TV-Star “Candy Red”

Among the musicians that play a Lospennato guitar, we find one of the most important European rock bands of the last decade, Kontrust. For them, Leo developed the TV-Star—a Telecaster-flavored instrument but defined with more fluid and modern lines.

The elegant, wavy curves we saw in the previous models show up again, becoming a recognizable trait in Lospennato’s designs. “Some artists focus on the colors; some others focus on the textures,” Leo explains, “but my obsession is the shapes; the play between matter and space; the trajectory of a line that suddenly changes direction while keeping the flow of an integrated whole.”

This guitar is one of the most recently made (at the time of this writing, early 2021). However, the red candy enamel was aged to look many decades old, a vintage flair reinforced by the applied emblems that once belonged in a real classic Studebaker’s dashboard.

The automotive and the motorcycle industry are a recurrent inspiration in Lospennato’s guitars, an influence that’s evident here.

The foam-green pickguard complements the body’s color and celebrates the American midcentury-style, an era of cool cars, surfing, and rock and roll.

(Text: Gardenia Fair, from “Catalogue Raisonné – Leo Lospennato Guitars”)