1966 "Jose" David Rubio SP/CSAR

A 1966 classical guitar by David Rubio, with a spruce top and some of the most magnificent CSA rosewood he is known to have used, built in New York as "Jose" Rubio – with no repairs or cracks.

The Power of a Fleta or a Rodríguez

Made during his Bream years in New York – Bream played Rubio guitars of 1965 and 1966 – this Rubio has a very bold sound, with the power of any Fleta or Rodríguez of the same period. As with most great Rubios it is very even and balanced in all registers, while keeping the beauty and lyricism he is known for.

Condition

There are no known repairs or cracks, only normal playing wear. A particularly beautiful example, and a sensational one of this legendary maker's best work.

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.