2003 Robert Ruck No. 825 CD/IN (ex Manuel Barrueco)

This 2003 Robert Ruck is a cedar and Indian rosewood classical guitar, No. 825, built for and originally owned by Manuel Barrueco – the most famous player of Ruck guitars.

Built for Manuel Barrueco

Manuel Barrueco recorded most of his classic albums on a 1970s Ruck, and decades later Ruck built him new guitars as well – this is one of them. A signed letter from Barrueco confirming that the guitar was built for him accompanies it. The label is signed and numbered #825, and the guitar has two soundports in the upper sides.

Sound

Masterfully made with well-selected materials, it has a firm, solid tone, each note anchored to its fundamental, and the volume Rucks are known for. Yuri Liberzon and Alexander Milovanov play it in the videos above.

From the Russell Cleveland Collection

This guitar comes from the Russell Cleveland collection.

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”:

The Classical Guitar – A Complete History