We are proud to announce that Panucci Custom Guitars is reaching for new frontiers. Last year in 2019, at the Mannheim guitar summit, many visitors told me that my guitars were some of the best at the show, but they didn’t know the brand name. This made me realize that we can no longer be “the best kept secret”. More guitar players need to be able to play my guitars and run into them at their favorite boutique guitar store. This sounds obvious. And in fact, I had been approached by store owners many times asking if they can sell my guitars. But I always had my reservations, because in a way, the whole experience of having me build your guitar is part of the process. Having dealers would cut out this personal contact with me as a guitar builder. However, there comes a point that it is time to get to a new phase. Yes, people can still order a guitar with me, come to the shop, talk about all their wishes. And in addition, now we are also available at some selected boutique guitar stores in Germany, starting with Lead Guitars owned by Ralf Schalck. Also Gregor Hilden has sold Panucci guitars over the years, whenever he could get his hands on one. For us, the contact with store owner is very important. We needed to have a good personal and professional click with them. All of them are people with the same enthusiasme and passion for guitars. They know the all details of my guitars and can talk about everything you need to know. One more thing, having dealers does not mean that I can build more guitars. It’s still a one man shop. I take every detail serious, and in particular the aging needs to take its time. My production will be roughly 30 guitars a year.
It’s been a good start indeed. The German magazine Grand Guitars has decided to feature a review of the ’59-C-056, (which was on sale at Lead Guitars, but sold in a couple of days). A very beautiful review by Leonardt Breuken. His opening words for the article:
“And again the day brings a light for us! Why does the song by Udo Jürgens comes to my mind when I am supposed to test a 59-style guitar? Did Udo Jürgens play a Les Paul? Is he known for fat, heavy, exhilarating guitar sound? Has he been posthumously crowned as guitar hero? No? Then there must be a different reason.” A few more quotes: “What peels out of the case immediately shoots up the blood pressure and expectation, because that „thing“ emits right of the box the vibes of a “Paula” who aged gracefully. She looks worn, but loved and not aged as an end in itself, has a soft, warm colour of amber, a fine grained, not over-the-top flamed and sensationally shaped one-piece maple top, which the belly and recurve has been crafted with an elegant drive I know from the old Paulas. ” And: “The neck dimension is within a moderate ’59 range and feels like walking in perfectly worn-in shoes. The aging and fretwork is sensational.” … “Together with his hand-wound pickups, which tend towards vintage under wound pickups, he is looking to reproduce their open, clear tone.” … At the end of the day it matters to him how it sounds – and that is something I am especially looking forward to.” … “My personal highlight is the neck pickup with moderate gain, here shows the Panucci how beautiful she can sing. And there is that impact but with an inherent sensitivity that just makes happy. „When a dream, any dream doesn’t come true“ sings Udo Jürgens, the Panucci makes every dream come true!” .. “The Panucci ’59 Inspired is not a simple clone of the grand dame but sheds independence and character, she is not just a copy but a further development which brings joy to every Les-Paul-Aficionado.” The story was so heart warming that we decided to make a thank you video featuring a ’59 Inspired and the Udo Jürgens song, played by our friend Sietze Bouma. Yes with that ’59 sound!
In addition, the magazine also has a photo review of the ’59-C-57, inspired after Peter Green. It was a pure coincidence that Peter Green passed away during the production of the magazine. The magazine also has a nice post mortem article of Peter Green with a colour photo of his original guitar.
