1990 John Gilbert CD/IN

John Gilbert built this classical guitar in 1990 with a cedar top and Indian rosewood back and sides – with his pin bridge, and a label signed by both John and his son, William.

In the video above, Alex Tsiboulski plays Chrystian Dozza's "Sobre um Tema de Gismonti" on this guitar.

The Gilbert Pin Bridge

In place of a traditional bone saddle shared by all six strings, Gilbert's bridge has six metal pins that support the strings individually, maximizing the independence of each note and voice – and letting the player adjust the action of each string.

Sound and Label

Sound-wise this is a classic Gilbert: a "neutral" response that leaves the color and dynamics of each performance in the player's hands. The label is signed by both John and William, who began working with his father right around this time and later built guitars under his own name.

John Gilbert: An Engineer's Approach to the Classical Guitar

John Gilbert (1922–2012) was one of the most successful and popular of the "innovative" American guitar makers of the late 20th century. A machinist for Hewlett-Packard before he turned to guitars, he built his first instrument in 1965, self-taught, and brought an engineer's precision to the craft – including an exacting system that took into account the dimensions, weight and stiffness of his materials.

The Gilbert Pin Bridge and the Players Who Chose It

His best-known innovation is the "pin bridge": instead of one bone saddle shared by all six strings, each string rests on its own metal pin, for greater separation between voices and individually adjustable action. His guitars also carry his own rugged Gilbert tuners. They were played by a whole generation of guitarists, including David Russell, Raphaella Smits, David Tanenbaum, Marc Teicholz, David Leisner and Fred Hand. From around 1990 his son, William Gilbert, worked with him, and later labels are signed by both. John Gilbert died on February 23, 2012, at his home in Woodside, California.