Welcome to Pagelli's world of finest handmade guitars
MASSARI «alps and homeland» - 10 | 20
limited edition
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
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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
07.07.2017
New Shop
We are in middle of moving our shop back to hometown Chur. Scharans was a very nice place, but be back close to where we life will make many things easier. Be welcome in our new shop in August!
George Benson
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
Upcoming shows
Visit us also on following shows:
Guitar Summit 2017 in Mannheim D, 08.- 10.09.2017
Archtop Forum in Kandel D, 04.11.2017
SHG Musicshow Milano I, 18.- 19.11.2017
NAMM Los Angeles US, 25.- 28.01.2018
07.07.2017
Gitane nouveaux
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.
Gitane nouveaux - Stephan Meier
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!
Custom made E-guitar - Ueli Weber
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…;-)
Update 23.12.2016
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.
Dream me up Scottie
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?
22.12.2016
next ad...
Update 08.09.2016
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.
Guitar Connoisseur Magazin
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!
Update 13.06.2016
GRINGOBEAT
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.
Elwood Francis - guitar player / tech
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!
Montreux Jazzfestival - July 2016
Always a pleasure and interesting to hang out with Billy F Gibbons and Elwood, talking about designs, new materials and directions in guitar making!
Gringobeat purple
Played for the first time ;-)
Update 24.06.2016
Getting closer
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...
Update 13.06.2016
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
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! <(((>
Shop
We activeted our shop - at the moment we got some discoveries in stock!
GRAND GTRS, Breukens Boutique Builder - 2016 (Jan/Feb)
by Leonardt Breuken
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.
Contura - the Rhaetian Railway Magazine 2015/2016
by Erika Suter and photos by Meinrad Schade
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
HGGS 2015 Berlin / News / Party
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.
Kind words...
Mats Nermark, Overdrive Consulting, Sweden
«I know of nobody, who so continuously reinvent themselves, while still being easily identifiable, as Claudia and Claudio Pagelli. For more years than I care to count, I have been looking at Pagelli guitars at different shows. And I always wonder how enormously rich and famous they would have been, if they had chosen an art form more accessibly to a broader audience. As it is, we can count ourselves lucky that they did chose guitars and keep enjoying their art for years to come.» - Mats Nermark
to his website and more reports from the HGGS 2015
MASSARI «alps and homeland»
limited edition
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.
36 Years of Pagelli Guitars
36 Years of Pagelli Guitars—we can hardly believe it ourselves!
The internet was still years away, mobile phones didn’t exist, the first synthesizers had just come around, I had hair down to my hips, my wife was still wearing short skirts, and Brazilian rosewood was better firewood. But one thing we know for sure: Even after all these years, we spend every day being excited about guitars, we still feel that we can do even better, that we can get more out of our instruments, and that we haven’t seen the final chapter yet!
We’re touched by all the kind words and congratulations we’ve received from fellow luthiers from around the world, whose work we respect and admire. We’ve grown older with many of them, and a new generation has joined us. Some made a lot of money, others (Pagelli… ;-)) find themselves on the edge of ruin from time to time, but one thing connects us all: A passion and dedication to the instrument that will never go away.
In this spirit, we’d like to thank all of you, and say, «Here’s to the next 36 years!»
Claudio+Claudia
Welcome to our new website!
A while ago, we decided that it was time to feature some new content on this website. But given how we’re a two-person show, things don’t always happen as quickly as we’d like - there are just always too many fires burning at once!
However, we’ve now finally begun to do regular updates, so please come and visit us from time to time. We’re starting with a few basics, and will soon add audio clips, videos, and more.
One of the new features is that even though we are primarily known for our one-of-a-kind custom instruments, it is now possible to order standard Pagelli models. These models have grown out of guitars that we’ve built without a specific order from a client, whether for a trade show or just to get it out of our system, and we’ve often had requests to build similar instruments based on these ideas. These guitars are pure Pagelli designs, instruments on which we were able to give our creativity free reign. Even though they’re models rather than complete custom builds, these guitars can be ordered in many possible variations.
Over the course of the last few years, our focus has mostly been directed toward building acoustic guitars, especially archtops and steel-string flattops. And even though we consider archtops to be the greatest challenge and the ideal vehicle for applying everything we’ve learned, we also enjoy to occasionally indulge in our old passion of electric guitars. Don’t hesitate to ask about them!
We hope you enjoy our new site!
Claudio + Claudia
Massari blue Archtop
Pagelli goes fashion!
Akris punto
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!
NAMM - believe in music!
The 2015 NAMM Show in Anaheim, January 23, 2015
Here we are...
our new «massari» archtop at the booth. In bester Gesellschaft mit Ulrich Teuffel's neuer, schöner «antonio».
GRAND GTRS, Grand Archtops- 01. 2015 (Jan / Feb)
von Peter Schilmöller
Schöner Testbericht im grand gtrs 2015 über die von uns entwickelte und von EASTMAN in Lizenz gebaute Archtop! www.eastmanguitars.com
Danke an Peter Schilmöller und grand gtrs !
Akustik Gitarre, Gitarre&Bass, Grand Gtrs - 01.2015
HGGS 2014, Berlin
Die Holy Grail Guitar Show ist ja jetzt auch schon wieder Geschichte..;-(
Schön wars - freuen uns jetzt schon auf November 2015...
und wer nicht dabei sein konnte, findet in den neuen Ausgaben von Akustik Gitarre, Gitarre&Bass und grand gtrs schöne Impressionen der Ausstellung.
Und natürlich auch auf der www.holygrailguitarshow.com site!
In dem Sinne: Viel Spass beim Durchstöbern! Claudio+Claudia
The Holy Grail Guitarshow
...schlichtweg wunderbar!
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:
Gitarre&Bass und the Holy Grail Guitarshow
15. und 16. November 2014
Auch das Fachmagazin Gitarre&Bass ist in Berlin mit dabei - vorab schon einige Interviews mit Gitarrenbauern aus aller Welt. Unter anderem aber auch mit Claudio:
Unter dem Artikel sind auch Tests verlinkt, die von uns bei Gitarre&Bass über die Jahre erschienen sind – die stehen jetzt zum kostenlosen Download bereit!