For the most part guitar-makers, especially the traditional Spaniards, focus all of their energies on making guitars and making each one better than the last.  Over the past few years I have devoted some of my time to research and publication, things which have enriched my work and my knowledge of the craft.  Here in Granada it is rare to find a guitar-maker doing this kind of work with the notable exception of Aarón García.  See his Facebook page here.  Aarón is perhaps the most knowledgeable person in the world on the guitar in Granada and is currently working on his doctoral thesis on precisely that subject.  He has a fine collection of musical instruments and has made many different kinds of stringed instruments.  Two weeks ago he travelled to London to study a guitar from Granada.

“The only example we have of a guitar made in Granada before 1803 is the wonderful six-course guitar-psaltery (…) made by Rafael Vallejo in Baza (province of Granada) between 1789 and 1792 for King Charles IV of Spain, which is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.”

The photo is from Manuel Cano’s “Un siglo de la guitarra granadina” and the quote is from Aarón García’s essay in the book “The Granada School of Guitar-makers“.  I am sorry I cannot offer any details about what the study turned up but I hope to read about it as I am sure that any number of musicology journals would be interested in publishing information about this fascinating instrument.