1969 David Rubio SP/CSAR

David Rubio made this classical guitar in England in 1969, with a dark, aged spruce soundboard full of bearclaw and CSA rosewood back and sides – framed all around by double purfling.

In the videos above, Ricardo Giuffrida plays Jobim's "Luiza" on this guitar, and the Mobius Trio plays Adrian Knight's "Bon Voyage" with it in the center, alongside guitars by Alfredo Velázquez and Erez Perelman.

Double Purfling and a Bearclaw Top

It is an excellent example of Rubio's creative, elegant craftsmanship, with double purfling all around that frames the materials beautifully – themselves exquisite, especially the dark, beautifully aged spruce top, full of bearclaw.

Sound and Condition

The tone is thick and rich, with incredible sustain in the higher registers and excellent volume that is never boomy, along with the beauty and lyricism for which Rubio is best known. Apart from one hairline crack in the back, securely and expertly repaired many years ago, the guitar is in fine condition for its age.

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.