2006 Hermann Hauser III "Special Edition" No. 600 SP/CSAR

This 2006 Hermann Hauser III "Special Edition" No. 600 is a spruce and CSA rosewood classical guitar after a 1930 Hermann Hauser I "Segovia" model – with a Manuel Ramírez-inspired head, a 4-piece back and woods from Hauser III's finest stock.

In the video above, Carlo Fierens plays Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Sonata, Op. 77, on this guitar.

A "Special Edition" after the 1930 Hauser I

This is a "Special Edition" model, based on a Hermann Hauser I "Segovia" model from 1930. At the time of its construction in 2006, the gorgeous aged spruce (with generous amounts of beautiful bearclaw) for the top had been stocked for about 80 years, and the CSA rosewood for the back and sides had been dried in a natural wood storage space in the Hauser workshop for over 60 years. Notable aesthetic details include a Manuel Ramírez-inspired headshape, a thin rosette with richly inlaid herringbone as the central motif, and a 4-piece back. The label reads "A.D. 2006, No. 600".

Spanish and Germanic: the Sound

This is a fantastic example of an instrument that blends the Spanish guitar with Hauser I's native Germanic style. The lyrical, voice-like qualities found in Torres and Manuel Ramírez fuse gracefully with the "teutonic" elements – extreme clarity and balance between voices, even sustain in all registers, and incomparable beauty of tone. Condition is near-mint, almost "like-new", with no damage or repairs and almost no playing wear.

Hermann Hauser III: Fourth Generation of the Hauser Dynasty

Hermann Hauser III (b. 1958) – grandson of Hermann Hauser I and son of Hermann Hauser II – has worked in the Hauser family workshop in Reisbach, Bavaria, since 1974: first alongside his father, and today with his daughter Kathrin, the fifth generation. He works in the same workshop as his father and grandfather, uses many of the same tools, and even uses woods that were acquired by both his paternal predecessors. The family's wood store, started by Hermann Hauser I, still holds woods more than 100 years old – and for every set taken out, two are bought to replenish it – while tools of Josef Hauser, Hermann I and Hermann II are still in daily use, among them a band saw from 1905. His label still reads "Hermann Hauser – Gitarren – Reisbach, früher München" (formerly Munich), with the year after "A.D.", the number and his signature. He attaches it at the start of a build, so there is often a year or more between the date on the label and the guitar's completion.

His guitars were described by Andrés Segovia as instruments with an indescribably beautiful sound, and Pepe Romero says his Hauser is an instrument with the purest sound. Hermann III cultivates good relations with his guitarists, makes guitars fitting the needs of particular players, and has received the highest awards from professional organizations and the international guitar community.

The "Teutonic" Hauser Sound

Hermann Hauser III has tirelessly built guitars that capture the sound and aesthetic of the "teutonic" style, as initially established by his grandfather and transmitted through his father. Its features are the extreme clarity and balance between voices, even sustain in all registers, and of course incomparable beauty of tone – a sound most famously immortalized by Julian Bream in countless recordings, who once said these guitars have an "aristocratic" tone. We believe Hermann Hauser III guitars to be more like a Hauser I than any other maker's in the world: in blind tests with Hauser I and Hauser II instruments we found them remarkably similar.

His standard model is the "Segovia", essentially the same design as Segovia's 1937 Hauser I; he also builds the "Llobet" (after the 1859 Torres of Miguel Llobet, as did his father and grandfather), a "Bream" model and special editions after early Hauser I designs.

Books on the Hauser Family

Orfeo Magazine No. 4 is devoted to the Hauser dynasty, with a feature on Hermann Hauser III, Edmund Blöchinger and Fritz Ober – read the issue online or find it in the Orfeo 1-5 collection:

Orfeo Magazine 1-5