Jose Rodriguez, Luthier

[NGiorgio]

Anyone have any knowledge of luthier Jose Rodriguez. He is from Andujar, Spain.

Any info would be appreciated.

[brian richardson]

nick,
i googled it(as i'm sure you did) and came up with nothing.
there was a guitarist that came up but, no luthier.

[C. Vega]

I'm not personally familiar with his guitars but here's a little bit of info that I was able to find:

Jose Rodriguez Pena was born in Andujar (Jaen) in 1958. He began making guitars in 1971 with Javier Cayuela Garcia in Andujar and worked with him for 11 years. He currently has his workshop at C. Palominos, 16, Andujar and makes about 15 guitars a year.

[NGiorgio]

Brian,

Thanks for trying. He is evidently not quite ready for Google, yet.


C.Vega,

That is the one. Saw one of his guitars on ebay. Listed by a very reputable seller, who I have experience with, but you never know. It is a very nice looking Brazilian/cedar negra. Where do you go to find this type of info?

Thanks very much.

[C. Vega]

I have a rather extensive reference library of books, etc. on stringed instrument construction, history, etc., including some rather obscure ones, and I'm always on the lookout for more. I've been accumulating this stuff for 30 years or so.

[NGiorgio]

C.Vega,

In the description of the Jose Rodriguez guitar, it was stated that he is related to Jeronimo Pena Fernandez, and that Rodriguez builds in the Pena style. It was also described as being in the Andalusian style, as opposed to the Madrid or Granada styles. Other than shape and or size, is there very much difference between the three styles (schools)?

[dennis]

Nick, Zavaletas usually has guitars by Jose Ruiz Pedregosa who learned from Pena-fernandez, you can see the photos theremaybe it will be helpful, they look similar to the Pena's, with oftentimes a long scale (660+), large bottom bout, and generally a pretty big guitar. I played a Pena a few years ago, it was a CD/BZ and was a beautiful guitar, I was short of $$ at the time, but it was big, romantic sounding, and sounded very spanish. Fareed Haque has a good description of his pena on his site. just google him.

[NGiorgio]

Dennis,

I am a little familiar with the Pena guitar. I have seen the Pedregosa on Zavaletas site. Never played one (Pena). I also seem to remember the Pena's as being a bit ornate. What I don't know, is the term Adalusian style.

I am going to check out the site you mentioned. That name is familiar. I believe I read about him recently.

Thanks

[C. Vega]

It's hard to draw a distinct line between different "schools" of guitar making, especially as far as contemporary makers are concerned, but I think that in general, the "typical" Granada/Andalusian guitar tends to be a bit smaller and more lightly constructed than those from Madrid. Of course, there are going to be exceptions.

It's interesting that you mention Jeronimo Pena Fernandez. Although he's from Andalucia (Marmolejo, Jaen), his guitars tend to be rather large and have long scale lengths. He's also used some rather radical bracing patterns whereas most Andalusian makers tend to be more conservative and traditional though some of the younger makers are doing a lot of experimenting. He's also know for his elaborate carvings on the headstock and bridge (he's also one of the few classical makers who frequently used ebony for bridges), and decorative inlays on the back of the neck. I've also seen one of his guitars that had a relief-carved ebony rosette along with the other stuff. The soundhole end of the fingerboard was also an elaborate scalloped shape.
His former apprentice, Jose Ruiz Pedregosa, also from Marmolejo, builds in much the same style.
As I mentioned in my first post, I'm not familiar with Jose Rodriguez' guitars so how close they are to Jeronimo's I couldn't say. Does the seller say that he actually worked with Jeronimo? Jeronimo has four sons, none of whom are guitar makers.
Pena Fernandez wrote and published a book, El Arte de un Guitarrero Espanol in 1993 in which he gives his thoughts and outlines his methods of guitar construction. The book is rather hard to find, even in Spain.
He is officially retired but still makes a few guitars each year, or at least he did as of couple of years ago.

[NGiorgio]

C.Vega,

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I thought that Andalusian style was more of a general term for the southern Spanish style. I suppose that some luthiers will always stand out, in their respective geographical areas, especially those who depart from the norm.

No, the seller does not mention if Rodriguez worked with Pena, just a reference to being related to him and building in his style, which may or may not be the case. Perhaps the reference to Andalusian, and Pena's style is meant to describe the size of the guitar. It does not have the elaborate carvings etc.

Thanks again.

[Armando]

I must say, that i don't know anything about José Rodriguez.

However i like to place some comments.

"Pena Fernandez wrote and published a book, El Arte de un Guitarrero Espanol in 1993 in which he gives his thoughts and outlines his methods of guitar construction. The book is rather hard to find, even in Spain."

C. Vega

The book is not as difficult to find. You can find it at www.madinter.com

Regarding the book itself; I personally appreciate his book a lot, but it is definitely not a book that can be used as an easy to follow step by step instruction for the newstarting luthier. Very important steps of the guitar cunstruction process are simply missing. There are some quite weird explanations and statements to find in this book.
Nevertheless i believe that his guitars are excellent and btw. they look very pleasing with the most beautiful headstock that i've ever seen on any guitar. I have heard that Manolo Sanlúcar owns one, allthough i've never seen him to play a Peña Fernandez.

In regards to the different guitar making schools:

As much as i know there are officially only two kind of spanish guitarmaking schools that are distinguished, the Madrid and the Granada school. There is actually no andalucian school. Granada is in Andalucia and represents the Andalucian style of making guitars. Guitars made in the granadian style are known to have a sligtly smaller body and a lighter construction than those made in the madrilenian style as already mentioned. However there is no specific guitar model that can be considered as the real andalucian model. There are other andalucian makers such as Valeriano Bernal from Cadiz, Francisco Barba from Sevilla , Manuel Reyes from Cordoba etc.. and all of them use different "plantillas" and different construction methods. Another example is Gerundino. His guitars feature a shape "plantilla" that has nothing in common with other andalucian guitarmakers.

[C. Vega]

Armando,
Yes, I knew that Madinter had the Pena book. I believe that they probably have the remaining stock of them and are probably the only source. It's also available in German as well as in Spanish, or at least it was. The book is fairly inexpensive but Madinter charges a lot for packing and overseas shipping.
I totally agree that it's not a book for a beginner to use as a how-to manual for guitar making but that was not it's intent. I also have to agree that Jeronimo certainly does have his quirks and eccentricities. There certainly are some strange statements in that book.

[Pepe Vergara]

... I totally agree that it's not a book for a beginner to use as a how-to manual for guitar making but that was not it's intent. I also have to agree that Jeronimo certainly does have his quirks and eccentricities... There certainly are some strange statements in that book.

Agree. I take his comments at their face value and subject them to my own scientific evaluation. I do like how he explain his rosettes and the carving. I am a little bit sceptic to what my brother would call "witchcraft lutherie" :lol:

[C. Vega]

Pepe,

There's plenty of that out there.

[La Tumbona]

Hello guys,

recently i have come across following auction on ebay with a so called "Jose Rodriguez Negra".

I am sceptical, because there doesnt stand whether the guitar is full-solid, and the inlay looks also a bit weird and cheap (?). I dont know if a master like Rodriguez (if he is a master) would make such an inlay.

Maybe you can say some things of the guitar, whether you believe its original, or fake?

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200097980426


i had contact with the seller before the auction ended, and he could say NOTHING to me. He couldnt say when the guitar was build, how much the price of it is or was (he also didnt tell which price HE bought it). The only thing he said that the action is 4 mm and 2 mm on the first fret. 4mm sounds very high, unusual for flamenco.