Luthiers
Manuel Bellido
Spain
Manuel Bellido was born in Granada in 1939 and is one of the most famous representatives of the Granadinian School. He is the brother of Jose Lopez Bellido and father of guitar builders Jesus and Mauricio Bellido.He is well known for his flamenco guitars, which are played by famous guitarists such as Juan Carmona and Tomatito. His guitars are traditionally built and inspired by Antonio de Torres. Manuel’s guitars are known for their easy playability and unique sound.
Jesus Bellido
Spain
Born in Granada in 1966, Jesus Bellido comes from a great line of guitar makers. At the age of thirteen he began doing the first works in his father's workshop, Manuel Bellido, and at the age of seventeen he built his first guitar. Jesus Bellido is at a great moment of maturity in the construction of his guitars, his instruments have an outstanding ease of playing, great care in the selection of woods, very high quality craftsmanship and an excellent sound.
Juan López Aguilarte
Spain
Juan López Aguilarte was born in Seville in 1941, but moved with his family to Granada when he was young. He first worked as a cabinetmaker, then began working in Manuel Bellido’s workshop, where he learned to make guitars. Later he worked for Eduardo Ferrer and Antonio Durán. In 1979 he opened his own workshop in the street Placeta Aliatar 3. Unfortunately he passes away.
Jerónimo Pérez
Spain
Born in the region of Algodonales,
Cadiz in 1978.Jerónimo Pérez is a talented luthier from the region of Algodonales, in Cadiz. His guitars are internationally recognised by top guitarists. His guitars have a very clear and personal sound. First class wood and craftsmanship makes him go towards the top of the ranking.
Juan Fabián Labella Manjón
Spain
Born in Aldeire, Granada in 1965, Juan Fabián Labella Manjón apprenticed with Jesus Bellido. From 1995 he builds his own guitars. His guitars are entirely build by hand, using no powertools. This way allows him to fully control each aspect of the building process in a traditional manner. He uses best quality wood and developed an improved shellac (French polish) that protects his guitars better without losing the quality of sound.
Valeriano Bernal
Spain
The Spanish luthier Valeriano Bernal was born in 1939 in a small village in the province of Cadiz in Andalucia. When he was only eight, Valeriano began learning the rudiments of woodworking from his cousin. After a stint in the Spanish navy, he set up a small workshop near Brussels in 1962. While in Belgium he worked closely with two acoustical engineers on the designs of tops. Returning to Spain in 1976, Valeriano eventually returned to his village and set up his own workshop. Working with his wife, Catalina Gil, and their two children -- Rafael Bernal Gil (b. 1973) and Paula Bernal Gil (b. 1976) -- the Bernal family produces 125-150 guitars a year. Although the Bernal workshop is larger than most individual guitar makers, each guitar is entirely handmade. Valeriano Bernal passed away in 2018, his family continuous the workshop under his name.
Dragan Musulin
Germany
Dragan Musulin, who used to be the master luthier at the Hopf workshop in the 70s, stopped making guitars in 2004 due to health related reasons, which makes his instruments a rarity. Dragan made his guitars with a special table-construction allowing for the rounded bindings. These guitars were made famous by Paco de Lucia who bought two of them on the spot in the 90s and rated them very highly. Quote:" This guitar is tonally the most beautiful I've ever played next to my Reyes".
Juan Montes
Spain
Juan Montes was born in Huelva. In the 50's Juan started learning the art of traditional handmade guitar construction from well-known guitarreros of Madrid and Granada. In 1972 Juan Montes moved to Valencia where he opened his own workshop. Although based in Valencia Juan Montes, still today, commits himself to the traditional Spanish way of artisan guitar construction.
José Marin Plazuelo
Spain
Born in Granada in 1960, José Marin Plazuelo is the nephew and disciple of Antonio Marin Montero. In 1974 he began an apprenticeship with his uncle. Under his uncle’s guidance, José has become one op the top builders of Spanish guitars. His guitars are entirely hand build using traditional techniques. Well known for there sound quality and high volume. José’s classical guitars are mainly inspired by the experience acquired from his uncle. However, his flamenco guitars are similar to those of Francisco Simplicio (1874 – 1932), a legendary guitar maker from Catalonia (Spain).
Vassilis Lazarides
Greece
Vassilis Lazarides, born on April 10th 1963, is one of those remarkable, very skilled luthiers, living and working in Athens. At first he constructed traditional instruments such as bouzoukis, oud, pontic and Istanbul liras and renaissance lutes. Vassilis analyzed the art of many great luthiers. By taking up the maintenance and functional repair of many master instruments he had the opportunity to watch from within, how some of the most important instrument builders work. In and ouside of Spain his guitars are highly valued, Jeronimo Maya played and recorded with one of his guitars. Vassilis his guitars are entirely handmade using very traditional techniques.
David Peña Vargas
Spain
David Peña Vargas was born in Jerez de la Frontera and raised in Santiago by his family of flamenco artists. His grandmother was a cousin of Sordera de Jerez and his father a cousin of Jose Merce, Vicente Soto, Luis el Zambo... Flamenco music and the flamenco guitar were allways present. Already at an age of 12 years, David played flamenco guitar on a professional level accompanying well known flamenco singers such as Luis de la Pica, José Vargas "el Mono", Joaquim el Zambo, José Gálvez...When David attended some classes of traditional Spanish guitar construction, he soon discovered his true calling...the artisan way of making flamenco guitars. After many years of experimenting, as a novice craftsman, David quickly acclaimed high ratings and today his flamenco guitars are played by important maestros such as Diego del Morao, Jose Galvez, Niño Jero, Diego Carrasco, Antonio Rey, Roman Miroshnichenko, Manuel Valencia, Pepe del Morao…
Felipe Conde
Spain
Felipe Conde Cavia was born in Madrid in 1957, being the third generation of Esteso-Conde guitar makers. His father, Mariano Conde Senior, was Domingo Esteso’s nephew, who he learned the art of guitar making from, apart from Faustino and Julio Conde.
Felipe Conde is more than a well known guitar maker: The top representative of one of the most prestigious and important firms of the guitar world in Spain: Hermanos Conde. Just by saying his name, we can’t help but thinking of Paco de Lucia, always with his inseparable Hermanos Conde guitar. Moraito Chico, Pepe Habichuela, Cepero… an endless list of priceless artists with made us fall in love with their music. A music coming from the talent and genius, from inspiration. However, the instrument also plays an important part in the creative process of the musician. And this is exactly the secret of the firm Hermanos Conde: They have always managed to introduce a unique sound, different from all the rest, thus captivating the best artists of the time, and also relating to them, which was really important so as to compose and interpret their pieces.
Mijail Kharash
Spain
Born in 1981, Mijail Kharash starts playing the violin at a very young age, later fascinated by the sound and possibilities of flamenco guitar, he falls in love with this instrument. As a child he is very interested in woodworking, music, art and poetry. After several jobs (as a cook, fisherman, construction worker, furniture maker), he decides to fully focus on building his own flamenco guitar creation. After two failures to achieve a high-quality guitar, he travels to Spain in search of answers, knowledge and experience. After many questions in various studios throughout the country, he has the honor and the luck to meet Carmelo Gonzalez de Ronda, who will be his first maestro and guide in the mysterious world of flamenco guitar. In 2009, he moves to the city of Granada, where he met many guitar builders, being Felix Moya Ibarra who introduced him to the Granada style of guitar building. Since then Mijail has been building traditional handmade flamenco guitars with a personal touch, influenced in recent years by amazing professionalism and experience from Jose Luis Vigil. Mijail feels proud and blessed to live in Granada, the city of great guitar builders, Alhambra and Sierra Nevada.
Julio Baarslag Espinosa
Spain
Julio Baarslag started his path in the guitar building business in 2012. But long before that, He had been playing with wood in his parents workshop. From 2012 and on, he has built different classical and flamenco guitar models, following the knowledge and quality control of his parents (the guitar makers René Baarslag and Ana Espinosa) and including his own designing preferences.
The evolution over these years’ knowledge and expertise, are now consolidated in two different types of classical guitars and a flamenco guitar model.
