1966 Hernández y Aguado SP/CSAR

This 1966 Hernández y Aguado is a spruce and CSA rosewood classical guitar made in Madrid, No. 313, with its label signed by the makers.

No. 313 from Ribera de Curtidores

The guitar shows all the hallmarks of the workshop at Ribera de Curtidores 9: the pear-like plantilla, the unusually thin rosette and the carved headstock. Its sound is just as distinctive as its appearance. The initial attack of the note is crisp and "snappy", almost like a snare drum, while the body of the note which follows is airy and lightweight – great clarity and precision in quick, busy music, and a very expressive, lyrical voice in slower pieces.

John Williams and the Hernández y Aguado

Very responsive and musical, these guitars have been played throughout the decades by such greats as John Williams – you can see him in the 1971 documentary "John Williams at Ronnie Scott's" in the video above.

Hernández y Aguado: From Pianos to Guitars in Madrid

Manuel Hernández (1895–1975) and Victoriano Aguado (1897–1982) met and became friends while working together in a piano factory. They eventually formed a partnership and set up their own piano (and furniture) repair shop in Madrid. As legend has it, their great interest in the art of guitar making was secured sometime in the 1940s, when they leased out some space in their shop to Modesto Borreguero (one of the famed Manuel Ramírez workers) and became intrigued with his guitar making skills.

A Unique Shape and Sound

Hernández y Aguado instruments remain unique in the canon of great makers – they have an almost pear-like shape (or as we say, the plantilla is "pregnant at the hips"), the interior is typically varnished just like the exterior, and they are decorated with unusually thin rosettes and ornately carved headstocks. Very responsive and musical, these guitars have been played throughout the decades by such greats as Regino Sainz de la Maza, John Williams, Julian Bream and, in more recent years, Graham Anthony Devine.