To me, the Spanish Guitar has a unique and alluring quality that cannot
be captured by another instrument. I make guitars out of love for their
sound, and strive with each instrument to create a personal and intimate
work of art that possesses a kind of old world charm. It is a great pleasure
for me, to create an instrument, which captures pleasing and beautiful
sounds that others may use to create music, and put much of myself into
each instrument I make.
I use the distinction of making a “Spanish” guitar, rather than a “Classical” guitar because I feel it better represents my approach, intention, and method in creating a guitar. I am striving to make an instrument with a personal and “lyrical” tone, something that is alive in itself and not merely a machine to amplify a note. I strive for a guitar with a great dynamic range, clarity, adequate volume, and a distinct character or depth of tone. The methods I use in making my guitars follow closely the methods I was privileged to have learned with Jose and Liam Romanillos. I make my guitars face down in a solera, with a domed lower bout and an integral neck/heel in the old Spanish method. The ribs are wedge-glued into the neck and then against the soundboard with tentellones, before fitting and gluing the back. I finish my guitars in a French Polish of Shellac. I pay very special attention to the selection and treatment of the soundboard. Using only the finest spruce available. I work it only with finely sharpened hand tools. This allows me to understand something of the wood I am working flexing it, feeling it, hearing it – to manipulate it to the best of my intuition. I believe one can tell infinitely more from a spruce shaving taken by a hand plane then from the dust of a thickness sander. Through the use of hand tools one can become "close" to the wood in a way that is inexplicably rewarding. 
My approach to guitar making is, in essence, merely to make an instrument which is both emotional and musical. Something which captures beautiful colors in its tone, and something which can be moving. I strive to create the best instrument I possibly can, never sacrificing quality of materials for cost and never sacrificing the best features for those that are easier and less time consuming. I will spend as much time and money as necessary to ensure what I am making is the best it can be, without having any corners cut. |