Technologies
The design and craft of Iulius Guitars is based on a technical approach. I began building guitars after a life-long experience of engineering in the audio industry – as a loudspeaker designer – and it was just natural to apply to my luthier activity the knowledge and familiarity with the scientific method and state of the art analysis and design tools; to develop new techniques and solutions, to improve the performances of the instruments I build.
Every guitar is individually tuned to the desired specifications thanks to a process based on a proprietary analysis tool suite, and perfectioned with the experience of a lifetime of acoustic expertise. Performances are carefully tailored during each stage of the build, to get perfect balance, reliability and long-life
R&D
The basic research at Iulius Guitars usually begins with a 3D CAD model, and with FEM analysis of its behaviour. This approach allows to realise a virtual prototype that behaves in a very similar way to the real part, or instrument, thanks to a careful fitting of the main parameters measured on an actual reference real-life sample. In this virtual model it is possible to experiment several different design solutions and to compare all relevant performance figures without the problems and difficulties related to experimentation with real prototypes. If you want to know more about this design approach you can check this paper published for Institute of Acoustic 2021 Reproduced Sound and stay tuned to get in touch with ongoing studies that will be published soon in my research page. About the measurements and tuning of acoustic guitar performances, you can download or read online the manual Measuring and tuning the performances of the acoustic guitar available in my research page.
Research in acoustics is a truly fascinating and never-ending process, suspended in a delicate balance, looking for the missing link between objective data and feelings, sensations, emotions.
FEATURES
Several innovations have been introduced for the first time on Iulius Guitars, such as the External Tuning Slots, the Hybrid Modal Preamp, individual specs chart. These unique features allow to obtain a rich sound, perfect intonation and exceptional playability, be it onstage or on the couch.
ETS
External Tuning Slots, allows to fine tune the guitar main resonance modes on the fly, without removing the strings. It’s meant to compensate for temperature, humidity and strings pull shifts.
Hybrid Modal preamp
An external condenser microphone in the perfect spot to capture the nuances of the string play, blended with a 2 or 3 sensor system in a modal configuration, with antifeedback individual tuning.
Overhang neck
The neck block is made of one single straight piece, mounted over the soundboard, without the traditional heel block. Perfect playability, easy access to the highest frets, simplicity of maintenance.
Spek chart
Individual specification document, allows to keep track of the evolution of the instrument and to perform the most suitable maintenance operations.
Plastic free
The very few plastic parts necessary to the construction are made out of PLA bioplastic coming from natural resources, non-toxic, 100% recyclable. The packaging is paper made.