This post has been taken from our old blog, read user submitted comments at the bottom!

I will state it for the record, this is not a pleasant post.  I speak my mind clearly.  Some call it name calling.  Renato is a liar.  Why would I say anything different?  He’s a crook.  Again, why would I say anything different?  It is clear he does not know how to build a guitar or what actually makes a “good” classical guitar.   Again, why would I say anything different?   This is based on my own experience, with him and his awful work.  Not hearsay.  Personal and professional experience. I am a known expert in this small world of classical guitar.  I have restored, finished and repaired over 125 classical guitars of exquisite quality and provenance.  I do not count Renato Bellucci’s work in this count (they are not of any quality whatsoever).  I have put thousands upon thousands of guitars in players’ hands.  This ability is predicated upon my knowledge, experience and the integrity of the man that I am and the highly regarded reputation of my gallery.   I know of what I speak.  You’ve been told, you’ve been warned!  Again and again, people do not heed my warnings.  I am tired of it, of him, and his ridiculous work.  Read on, but again, the language is not pleasant.

Bellucci Guitars

In the past, I have done work on Bellucci Guitars – yes, the wholly crooked seller and purveyor of low end, Walmart quality classical guitars down in Paraguay.

No, Rich, tell me how you really feel? OK, since you ask.

Renato calls me in April of 2011 begging me to take down a 2 page review and photographs of one of his guitars, numbered in the 600’s mind you, where I detailed the problems, the fixes, the photographs, and so on. I was on vacation at the time, told him this, but he continued to plead with me, taking time away from my family.

The guitars that I’ve inspected of his, the work that was done, what can I say…It was horrible. But you’re thinking that’s a one off problem. Say nay. I’ve inspected over 30 of his instruments. I have repaired 9 of them. I think I know of that which I speak. Well, I tell him to offer an unconditional money back guarantee, at least to his North American clients and I will take the pages down. After hemming and hawing, he in fact posts a suitable refund policy. I told him to keep it consistent or I’m throwing the pages back up. A month later, I get an email from a client who tells me his refund policy has reverted to his old ways. I said, okie dokie, and put the pages back up after verifying his refund policy.

Listen, I don’t have anything to gain by hammering this liar. If anything, it is probably hurtful to me. So why do it? They are really that bad, they can be a bit expensive costing anywhere from $2200USD to $8000USD (why would you spend this kind of money with anyone of a questionable reputation), and he really hurts people with the time and energy they spend on hoping for a great guitar and then being massively disappointed. You are not going to get a good instrument. It does not matter if Ana or Sharon or any other player is trying one of these instruments. Did they switch guitars? Are they now playing a Bellucci? Seriously?

Please avoid his guitars. They are too inexpensive to be of any quality, yet they are expensive enough that the throwing away of your hard earned money is going to hurt you. He DOES NOT know how to build a guitar. His men do not know how to build a guitar. He uses green woods, not suitable for building. He over finishes them. The woods cannot breathe. He uses incorrect frets (honestly, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found mandolin frets on his classical guitars). He doesn’t understand neck angles, set angles, heck, he doesn’t even get how to setup a guitar, nuts, saddle, whatever. Come on…SERIOUSLY. How many friggin’ guitars do you have to build to get it? 700 guitars later (maybe more) should do it, but no…it does not.

Look on his site at the Finish Section. And I quote, “You’ll read a lot of nonsense regarding the type of finish that best sutes a classical guitar…..It is essential that you know that the type of finish will not make any difference whatsoever on the type of sound your guitar will produce. All finishes elevate the pitch of the instrument a little (most people will not notice the difference). The finish was first introduced to bring out the grain in the woods and offer some type of protection against the elements. The most luxurious type of finish today is Polyurethane. It is also the most laborious. It requires a lot of space, air compressors, protective gear to apply and luthiers willing to do a lot of sanding and clean up work. This is the main reason why most European and US builders will try to convince guitar buyers that French polish is better, bla bla… It is not ! It is easy to apply and requires little or no infrastructure and practically no space to work and, since most US and European workshops are small, it fits Northern hemisphere builders to perfection. French polish offers very little or no protection at all.

OK, so first of all, French Polish is easy to apply? Bluntly, I do not need to say another thing. Mother of the Gods, this is as uninformed as it gets. Ah, but 15 coats of thick Home Depot quality Water Based Polyurethane is the way to go? Seriously? hehehehe….moron. Clearly it is better to choke the woods, inside and outside, attempting to cover up your incompetence and your green woods with Polyurethane, rather than use a tried and true method of finishing.  But, your guitar will be nice and shiny!!!  Very poor judgment with an attempt to justify with incorrect and inexperienced knowledge.  Here’s the truth.  French Polishing is a very difficult and time consuming process, one that can take years to master, truly master.  Renato does not have that kind of time or experience and neither do his employees.  He has no interest in betterment of any kind.  Only in stealing your hard earned money.

French Polish offers little to no protection?? Renato, you’re not supposed to play jacks and marbles on your guitar.  I suppose that allowing the wood to resonate with an ancient method used through the centuries on fine instruments all over the world is pointless when you are attempting to hide your own incompetence in building, wood selection and or finishing.

Better yet, if you dare to complain or not like the guitar he sent you, his compelling and excellent level of customer service is to call you an insulting, inconsiderate liar and to block your emails as a spammer.

Update for November 2014 – I couldn’t take it anymore.  I posted photos of a finish repair, setup, headstock peeling, back peeling, nut and saddle adjustments, and that ridiculous violin tie block.  You can see the sheen of the finish, it’s so thick, and the peeling of the back, cracking etc.  Horrible…see photos below.

OH, and those positive reviews he posts. Please. A good friend of mine took a chance on one of his guitar, unknowingly. Steve wrote back to complain numerous times. Renato then proceeded to change the words of this email to a positive spin. Steve was amused. I was not.

Bottom line is you’ve been warned. Buy from a reputable dealer or builder. Yes, it probably costs more, but at least you’ll have a gorgeous guitar with recourse attached to it. Now, I won’t post the pages again regarding the repairs on Bellucci, but I’ll send them to you if you ask. I also stopped working on them, as they were a colossal pain in the ass. Scraping tons of finish off of them, prepping them properly, and still with their problems because the woods seemed to be harvested the day he started building the damn things. I will not repair them. No one else in their right mind would repair them and quite frankly, you shouldn’t be buying one of these things.  See photos below for a typical example.

By the way, I write this simply because I still get emails requesting refinishing and repairs of these god awful guitars (if you can call them that). I will NOT work on them any longer, so please don’t write.

I also get HATE mail because of the unhappiness of people regarding their Bellucci (mangore.com) They write to complain to me because Renato insults them and I get the emails as a venting point? Well, I guess it’s understandable. You have no recourse. He’s in Paraguay for the love of the gods!!! I feel bad for the waste of time and money and the emotional energy spent by people trying to negotiate with Renato. He will disregard you after a certain point, especially if you decided to talk back to him about his guitars, he will simply keep your funds, or charge you $400 or more to send his guitar back to him. Only to not have him be able to fix it because he’s the moron who built it in the first place? REALLY? LOL

Last check, his Refund Policy is that he has none. You can get another guitar from him, but forget about getting your money back. Not going to happen.

I feel it is my responsibility to warn people that they are throwing hard earned money away.

After all this explanation, someone questioned my motives? Oh, he’s just trying to direct you to his shop. Of course, I would rather you did business with me. At least I have a REFUND Policy. But please, do not come to my shop. I beg you to not call me if you are considering a Bellucci Guitar. Please feel free to go to one of my esteemed colleagues or luthiers in the business. At least you will have the chance to get the majority of your money back if you are unhappy with your purchase. THAT is exactly how it should be and no other way.

You will not be so lucky if you buy from Renato Bellucci and mangore.com

OK, rant is done. You’ve been warned. Thanks for listening and heed my words. By the way, and I’ve said this before….Renato Bellucci is welcome to debate any of this with me in a public forum for the entire guitar world to witness. It will be my pleasure. I guarantee you, it won’t be his.

Listed under Bellucci Guitar problems – Mangore guitar reviews – Renato Bellucci – Belluci Guitar reviews

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Additionally, I have been receiving emails and reports about some “other” eBay seller who offers “luthier built” classical guitars for around $500, disrespecting the work of master luthiers as a whole.  Nice…making friends and influencing people.  If you’re looking for a Brazilian Rosewood classical guitar for $500 or 600, hehehehe, go right ahead and buy from this type of seller.  Please don’t call me.  I don’t want your business.  If this simple sentiment is over your head, we’re good.  We have nothing in common, I have nothing to offer you.

Tonewoods matter, the solidity of said woods matter (versus laminate backs and sides?), the use of those woods by a master matter, the decades of accumulated knowledge, training and experience matter, the finish matters, the workmanship matters, the musicality and timbre of the instrument matter.   The fact that hundreds of hours by one man or woman went into this guitar matters very much.  The longevity of the instrument, its quality, its presence in your hands matter so very much.  For anyone to so blithely disrespect these efforts is beyond comment.  I have nothing further to add.

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Photos of one of the last repairs for a guitar numbered in the late 600’s by Renato Bellucci, African Blackwood or so he says?  Look at the cracking, the incredible amounts of polyurethane, the peeling, and so on.  African Blackwood…yeah, the middle strip maybe.  The rest is dyed rosewood.  See some User comments after the photos.

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