Saeid Aboutalebian Balsa doubletop 2023 No 52

Saeid Aboutalebian is a young builder from Iran who makes guitars in Barcelona Spain. Saied made some traditional string instruments in Iran and started making guitars some years ago. Here is his number 52 from 20223. That is a double-top with Balsa as an inner. The guitar is warm and loud and has been chosen by great players such as Alvaro Pierri (Maestro at Vienna University). The craftsmanship is exquisite and the playability top-notched.

Saeid changed some small thing in that No 52 : the lower bout in no 46 was 362mm (Jose Romanillos pattern) but with this No 51 the lower bout is 373 mm . Also, he changed some fans. As a result, the guitar is slightly louder with the same tone quality.

When we received Saeid’s guitar, we have been stuck with the wood quality used for both the back and sides and the top. The Indian rosewood is very figured and really looks like a Madagascar rosewood. The cedar top is thin and one can see the balsa bracing depending on the light. The guitar is light as most of the double-top. The rosette is I guess inspired by the Cordoba architecture and is wonderful.

However the most surprising is the sound quality: this double-top made by an unknown maker in Barcelona could be ranked among the top double-tops including big names such ar Wagner, Dammann, Muller, Tolz, Blackwell, Kobs and Canin. The sound is warm with some brightness and the playability amazing.

The guitar features: