Italia is another retro-minded guitar company, looking back to the stylish designs of the 60s whilst updating much of the hardware and, of course, offering new instruments free of the thirty to forty years worth of sweat and abuse that tend to afflict the old ones.
These guitars are inspired by various Italian models, designed by English luthier Trevor Wilkinson, and manufactured in Korea. This one, a Mondial Sportster, it actually pretty stripped-down and conservative compared to some of the others. The other Italia guitar that uses the Mondial body shape is a semi-hollowbody with a top made of "Acousti-Glass!" But the Sportster is a simple, traditional LP-style electric with some neat design theories at work. Notice how the flowing lines of the pickguard keep the chunky body from looking too squat or dumpy.
The chrome-looking headstock logo is neat, too. All in all, a very hip and snazzy-looking alternative to the usual double-humbucker guitars out there.
