This 1970 Hernández y Aguado is a cedar and CSA rosewood classical guitar made in Madrid, Spain, numbered 397 on its signed label – a rare cedar-top example from the famous workshop of Manuel Hernández and Victoriano Aguado.
No. 397, in Remarkable Condition
The label, from the workshop at Ribera de Curtidores 9, is signed by the makers, and the headstock is ornately carved in their unmistakable style. This is a particularly beautiful example in amazing condition – no cracks, no repairs, absolutely stunning. Apart from some very mild wear in the finish, the guitar is incredibly well preserved.
The Hernández y Aguado Sound with a Cedar Top
The sound is just what you'd expect from a great "HyA" – as distinctive as its appearance. Each note begins with a crisp, "snappy" attack, almost like a snare drum, and the body of the note that follows is airy and lightweight. These qualities give the player a high level of clarity and precision in quick, busy music, while slower music comes out very expressive and lyrical. That is true of their spruce guitars, and it holds just as well for this cedar-top example. Very rare and very collectible.
Background
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.
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