MASTERCLASSES/WORKSHOPS AT THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR VILLAGE in contemporary of CREMONA MUSICA INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS – CREMONA FAIR
September 26th, 27th, 28th

info: info@armadilloclub.org

Masterclass of Lutherie for Acoustic Guitar, classical and modern

Friday 26th, Staurday 27th, Sunday 28th 2025
Masterclass room 1 at the Cremona Fair Offices

Teachers: RICHARD HOOVER (US) and TOM BILLS (US)
translation and assistence by Max Monterosso, Mirko Borghino

open to all luthiers and guitar maker lovers – total registration price: € 250,00
APPLICATION FORM

Program:

Master Luthier RICHARD HOOVER (US)
Richard Hoover began learning his craft in the 1960s, and became well known in his home town of Santa Cruz, California, after having run his own guitar repair and manufacturing shop for several years. In the early 70s there was little information on building steel-string guitars available, and builders like Hoover, Bob Taylor, Jean Larrivée and Michael Gurian started collaborating, sharing ideas, tools, and techniques as they discovered them. Hoover also learned from reading an “armload of books on how to make violins” and learned techniques on wood finishes from a Swedish finish carpenter. He is reputed to have “trained some of the most accomplished contemporary luthiers in his workshop”.
In 1976 Hoover was approached by investors Bruce Ross and William Davis, who wanted to start their own acoustic guitar company. Hoover had made his own guitar and he was invited to be part of the team and “Santa Cruz Guitar Company” was founded. Years later, Hoover became the only owner.
During their entire history the company has paid high attention to detail, and kept their size limited to be able to make each instrument sound its best. They have worked diligently on developing new designs and understanding of materials to allow for a greater variation in tone, because where traditional guitars were required to produce a certain amount of volume in order to compete with other instruments, smaller bodied guitars can now be amplified with a microphone if necessary.
Among the great guitar players with a custom made Santa Cruz guitar are Eric Clapton, Doc Watson, Tony Rice, Warren Haynes, Elvis Costello and many others.
https://santacruzguitar.com/

Intro and Raison d’etre::
Santa Cruz, as a pioneer in applying time-honored “secrets” of the school of Amati, including contributions from Stradivari, Guenari, etc., changed the way modern guitars were made.
Heretofore, the steel string guitar had become a mass-appeal folk instrument where affordability far outweighed any concern for inspirational quality of sound.
Everything changed when the major brands enjoyed a spectacular post-WWII sales boom.
The Allies won, and with the spoils of war, we bought subsidized housing, cars, and guitars by the hundreds of thousands.
Brand credibility wasn’t based on the quality of the guitar’s sound but rather on its association with celebrity artists, radio, and television presence.
Acoustic loudness and prevalent bass volume were the desirable properties in the folk boom repertoire simply because steel-string guitar players had yet to be introduced to the sophisticated qualities of the professional violin or classical guitar.
With no challenge yet from low-priced offshore competition, which wouldn’t arrive until the 1970s…
With the limits of a pre-internet marketing culture, Martin and Gibson ruled and prospered.
They could afford to dumb down to reduce the costs of their products while maintaining the profitability of a near monopoly in the American market.
This is the environment into which Santa Cruz Guitar entered the scene.
Players were ready for a better guitar at a time when the big brands had effectively blocked the entry of new brands into the marketplace.
Santa Cruz Guitar’s reintroduction of repeatable sound quality through:
A return to the proven methodology of the violin masters
Our ability to customize, where others can’t or don’t know how
Raising the industry’s bar for quality and upending the downward spiral of new guitar quality from the 1970s to the present day.

Program of the lessons
1st Day – Friday 26th September, from 10am to 1pm:

• Intro to Santa Cruz Guitar Company and Its Mission:
  • Starting with the status of guitar making in the mid-20th century, Richard pays tribute to the pioneers of a new wave of builders who hoped to become the “Next Martin.”
  • How the comeuppance from:
    • The effects of the early 80s recession
    • Disco
    • MIDI
    • Boomers coming to grips with babies and student loans
    • All combined to defeat the first serious threat to the corporate American guitar-making monopoly.
  • On the first day, Richard will introduce SCGC’s history, beginnings, and the challenges faced to educate the public on the possibility that:
    • A guitar can be hand-built by humans to a higher level of sound and personal playability than one made by experts in a factory.
    • The idea of a repeatable degree of excellent sound while capturing personal preference for EQ, tone, and presence is something most would assume would be best done by an old brand like Martin or Gibson.
    • However, this isn’t possible while maintaining the goal of a profitable price target.
  • Richard will explain how:
    • Achieving these desirable properties of sound has long been abandoned by bigger companies.
    • Larger market share is prioritized over esoteric and inefficient practices.
  • In our first day, we will:
    • Debunk some common myths about how to control sound.
    • Explain those proven through the scientific method and repeatable experimentation.
  • Close with:
    • Demo of voicing and tuning.
    • Wood choices.
    • Myth-busting on the role of tonewood with examples.
    • Intro to tomorrow’s Modal Analysis talk.

2nd Day – Saturday 27th September, from 10am to 1pm:

• One of Richard’s career goals has been to take his lifelong study and half a century of practice in the violin makers’ art of evaluation and manipulation of individual tonewood examples.
• This isn’t a quest for the “best” but rather to:
  • Quantify the optimal qualities and properties of sound for each instrument.
  • Unlike the violin, whose target is from established tradition, the guitar is voiced to accommodate individual preferences specific to Bluegrass, jazz, or classical genres.
• Our goal:
  • Put these findings into a scientific vocabulary.
  • Develop the tools to measure them.
• Here today is Santa Cruz VP of Operations and Acoustic Science, Rick Barto.
  • Rick will share the journey and collaborators along with a presentation of the world’s most sophisticated modal analysis for tonewoods
• RB’s presentation:
  • Title:
    • Bridging Tradition and Science: Advancing Lutherie with Acoustic Modal Analysis
  • Description:
    • This talk explores the Acoustic Modal Analysis Program (AMAP), a groundbreaking approach that merges traditional lutherie craftsmanship with scientific data analysis.
    • Modal analysis is a technique used to:
      • Study how materials vibrate by identifying their natural resonance frequencies, stiffness, and damping characteristics.
      • By applying this method to tonewood at various stages of guitar construction, AMAP enables predictive modeling of sonic characteristics.
      • Optimize wood selection, voicing techniques, and training processes.
    • Learn how this data-driven method:
      • Enhances consistency.
      • Refines customization.
      • Preserves the artistry of fine guitar making while pushing the boundaries of innovation.

3rd Day – Sunday 28th September, from 10am to 1pm:

• The Business of Lutherie
  • Anecdotes on success and failures.
  • Including:
    • Design
    • Marketing
    • Artist relations
    • Industry awareness
• How to run a prudent business through:
  • Budgeting
  • Money management
  • Accessing professional data on sales trends
  • Customer access
• Standing out in an increasingly competitive field of guitar builders.
• How to be a respected source of builders.
• This is less a “how-to” guide and more a guide to sourcing pro bono individual advice specific to your business.
  • (Provide handouts)

• Closing Remarks
  • Rick, closing statement.
  • Me
  • Close with:
    • Q&A
    • Exchange of contacts
  • “Don’t Try This Alone” lecture:
    • Give back, open source.
    • “A rising tide floats all boats.”

M° Liutaio TOM BILLS (Usa), straordinario costruttore di chitarre archtop e flattop, steel strings e nylon strings
Tom Bills dal 1998 realizza chitarre uniche nel loro genere per i migliori musicisti e collezionisti di tutto il mondo. Tom è anche l’autore del libro/DVD sulla costruzione di chitarre “The Art Of Lutherie”, pubblicato da Mel Bay, e ha scritto e partecipato a numerose pubblicazioni, sia cartacee che online, oltre a essere apparso in diversi spot televisivi e cinematografici
“Costruire chitarre è qualcosa di molto speciale per me, qualcosa che apprezzo moltissimo e che influenza profondamente ogni aspetto della mia vita. Non lo considero un business o una carriera da intraprendere, per me è l’arte e la musica della mia vita, uno dei motivi per cui sono qui su questa terra ora, in questo momento e in questo luogo”
Tom Bills
https://tbguitars.com/

Programma lezioni “LIUTERIA ATOMICA” utilizzare la potenzialità dei piccoli dettagli per dare vita a chitarre straordinarie

1° Giorno – venerdì 26 settembre, dalle 14 alle 17:
L’Onda Primaria: comprendere la scala e la dinamica delle corde
-Introduzione
-DNA della vibrazione: teoria delle corde e architettura dei toni
-Superare il macchinario PLEK: intonazione perfetta del design della tua tastiera
-Dinamica della forza: geometria del manico-ponte ed energia tonale
-Domande & Risposte

2° giorno – Sabato 27 settembre, dalle 14 alle 17:
La Cascata Energetica: ponti, incatenature e risonanze
-La porta dell’energia: design del ponte e trasferimento della vibrazione
-Orchestrare la vibrazione: modelli strategici delle incatenature e profili
-The Acoustic Canvas: architettura della tavola armonica e dinamiche della cavità d’aria
-Domande & Risposte

3° giorno – Domenica 28 settembre, dalle 14 alle 17:
Convergenza Armonica: materiali, proporzioni e la voce del costruttore
-L’arte dell’ascolto: selezione strategica dei legni e degli altri materiali
-Geometria sacra: armonia nelle dimensioni e relazione tra proporzioni
-Il tocco dell’artista: elementi finali e ricerca della propria voce
-Il viaggio reciproco: applicazioni personali e coltivare la crescita artistica
-Domande & Risposte

Masterclass di perfezionamento per mandolino

domenica 28 settembre  2025 dalle 10 alle 12,30
sala Masterclass 2 presso Uffici di Cremona Fiere

Docente:  M° CARLO AONZO (Ita)
………………………………………………………………………………..
Costo euro 50,00
per iscrizioni scrivere a giulia.alliri@gmail.com
info@accademiamandolino.com

M° CARLO AONZO
Docente di mandolino presso il Conservatorio di Bari, concertista di fama internazionale, si esibisce e collabora con le maggiori istituzioni sinfoniche tra cui il Teatro alla Scala, il Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, il Teatro Comunale di Ferrara, il Teatro Carlo Felice (Genova), il Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania, l’Orchestra Sinfonica dell’Emilia Romagna, l’Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, la Carnegie Hall di New York, la Nashville Chamber Orchestra, la McGill Chamber Orchestra di Montreal, la Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra del New Hampshire (USA), la Philarmonia di San Pietroburgo, i Solisti da Camera di Minsk (Bielorussia). Tra i suoi riconoscimenti si annoverano il Primo Premio assoluto e il premio speciale “Vivaldi” al Concorso Internazionale “Pitzianti” di Venezia e il Primo Premio al Walnut Valley National Mandolin Contest a Winfield, Kansas. Il profondo interesse per la valorizzazione e promozione del mandolino è testimoniato dalle sue innumerevoli collaborazioni sia concertistiche che didattiche con le orchestre mandolinistiche di tutto il mondo da New York a San Pietroburgo, da Montreal a Vancouver, da Saigon a Tokyo, da Berlino a Londra. Dal 2000 dirige il corso annuale “Carlo Aonzo Mandolin Workshop” a New York e Milwaukee, nel 2006 fonda e dirige l’Accademia Internazionale Italiana di Mandolino, punto di riferimento per i mandolinisti di tutti i continenti per i suoi corsi, workshop, pubblicazioni e ricerche. Viene regolarmente invitato come direttore musicale, docente e presidente di giuria da note istituzioni mandolinistiche quali Classical Mandolin Society of America, Federation of Australasian Mandolin Ensemble, European Guitar and Mandolin Association, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamp (Tennessee), Zupfmusik-verband Schweiz (Svizzera), River of the West Mandolin Camp (Oregon), Mandolin Festival in Berlin, Saigon Guitar Festival, Goa Mando Fest (India), Osaka International Mandolin Competition, Yasuo-Kuwahara Competition Schweinfurt (Germania) e “Concorso Internazionale per Mandolino Solo” di Modena. Come ricercatore collabora con il New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians e presenta conferenze sull’iconografia del mandolino in numerose università e centri di ricerca internazionali tra cui la Waseda University di Tokyo, il Dartmouth College, la St. John’s University e il Metropolitan Museum di New York, la Boston University, il New England Conservatory, il Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, il Vanderbilt College of Nashville e il Museo Nazionale degli strumenti musicali di Roma. Innumerevoli i suoi progetti discografici ed editoriali sia in ambito classico che non, tesi alla riscoperta e nobilitazione del mandolino in tutte le sue declinazioni espressive. Tra le sue collaborazioni più recenti quella con il Direttore d’orchestra Federico Maria Sardelli e il Maestro pianista Bruno Canino.
www.accademiamandolino.com
www.carloaonzo.com

Materiale didattico: Tutto il materiale necessario verrà fornito in anticipo in formato digitale

BUON LAVORO!