Author Archives: johnray

Guitar-makers at the conservatory

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This past weekend the Music Conservatory in Granada hosted a guitar-makers show just as they did last year and invited all of us to take an instrument to be played publicly. The idea is that the students can hear these instruments and afterwards try them out if they so desire. The association organized the participants and got the word out to the makers but as always participation could have been better; only 12 makers signed up. Guitarist Adam Marec did the honours and played the same pieces on each of the guitars and there were clearly some differences in quality of sound.

This was all part of the 2º Guitar Encuentro which we hope will be an annual affair. Thank you to the Real Conservatorio Superior Victoria Eugenia and to the Asociación para el estudio de la guitarra.2guitarncuentro

2º INTERNATIONAL GUITAR-MAKING COMPETITION “ANTONIO MARIN MONTERO”

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Vicente Coves of the European Guitar Foundation has announced that the Granada Guitar  Festival will be repeated this year and that the competition will be held 8–10 AUGUST, 2018  http://www.europeanguitarfoundation.com/Antonio-Marin-Guitar-Making-Competition-2018/Bases/ It looks as though the jury will be much the same as last year and since they did a great job I won’t be complaining about that aspect. The only category this year is classical perhaps in response to the lumping together of the classical and flamenco in the previous edition. I would imagine that some of the same makers will be back this year and I hope participation is even better.IMG_6338This photo shows some of the jury members just before the start of the competition last year.

Pictures at a fiesta

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retirementI promised photos of this retirement party that José López Bellido organized so here are a few. It was very well-attended and the food and the wine was great. I had a chance to chat with most everyone there but particularily enjoyed hearing about the old times from these two giants:

mastersI think everyone knows that when Manuel Bellido left Eduardo Ferrer’s shop he set up with Antonio Marín and started making history.

From Granada to You

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My first love is building guitars but if you read this blog you will know that the history of the guitar and guitar-makers is part of that passion. Furthermore I have a special interest in the evolution of the Granada school and its influence on the rest of the world. David Ganz writes about this particular subject in the book “The Granada School of Guitar-makers” and was asked to do so precisely because of his interest and knowledge of the material. A week or so ago he sent me this note: “I just discovered the attached advertisement in the back of the Fall 1972 issue of Guitar Review magazine out of New York.” I had heard that guitars from Granada “arrived” a bit later in the decade although we know that some musicians had travelled to Granada and purchased instruments here. I printed the image above and went down the street to see Antonio Marín and his nephew José Plazuelo to ask them about F. Alex Guzmán. They remembered two partners, both named Alex, and they mentioned in passing that Antonio had built guitars for both Morales and de la Chica. I love the prices; now you would pay  3000 to 15,000 USD at today’s exchange rate. This remains only publicity but I persnally think that most of what it says was true and continues to be true today.