Here I will feature some of my finished guitars. Pictures of the build process can be found on my Instagram feed, for those who might be interested in that.
As a disclaimer, I will say that I rarely do real ‘copies’ of historical instruments, although many of my guitars are rooted in the long tradition of guitar making, and are often inspired by historical instruments. I tend to ‘name’ my instruments after the instrument or guitar builder that inspired them, but by no means does this imply that I intended to copy them.
After Vicente Arias (Indian Rosewood/Italian spruce)
For one that ‘doesn’t do copies’ this might be the closest I’ve come so far to trying to copy the original instrument. This guitar features an Italian spruce top, over nice and dark Indian rosewood. It features a headstock with pegs, as per the original. It ends up at 1100 grams in ready to play condition. The voice of this guitar is surprisingly big for a body this small. It is available for sale in my current inventory, please contact me for more information, if interested. Thanks.
After Enrique Garcia (Swiss Moon spruce/ East Indian Rosewood)
This is the model I have been building for a long time now, and has been well received. It is what I consider to be the model with the most ‘Spanish’ sound, if that makes any sense.
After H. Hauser (Madagascar rosewood/Swiss moon spruce)
With a nice set of Madagascar rosewood (Dalbergia baroni) for back and sides, and a German spruce top, this guitar was built in my interpretation of Herman Hauser’s style of building (if that is possible to infer from a drawing). The resulting guitar has a refined tone, IMHO. This guitar is currently available.
After Vicente Arias (Swiss Moon spruce/Padouk)
Similar to the previous guitar, but -for convenience- this one features modern tuners. The untraditional choice of tonewood for the back and sides (Padouk) aligns perfectly with my taste for experimenting. I personally like the look of Padouk a lot, and it sounds as good as/better than any of the more traditional tonewoods like Indian rosewood, in my humble opinion. It has a big voice, with projection to spare. Also available, if interested.
After Vicente Arias (Brazilian rosewood/exotic ebony/Swiss Moon spruce)
This is a third example of the Arias model. This time with a wonderful back in Brazilian rosewood, paired with exotic ebony sides and a Swiss Moon spruce top.
Model F-L (Spruce/maple)
This is a model that I build in different versions, on the same platform (solera). This particular guitar features a lattice braced Swiss Moon spruce soundboard and a rather striking set of Swiss flamed maple. This guitar was part of my ‘minimalist’ series of guitars, with a very simple yet stylish rosette design. It also features an ebony armrest and an elevated fingerboard. It has a powerful voice with plenty of colour.
Model F-L (cedar/wengé)
Another one of my model F-guitars, also with lattice bracing, this time on a cedar top, and with wengé back and sides.
I am a big fan of wengé for backs and sides, not only from a visual point of view, but also in terms of sound. The workability of wengé as well as the porosity are drawbacks that I will gladly accept when working with this wood.
It features a ‘Voss/Sands’ micro bevel and an elevated fingerboard.
This guitar is a real powerhouse. It is also available.
Model F-F (Spruce/Maple)
A model F with falcate bracing, and a structured back. It has deep fundamental basses and a very even tone in the higher register. A modern guitar, for a modern guitar player.
Available.
Model F-T (Sitka spruce/Macassar Ebony)
Model F with traditional fan bracing, based on Daniel Friederich. It features a Sitka spruce top and Macassar ebony back and sides.
Model F-DT (spruce-cedar/wengé)
Model F double top. Affectionately called ‘chocoduo’. The top is made of a spruce/cedar combo and back and sides are made of wengé, with a classic maple/wengé ‘meander’ motif in the backstrip.
Big sound.
Available.
