1966 Hernández y Aguado SP/IN

This 1966 Hernández y Aguado is a spruce and Indian rosewood classical guitar made in the Madrid workshop, its label inscribed "Construida por nuestro oficial".

Built by the Hernández y Aguado Foreman

In place of the standard signature, the label is signed (in the same handwriting as normal) "Construida por nuestro oficial", which roughly means "built by our foreman". So while it is a Hernández y Aguado in sound, look, feel and origin, the final assembly appears to have been done by the workshop's foreman of the time – naturally with their own parts and tools, in their shop, under the eye of the two maestros and to their specifications.

A Fat, Warm Sound

Each note opens with a crisp, "snappy" attack, almost like a snare drum, and the body that follows is fat and warm, filling out the surrounding sonic space. The player gets clarity and precision in quick, busy passages and a very expressive, lyrical voice in slower music.

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.