1968 Manuel Velázquez SP/PF

This 1968 Manuel Velázquez is a spruce and pau ferro classical guitar that the maker revisited 42 years later, in 2010, for a restoration recorded on a second label.

Two Labels, 1968 and 2010

On the original 1968 label the words “New York” are blacked out by hand. In 2010, in the Velázquez shop, four cracks in the soundboard were repaired with splices only (no cleats or patches inside) – two from the bridge to the foot, one from the soundhole to the bridge and one beside the fingerboard on the treble side; the top was refinished in French polish, the body in oil, and the setup was done for maximum ease of play.

Pau Ferro and a Big Sound

The back and sides are a very exotic set of pau ferro with an almost three-dimensional figure, and the tuners are Rodgers. The sound recalls the Hermann Hauser II guitars of the period – precise, clear trebles and bold, sturdy basses – with great power even by Velázquez’s standards.

GSI Foundation

This guitar was donated to our non-profit charitable organization, the GSI Foundation. Guitar sales through the GSI Foundation raise money to directly benefit music education in public schools.

Manuel Velázquez: An American Master in the Spanish Tradition

Manuel Velázquez (1917–2014) was born in Puerto Rico and made his name in New York, where his workshop at 420 Third Avenue became a meeting place for leading guitarists. He was perhaps the greatest American luthier to build in the European tradition, and his guitars yield nothing in craftsmanship or sound to those of his Spanish and German contemporaries. Over a career of nearly eight decades – in New York, Puerto Rico, Virginia and Florida – his instruments were played by Andrés Segovia, Julian Bream, Pepe Romero, Rey de la Torre and Sabicas, and by musicians far beyond the classical world, from Earl Klugh to Paul Simon and Keith Richards.

The Velázquez Sound

Velázquez guitars are most often compared to those of Hermann Hauser I and Hermann Hauser II – not only in appearance but in the style of sound: great clarity and separation between voices, perfect balance, sparkling trebles over steady basses and a natural, beautiful “woody” quality of tone. Most of his guitars follow this compact, Hauser-like model; in the 1970s and early 1980s he also built a larger, more rounded body with a deeper box and an even bigger sound. His son Alfredo Velázquez, who learned the craft in his father’s workshop, continues the tradition.

Books on Manuel Velázquez

A 1978 Velázquez – a guitar that later passed through our hands – is reproduced in Alberto Martínez’s book “34 Classical Guitars in Life Size”, and a 1955 Velázquez from the Russell Cleveland collection appears in “The Classical Guitar – A Complete History”:

34 Classical Guitars in Life Size

The Classical Guitar – A Complete History