I had been intrigued about baritone guitars  for many years. Like most of us guitarists, I greatly admired the beautiful record that Pat Metheny had done on solo baritone acoustic guitar “One Quiet Night”, where he employed only one instrument, made to him by Linda Manzer. I got exposed to more baritones through the Chords of Orion YouTube channel and recordings, as well as Dream Guitars. DG’s owner and guitar guru Paul Heumiller is a great fan of baritones and also a strong supporter of the multiscale or fanned-fret approach to baritone guitars. Sometime in March 2021, I watched Paul Heumiller presenting a new baritone instrument built by Matthew Rice and Matthias Roux from Casimi Guitars, located right outside Cape Town,  Western Cape, South Africa. This was their C5C model with African Blackwood back and sides and a moonspruce top. The guitar shape, the many unique design features and the gorgeous woods were simply stunning. I began doing some enquiries. It turned out that Heumiller had decided to keep that instrument for himself.

So I contacted Matthew at Casimi Guitars and began talking. Long story short, I made a deposit and ordered a C5C instrument with African Blackwood, moonspruce and their distinctive signature headstock and rosette, leaving other specs (multiscale, appointments, etc) to be decided at a later stage. I chose and booked a set of African from them which looked really great. Here It is:

Fast forward 20 months. I visited Casimi Guitars in October 2022 and spent time with Matthew and Matthias who were kind enough to show me around their workshop in Muizenberg, just South of Cape Town. Casimi Guitars is only a two-men endeavor. They make barely 6 instruments per year and are extremely sought after. I could see first hand the stunningly beautiful instruments they are building and we agree to get my baritone ready for my next visit in September 2023.

Fast forward again to February 2023 and the build has begun. Yes! I got the news and first picture from Matthew. Here it is the rim being made of my Casimi baritone:

Matthew said it will be ready in August. Great timing for my yearly residence at STIAS in Stellenbosch.  I can hardly wait to see the next update.