The Solea hails from a small independent Lutherie in Kremona, Bulgaria. Handbuilt, with highly figured solid Cocobolo (S.American hardwood) back and sides and a solid red cedar top sourced from the same forests as were the Stradavari instruments, the Solea has a clean, clear tone with exceptional separation and articulation. The smooth Honduras cedar neck and the black marble-like ebony fingerboard make playing a pleasure and on our particular sample, the setup was perfect – somewhere between the classical and flamenco. 

The electric side of the instrument is however the most interesting. Fitted in the UK by distributors Sandarac, the beauty of the active Mi-Si Acoustic Trio system is that it is battery free. No 9 volt . No hassle. And comes with a pre-amp designed specifically to work with the LR Baggs undersaddle acoustic guitar pickup. The marketing blurb tells me that the preamp uses Mi-Si’s custom piezo linearization scheme, to produce the most truthful and accurate sound from the pickup. Amen! In many years of listening, I have rarely heard such a faithful reproduction of the acoustic sound of an instrument. And powering up the preamp is a piece of cake: place the jack end of the Mi-Si Power Charger into the end pin and switch on for 60 seconds. You’re fully charged, with an incredible 16 hours playing time!

For more go to Sandarac.co.uk