Thomas R. LoPrinzi, along with his brother Augustino, originally founded LoPrinzi guitars in New Jersey in early 1972. The business grew from a two- and three-man operation into a staff of eighteen employees. Modern production techniques enabled the LoPrinzi brothers to pare the number of employees back to seven while still producing sixty to eighty guitars a month in the late 1970s. Augustino LoPrinzi, tired of overseeing production, sold the business to Maark Corporation (a subsidiary of AMF). His brother Thomas was then named president of LoPrinzi Guitars. The AMF-owned company continued producing guitars for a number of years, and finally closed the doors in 1980. Years later, Augustino called AMF to request his old trademark back. Working with vice president Dick Hargraves, Augustino officially had the trademark transferred back, and has combined it to form the current "Augustino LoPrinzi" line of classical guitars (source: Hal Hammer).
LoPrinzi guitars were available in three styles: Standard, Folk, and Twelve-String. Early designs featured German silver Spruce tops and Brazilian rosewood; later models had tops built out of Canadian and Alaskan spruce, and bodies constructed with Indian rosewood, flamed maple, and Honduran mahogany. All models have an adjustable truss rod, ebony fingerboard, pearl or abalone inlays, and a rosewood bridge.
Instruments previously built in Rosemont, Hopeville, and Plainsboro, NJ from 1972 to 1980.
