Euro Trip

This Wandre Roby is a groovy relic from the 1960s Italian guitar maker.

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BUDDY MILLER HAS a lot to answer for. Few guitarists lusted after a Wandré before this first-call Nashville session ace, solo artist and producer began churning out lithe, buttery riffs on one of these oddball guitars. Thanks to Miller, we know these things sound fantastic. As such, they have become the most collectible of the stylish, modernist Italian-made electric guitars of the 1960s, and highly worthy acquisitions for their looks, rarity and playability.

The circa-1960 Wandré Roby featured here sits in the sweet spot between art and utility. Whereas some Wandré models look more like a Salvador Dalí painting than a guitar, the Roby abounds with the maker's signature features and esthetics, while it offers familiarity in form and function.

The man behind Wandré guitars was born Antonio Pioli in Cavriago, Reggio Emilia, Italy, in 1926. His father, a noted luthier, nicknamed him Vandré - meaning "to go in reverse" in the regional dialect - for his eclectic tendencies, and the moniker became an entirely suitable brand for his guitars when Antonio started building them himself. Unlike so many Italian electric guitars that would follow, which were arguably "style first and functionality be damned," Wandré guitars' fashion-forward appearance potentially disguises the fact that they were made by a luthier who was heir to a great tradition in the craft, and who was serious about improving all aspects of the instrument in his work.