Viewing entries by
James Greenberg
The Spanish luthier Rafael Moreno Rodriguez was born in Tanger in 1954. When he was six years old, his parents moved to El Fargue, Granada. After a short time there, his parents moved to Granada, being a better place to educate their children. When Rafael was 13 he apprenticed to Manuel Lopez Bellido. Manuel later formed an association with Antonio Marin Montero, and Rafael spent some years working with them. There he shared a workbench and work with Francisco Santiago Marin.
The Spanish guitar maker Rubén Moisés López was born in Madrid in 1967, and is the sixth son of the luthier Marcelino López Nieto, and the only one to follow his father into building guitars. Since his father's workshop was in their home, Ruben Lopez began learning about tools, woods, and guitar making from the time he was five. However, it has only been since the late 1990s, that he decided to devote himself to the art.
Juan Miguel Alvarez, (born 1960) is the son of the Madrid luthier Juan Alvarez Gil (1932-2001) was born in Madrid in 1932. Although his father died in 2001, Juan Miguel who learned to make guitars under his father’s careful tutelage has become a fine guitar maker in his own right.
José Ruiz Pedregosa (b. 1958) is the only disciple of the Spanish luthier Jerónimo Peña Fernández whose guitars are played by such great flamenco players as Monolo Sanlucar, Manolo Escobar, and Enrique Montoya. Jeronimo Peña Fernandez, who is among the few luthiers to whom Luis F. Leal Pinar devotes an entire chapter in "Guitarreros de Andalucia" (2004)....
The Spanish luthier José Romero Garrido was born in Baeza (Jaén) April 12, 1954. His family moved to Madrid when he was but an infant, and he has lived there ever since. In 1968, when he was but fourteen, he began his professional career as a guitar maker, entering as an apprentice in the workshop of José Ramirez.
Born in Granada in 1960, the Spanish luthier Jose Marin Plazuelo is the nephew and disciple of Antonio Marin Montero. In 1974, like his cousin Francisco Santiago Marin before him, began an apprenticeship with his uncle.
In 1952, he opened his own workshop. Even then, because he his an inquisitive man, he set out to investigate the methods, designs, and ideas used by other builders in Cordoba, Barcelona, Madrid, and elsewhere.
The Spanish luthier Jesús Bellido (born 1966) is a member of one of Granada's leading families of guitar makers. Both his father, Manuel López Bellido and his uncle José López Bellido have achieved international fame as luthiers. Taught by his father, Jesús began his career as a guitar maker when he was 14 years old.
Jean-Baptiste Castelluccia is a third generation luthier, working in Paris. Giambattista Castelluccia who established this workshop was part of a wave of Italian luthiers who came to Paris in the 1940s, opening a shop in 1946.
Although Jose Albeto Pantoja Martin died in 2013, his son, Francisco (Paco) Alberto Pantoja, who was trained by his father, and grew up in the workshop, has taken over the workshop and continues to offer classical and flamenco guitars of impeccable craftsmenship and superb tone.
The Hermanos Sanchis Lopez, David and Herman are the son’s of Ricardo Sanchis Carpio (b. 1937). The grandson of Ricardo Sanchis Nacher (1881-1960) a talented luthier with close ties with the shops Manuel Ramirez and Domingo Esteso who founded the Sanchis firm in 1915.
The Conde brothers established their reputations as master guitar makers, building guitars for such great flamenco players as Sabicas and Paco de Lucia. Mariano died in 1989. Faustino died in 1988 and Julio in 1995. The original Esteso-Conde shop in Madrid is currently run by Faustino's widow.
Born in Granada in 1946, the Spanish luthier Francisco (Paco) Santiago Marin was but twelve, when he began working as cabinet maker. Later, he apprenticed as a guitar maker with his uncle Antonio Marin Montero, because he realized that if one wishes to become a great maker.
Felix Manzanero retired in 2010, and until recently his shop was closed. His son, Ivan Manzanero, (b. 1960), who trained under his father, and built his first guitar in 1979, decided recently to reopen the shop. The Spanish luthier Felix Manzanero was born in Madrid in 1937. He had learned a little about guitar making from Modesto Borreguero (1893-1969)-- who been trained by Manuel Ramirez (1864-1916)-- and was a friend of the family.
