2012 Tobias Braun SP/SW

Year	2012
Top	Spruce
Back & Sides	Satinwood
Scale Length	650 mm
Nut width	53 mm
Finish	French Polish
Country	Austria
Luthier	Tobias Braun

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The top of the 2012 Tobias Braun classical guitar made with bearclaw German spruce and satinwood.

The back of the 2012 Tobias Braun classical guitar made with bearclaw German spruce and satinwood.

The headstock of the 2012 Tobias Braun classical guitar made with bearclaw German spruce and satinwood.

The soundboard and rosette of the 2012 Tobias Braun classical guitar made with bearclaw German spruce and satinwood.

The bridge and tie block of the 2012 Tobias Braun classical guitar made with bearclaw German spruce and satinwood.

The rosette of the 2012 Tobias Braun classical guitar made with bearclaw German spruce and satinwood.

The side of the 2012 Tobias Braun classical guitar made with bearclaw German spruce and satinwood.

The label of the 2012 Tobias Braun classical guitar made with bearclaw German spruce and satinwood.

Villa-Lobos 'Schottish-Choro' played by Kevin Ayers

Byrd 'La Volta' played by Taso Comanescu and Mak Grgic

Description

Cover of Orfeo Magazine No. 17, The Viennese Guitar, featuring Tobias Braun

A 2012 classical guitar by Tobias Braun, with a German spruce top and satinwood back and sides, made in Gaaden, near Vienna.

In the videos above, Kevin Ayers plays Villa-Lobos's "Schottish-Choro" on this guitar, and Taso Comanescu and Mak Grgic play William Byrd's "La Volta" on it and a Luigi Locatto "1884 Torres SE 60".

Bearclaw Spruce and Satinwood

The German spruce top is covered in bearclaw, with irregular yet tight and beautiful grain. Satinwood is difficult to work, so most makers avoid it; Enrique García and Francisco Simplicio mastered it, and Tobias has worked steadily to bring it back, convinced that it enhances the sound in a very satisfying way.

Santos Basses, Ramírez Trebles

The plantilla and bracing are Tobias's own, with elements of Luise Walker's 1924 Santos and a 1912 Manuel Ramírez: warm, mellow Santos basses with vivid, clear Ramírez trebles. A small tornavoz, about 16 mm deep, adds projection and clarity, and the volume is remarkable for a traditionally made guitar. Custom Rubner tuners are engraved with his initials.

Condition

Pre-owned and in excellent condition, with a glue-only repair to an almost invisible hairline crack at the foot and some re-gluing of the center seam below the bridge.

Read more: Orfeo Magazine No. 17 – The Viennese Guitar (with a feature on Tobias Braun)

Background

Tobias Braun: A Romanillos-Trained Maker in the Vienna Woods

Tobias Braun was born in Holzminden, Germany, in 1960 and grew up in Perchtoldsdorf, just outside Vienna. He built his first guitar on his own in 1983, then took four courses with José Luis Romanillos between 1984 and 1992, earned his Master Craftsman's Certificate in Vienna in 1989 and helped translate Romanillos' book on Antonio de Torres into German. Since 1998 he has worked in Gaaden, in the Vienna Woods.

Santos, Ramírez and Rare Woods

His guitars grow out of the old Spanish masters – above all the 1924 Santos Hernández of Luise Walker, which he has studied and lectured on, and a 1912 Manuel Ramírez. Many have a small tornavoz for projection and clarity, and he is one of the few makers since García and Simplicio to work with satinwood. He was featured in Orfeo Magazine No. 17, "The Viennese Guitar".