1996 Tobias Braun SP/CY

A 1996 flamenco blanca by Tobias Braun, with a spruce top and cypress back and sides, made near Vienna – a rare flamenco guitar from this maker, which he named "La Mediterranea".

A Santos-Style Mosaic

The Santos-inspired "wave" mosaic of the rosette returns all over the guitar: in the central strip at the foot, in the inlay framing the rosewood strip on the back and in the tie block. A small single-checker motif runs along the top purfling and on both sides of the rosette.

Modeled on a 1989 Manuel Reyes

Structurally Tobias based this guitar on a 1989 Manuel Reyes owned by a fine flamenco player and teacher he knows. It has plenty of punch, bite and growl, and the light build gives it the feel and response of the great mid-century Spanish blancas. In concert-ready condition, it would sound fantastic solo or in an ensemble.

Read more: Orfeo Magazine No. 17 – The Viennese Guitar (with a feature on Tobias Braun)

Tobias Braun: A Romanillos-Trained Maker in the Vienna Woods

Tobias Braun was born in Holzminden, Germany, in 1960 and grew up in Perchtoldsdorf, just outside Vienna. He built his first guitar on his own in 1983, then took four courses with José Luis Romanillos between 1984 and 1992, earned his Master Craftsman's Certificate in Vienna in 1989 and helped translate Romanillos' book on Antonio de Torres into German. Since 1998 he has worked in Gaaden, in the Vienna Woods.

Santos, Ramírez and Rare Woods

His guitars grow out of the old Spanish masters – above all the 1924 Santos Hernández of Luise Walker, which he has studied and lectured on, and a 1912 Manuel Ramírez. Many have a small tornavoz for projection and clarity, and he is one of the few makers since García and Simplicio to work with satinwood. He was featured in Orfeo Magazine No. 17, "The Viennese Guitar".