Karel Dedain – 2021 "Premium" 64 cm

The Premium models are unique instruments that are developed in cooperation with a selection of exceptional luthiers. These models are exclusively available at Siccas Guitars and are built with the finest Cites-certified Brazilian rosewood of premium quality. Due to its outstanding physical and tonal characteristics, this wood has been used in guitar building since the 19th century and is regarded as the most valuable and aesthetically appealing tonewood in guitar building.

Karel Dedain was born in 1976 and built his first guitar in 1998. he lives and works in Gent, Belgium. The passion for playing flamenco guitar aroused his interest in guitar building. He was trained at the CMB (Centrum voor Muziekinstrumentenbouw) by Walter Verreydt and has been building guitars full-time since 2006. Karel specializes mainly in building classical and flamenco guitars. He also teaches guitar making at the Centre for Musical Instrument Making in Puurs, Belgium, together with Walter Verreydt. Karel builds about ten guitars a year, all completely handmade. One of his specialties is shellac polishing. His philosophy in guitar building is not to reinvent everything, but to use the best ideas of historical guitar builders such as Torres, Garcia, Arias and Hernandez to create beautiful instruments.

This guitar, built in 2021, has a lot of unique and exciting features. The aim was to create an instrument that combines excellent playability with a rich, powerful and traditional sound. As a result, this guitar has a 64 cm scale length, which provides comfortable playing for the left hand, and a slightly raised fingerboard, which makes playing in the high registers more comfortable.

The top is made of Italian spruce of the highest quality and is supported by a 7-fan bracing with a very thin transversal bar, a so-called “Barre d’âme”, a construction element adopted from the famous luthier Robert Bouchet. For the back and sides, Karel used an outstanding set of rare Brazilian rosewood (CITES certified), which has a gorgeous dark colour with fascinating orange and green hues. It is one of the most precious- hard woods and it confers a particularly deep and delicate charm to the sound.

As a used instrument, there are only a few, minor signs of normal wear. The fretboard has been professionally narrowed by a German Luthier. The resulting nut width stands at 47.5mm, which provides an enhanced reach for the left hand, conveniently falling in line with its shorter scale of 64cm.

Karel’s excellent craftsmanship is also reflected in the tone characteristics of this instrument. It has a beautifully open sound and an immediate, direct response. In addition, its volume is also impressive and large dynamics can be achieved effortlessly. It is a very comfortable and reliable guitar for both the left and right hand. It will therefore be able to help guitarists looking for a more versatile and enriching instrument to progress quickly. Thus, this guitar is not only distinguished by its beauty, but also by its easy playability and its powerful, colourful, and responsive sound.