PAUL VERNON CHESTER

Manouche Maestro
 

Marco Roccia - England's Master Luthier

Master Luthier  who crafted some of the finest guitars ever produced in England during the 20th century.
Late of Clifford Essex & Co, London. 'fount of all knowledge' regarding all things 'fretted'.

Make Your Own Spanish Guitar - A P Sharpe

MARCO ROCCIA, maker of the Clifford Essex concert size Spanish guitar was an Englishman born of Italian parents. He started his instrument-making apprenticeship as a boy; first in his father's workshops in Cassino, Italy, and later in Paris. He re­turned to the land of his birth in 1927, when he joined the Clifford Essex Co. and became one of the craftsmen who produced the many thousands of guitars (of all kinds) that bear this world famous name.  After demobilisation in 1945, Marco Roccia returned to his position with the Clifford Essex Co. and was solely responsible for all repair work to fretted instruments entrusted to this Company. In addition, he produces the "concert size" Spanish guitars which, entirely hand made by this craftsman luthier,

Most of the modern luthiers had been content to copy the designs (fan strutting) of Torres, Enrique Garcia, Ramirez and other earlier makers whose designs were accepted as standard, however—Marco Roccia —recommenced making guitars after the second world war by casting aside all pre­conceived ideas except those of body size and shape and, calling upon his ex­perience in repairing thousands of old guitars by all the world's makers, began again on new lines. The experi­ments included double cruciform and other unorthodox barrings; barring based on that found beneath the soundboards of early square pianos; barrings without without uniformity of structure placed empirically where the soundbox was proved to be under stress and variations of wood thickness of treble and bass sides of the belly and sides."

Marco Roccia's gained vast experience in not only repairing old instruments but on his own accumulated knowledge from discovering where some of these instruments "failed" in construction over the years,  He being solely responsible for all repair work to fretted instruments entrusted to the Clifford Essex Company.

Louis Gallo Guitarist  Louis Gallo was a respected guitar player, teacher and composer. He was one of the first guitar players in London to acknowledge Eddie Lang's plectrum guitar music. He dedicated original guitar solo's to this style. He also wrote many other compositions for plectrum guitar and finger style.  Louis was a great teacher and expert on all things Django.
He was also a great friend of Mario Maccaferri and did much to promote the 1970's CSL Maccaferri remakes. These were the brainchild of Maurice Sommerfield, produced by Ibanez and approved by Maccaferri himself. The early models are much sought after instruments. Louis son Ray has some photographs of his father with Mario Maccaferri which may soon be available. These have not been published before!
In addition Louis was a big friend of the Luthier, Marco Roccia who worked for Clifford Essex music shop in London. It was Marco who made 'Selmers' from remaining parts available when the Selmer guitar factory closed. Louis Gallo and Mario Maccaferri went to France to buy remaining parts stock amongst other luthiers who urgently sought after the Selmer residues.

Encounters

My guitar is a Clifford Essex 1962 D-hole made by Marco Roccia (no MG46238), and is constructed from the outcome of the purchasing mission made by Marco and Louis Gallo to Paris to acquire Selmer guitar parts - I've spoken with Ray Gallo about this event. I bought it new from CE's, spending much of the Summer and Autumn of 62 at the shop trying it out - Chris Spedding (I've been in touch with him lately) was the shop assistant in those days and recalls Marco building the guitar and the dispute between Marco and AP Sharpe as to if it was to be the 12th fret or 14th fret to the body - Sharpe prevailed and correctly for a D-hole it's at the 12th. Marco had wanted a D-hole but with the benefits of the 14th position. - Alan Brace

Dear Paul,
My wife (Marco Roccia's niece and her guardian) was most impressed by your article concerning her uncle and thanks you. She spent many years observing his work in their home in North Brixton and remembers visits from John Williams and Julian Bream.  In the 60's I had the effrontery to present Marco with a very indifferent guitar of mine which he transformed into something unrecognisable and a delight to play.
My wife vaguely remembers him making an appearance on children's TV; does anybody reading your site remember this?
Incidentally, I am a big manouche fan but it wasn't until we moved to France that I discovered Birelli Lagren and had the privilege to see him live. Unforgettable.  - Chris & Rosemarie

1960 - I got the guy at "Clifford Essex" (name of the music shop I worked at in London when I left school - guy's name was Marco Roccia) to replace the fingerboard with a new ebony

Theodore Bickel, an early folk singer who came to give a concert at Ketchikan High School around 1954 played a Clifford Essex guitar. The company made Classicals, and I remember being struck by the yellowed appearance of Theodore's guitar. It was varnished and I had only seen paler-coloured lacquer finishes (so far as blond finishes were concerned) on guitars. I saw this book in 1960, 'Make your own Spanish Guitar' by A P Sharpe and though it was only about 1/8" thick, it showed the use of the bending iron and some other things I had no previous knowledge of. This was indeed gold!

Make Your Own Spanish Guitar

.....there was a mandolin maker/repairer called Marco Roccia who lived in Brixton when I knew him which is not all that far from Sydenham and he used to work for Clifford Essex....

The Clifford Essex ‘Special Order’ in tiger maple and spruce was made sometime in the 1950’s by Marco Roccia

I have recently acquired a Clifford Essex Paragon guitar which I believe must be from the late 1920's and most probably made by Marco Roccia. It sat in its original case in the attic of a friend since 1959 and was in a fairly sorry state. I've now restored it and it plays like new. I've spent the last two months trying to find out about the company and have now managed to piece together their history from a variety of sources. One of which was  CE Paragon 102 which has a very similar 1930's Paragon guitar in its museum credited to Marco Roccia. I also managed to track down a back issue of 'Acoustic Guitar magazine' reviewing the same guitar in it's classic gear section, in which it states that the number 102 on the headstock implies it might be only the second produced. My guitar has a slightly different 'simpler' Paragon logo and has number 70 on the headstock leading me to believe it was made some years earlier. I don't know how significant this maybe seeing as only a handful of guitars were believed to have been produced by the company. See Photos below.  Hope this is of interest.   Peter Saunders.

http://www.frets.com/fretspages/pagelist.html#Luthier

A 'photograph' of the Clifford Essex Concert Size Spanish Guitar

construction and mounting of the bending 'iron'. It should be borne in mind that, in use, the brass tube is not 'iron' which would mark the wood.

David Hodson Barring

The Roccia Banjos

Superb Banjos by Marco Roccia
only 27 Paragon Deluxe banjos were made -
the majority being plectrum with a few 5 string and tenors. It is not surprising when the cost in 1930's was £60!

"I have always been keen on the Paragon instruments and met Marco Roccia long after he retired from Clifford Essex. I was told that a total of 25 De Luxe  banjos were made most of these were plectrum, with a few five strings and very few Tenors". Derek Kindler

Clifford Essex Paragon De Luxe

Clifford Essex: made the Banjuke (Banjo//Ukelele) in the early thirties. Marco Roccia then made the post-war Ukelele. After retirement Marco made it is believed, just 2 Ukelele's with resonator. One is reputedly still with his family,

ESSEX & CAMMEYER
In 1893 Clifford Essex and Alfred D. Cammeyer formed a partnership with offices and teaching studios at 59 Piccadilly, London. At first, the banjos and zither-banjos they sold under the brand name of "Essex & Cammeyer" were made for them by Temlett, Weaver, Wilmshurst and Windsor but early in 1896 they opened their own workshops at 13 Greek Street, Soho, and were soon employing fourteen workmen to make banjos and zither-banjos for them. The partnership was dissolved in 1900, when no more "Essex & Cammeyer" instruments were produced

CLIFFORD ESSEX
When Clifford Essex dissolved his partnership with Cammeyer in 1900 he formed his own firm at 15a Grafton Street, New Bond Street, London. W1, and instruments bearing the name "Clifford Essex Co." were put on the market. At first all the banjos were made for Clifford Essex by Spencer, Weaver, Langham (in London) and Houghton (of Birmingham), but in 1904 he started his own workshops at The Oval, Kensington, with Alfred Dare as foreman. When Richard Spencer died in 1915, Clifford Essex bought his plant and stock and took his key makers into his employ. Although most of the CIifford Essex banjos sold in the early days were made in the Clifford Essex workshops, many were still made by the outside makers; notably Richard Spencer. The Weaver-made banjos were made to Weaver's own design although they were sold with the Clifford Essex label on them. In December 1919 the firm's title was changed to "Clifford Essex & Son" and by then only their cheapest model (The "Popular") was made outside their own work-shops by Houghton of Birmingham. In February 1936 the firm became a private limited company and the title changed to "Clifford Essex & Son Ltd.". 
According to the editor’s notes in the September 1937 issue of BMG, the company had simply outgrown the Grafton Street premises and Clifford Essex had understandably after 37 years made the reluctant decision to move. The other influencing factor was that Bond Street was divorced from the usual haunts of the London professional musician. Apparently, this group of people preferred not to travel very far from the orchestral premises which were situated in Archer Street.
However, Clifford Essex was apparently fortunate to find ideal new premises at 90 Shaftsbury Avenue, W1.  These premises sported 3 display windows and shop with showrooms above. The administrative offices stretched above Nos. 90 to 98.
Soon after the outbreak of World War II the manufacture of banjos (and other instruments) was greatly reduced owing, to shortage of materials and the call-up of workmen. When the firm went into liquidation in 1942 manufacture ceased. The new company, with the title "Clifford Essex  Music Co. Ltd." has made a few 'special' banjos since 1945 and these bear the initials "C.E." in mother-of-pearl inlaid on the peg-head. From the cheapest to the dearest (£3.10.0. to £60) Clifford Essex banjos carried the following model names:-

Popular
Clipper
Imperial
C.E. Special
Boudoir Grand
Professional (the only 12 in. hoop model)
Regal
X.X.Special (later called Concert Grand), 
Paravox (an instrument designed on the '”Vegavox" lines with an 11 in. vellum)
Paragon
New Paragon
Paragon Artist
Paragon De Luxe (the last two being gold plated).

In addition the firm produced three grades of zither-banjo: "Grade III" (the cheapest), "Grade II" and "Grade I”. 

Going therefore by the company trading titles and addresses, the owner of a Clifford Essex Banjo should be able to date his instrument by the table below:-

1900 - 1919 CLIFFORD ESSEX & CO 15a Grafton Street
1919 - 1936 CLIFFORD ESSEX & SON 15a Grafton Street
1936 - 1942 CLIFFORD ESSEX & SON LTD 90 Shaftsbury Ave.,
1942 - 1957 CLIFFORD ESSEX MUSIC CO. LTD 8 New Compton St.,
1957 - 1975 CLIFFORD ESSEX MUSIC CO. LTD 20 Earlham Street.

Clifford Essex musical instruments have always been rated among the best in the world and our pre 1939 range of banjos are still in huge demand. We thought long and hard about making our original range of quality banjos but eventually we decided against it. What would be the point? It has all been done before, we needed something new and exciting with a great tone so we made the 'Gambler'. The craftsmanship is second to none and the Brazilian ebony tone ring gives the instrument a sparkle the likes of which I have never heard before. We tried dozens of various tone rings before deciding on Brazilian ebony, I played a Gibson Granada for a while but the tone ring generated far too many over tones, we certainly did not want to go down that road. For two years we have been designing and developing this banjo and we are almost there. This instrument looks and sounds sensational. The 'Gambler' arm is based on the 'Paragon'  the 'Gambler' has all the power and projection of the 'Paragon' even without a resonator and it feels like a Clifford Essex banjo. We chose co-ordinator rods because the action can be easily adjusted in a matter of minutes to suit the player. I have lost count of the number of times beautiful banjos have come in for repair with terribly warped arms, usually they have been stored away for years with the strings up to tension. Putting them right can be a huge job, all the mother of pearl inlay and the frets are removed, the arm planed flat and then everything has to be replaced. There is no way the 'Gambler' arm can ever warp because of the way it is constructed. No doubt the old school will moan and groan about the 'Gambler' simply because we have decided to change with the times, but then some folk moan about any kind of change in every walk of life. The simple answer is to play it.

http://www.cliffordessex.net/

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Last modified: 29/07/2010