Roman Boianciuc is one of the most important Romanian luthiers, known for his fine violins and for being the heart and soul of the Reghin factory for decades. Roman also built a small number of guitars, which today are rare and sought after in Romania. Roman took pride in creating lavish decorations. The beautiful rosette of this guitar built in approximately 1982 is very fine in detail, entirely in side grain, and the soundboard purfling uses the same red crosses pattern as the rosette at an even smaller scale. The ebony headstock is beautifully carved. The soundboard is fine Carpathian spruce, the fingerboard is exceptional quality ebony (showing silk across the entire width), S.A. mahogany neck, ebony bridge. The back and sides are a tawny curly wood which might be ovangkol.
Seeing this guitar has been a bit of a shock to me as the red cross /white rhombus motif is pretty much identical to the pattern I now use for the center of my rosettes (see guitars 14 and 15). When I designed the motif I tried to bring a certain Romanian flavor to it. Possibly that Roman thought it in the same way. Still this is not a design that can be seen everywhere, just the use of certain geometrical patterns and common colors used in luthiery. Either way the coincidence is astounding.
Unfortunately there are several cracks to repair on this guitar, five on the soundboard, two on the back. The back is severely lifting from the lining in two wide areas. The binding is coming loose in several areas. The neck has bent upwards creating an excessive relief of 0.5mm, making the guitar unplayable. Fortunately the neck is thick, 23.7mm at the first and 25.5. at the ninth, planing it flat at a correct angle will be problem free.
Alexandru Marian Spanish Guitars 
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