1957 Robert Bouchet No. 52 SP/CSAR

This 1957 Robert Bouchet is a spruce and CSA rosewood classical guitar from Paris, No. 52 – built the same year as Julian Bream's famous Bouchet.

In the video above, Patrick Schettler plays the Andante Espressivo from Jorge Morel's Sonatina on this guitar.

No. 52: A Breathtaking Bouchet

A breathtaking example of a truly great Robert Bouchet, signed with the number 52 and the year 1957 on its label. Soundwise, this instrument delivers a dreamy, elegantly beautiful quality of sound – very hard to describe – that is at the same time also quite powerful and robust. The sound has an almost "creamy" texture, and playing it is an intoxicating, other-worldly sensation. It has very quick and "plump" response and incredible sustain – two trademarks of a great Bouchet.

The Year of Bream's Bouchet

Built in 1957, this guitar is placed historically in great company with famous Bouchets owned by Julian Bream (1957 – same year as this one), Ida Presti (1958) and Alexandre Lagoya (1959). This maker made just over 150 guitars in his lifetime, leaving far fewer in playable condition.

Condition

About 10 years ago Alan Perlman did some repairs, primarily to the back to stabilize several cracks. The sides are untouched however, and the top has only 1 crack (repaired with two thin diamond-shaped cleats) near the waist on the bass side, as well as the two typical "side of fingerboard" cracks that are done with glue only. Bouchets rarely appear on the market.

Robert Bouchet: From Painter to Guitar Maker

Robert Bouchet (1898–1986) was a Paris painter who became one of the most influential guitar makers of the twentieth century and the founding father of what is called today the "French school of guitar making". He took up the guitar in 1932 and became a friend of Julián Gómez Ramírez, a Spanish maker in Paris trained in the José Ramírez I workshop in Madrid, whose workshop he often visited. When he lost the guitar Gómez Ramírez had made for him, he decided to build one himself – in 1946, at the age of 48. In all he made only 154 instruments.

Founder of the French School

Bouchet's reputation quickly attracted some of the greatest players to his workshop: Ida Presti and Alexandre Lagoya, Emilio Pujol, Oscar Ghiglia, Turíbio Santos, Manuel López Ramos and Julian Bream. His innovations, including the famous "barre d'âme" in the soundboard bracing, left a lasting mark on guitar making, and the guitars of Daniel Friederich and many later French makers grew from his school. Bouchets are in the top tier of collectible classical guitars, along with Antonio de Torres and Hermann Hauser I.

Books on Robert Bouchet

Alberto Martínez's bilingual book is the most complete look at Bouchet's life and work, and a 1959 Bouchet is among the guitars shown in Orfeo's "34 Classical Guitars in Life Size":

Robert Bouchet 1898-1986: Peintre & Luthier

Orfeo – 34 Classical Guitars in Life Size