Drop the name “Maccaferri” to most guitar buffs and more than likely the response will involve plastic guitars and, if you’re lucky, something about Django Reinhardt. For a lifetime’s devotion to music that literally spanned almost the entire 20th Century, such a reduction might be viewed as sadly ironic. However, given the creative genius that infuses Mario Maccaferri’s brilliant career, including his remarkable plastic guitars, it may just be the greatest tribute of all.

Whether or not you agree with such enthusiasm for Maccaferri’s plastic guitars, the fact remains that Mario Maccaferri lived a long full life and achieved far more than most could dream in the pursuit of his passions, passions which never strayed far from music.

A lot of parts of the Maccaferri story have been related over the past few years, mostly focusing on his early contributions, often at the expense of the less politically correct plastic parts. However, like most good yarns, the story of the guitars which endeared the late famous and indefatigable luthier Mario Maccaferri to guitar lovers has a lot more to it than just some remarkable plastic fabrication. Indeed, the tale of Mario Maccaferri is one full of amazing artistic, business and engineering achievement, and not a little romance and adventure woven into its twists and turns. Here, for the enjoyment of guitar aficionados, is the full Maccaferri story, complete with some brief forays into 19th Century guitar history, and including a detailed accounting of the plastic guitars.

Origins in the Po River valley
The beginnings of the Maccaferri story go back to the dawn of the century