Multilayer top guitars

As I was in a specific search for volume, I concentrated in 2005 in the construction of laminated tops, inspired in the technique that Mathias Dammann had started in Germany some fifteen years ago.

Further on I enlarged my research combining spruce and red cedar in different layers.

As the number of possible combinations was quite rich, I had to do some thorough work in order to keep the classical features of my guitars.

The result is a more powerful guitar which has not only gained in volume, and its in-result the dynamic range, but that has developped accordingly the preexistant features of my guitars, such as projection, sustain, balance and evenness among notes, separation and clarity, responsiveness.

At present, I offer this model either with spruce on the external face of the soundboard and cedar in the inside, or viceversa, or with spruce on both faces.

I am also offering a new model of « flamenca blanca » guitar in cypress which I developped recently according to the multilayer soundboard guitar. The result is a more powerful guitar in volume and projection which retains the peculiar character of the cypress.

The choice of wood is a very delicate procedure in guitar making, as this decision is primarily responsible for the guitar’s voice. Not all the trees of the same specimen are equal  -some are excellent for a type of instrument and others not. Nor is it a matter of aesthetics -there are precious woods based on their appearance which don’t gather the conditions to be transformed into a good musical instrument.

I only use European spruce for my tops because of my personal affinity with the sound this wood produces, something I would describe as related to dynamics and beauty. It was also the only wood used for guitar tops since the instrument’s origins until the 60’s, when the red cedar appeared as a new alternative, but of a very different character.

Both rosewoods I use for back and sides –Indian and Brazilian- have very different physical properties, but in first quality cuts they are are not always different in sound.

I french-polish all my guitars with the varnish used by Antonio de Torres and all ancient guitar makers. I choose this varnish because of its excellent quality and its relationship with the sound of the instrument. I do not wish to add more fantasies to the already existing ones in guitar making. It is almost taken for granted that the secret of the sound is in the varnish. To put it right, the varnish is a natural resin diluted in alcohol, that is applied in hundreds of very thin layers which remain on the wood when the alcohol evaporates. The end result is an extremely thin varnish which does not interfere at all with the wood vibration.

During the years in which I made electroacoustic guitars I used the modern synthetic varnishes, and after this experience I was very able to compare the differences between both materials. The synthetic varnishes are currently used because they are easy to apply, dry very quickly, and are wear resistant, but they leave a film on the wood that is notorious for reducing notoriously the guitar’s vibration capacity, a process that will modify the tone and will produce a loss of sound. The French polish, on the other hand,  demands months of work and some people question its resistance to intensive use. Yes, this is true, but it is also easy to add varnish after a few years of intensive use.

I handmake each rosette for each guitar, according to the ancient tradition. It’s a work in marquetry that I create with very thin veneers of wood to decorate the guitar.

The tuning-machines that I prefer, and normally add to my guitars, are Sloane and Rodgers. They are all of excellent quality, differing in technology, design and price.