Granada Guitars?

[bluejazz]

What characterizes Granada school classical guitars? Also, who are the premier makers and what differentiates them? Thanks

[mrmartinez]

:?: I too would like to know if anyone GSI included has bought or have a opinion on Granada
Guitar Builders such as:

Rafael Moreno Rodriquez
Antonio Marin Montero
Rene Baarslag

Rafael

[keith]

there is a woman who lives in spain who can answer these questions (and if you want a horse, she can get that also). type in lisa granada in your search engine and you will find her. she is knowledgeable on the luthiers you mentioned. and she has a pretty cool lifestyle at that.

[tmkid]

We have represented nearly all the well recognized guitar makers from Granada. By far the most famous is Antonio Marin who taught or greatly influenced all of these guys. For example, Rene Baarslag from Holland played flamenco guitar, went to Marin to repair his instrument and ended up staying in Granada and building guitars until today. Jonathon Hinves was a English expatriot who learned from Marin. Bernd Martin was German and was greatly influenced by Marin. Of course, Plazuelo, the nephew of Marin learned from him and still works in the same shop as his uncle. Moreno Rodriguez is a newer maker and did not learn from Marin to my knowledge. His guitars are also quite different, perhaps more in the style of the Cordoba school.

As for sound, most of these makers make charming, sweet instruments. Almost all are French polished, smaller bodied spruce instruments. I would say that it was the Granada school which first repopularized the traditional Torres style guitar in Spain in the 1980s when everyone else was trying to copy the larger bodied cedar guitars of Ramirez. Later, the influence of Romanillos and his book on Torres created a boom in Torres style guitars all over the world.

Lots more to say, but feel free to ask more specific questions and we'll try to answer as time permits.

Tim