1960 Robert Bouchet No. 73 SP/CSAR

This 1960 Robert Bouchet is a spruce and CSA rosewood classical guitar made in Paris, No. 73 – built in his later style, with his innovative "lateral" brace under the bridge.

In the video above, Monching Carpio plays José Valdez' "Kundiman in D" on this guitar.

No. 73 and Bouchet's "Lateral" Brace

This guitar (#73) is built in Bouchet's later style, featuring his innovative "lateral" brace which passes beneath the saddle-side of the bridge, notched to accommodate the 5 fan struts – of which the outermost two pass beneath the lower harmonic bar. This design noticeably increases sustain, dynamic range and tonal color/modulation, especially in this particular guitar.

Sound and Condition

It also has a dreamy, elegantly beautiful quality of sound – very hard to describe, yet quite powerful and robust at the same time – with an almost "creamy" texture that makes playing it an intoxicating, other-worldly experience. It has two repaired cracks on the top, which are structurally stable and repaired long ago. This is an excellent example from this period.

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