ABOUT MY GUITARS

I aim to bring a modern flare to the rich history of Spanish guitar making, crafting my Flamenco and Classical guitars to play with a rich, precise, and percussive sound. My Plantilla design features subtle, flowing shoulders and a distinctly rounded lower bout. I approach body construction and bracing patterns in a way reminiscent of 1930s Santos Hernandez and 1950s Marcelo Barbero guitars. My instruments are light and balanced in the hands, and comfortable and responsive to play. I tend to shy away from adornments, instead focusing on sonic satisfaction and playability.

I primarily select soundboards from Engelmann spruce, Alaskan yellow cedar, and western red cedar. My three guitar models are determined by the materials I use for the back and sides. The Daisy is constructed from Port Orford cedar (or cypress). I also use this aromatic, light, and strong wood for necks, linings, and braces. For the Tess, I use Australian blackwood, sourced from the cool ancient forests of the Otways in Australia’s coastal Victoria, where I started my guitar-making journey. Australian blackwood has a density, hardness, and sound character reminiscent of rosewoods, with a slightly lighter expressive grain. I keep the densest pieces of Australian blackwood for use as bridges. My Ella model uses maple for the back and sides. I French polish all my instruments, and I typically use Schaller Grand Tune machine heads.

Model: Daisy - Cedar/Cypress Flamenco
Available: $3800

This first guitar constructed in my new Bend, Oregon, workshop, takes advantage of some regional woods, combined with more traditional materials. I use Alaskan yellow cedar for the soundboard, and locally sourced quilted maple for the bridge (dyed black), headplate, tailpiece, bindings, and rosette. The back and sides are cypress, and the neck is Spanish cedar. The fretboard is ebony, which I also used sparingly in the decorative elements to focus the eye on the simple beauty of the maple. Solid cedar linings and AYC braces with a maple and ebony back strip complete the inside. The sound is deep and bright. Total weight is 1196g (2lb, 10 oz).

Model: Tess - Spruce/Blackwood Flamenco
Available: $3000

This was the last guitar I constructed in my Australian workshop and is a result of discovering a wonderful set of tight-grained Italian mountain spruce that I paired with locally sourced high-figure Australian blackwood back and sides. I complemented these with a pau ferro bridge, red cedar (calantas) neck, and ebony for the fingerboard, head plate, and bindings. The rosette is a mosaic of maple and ebony checker pattern with a blue accented herringbone border. Total weight is 1250g (2lb, 12 oz).

Model: Ella - Cedar/Maple Flamenco

Initially made as a for-sale guitar, my son, Jackson, took a liking to this one, so along with a request for a custom mother-of-pearl inlay on the headstock, it is now his Flamenco practice guitar. A combination of Queensland maple for the neck, body, and bindings, with a western red cedar top promote a forward-projecting deep and expressive sound. The bridge and headplate is quilted Australian blackwood and the fretboard is ebony. A red composite stone and ebony rosette add an accent to the rich copper-colored Queensland maple of the body. The weight comes in at 1180 g (2 lb, 11 oz).

Model: Daisy - Spruce/Cypress Flamenco

Aiming for a more traditional flamenco sound and feel, I combined cypress back and sides, a thin and stiff Sitka spruce top, and an Australian blackwood bridge for a quick response and a crisp yet mellow sound. The neck is Port Orford cedar and the fretboard ebony. The rosette is a marquetry pattern made of purple heart, ebony, and maple. Total weight comes in at 1160 g (2 lb, 10 oz).