Today the Granada guitar-makers said good-bye to one of the greats of the Granada school. Bernd Martin passed away on Wednesday July 18 after an exhausting battle with cancer. He leaves behind his wife Matilde and his son Lucas. He was a much a part of this community as any of the old guard and was a master in every sense. For those of you who wish to know more about Bernd, this article tells of his importance in the granada school, his son Lucas is his direct disciple and this short film made by DC Chavez includes some interview footage.
Category Archives: Guitar making
Last Day
So this time it really is the last day to register for the Antonio Marin Montero Guitar-making Competition. A great opportunity to visit Granada, meet some young american guitarists and hear some great guitar music. And who knows, if you win it is great publicity. 
Doctoral Thesis Aarón García Ruiz
Ever since the book about Granada guitar-makers was published the most informed critics have expressed a desire to see something more scholarly and extensive on the subject. Well, one of the authors of the book, Aarón García Ruiz, has made his doctoral thesis (2017) available and I would think that this will make those people happy. I attended the defense of his Ph. D. but only now will I be able to read the thesis. I am looking forward to it, I know that is is a revindication of the Granada School and that there is some very convincing evidence that Antonio de Torres learned from José Pernás who was in turn one of the greats of Granada. Download here.
Torres, Arias, Santos, Lorca, Eichinger, Barbero and Torres again.
The vast majority of the 220 guitars I have made have been the concert model which I have developed over a 25 year period but these days I am making more and more copies of historic instruments. This all started when I was studying with José Ángel Chacón in Málaga and was able to examine guitars by Torres, Antonio de Lorca, Barbero and Vicente Arias. The first copy I made was Antonio de Lorca Garcia based on my drawings and examinations of the instrument. 
When I became interested in flamenco guitars I used my knowledge of Barbero’s work to modify my concert model to respond better to the flamenco player’s needs. I have never made a copy per se of Barbero but have had great results with the bracing and thicknesses he used in at least one of his guitars. Read a little more about flamencos here.
A turning point in my career was meeting Carles Trepat and hearing him play his 1892 Torres. This guitar too I was able to examine and photograph; this time in the company of my teacher Rolf Eichinger. Rolf was a great connoisseur of historic guitars and had developed his own methods for examining guitars with a mind to discover the original maker’s working techniques and design ideas. With his advice, the first copies of this Torres exceeded my expectations and sold very quickly. The fact that Javier Riba, among others, concertizes and records with one of my Torres has given this model a great reputation among guitarists. Without a doubt the invitation by the owners of “La Invencible” de Torres to copy that guitar is due to the reputation of my 1892 copies. The first “Invencible” copies will be available from Solera Flamenca this fall.
As historic guitars have crossed my bench for restorations and appraisals I have chosen a few that I have found particularily great and made copies of them. A Santos Hernández ex-Segovia which I examined for the spanish musicology journal Roseta has now become a part of my catalogue and the copies are finding favour among guitarists.
My teacher Rolf Eichinger used his experience of playing, buying and selling guitars and examing historic instruments to develop his own model and his guitars were sought after by spanish guitarists as well as those all over the world. I inherited some of his molds and jigs when he passed away and I finally made a copy of his 640 model last year. The response to that model was also very positive.
As you might imagine this interest in organology has its own justification and it allows me to change mindset and disconnect from the boredom of always building the same model. Now, if for whatever reason a particular guitar is not well received by potential clients it has to be crossed off the list. The guitar that generated the most interest of all the copies that I have made was that of Vicente Arias 1900. This is a double-back rosewood instrument which has survived in almost perfect condition to our day. The original was recorded for this cd. For some reason my copy was not a commercial success so I never made a second one.
Guitar Builders
Sorry, JULY 15 is the deadline for submitting your application to the II INTERNATIONAL GUITAR MAKING COMPETITION in Granada. This is a great opportunity for up and comers to make a splash, get more orders and of course sell two guitars to Guitar Salon International. As I have said before, my experience during last year’s competition was very good and I was impressed with the seriousness of the jury. Antonio Marin Guitar Making Competition