No one builds a guitar like Ervin Somogyi, period. He’s inspired several generations of luthiers to push the envelope to its furthest reaches, to voice their guitars for maximum resonance and clarity. It’s humbling for us to see one of his most recent builds, to see what kind of guitar stands at the root of our modern luthier renaissance. This Mod D has some of the prettiest Brazilian Rosewood we’ve ever seen (and we’ve seen a lot of Brazilian to make your mouth water), and Ervin adorned the European Spruce top with an intricate chip-carved rosette in the style of a celtic knot, which you’ll also find in the endgraft. Vertical bars of Abalone on the bass side of the fretboard, Rodgers gold tuners with black pearl knobs—and a headstock that’s a study in color and marquetry. Although the label says 2017, Ervin actually finished this guitar this year in 2018.
The tone is 100% Somogyi. Bass response has a warm fundamental with great definition; clear string to string balance to articulate fingerstyle voicings; sustain you can hang your coat on. This guitar has an elegant presence, and a velvet smoothness that’s easy to lose track of time in. Ervin’s Modified Dreadnoughts are in a category all their own. It’s a guitar like this that reminds us of just how far a luthier can stretch their abilities in the pursuit of tone and their individual aesthetic.
Other keywords: MD, brazilain, ervinsomogyi, esomogyi, contemporary guitar, dreadnaught