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Re: Brandoni Guitars (revisited) - A luthiers wet dream!!!.

Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 3:13 am
by PorkyPrimeCut
I went back today in the hope that Mr Brandoni would have a really hard to find part.

He gave me 2 of them, for free! Such a lovely guy!!

Pics of cool stuff to follow....

Re: Brandoni Guitars (revisited) - A luthiers wet dream!!!.

Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 7:12 am
by PorkyPrimeCut
So, this was the part I was after...

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There's loads more about this guitar & the work I'm doing on it here.

Yet again he had more gear that he's brought back from Italy that he was slowly piecing together into complete guitars....

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It really is Teardrop & Phantom heaven at the moment. Funnily enough, I'd seen what I thought was a rare 9-string on Reverb yesterday. He had 3 of them!

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This time around I spotted a load of these really unusual curly-headed basses. He had a bundle of blank necks too so I assume, if you wanted, you could make a six string out of one too. I don't remember seeing these before so I reckon they must be newer stock brought over from Italy...

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In another part of the studio he had 4 racks of new & old cases, all of which had finished guitars in them. He opened one up for me to photograph. Seriously, I'd loved to have looked in every one of them but didn't want to feel like I was putting him out too much...

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I could spend all day in this fucking place! Everywhere you look there's tubs full of parts, necks, bodies & projects still incomplete. At one point he dug out a gorgeous Welson archtop but I didn't take a picture. Ah well...

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...and if that wasn't enough he showed me some photos of the small warehouse he has in Italy, full of stock yet to be used...

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I had a really interesting chat with him. He's 75 now & has basically dedicated 40 years of his life to bringing these parts to life. He originally looked at it as a 10 year deal but obviously discovered a passion for luthiery that he's found hard to give up.
I asked if anyone's ever offered to buy the whole business off him & he says he's half way through working that out. Whether that means he's negotiating with an interested party or is just sizing up the value is anyone's guess. Again, I didn't want to appear rude & dig too deep.

One thing he did say though (and this might be of interest to any budding luthiers in the UK), the place needs 2 dedicated builders. He reckons the leftover stock would easily provide 30+ years of work. How folk would go about becoming those 2 people is something you'd have to discuss with him but he obviously wants to pass the torch on to someone who has a similar love for this kind of thing.

I have no real need to go back now as I have all the parts I need for my Ultrasonic. Still, I get the feeling I'll go back, if anything, just so I can browse the racks of old wood & marvel at the pieces he has stashed away. The place is absolutely fascinating!

Re: Brandoni Guitars (revisited) - New pics.....

Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 12:20 pm
by antisymmetric
Fascinating stuff, thanks for sharing!

Edit: Just realising how far back this thread goes- how did I miss it? :fp:

Re: Brandoni Guitars (revisited) - New pics.....

Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 4:50 am
by Jaguar018
This update is so cool; it's one of those kinds of things that remind me why I like OSG and guitars so much. 8) :-*

Re: Brandoni Guitars (revisited) - New pics.....

Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 5:38 am
by shadowplay
Aye Mark you're going gods work in here. It's nice to hear they gave you the time of day, often these sort of marque/brand obsessives can be hard work and hard to get around.

D

Re: Brandoni Guitars (revisited) - New pics.....

Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:16 am
by PorkyPrimeCut
Glad you like it, folks.

I might have come up with another excuse to head back there :)

It's a bit of a lengthy tube journey from Camberwell - 23 stops & virtually the full length of the Bakerloo Line. You don't even come out into countryside, just a particularly grim part of North Wembley!
I realise that I've never actually picked up & played any of the guitars I've seen. Looking back through these recent snaps I can what could well be some very playable acoustics. I doubt he'd go as far as to let me plug anything in (although you never know) but I might see if he'll let me test out some of his acoustic builds. Unsurprisingly, he's a big fan of old EKO Rangers so we're stood on common ground in that respect.

Incidentally, he seems to be building a handful of double necked electric Mandolin-style guitars at the moment. I don't know if he's found a market for these or if he's just making the most of his spare time & coming up with interesting creations for the pure fun of it.

Re: Brandoni Guitars (revisited) - New pics.....

Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:21 am
by UlricvonCatalyst
I doff my cap to OSG's resident Eko/Vox expert. I'd love to pay them a visit some time, but there's maybe a danger that a steady stream of OSGers wanting to mooch around could get the old boy's goat.

Re: Brandoni Guitars (revisited) - A luthiers wet dream!!!.

Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:26 am
by Shadoweclipse13
PorkyPrimeCut wrote:Image
Lefty Phantom?!? Holy fuck!!÷

Re: Brandoni Guitars (revisited) - New pics.....

Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:47 am
by PorkyPrimeCut
Pretty crazy, eh? I guess it's not often you see an orange, leftie, 9-string Phantom.

Re: Brandoni Guitars (revisited) - New pics.....

Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 7:29 am
by Shadoweclipse13
PorkyPrimeCut wrote:Pretty crazy, eh? I guess it's not often you see an orange, leftie, 9-string Phantom.
That's amazing. Let me count the crazy:
-9-string, I've never seen ever,
-Phantoms aren't the most common guitars,
-lefties are rare enough in the wild,
-vintage lefties even more so,
-lefty that isn't the same old black or shitty 3 tone burst.

Re: Brandoni Guitars (revisited) - New pics.....

Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 7:42 am
by PorkyPrimeCut
Shadoweclipse13 wrote: -vintage lefties even more so,
In fairness, many of these guitars are built using NOS parts but weren't necessarily "stock" products that Vox were ever selling.

I took this pic the last time I was there. This one is stock...

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I'd love to know how many items like this he has tucked away in that Italian warehouse.

Re: Brandoni Guitars (revisited) - New pics.....

Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 5:23 am
by SpaceJan
I still fail to understand how can he have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING Starstream XII-related lying around inside that treasure trove that is his Wembley warehouse... :(

Do you have any clue on where his Italian warehouse might be?
I am currently living just a few kms away from mr.Brandoni's place of origin, if someone could direct me in the right way I guess I could gladly help other people in scoring some interesting parts too...

Re: Brandoni Guitars (revisited) - New pics.....

Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 1:46 pm
by PorkyPrimeCut
SpaceJan wrote:I still fail to understand how can he have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING Starstream XII-related lying around inside that treasure trove that is his Wembley warehouse...

Do you have any clue on where his Italian warehouse might be?
I am currently living just a few kms away from mr.Brandoni's place of origin, if someone could direct me in the right way I guess I could gladly help other people in scoring some interesting parts too...
The thing is, 10 years ago he probably did but he's been spending every day since then slowly piecing together guitars from old stock parts, then selling them. He's not just storing the stuff. He actually has a viable business selling guitars & has been making a living from it for years.

I'd imagine the warehouse is simple his lock-up that he owns back in Italy so knowing where it is will probably be of no use. I have asked in the past about certain parts. When I got my 6 string neck I asked if he could get hold of the original VOX-stamped tuners. Not a chance! They'd long gone.

What exactly is it that you're looking for?

Re: Brandoni Guitars (revisited) - New pics.....

Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2018 1:58 pm
by joemo
Hi, Back in the spring, after many attempts over 2 weeks, I managed to speak to Roberto (I think) on the phone. At the time I was considering whether a 60s Vox Phantom Stereo VII restoration project I had been offered was viable or not. The neck was in a bad way. The Brandoni website lists replacement VII string necks but when I asked Roberto about this he said they aren’t for sale. The only way I could get one was if I ordered a complete guitar. I passed on the project and bought a 1966 Mark VI Acoustic instead.

I still wonder about the necks and if anyone else has had a similar experience or if I just called on a bad day. I’d definitely like to visit his workshop though. Maybe I’d have better luck face to face?

Anyone?

Re: Brandoni Guitars (revisited) - A luthiers wet dream!!!.

Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2018 2:08 pm
by DeathJag
PorkyPrimeCut wrote:
Thu Jul 20, 2017 7:12 am
So, this was the part I was after...
Awesome, awesome post. Thanks for the great read and cool pix!