1992 Ober/Blöchinger SP/CSAR

This 1992 Ober/Blöchinger is a French-polished classical guitar with a spruce top and CSA rosewood back and sides, made in Munich in January 1992 and signed on the label by both Fritz Ober and Edmund Blöchinger.

Fritz Ober and Edmund Blöchinger in Munich

In the early 1990s Fritz Ober and Edmund Blöchinger shared a workshop in Munich, and the guitars they built there carry both their names on the label – here "München, Januar 1992", with the signatures of both makers. Ober/Blöchinger guitars follow the traditional style both makers drew from Torres and Hauser I.

Specifications

It has a standard 650 mm string length with a 52 mm nut, a spruce soundboard and CSA rosewood back and sides, finished in French polish.

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.