Early Romantic Guitar, after Martinez


The back and sides are eastern black walnut and the end graft is also manzanita.

A view of the guitar's back.

The top is old growth Douglas fir, handsawn from a board that once was a bleacher seat. This guitar has a wonderful tone and I am always amazed at how loud it is every time I play it. It's a little bit bigger than a tenor uke, but sounds better. I did make a concession by making a "modern" bridge for this guitar, the original has a lute style chordal block that was standard back at the turn of the 19th century. I had a hard time adjusting the guitar's action with that bridge, so I put on the bridge you see. The top bracing is a 3 brace fan, again typical of a Spanish guitar of the period. I find it interesting that the modern Spanish luthier Bernabe used a 3 brace fan on his classical guitars, I don't know if he still does. This guitar is a joy to play and the music of Guiliani and Sor sound better on it, the sound reminds me of a fortepaino, maybe this was the sound the players and luthiers were looking for back in 1816.
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