1966 "Jose" David Rubio SP/CSAR

A 1966 classical guitar by David Rubio, with a spruce top and CSA rosewood back and sides, built in New York under the "Jose" Rubio name – historic, and very enjoyable to play.

In the video above, Sean Samimi plays Domenico Scarlatti's Sonata K. 1 on this guitar.

A 1966 New York Rubio

Built during Rubio's collaboration with Julian Bream – Bream played a 1965 Rubio – while he was still in New York, this guitar has a very bold sound with excellent power. Like most of the great Rubios it is even and balanced in all registers, and it has the beauty and lyricism for which he is best known.

Condition

There are no known repairs or cracks, only normal playing wear. Both historic and very enjoyable to play.

David Rubio: From Flamenco Guitarist to Master Instrument Maker

David Rubio (1934–2000) is arguably the most important guitar maker to emerge from England, and the founding father of the English school. Born David Spink and raised in London, he studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin, then left for Spain, where he earned his living as a flamenco guitarist accompanying singers and dancers – and picked up the nickname "Rubio" for his red beard. A touring flamenco company brought him to New York, where, from what he had seen in the guitar shops of Spain, he taught himself to build guitars under the name "Jose" Rubio. Within a few years Julian Bream was playing his instruments.

Guitars, Lutes, Harpsichords and Violins

Rubio returned to England in 1967 and, from workshops near Oxford and, from 1979, in Cambridge, built a remarkably wide range of instruments: guitars and lutes, harpsichords, baroque and modern violins, violas and cellos. In the late 1960s and 1970s he trained three young makers in his methods – Kazuo Sato, Edward B. Jones and Paul Fischer – who built guitars of his design marked with their initials. Late in his life he developed a radical 8-string guitar, the "Brahms" model, with Paul Galbraith. He died in Cambridge on October 21, 2000, leaving more than a thousand instruments.