Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I owned this guitar for several years and very recently parted with it. I mainly play jazz, funk, soul and classical music but choro has been a big part of my life for over a decade. I became fascinated by the 7-string violão and wanted to get one. Most of the recommendations I got from friends and other pros were to go with a custom guitar built by a Brazilian luthier, which start around US$3,500. Not wanting to go quite that far, I eventually found the Giannini line being sold at a Florida importer/retailer (Guitar Plaza) and ordered this one. I didn't have much luck with the first one. It sustained some structural damage in shipping and one of the top braces had come loose. I was quickly shipped another one and that one arrived unscathed.
The craftsmanship was okay. There was some visible glue squeeze-out on the inside. The braces were finished very roughly. Some of the binding didn't line up. The mosaic strip down the back was the worst of it. The top was some very nice cedar. The fingerboard was also some very nice jet black ebony and was quite thick. There was a problem with the high E string rolling over the edge of the fingerboard due to the nut being cut wrong. I made another out of bone and it was no longer an issue. There was also a problem with the pickup. I suspect that since B-Band does not make a dedicated 7-string under-saddle transducer (UST), Giannini just puts in a regular 6-string one. This resulted in the high E string being practically inaudible while the other strings were picked up fine. I tried adjusting it and then the low B would disappear. I never did fix the issue since I rarely played amplified but it could be a real problem for someone wanting to regularly perform amplified.
While it was a bit rough around the edges and there was a problem with the pickup, it did manage to produce a decent tone and moderate volume. It does make sense for those who want to test the waters before jumping up to a custom violão but for those who already have their chops, I'd look elsewhere.
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