Work of a Reinassance man: Bruce, my brother in Jesus
A few months ago I ran across "a guitar customer" who literally turned my world around. Bruce bought one of my finest instruments, a gorgeous Flamed Bubinga Guitar, "Aphelia" is the name of the instrument, designed by my great friend Erik from New York. It is the type of guitar that only a connoisseur would appreciate in its entirety and, when Bruce purchased it, I immediately knew whom I was dealing with.
But I must admit that although my hint was "somewhat in the neighborhood" I was far from imagining the full impact that my friendship with Bruce and our common love in Jesus generate and, to be more precise, is generating in my life as I write this. I have grown to a point where doing God's will and following in the steps of Jesus, is the single most important thing in my life. My daily work is the path God has chosen for me to reach my eternal destiny and it is on that path that Bruce and I met. Bruce was doing the exact same thing and he was aiming at the same eternal destiny when our paths crossed.
The Dalí Bridge (Patent Pending)
The Dalí Bridge (Patent Pending)
A genius Idea, arches above the strings landings
What makes a true genius is the ability to look outside the box, and focus on those details that pass unnoticed to most people. I've seen it many times in my students, the ones that find the right fingering to a musical phrase while others are stuck for months. Bruce is this type of genius and that is why I consider him to be a true Renaissance man, of the stature of Giotto and Da Vinci.
After receiving Aphelia, Bruce started sharing with me some very detailed drawings of a bridge that he had been experimenting with. After the preliminary tests, Bruce was reporting to me improvements on the sound of Aphelia on all fronts: Volume, Sustain, Separation of voices and, considering that Aphelia has an onboard Equalizer, the performance when amplified was also gaining momentum.
The initial reviews were simply unbelievable and had it not been Bruce who was reporting, I would have probably thought it was a scam. As the flow of exchanges augmented, I started seeing the amazing Dalí Saddle develop in Bruce's skilful hands and I started realizing that he was really onto something. As I was looking at that miniature sculpture the name Salvador Dalí popped in my mind immediately and that name has caught on!.
Nothing convinced me more bluntly than the picture I saw of the Dalí (TM) bone saddle once it was mounted on the Flamed Bubinga. Bruce's reports on sound, were simply taking my expectations to unimaginable heights. My excitement was unparalleled.
I had to try it
Now I had to see it and try it, and Bruce was right there to surprise me one more time.
A week later I had over 20 Dalí Saddles with different patterns to enhance different sound palettes on my guitars. They had all been manufactured by hand by Bruce in his Boise, Idaho workshop.
I do not think I have ever changed the saddle on a guitar and mounted new strings so fast. I finished tensioning the strings and could hear the magic coming to life at every turn on the rollers of the tuning machines. By the time I had finished tuning, my son Franco who was sitting at the computer a few feet away, turned around and said:
"What guitar are you playing?"
I told him: "The same I was playing 20 minutes ago"...
He responded: "Get out of here !"
That is how much the sound had improved on the cedar top guitar when Bruce's invention, "the Dalí saddle" (TM) was mounted on it. Bruce informed me it was a "God given vision" and I have no trouble whatsoever believing it. It is clearly the work of God captured by prayer and listening for God's response.
The trebles become crystal clear, the mid ranges roll fabulously without interfering with the singing voice. The third string comes to life and the bass is round and full. Sustain is augmented exponentially and I can say that the overall sound on my guitar has improved on all fronts between 50 and 70%. Bruce then gave it to me -the sole rights to it, permanently. He did this refusing any payment or reimbursement of any kind, saying that it was a gift from God, and that he is just a messenger. I will soon be offering the Dalí saddle (TM) on all Bellucci Custom Guitars. My friend and brother Bruce has added one of the greatest contributions to guitar building since the radiused fingerboard and the cutaway. S.D.G.
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