Portuguese instrument maker (luthier) João Godinho, born in Porto in 1969, built his first electric guitar at the age of 12. Trained by a master luthier in the 1980s, he set up his own workshop in Luxembourg in 2004, devoting himself exclusively to the creation and repair of stringed instruments. The Tally Project involves reinterpreting two legendary electric guitars, resulting in two new prototypes, the HBT Tally and the LP Tally. The starting points are the Fender Telecaster and the Gibson Les Paul; the end points are the two Tally guitars, the HBT (Hollow Body Telecaster) and the LP (Les Paul). The choice and combination of materials used and the option of natural finishes, along with some surprising ornamental details, give the instruments a stripped-down nobility that translates these two classic models into a contemporary aesthetic. By choosing to incorporate a resonance box into instruments whose bodies are generally solid, the sound quality and dynamic response of the guitars has been improved. Other less traditional solutions have been the choice of organic materials such as ebony for acoustic contact parts that are normally made of metal or synthetic materials. As for the electronics, which are common to both models, an original and simple design has been chosen to ensure versatile and multifunctional connectivity.
