsudaguitars.com

www.kleincommunity.com

www.taoguitars.com

www.pagelli.com

Depeche Mode is one of the bands you should never underestimate. For almost 40 years there are hits and hymns.... classics!

And now that MARTIN GORE has fallen in love with one of our guitars, makes us brutally proud.

To know our GRINGOBEAT in the hands of such a successful songwriter and guitarist in one of the most famous bands of our planet is simply mind-blowing.

Since a few weeks I'm working now in our new shop and its just great!
So relaxed to be close from home. And the vibe is there from the first minute I moved in.

You are very welcome to visit me at Sägenstrasse 78 in Chur!

It was a great pleasure having Luzi Brükli as a guest with us in our workshop. A talk about guitarsbuilding filmed by the TV Südostschweiz. On youtube you still can watch our talk...
 

Thank you very much for all the guests showing up and to GUYA for playing&singing.

Our home in the Swiss Alps is one of our greatest sources of inspiration.

Our limited «Alps and Homeland» edition of 20 special Massari archtops as a tribute to this environment. As our «top-of-the-line» archtop, the Massari model represents everything that Claudio has learned in 36 years of building instruments.

Each of the guitars will have unique features, all based on and inspired by the common theme of «Alps and Homeland». Examples include colors that represent the region, traditional motifs, use of materials sourced in the Alps, and much more. Like our lastest Massari:

 «GRISCHETTAS», Massari 10 | 20

The distinctive decorations known as SGRAFFITO go back to the 16th century. Found throughout Switzerland’s Graubünden region, the technique was first used by the courageous and the wealthy to decorate their homes. Sgraffitos tell stories of origin and status, but also of fears and trepidation. Certain symbols were thought protect from evil, but at the same time, they proudly called for attention. What would the Alpine valley of Engadin be without this splendor!

We’re very happy that these ornaments are represented so beautifully on our Massari n. 10, and that the story of these decorations are now being told in Spain!

Many thanks to Ulysses Schmid for his co-operation on this project. Ulysses is a talented goldsmith based in Chur, he's very innovative and it is worth visiting his website: www.ulysse.ch

.

Don’t miss the opportunity to own one of these wonderful one-of-a-kind and highly collectable guitars. We’ve already built several of the guitars, some of which are already in the hands of their happy owners: Just one is currently still available:
 «CRESTA MOUNTAIN LAKE», Massari 9 | 20

| some more infos and pics about the edition

It was a great joy and honour to meet George Benson yesterday in Zürich.

He is my favourite Jazz guitarst since the early 70ies... so fluid, groovie and tasteful. And yeah, that, after not stopping playing our Massari Archtop Nr. nün, he said: «You made me the highlight of the day» ...made actually the day for me.

Many thanks to allblues concerts for making that possible. www.allblues.ch

It is a great pleasure and honor to announce that we were able to create a custom guitar for BILLY F GIBBONS from ZZTOP.

That such a great guitarist and collector, with incredible knowledge and experience, said that our guitar is one of the «very good ones», fills us with particular pride.

Live Pics by festhalter.ch

Here some pics from our Nouveaux that will be finished around end of August.

Very nice Moonspruce top, Wenge body, Padauk neck and all black parts are Ebony.

The Gitane Nouveaux is one of our absolute Pagelli Favourites.

We are happy that our new client and photographer with taste, Stephan Meier, has chosen that model to have built for him. txs Stephan!

After making mostly Archtops and Acoustics, it was a pleasure to make Electrics again. This «lespaulish» Guitar was made for Ueli Weber, a Swiss customer who already plays a Pagelli Acoustic since many years.
His wish was to have a guitar in that «lespaulish» direction, but light, open sounding, night blueish and elegant.

The guitar features the lightest Mahogany I ever used, a spectacular Canadian Maple Top and Häussel PUP’s. Weight is 3.2 kg and the sound is very open, clear and defined.

And yeah…that scratchplate adds the certain something…;-)

Our favourite US Magazine PREMIERGUITAR made a Feature about the Santa Barbara Guitar Show. Some of the world best Luthiers have been there... and me, myself and I.

Please scroll to «P» on the Pic's and read the flattering words about us...thanks a lot guys! premierguitar.com or click on the pic to the left for a short impression.

He had a dream...

A Bass with a fingerboard towards the end of the body, as we did in 1997 on our golden fretless bass. But single cut, hollow, lightweight and coloured like a 15th century painting from Caravaggio. Invisible electronic, acoustic sounding. That was the dream of our San Diego based client Scott. His dream came true.

What is your dream?
 

next ad...

We’re back from this fall’s guitar shows, and like the storms we’ve been having here at home, they were intense, but oh, so joyful. We want to say thanks to all of you who visited our table, whether for stimulating conversation or to make one of our guitars sing beautifully!

Now it’s time to wind down a bit, and to enjoy some quiet time. This is one of my favorite times for building; when it gets dark early, and the light is focused on the guitar that is emerging.

With all of this in mind, we hope that you all will have relaxing holidays, with opportunities to look ahead.

Our ad's in the Guitar Connoisseur Magazine from this year.
To create these ad's gives me much pleasure...

We will present our new and radical 36. ANNIVERSARY STEEL STRING - our «surround sound guitar», the limited MASSARI Archtop No.9 Cresta Mountain Lake and No.1 of totally 9 of the LES PETITES NAIVES, a limited run that is based on naïve art brut.

In Berlin at the «Holy Grail Guitar Show» we will also present the new semi-electric GRINGOBEAT models.

We look forward to seeing you!

Our latest GRINGOBEAT model, with flamed maple body, spruce top, golden hardware, Fralin pups and 24k golden sides, headstock and finger rest delivered to a new happy customer from Russia.

Click on the pics to the left for slide shows.

Its been a rough 2 weeks but a visit with Claudio and Claudia makes it all worth it. The Pagelli's are leaders in guitar designs and I always have a good laugh in their company. Of course, Im always speechless when they break out their resent works of musical art as there is no one doing anything remotely close to what they do.
Great people, great artists, and great friends.
This is what life is about. Enjoy it as best you can. - Elwood Francis

Your words make us speechless and its worth all the trip to Montreux! You are a great guy and its a pitty your not living closer...:-) Have a great time and for sure we will see us again!

Always a pleasure and interesting to hang out with Billy F Gibbons and Elwood, talking about designs, new materials and directions in guitar making!

Played for the first time ;-)

Sometimes I ask myself what kind of defect must be in the DNA of a guitarbuilder. Polishing for hours?
My wife would love it, if I would be so clean at home...

GOSH…worked so hard the last few months…we completely forgotten to update the site!

Close to finish a new guitar for a client in Moscow… just attaching a little bit of gold to the sides and the headstock.

Click on the pics to the left for slide shows.

Then we are also close to finish the no. 1  of the «LES PETITES NAIVES» series. That guitar was the original idea we had for Martin guitars.

C. F. Martin Guitars USA asked us a while ago if we could make a special edition guitar for them. After going deep into their history we decided to make a guitar that combines their tradition with a new vision. Unfortunately, the financial person of the company stopped the project in the last second. Now we realised it for a new happy user...it could be you!

The finished idea you can check in a few weeks on our site…

Also in the next weeks two «Gringobeat» guitars. One in purple and gold (just before varnishing we got the sad news that Prince died. Therefore, we decided to make a purple one as a tribute.)

The second one will be more experimental…we will lacquer it tomorrow... stay tuned.

And last but not least a new 36 Anniversary Acoustic with a modified Kasha bracing. Curious by myself…

So: makes sense to check our site regularly in the next few weeks!

Fish (Prince, Anastacia, Aguilera and many more) and his tec Ryan enjoying the fresh air, the mountain view...and the MASSARI archtop!

Was a great day - great guys!  <(((>

Very nice report about us in the new German grandgtrs issue!

Click on the link to the left for an impression or go for the whole story in grandgtrs on their website.

So old and steeped in tradition - and at the same time as young and innovative: The Rhaetian Railway brings Grisons still revved and locals and fans around the world to dream. Captivating news around the RhB and the trilingual canton is also in the current Contura.

Erika Suter and Meinrad Schade visited us in Scharans for this issue. Out of this visit revolved a wonderful story about «the art of guitarmaking».

For more impressions go to http://contura.rhb.ch/en/home.html or see under Media

Hello Everybody,

We’re sorry that it took us a while to post something about the recent Holy Grail guitar show in Berlin, Germany. I was hit with a serious back problem that sent me to the hospital, and which resulted in a forced break from all guitar activities (but I’m all better now!).

First of all: A heartfelt thanks to all the folks who visited our table, and loads of gratitude to all the people who organized the beautiful event!

We brought four guitars to the show: Number 9 of our limited run of 20 «Alps and Homeland» Massari archtops, see below or under Archtop Guitars / Massari, our new flattop prototype and two of our new «Les Petites Naives»

Our new flattop prototype features many of the innovative ideas - including a soundhole that is moved into the cutaway area - that we first introduced on an acoustic bass we built in 2005. We had tried some of these elements on the stone-top guitar we built for the Truffler Co. in Vals, Switzerland, and we were curious as to how they would work on a more traditional wooden guitar. Moving the soundhole allows for a much greater active top surface, leading to an incredibly full sound with a more effective bass response. And the best part is that the higher register is just as accessible as it would be with a conventional cutaway. We call this design «Soundhole Included Top Cut».

For an impression click on the Berlin HGGS-link to the left.

We showed as well as numbers 2 and 3 of our new «Les Petites Naives» series. Inspired by the «Art Brut» movement, these instruments are based on a parlor guitar shape, and will be available in a limited edition of nine guitars, each one of which is unique.

Click on the link to the left for a slide show.

We also wish to thank all our friends who joined us as well as Juha and Emma Ruokangas (of Ruokangas Guitars) at our joined anniversary party (36 years for us, 20 years for Ruokangas) at Berlin’s Zombie Kitchen Club. We had an amazing time, laughed a lot, and shed some tears over everyone’s kind words, gestures, and songs. A big shout out also to Ralf Scholl from the club, and the band «Berlindudes» - you guys gave it your all!

Click on the link to the left for a slide show.

Our home in the Swiss Alps is one of our greatest sources of inspiration.

Our creativity is fueled by the mountains, the water, the clear air, the forests, the customs, the materials, the people, the language, the food, the colors, and countless other things that surround us every day.

As such, we see our limited «Alps and Homeland» edition of 20 special Massari archtops as a tribute to this environment. As our «top-of-the-line» archtop, the Massari model represents everything that Claudio has learned in 36 years of building instruments.

Each of the guitars will have unique features, all based on and inspired by the common theme of «Alps and Homeland». Examples include colors that represent the region, traditional motifs, use of materials sourced in the Alps, and much more.

We’ve already built several of the guitars, some of which are already in the hands of their happy owners, while a few are currently still available.
These include «MYSTIC MOSS OF MAGIC STONE», Massari Super de Luxe 6 | 20 (Music Zoo, New York) and the «CRESTA MOUNTAIN LAKE», Massari 9 | 20 which we have here in our shop in Scharans, Switzerland.

The following guitars (see photo gallery) have already been delivered:
Number 1 | ais: «LICHEN-SPLASHED ROCK»
Number 2 | zwai: «THUNDERSTORM IN THE MOUNTAIN»
Number 3 | drü: «LA STRADA ALTA»
Number 4 | viar: «LEAVING NATURE TO ITSELF»
Number 5 | füüf: «HERITAGE RED OF THE ENGADIN»
Number 7 | siba: «BLUE SUMMER SKY IN THE MOUNTIAN»
Number 8 | acht: «ONSET OF WINTER»

Don’t miss the opportunity to own one of these wonderful one-of-a-kind and highly collectable guitars.

| some more infos and pics

Finito!

Our newest Massari Archtop!

This Beauty is now in Los Angeles at «La Boutique de Musique» .

Internationally renowned Swiss fashion house Akris is using our guitar designs for its new, inspired-by ’60s beatnik Francoise Hardy, Akris punto collection.

No strangers to being on stage, Pagelli designs can now also be found on the catwalks of the world! 

www.akris.ch

Here we are... 

our new «massari» archtop at the booth. In bester Gesellschaft mit Ulrich Teuffel's neuer, schöner «antonio».

Die Berliner "HolyGrailGuitarShow" 2014 am Wochenende vom 15./16. November war schlichtweg wunderbar!

115 tolle Gitarrenbauer, darunter einige der Perlen unseres Planeten, ein tolles und fachkundiges Publikum, eine tolle und über sich hinausgewachsene Organisation... und das bei der ersten Show!

Und nachdem Healdsburg USA nicht mehr stattfinden wird, ist die HGGS in Berlin nun weltweit die grösste und wichtigste Adresse, wenn es um handgefertigte Gitarren geht.

Wir sind stolz bei der Gründung und der ersten "Ausgabe" dabei gewesen zu sein... See you next year!

mehr Impressionen unter:

www.holygrailguitarshow.com

www.facebook.com/holygrailguitarshow