#20 completed photos

-Spruce lattice braced western red cedar soundboard
-650mm scale, Graf tuners
-Macassar ebony back and sides, Madagascar rosewood binding
-Bois de rose fingerboard and bridge
-Honduras mahogany neck with uncertain species of ebony headplate

The headplate of this guitar has an interesting story. The owner brought me the fingerboard of his 100+ yo cello which he had replaced. He thought I might have use for the wood, not for his guitar, but in general. When I looked carefully I noticed the wood was dyed black and there was some color inside. After I scraped it was clear it was quite similar to the color of the Macassar set i chose for the guitar so I decided to make the headplate from it.

#21 completed photos

-Bouchet bracing, 632mm scale, 49mm neck, Rubner tuners.
-Swiss spruce soundboard
-Madagascar rosewood back, sides and fingerboard
-Bois de Rose rosewood bridge
-South American cedar neck with African Blackwood headplate
-curly maple binding and secondary headplate

#22 Soundclips

And finally some soundclips. Strings are normal tension d’addario, and the basses were already worn and dull. Played by Catalin Stefanescu

Gaspar Sanz – Pavanas

Fernando Sor – Mozart variations fragment

Francisco Tarrega – Adelita

Isaac Albeniz – Asturias fragment

Manuel de Falla, Hommage a Debussy.

Turina, Homenaje a Tarrega – Garrotin

#22 construction – 1937 Hauser

This is something I wanted to try for a long time, a build inspired by the famous 1937 Hauser used by Segovia. Having an unusually thick top, this design needs some very special spruce to work well. The top is Austrian spruce, quartersawn Madagascar rosewood body (the most resonant rosewood set i used so far), mahogany neck with ebony reinforcement and binding will be Brazilian boxwood.

5 years!!

I just realized more than five years have passed since I build guitars! My first guitar was a Torres-style made from Italian spruce and Spanish cypress. I recall I was gluing the fingerboard on 1 January 2008
I dusted it off and asked my friend flamenco player Tiberiu “El Grelo” to record a piece on it, so here are a few fragments from his own Taranta “Alma pura”.

#21 has strings

This is my #21, 632mm short scale, Bouchet bracing, Swiss spruce, Madagascar rosewood body and fingerboard, bois de rose bridge, African Blackwood headplate, maple binding and secondary headstock plate.

Sound clip with Savarez carbon strings. Getting some reasonable playing has been difficult with the crowded scale and string distances (52 at the bridge, 38 at the nut).

Tarrega – Adelita played by Catalin Stefanescu

Dowland – Sir John Smith, his almain played by Valerio Di Natale

Dowland – Flow my tears fragment

#20 more soundclips

Savarez carbon strings (a bit worn already). Played by Catalin Stefanescu

Turina, Homenaje a Tarrega – Garrotin

Turina, Homenaje a Tarrega – Soleares

Manuel de Falla, Hommage a Debussy.

Tarrega, Adelita.