Ervin Somogyi was a pioneer in fingerstyle guitar. His designs emphasizing the qualities that fingerstylist need were a big part of the acoustic guitar phenomenon that started with Windham Hill Records. Several of the top artist of that period played Somogyi guitars including William Ackerman, Alex de Grassi, Daniel Hecht, George Winston and others.

Today Ervin Somogyi is one of our true Masters and passes on his knowledge by teaching voicing to many well-known modern makers. Playing just a few notes on this Brazilian Rosewood OM you realize just how unique and special a Somogyi guitar is. This is unlike anything else you’ve ever played. It’s magical, somehow Ervin manages to get Bass that rivals a Dreadnought alongside the sweetest trebles you’ve heard and the trebles strings are as loud as the bass. It’s remarkable really. No doubt the custom radial back bracing on this one is part of the secret. We’ve seen many a players jay drop when they play a Somogyi… this guitar is that kind of guitar.

This Somogyi has one of the most amazing sets of Brazilian we’ve seen from Ervin. The figure is almost like a stack of feathers and the color is deep and rich. It’s topped with European Spruce and dressed in Ervin’s famous segmented rosette and linear abalone fingerboard inlays. The voice is huge and can morph to handle a wide variety of styles. While writing this we played fingerstyle, single line Jazz and flatpick tunes and they all sounded right at home. The big, juicy treble strings make melodies jump across the room and the bass is much bigger than you expect from an OM. The midrange is rich and complex but very articulate with a clear fundamental note. A masterpiece from the Somogyi shop.

We’ve been waiting a long time for this custom Somogyi Modified Dreadnought. We ordered it over 2 years ago, but it was worth the wait. Every time we play a new Somogyi we are reminded that Ervin is an original, one of the true masters of luthery and one who has created a voice rather than replicating others. This is one of the very first Somogyi guitars to offer Ervin’s new Stone Path inlays and we find it nothing less than striking. It’s the perfect accent for this extremely dark and rich Brazilian Rosewood and perfect European Spruce top. This is as fine a guitar as we will ever have, it’s breathtaking to behold and to hear, simple magic from the hands of the master….

Ervin Somogyi somehow creates instruments that are magical. They possess intangible qualities that make them more than instruments, they are musical partners that inspire you to find your voice. This OMC is crafted from lovely quartersawn Brazilian and European Spruce with stunning details. The bass is big and open and the trebles have that piano quality to them, great separation and clarity. This one also has several unique features including a bordered fingerboard and linear lines inlay, a ribbon perfling and laminated and scalloped nut. Somogyis are something all together different and extremely special.

This Spohn OM comes to us nearly new from 2023, coupling a straight-grain set of Ebony for the back and sides with a tight-grained Swiss Moonspruce top. A fantastic example of modern lutherie, we’d pair this OM with any kind of player, but in particular a modern fingerstylist or someone who needs maximum clarity and separation across the registers. Great headroom allows for a range of attacks; this Spohn has the gears for light play and more driving stuff too. Short scale and a 1 3/4” nut width make for an easy playing experience, as does the fantastic weight balance between neck and body. All wrapped up in a lightweight BAM case.

Other keywords/misspellings  fingerpicking, ebany, max spohn, 52

Powerful in an effortless-playing package: our latest OM-C from Max Spohn of Germany. This is a fantastic instrument for fingerstyle work, can hold up for strumming and flat picking too, and is oh. so. lovely to behold both visually and acoustically. Gorgeous Cocobolo back and sides for richness and overtones, Swiss Moonspruce on top for evenness and clarity—the voice is quick, crisp, smooth. An excellent candidate for open tunings. Scheller tuners set against a Spruce headstock veneer, and geometric inlays of purflings and horn. You’ll find that ringing in the soundhole as well (itself with a flat edge on the bass side to parallel the rosette). Tight waist, and pinless Ebano bridge with a scalloped saddle.
This Spohn OM-C stands apart from the crowd of modern guitars with Max’s particular aesthetic, and exceptionally precise voice.

Other keywords: fingerstyle, fingerpicking, moon spruce, swiss spruce, modern guitar