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Guitars with soul for a resonance of life
The ancient castle of Dowina – today’s Devin – is situated on the junction of the rivers Danube and Morava, between Bratislava (Slovakia) and Vienna (Austria). The 9th Century Latin (864 AD) Fulda Chronicle (Annales Fuldenses) says “Dowina – id est puella“. This translates as Dowina means a girl in ancient Slavonic language. Nowadays the castle ruins remind us of an era of great glory and are a luminous inspiration for sensitive artists. This magical place also gave birth to Dowina guitars. The guitars derive their name from this famous castle and its heritage.
Our history started in 1979 in Devin Village with the creation of a violin workshop overlooking the castle. Afterwards came the concept of unique guitars, inspired by the violin maker’s know- how, experiences and intuition, each one perfect and individual. As from 2010 we are moved to our larger property in Devinska Nova Ves, encompassing a production center, warehouse, custom shop and administration.
It all starts with the selection of the materials used. Of crucial importance for guitar sound is the acoustic quality of the top plate and bracings, requiring superb stiffness with little weight. As a standard we utilize either selected Sitka or Cedar from Alaska / West Coast USA. Furthermore we use selected Spruce from the Dolomite Alps – Val di Fiemme, Italy. Among other superior features it has an extraordinary acoustic ratio “A”. For the technically minded this is the ratio of the speed of sound through the wood (m/s) to the wood density (kg/m³), up to a phenomenal 16.0 m4kg–1s–1. This figure is up to 35 % better than standard tonewood spruce (e.g. German Spruce, Engelmann Spruce and the like). It is no wonder that Stradivari, Amati, Guarneri and other famous violin makers used Dolomite Spruce from Val di Fiemme.
