The ITSPmagazine Podcast Paoletti Custom Guitars at NAMM 2026: Handcrafted in Florence Italy from Wine Barrel Wood | A Brand Highlight Conversation with Filippo Martini, Managing Director at Paoletti Guitars | NAMM 2026 Coverage
Wine Barrels, Duomo Marble, and Florence: Paoletti Custom Guitars at NAMM 2026
I've been away from Florence for 25 years. I didn't know there was a guitar company like this back home.
At NAMM 2026, I found Filippo Martini from Paoletti Custom Guitars—a boutique manufacturer based in the heart of Tuscany, building instruments that are equal parts guitar and artwork.
Paoletti does something no one else does: they build guitars from chestnut wood sourced from Italian wine barrels. The material offers a wide harmonic spectrum, but it's difficult to work with. You need to know how to handle it. Founder Fabrizio Paoletti figured it out, and now every guitar they produce shows the natural grain—no opaque finishes, no hiding the wood.
The craftsmanship runs deep. Bridges, pickguards, pickups—all made in-house. Necks carved from Canadian maple, roasted on-site. 99% of the process happens in Tuscany. As Filippo put it, "Kilometer zero." Zero miles. Everything local except the screws.
Their model is 100% custom. You don't buy a Paoletti off the rack. You tell them your style, your sound, the genre you play. They build around your vision while keeping the Italian essence intact—chestnut wood, Italian-made components, tailored to your idea.
But what stopped me cold was the Duomo collection.
Eight individual guitars, each hand-engraved by Fabrizio Paoletti himself. Three years of work. The subject: Florence's cathedral—the Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore.
This isn't just decoration. Paoletti secured an official partnership with the Opera del Duomo, the authority that oversees the cathedral. The back of each guitar reproduces the marble floor pattern from inside the Duomo. And when the collection is complete this October, every guitar will contain an actual piece of marble from the cathedral.
I got shivers standing there.
This is what happens when guitar making meets Italian heritage. It's not about specs or market positioning. It's about place, history, and craft passed down through generations.
Filippo invited me to visit the workshop in Florence when I return in April. I'm going. I want to see where this happens—where wine barrel wood becomes an instrument, where cathedral marble gets embedded into a guitar body, where a team of artisans builds one-of-one pieces for players around the world.
Florence is known for many things. Leather. Art. Architecture. The Renaissance itself. Now I know it's also home to some of the most distinctive guitars being made anywhere.
Paoletti proves that boutique doesn't mean small ambitions. They're partnering with galleries in Dubai, working with the Duomo authorities, and bringing Florence to NAMM.
Not bad for a company I didn't even know existed until I walked the show floor and heard an Italian accent.
Sometimes you find home in unexpected places.
Marco Ciappelli interviews Filippo Martini from Paoletti Custom Guitars at NAMM 2026 for ITSPmagazine.
Part of ITSPmagazine's On Location Coverage at NAMM 2026.
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This is a Brand Highlight. A Brand Highlight is an introductory conversation designed to put a spotlight on the guest and their company. Learn more: https://www.studioc60.com/creation#highlight
GUEST
Filippo Martini
Managing DIrector at Paoletti Guitars | Florence | Tuscany | Italy
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Learn more about Paoletti Guitars: https://www.paolettiguitars.com
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