If I am not mistaken this is a tarantos by Paco, I meant to include it in the post of the same name but I couldn’t find it. This was recorded by Juan Ballesteros on a blanca I made.
Category Archives: Listen to my guitars
A New Guitar for Javier Riba
Javier Riba was in the shop again today to take delivery of his new guitar. In 2010 I made a cypress body guitar for him and now four years later he is getting traditional and ordered a rosewood guitar. The differences between the two guitars are not very big but Javier is very sensitive to them. I have taken the cypress guitar in exchange and it is now available. This guitar was used for a number of concerts and recordings including something for Spanish public radio and a worldwide premier of a piece by Angelo Gilardino. I asked him to make a video with it today just to show you what it sounds like. This is the first part of “Un día de noviembre” by Leo Brouwer.
Paul Reed Smith
So why does an electric guitar-maker have a place on this spanish guitar site? Well, it turns out that we share a common inspiration (so do hundreds of other builders) in the guitars of Antonio de Torres. I got a message from someone in television wanting some more information about the Torres copy that I sent to the Classical Guitar Store in Philadelphia. It turns out they were doing a show on Paul Reed Smith and my guitar has a cameo in the show. I’ll let them tell you about Paul and how he got started whereas if you want to know more about me this is the place. Seems the link has been broken sorry.
Rosewood Torres-Evaristo Valentí
I have a good excuse for writing such a short post this week. 
Just a reminder: Everything with a sharp edge can be dangerous if your attention strays. The cut isn’t so bad actually but enough thic
kness of skin came off that it will be awhile healing. Meanwhile here is a shot of the bird’s-eye which came as promised from Rumania and some music played on a Rosewood Torres copy. The guitarist and soundman is Evaristo Valentí.
First Arias
I finally finished the Vicente Arias copy! Since I wasn’t making this guitar for anyone in particular it kept getting pushed back by the guitars people had ordered. Here you have a video and some photos of it “in the white” The sound changes once it is varnished but it is a very slight and predictable change and the builders among you will hear the lack of varnish. Javier Riba, who will be opening the Cordoba Guitar Festival this year, came by and played a little Sor for us, study no. 12 op. 6. If you remember, he owns the original and let me do an extensive examination of it. When you make a copy you are usually trying for both an aesthetic and an acoustic match but the aesthetics are usually easier than the acoustics. In this case I was very pleased to hear Javier say that the feel of the guitar is very similar to the original and the sweetness of the tone is there too. The video was made with an audio recorder which also does video but it seems that for a really good audio take it needs to be quite close. Thanks to Toni Valls and Carlos Juan Busquiel for the advice on finding a recorder and on making the recording itself.
