1969 Robert Ruck CD/CSAR

This 1969 Robert Ruck is a cedar and CSA rosewood classical guitar from Ruck’s early Miami years – an instrument from the same era as the famous Ruck of Manuel Barrueco.

A Miami Ruck, 1969

The hand-written label reads simply “R. S. Ruck, Miami, Florida, 1969” – long before the printed labels and numbers of his later work. Rucks from this period almost never come on the market.

Sound and Condition

The tone is very firm and solid, deeply anchored to the fundamental of each note, while the higher partials add a beautiful texture to the body of the sound. The volume is surprising – it could fill a large hall with minimal effort. The 660 mm scale plays easily. Apart from some well-repaired cracks in the body, the guitar was in great shape.

Robert Ruck: An American Original

Robert Ruck (1945–2018) was one of the most respected classical guitar makers in the United States, with a career of some five decades and well over a thousand instruments. He began as a flamenco guitarist in Miami – studying classical guitar with Juan Mercadal and flamenco singing with Elena Marbella – built his first guitars in the 1960s and later worked in Wisconsin and in the Pacific Northwest. In 2016 he was inducted into the Guitar Foundation of America’s Hall of Fame.

Barrueco and the Ruck Sound

The most famous Ruck of all is No. 58, the 1970s guitar on which Manuel Barrueco recorded many of his albums. Ruck guitars are known for a very firm, solid tone, deeply anchored to the fundamental of each note, with the hum of the higher partials adding texture, for surprising volume and for comfortable, easy necks. Many of his later guitars have soundports in the upper sides. His players included Sharon Isbin, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Berta Rojas, Leo Brouwer, Gerardo Núñez and Paulo Bellinati.

Books on Robert Ruck

A 1978 Ruck from the Russell Cleveland collection, No. 162, appears in “The Classical Guitar – A Complete History”:

The Classical Guitar – A Complete History