2012 Teodoro Perez "Especial Maple" SP/CSAR

Teodoro Perez was born in the province of Soria, in Spain in 1952 but moved to Madrid while still very young. In 1966 he began apprenticing in the famed Jose Ramirez III workshop, where he built guitars, lutes, bandurias and mandolins. During these years, he had the great honor to meet some of the great maestros of the twentieth century, including Andres Segovia, Narciso Yepes and several others. In 1970, after passing the appropriate tests, and with the approval of Jose Ramirez, he qualified as First Official, and stamped the guitars he made with his initials GPM. In 1991, Teodoro Perez teamed up with another fellow Ramirez veteran, Mariano Tezanos, and built guitars for many years under the name "Tezanos-Perez". Teodoro has recently entered the next phase of his career, building with his son, Sergio, who has been assisting him in his work since 1998. GSI is proud to be representing these guitars exclusively in the United States.

The "Especial" is the top model from the Perez shop, and offers the absolute best in terms of decoration and materials. The sound is very distinctly Spanish, with a full, romantic tone and quick attack. Clarity is excellent, and there is plenty of volume for any setting including ensemble work, while retaining exceptional quality of sound. The materials selected for this model are top-notch and it also features more elaborate detailing work, including additional purfling and inlay. This particular guitar is unique in that it has a maple theme recurring throughout - a birds-eye maple neck, head veneer and center back strip, accentuating a beautiful and elaborate rosette inspired by Torres. Simply put, this is a fantastic top-level concert guitar by any standard.