Built during Mark Gaiero’s time as an apprentice to Ervin Somogyi, this custom OM pairs an Engelmann spruce top with a personally selected set of black walnut back and sides. The sides are laminated in the Somogyi-influenced construction style, while the soundboard uses X-bracing combined with lattice bracing across the lower bout. The guitar is centered around Gaiero’s distinctive Micro Mosaic Rosette, with carefully coordinated Katalox, Rocklite, and dyed-maple details continuing throughout the instrument. The Katalox fingerboard and bridge are complemented by Rocklite binding, backstrip, end wedge, and heel cap, while yellow-dyed maple purfling and red-dyed maple accents add subtle flashes of color. The walnut neck incorporates both an adjustable truss rod and carbon-fiber reinforcement and is joined to the body with a traditional dovetail joint. Originally intended for the Vancouver Guitar Festival, the design evolved further during the build when Gaiero added a custom neck-heel inlay using the same Katalox and Rocklite vocabulary found on the fingerboard and headstock. Together with EVO gold frets, Gotoh 510 Mini tuners with black buttons, a 1 3/4-inch nut and 2 1/4-inch saddle spacing, the finished instrument combines Gaiero’s modern structural approach with a restrained but highly individual visual identity. The completed guitar went on to be successfully showcased at the Vancouver Guitar Festival.
