Over the past 7 or 8 years the Granada Music Conservatory has invited the Granada Guitar-makers Association to meet with students so that they can get to know us and the guitars we make. This year’s meeting was part of an Erasmus programme centred on the guitar in Granada, including the region’s composers, guitarists and it’s organology. We met with the students from Italy, Finland, France, Belgium and Slovakia and some of their teachers too. After a lecture by Aarón García about the history of the guitar and a public audition of the guitars available we all went for lunch together. The interest shown by these students was heart-warming.

I have now made 27 copies of Segovia’s Santos and the first batch of rosette material is used up. I won’t show the whole process for the new ones because I already showed that in a past installment. Just a few pictures here to inspire you to get to work. I skipped a step here going straight from the slices you see in the first photo to glueing them to the veneer. The idea to skip a step comes from José Luis Vigil.

If memory serves me I met guitar-maker Antonio Manjón through the late Rolf Eichinger when he had the workshop next to mine and was mentoring me. Since that time I have visited Antonio in Badalona and he has visited me here both on numerous occasions. We have collaborated on a few articles for the Journal of Cultural Heritage and the Festival de la Guitarra de Córdoba. However, I think Antonio should be applauded most for his leadership in the Associació de la Guitarra de Badalona. Their festival is one of the best I have ever attended. Young guitarists are promoted and encouraged, care is taken to ensure an intimate setting and great respect is shown for guitar-makers when they have been a part of it. I attended with a guitar and a presentation back in 2017. The latest festival was by all counts another excellent meeting of guitar-makers, musicians and guitar-lovers. The video speaks for itself.

As I almost always do, I spent Christmas with my wife’s family in the north of the province of Granada in the village of Castril. The mountains and the river valley there are nothing short of spectacular and a great place to explore. The photos show a yew tree which is said to be over a thousand years old. I have never used yew for instrument-making nor have I ever made a longbow. It seems that the English preferred this wood for their bows and there are a lot of references to yew used for lute bowls. I had a good look at the tree and I certainly would not choose this as a tonewood. Lovely tree though.