NGD

[jbtn0902]

Hi all,

I bought a guitar second-hand yesterday which is supposedly from an Italian builder named "Monarch Instruments". On the certificate of authenticity, the instrument dates back to 2022.

However, I cannot find anything about the builder or the guitar online and I was wondering if anyone has heard of it.

Picture attached

 

[Rubbishplayer]

Picture attached

Where?

 

[jbtn0902]

Woops, only just noticed they didn't upload, here they are!

 

[Crungy]

I've never heard of them but it looks cool! Looks like a Schaller Hannes bridge and Schaller locking tuners and I'm assuming Bareknuckle pickups. Hard to say without seeing the bottom side of them.

How does it sound and play?

 

[jbtn0902]

Loving it so far, the neck is a little wider than I expected from such a Mayones looking guitar but it's not bothersome. It's really light and has a great attack and resonance to it. Specs are as follows (received from the seller):

Ash body
Bookmarched burl top
Wenge neck
Hipshot open gear locking tuners
Schaller Hannes bridge
Bareknuckle Silo pickups

 

[Rubbishplayer]

Woops, only just noticed they didn't upload, here they are!

Thanks!

You'd think a luthier would have their own website, other guitars on the market, right?

Well I have seen guitars turn up on the market that are one-offs by a maker, but more often, I've seen this happen when a distributor commissions a test guitar from an OEM manufacturer (in the past, usually Japan, but more recently mostly China).

What happens is a distributor commissions a test guitar, possibly parading it at a trade show. If there's enough interest in the model, it is accepted for manufacture, then you see them turn up in the shops. A lot of guitars start life this way, including Harley Benton (Thomann), Chapman guitars, Tanglewood, etc.

But if there's insufficient interest, it goes nowhere and the test guitar is sold. Maybe you have such a guitar?

I flipped a 6-string bass I found that turned out to be one of those prototypes. Searching the name often does nothing in these cases as it is a brand name that never made it to market.

 

[Rubbishplayer]

A quick Google of "Monarch Instruments" shows an existing company that makes tachos and stroboscopes, so the brandname would have violated trademarks.

Your guitar may be in production today, only under a different name.

 

[jbtn0902]

I was kind of hoping it would, as I'd love to see what else they have made. The only other piece of information I have is that the certificate of authenticity was signed by an Alex Felicioni, but unfortunately I haven't found anything about him either on Google.
Thanks for the effort!

 

[Shawn]

First time I've ever heard of them. Nice guitar nonetheless.