Benedetto: The Foremost Maker of Archtop Guitars
From the first time he felt the vibrations on his uncle Mike’s archtop guitar, Bob Benedetto has been obsessed with building the instruments. At age 11, he began carving miniature guitars from scraps he found beneath his father’s table saw. Later, his father, Salvatore, and uncle, Luigi Tavarone, both cabinetmakers, taught Bob the fundamentals of woodworking. In 1968, after serving four years in the Air Force, Bob built his first full-size, archtop guitar in his bedroom, using wood from the family’s 30-year-old maple table to make the neck.
An accomplished violinist, Bob’s uncle Frank Benedetto taught Bob to play guitar as a young boy. Growing up, Bob played in various bands made up of his family and friends.
Bob met his wife, Cindy, when he was playing a wedding gig where she was the photographer. Through her enthusiasm and his passion for jazz guitars, they’ve cultivated the Benedetto name among archtop enthusiasts. Making Music recently caught up with Cindy and Bob to find out what it’s been like building this pre-eminent archtop guitar company.
Q: Did Bob ever consider a career in another field?
Cindy: No, his dream from the early age of 11 was to attain international acclaim as the finest archtop guitar maker.
Q Was Bob already making and selling archtops when you met?
Cindy: Yes, he made his first guitar in 1968, and had a few customers when we met in 1974, and married in June 1975.
Q: What was it like for you both in those early days trying to build his reputation as a luthier?
Cindy:It was very much a learning process. With my involvement doing all the correspondence, paying the bills, and loving my communications with the players, Bob was free to focus on making the guitars. My enthusiasm was as strong as Bob’s, and we each had our special talents. I was always a people person, while Bob preferred solitude at his workbench. It was rewarding every step of the way.
Q: Who were the first big guitarists to play Benedetto guitars?
Bob: The first great players that I worked closely with were Bucky Pizzarelli and Chuck Wayne. Of course, their recordings were inspirational to me, even before they started playing my guitars.
Cindy: These players, and many others, were Bob’s heroes. I could write a book (which I’m already working on) about how each became acquainted with Bob’s work—like meeting Bucky in a Florida jazz lounge in 1977. Suffice it to say, Bob and those players had a common interest in what an archtop jazz guitar should be. At the time, Bob was a newcomer and the youngest of a very few people worldwide that made archtops. They all easily related to each other and shared design ideas. Bob simply took the ball and ran with it—like nobody before him.
Q:What aspects of guitar making are most critical to getting the sound that you want from an instrument?
Bob: It’s a combination of things beginning with wood selection, and ending with the player’s pick, and everything in between. But I think the major component is having the voice of the instrument somewhere in my head—or maybe it’s my heart!
Q: Benedetto guitars have appeared in countless concerts, recordings, and soundtracks. Are you sometimes surprised to see a Benedetto?
Cindy: Yes, that often happens, and it is always thrilling!
Q: Can you recognize a Benedetto when you hear it in a recording?
Bob: Sometimes, but usually I recognize a player’s style, and know that he’s playing one of my guitars. The final result in the guitar making process—the voice of the guitar—is very much a marriage between the maker and the player. Both must share the same sensibilities of what a jazz guitar should sound like.
Q: What roles do wood choice and design play in the instruments?
Bob: Both are important. Generally speaking, I use traditional archtop guitar woods—maple for the back, sides, and neck, and spruce for the top. On my higher-end models I prefer European varieties, which are the same woods used for centuries by the bowed instrument makers of Europe. Some of our American woods are every bit as good, but lack the “romance.” The fingerboard, bridge, finger rest, and tailpiece are all made of ebony.
Design is every bit as important. To me, the archtop will always be a jazz guitar with a traditional, tried and true design. The body size, top, and back graduations, and bracing, all contribute to the ultimate warm, balanced voice of a well-made archtop jazz guitar. But, without the player, the guitar is not complete. It is, and has always been, the player that validates our efforts.
Q: I see that Bob experimented with violin making for a period of time. What was the thinking behind this?
Cindy: Bob was always fascinated with the violin and its influence on the design of the archtop guitar. The instruments are made from the same woods and require the same basic skills and tools. For a period of four years, from 1983 to 1987, Bob focused on making violins, culminating in a sale and endorsement by Stephane Grappelli—another of Bob’s heroes.
Q: I see you’ve been very open through the years, teaching others how an archtop is made with a book and DVD, and even offering a course and blueprints. Many instrument makers wouldn’t want to disclose this kind of information. Why this openness?
Cindy: Bob and I have always believed in sharing. Had it not been for the players sharing their ideas, who knows how long it would have taken for Bob to refine the archtop? It’s all about timing: writing the book, instructional DVDs, blueprints, and conducting classes just happened naturally. We are both 100% involved in all things archtop guitar!
Q: How has the move to Savannah, Georgia, and the making of more affordable professional instruments changed the company?
Cindy: Having our own manufacturing facility has given us the opportunity to grow and expand our expensive carved top models, as well as introduce more competitively priced models. In today’s global economy, and with so many guitars being made in China and elsewhere, we are proud to make our guitars completely in the USA (since 1968).
Q: Do you see your market as being strictly professional players or also recreational guitarists?
Both: We make a model for every level of professional player, as well as for nonprofessionals. And every instrument is made with the same dedication and commitment to excellence, regardless of the price.
Q: What achievement are you and Bob most proud of?
Cindy: That we succeeded doing exactly what we committed to do when we first got married 36 years ago. And, that we did it together!
