Last year I was asked to participate in a monographic issue of the spanish musicology magazine Roseta, an academic journal dedicated exclusively to the guitar. My contribution is a detailed study of a Santos Hernández guitar housed in Madrid’s Victor Espinós musical library.  Perhaps my extensive work with historical guitars qualifies me especially for this task. The guitar is a fantastically well-preserved testament to the art of Santos Hernández and was donated to the library by none other than Andrés Segovia. The article includes a complete plan of the guitar, some photos and some history.

In related news I am almost finished with the french polish on the second and third replicas of this instrument and I have had some very positive feedback from the guitarists who have tried these copies “in the white”. I too am very pleased with how they sound. Of course I can’t talk about this guitar without once again applauding the exquisite taste Hernández had in rosette-making.

The special issue of Roseta should be available next week and I hope to be able to share some of it with you.

Paco Santiago Marin is one of the best-known makers here in Granada and an excellent artisan.  It is not often that the powers that be recognize the figure of the the craftsman in the shadows who is instrumental in the successes of the acclaimed musician but just maybe things are changing.  The Orquesta Ciudad de Granada will inaugurate its 2016/2017 season with the concert ‘Homenaje al guitarrero granadino Paco Marín’, 50 aniversario, on October 8, 2016. I will be there of course and hopefully the rest of the guitar-makers in town will show up to support this recognition.

Programme
I
J.S. Bach Cantata Wir danken dir, Gott BWV 29
Solista Ricardo Gallén
J. Rodrigo 3 viejos aires de danza
J. Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez
Solista Joaquín Clerch

II
J. Clerch Fantasía en los Jardines de Falla
Solistas Joaquín Clerch
Ricardo Gallén
Marco Tamayo
David Martínez

I. Albéniz- A.Guinovart 4 paisajes ibéricos

Orquesta Ciudad de Granada
Director Thomas Gabrisch
Intérpretes
DAVID MARTÍNEZ
JOAQUÍN CLERCH
RICARDO JESÚS GALLÉN GARCÍA
MARCO TAMAYO

I was recently contacted by Esteban Egaña Silva who has a very interesting guitar collection which he wishes to sell.  As he mentions on his blog the popularization of the guitar in Chile is due to Spanish immigrants over the years.  You can find an entry about how the guitar “arrived” in Chile and another detailing some of the guitars he has for sale here.  

He tells me that there are more guitars than those that appear in the blog. My contact with him was through facebook but I imagine that you can send him a message from his blog.

The most common scale length for a classical these days is 650 mm or close to that.  640 has become more popular too as longer scales fall into disfavour.  Every now and then I get an enquiry about something even shorter and although I didn’t get an order I thought I would go ahead and make one to have on hand.  I gave this one a 630 scale and used a smaller body size and I am very happy with the result.  Of course the reduced tension is very nice for the left hand and the sound is very sweet.  This picture shows the step in which I make the saddle and nut and string the guitar up to test the sound before varnishing starts.  There is a final sanding to come at 340 grit after I take the strings off.  The next picture shows the three-piece back which allowed me to use a particularly rich-coloured set of rosewood.

I was fascinated a few years ago by a guitar made by Vicente Arias 1900 because of the quality of the work as well as the fact that it had a double back.  This demonstrated once again how today’s “innovations” in guitar-building are very often not innovations at all.  Now my colleague Aarón García has brought another example to my attention of a double back but this one from the 18th century.  Here is what he says to me:

This is very interesting for a few reasons, for example the absolute indifference of the Spanish researchers about Portugese chordophones…   Another curiosity is that this instrument has a graft under the top in the position of the bridge. The string length includes compensation by gluing the bridge on further back.  So many innovations in one instrument!

Here is the reference:

MICHEL, Andreas; NEUMANN, Philipp, Gitarren. 17. bis 19. Jahrhundert. Musikintrumenten-Museum der Universität Leipzig. (Catálogo). Leipzig: Musikintrumenten-Museum der Universität Leipzig, 2015, p. 94-98.