1978 Robert Ruck SP/CSAR

This 1978 Robert Ruck is a spruce and CSA rosewood classical guitar from the late 1970s, acquired from the Raccosta Collection in Italy.

Late-1970s Ruck

Its label – “R. S. Ruck” beside his round emblem, dated 1978 – comes from the period of Manuel Barrueco’s famous Ruck. The tone is very firm and solid, each note anchored to its fundamental while the higher partials add texture, and the guitar easily fills a large hall. The 664 mm scale is made comfortable by an easy neck shape. After more than four decades of regular playing there was only minor wear, mainly nail marks in the top.

From the Raccosta Collection

We acquired this guitar from the exceptional Raccosta Collection in Italy.

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