1990 Ober/Blöchinger SP/CSAR

This 1990 Ober/Blöchinger is a classical guitar with an aged spruce top and a three-piece CSA rosewood back, built in Munich in October 1990 and signed by Fritz Ober on the label.

Built in Munich by Fritz Ober and Edmund Blöchinger

This guitar was built in Munich in what was, at the time, the shared workshop of Edmund Blöchinger and Fritz Ober – two makers who went on to have illustrious careers as independent guitar makers. It is built in the traditional style, drawing largely on Torres and Hauser I.

An "Old-World" Sound

The sound is "old-world" in character – loose, open and warm, and immensely charming. At the same time it is also very bold and clear.

Materials

The materials are gorgeous: the dramatic grain patterns and color of the lovely three-piece CSA rosewood back, and a beautiful piece of aged spruce for the soundboard, make it as beautiful in appearance as in sound.

Orfeo article on Hauser III, Blöchinger and Ober  |  Orfeo Magazine No. 4 on our blog

Fritz Ober and Edmund Blöchinger

Ober/Blöchinger guitars were built in Munich in the early 1990s by Fritz Ober (1955–2020) and Edmund Blöchinger (b. 1958), in the workshop the two Bavarian makers shared at the time. Both had trained with Helmut Buchsteiner – Fritz before opening his own Munich workshop, and Edmund from 1982, after first apprenticing as a cabinetmaker. Their labels carry both names, "Fritz Ober – Edmund Blöchinger – München", with the month and year.

Two Independent Careers

Both makers went on to illustrious careers of their own in the Torres and Hauser I tradition. Fritz built in Munich until his death in 2020, and GSI was his exclusive US dealer during his lifetime. Edmund works alone in Dorfen, near Munich, building for the Romero family and many young professionals, and GSI is the only dealer of his guitars in the world. Both were featured, with Hermann Hauser III, in Orfeo Magazine No. 4.