1978 Robert Ruck No. 162 SP/CSAR
| Year | 1978 |
| Top | Spruce |
| Back & Sides | CSA Rosewood |
| Scale Length | 664 mm |
| Nut width | 54 mm |
| Finish | French Polish |
| Country | USA |
| Luthier | Robert Ruck |
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Taso Comanescu - Folias Gallegas (1978 Robert Ruck)
Description
This 1978 Robert Ruck is a spruce and CSA rosewood classical guitar, No. 162, from the Russell Cleveland collection – the Ruck featured in “The Classical Guitar – A Complete History”.
No. 162, Late 1970s
On this guitar the label – “R. S. Ruck” beside his round emblem – is dated by hand and signed “Robert Ruck”, with the number #162 written beside the signature. It is a superb example of Ruck’s work from the years of Manuel Barrueco’s famous Ruck: a firm, solid tone anchored in the fundamental, plenty of volume for a large hall and, despite the 664 mm scale, a very comfortable neck. The only wear is a few nail marks in the top. Taso Comanescu plays it in the video above.
From the Russell Cleveland Collection
This guitar comes from the Russell Cleveland collection and is featured on pages 72–73 of the book “The Classical Guitar – A Complete History”:
Background
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”:
