2008 Marcelino López "Lute-Guitar" SP/CSAR

This 2008 Marcelino López Nieto "Lute-Guitar" is a lute-shaped six-string guitar with a spruce top and 13-piece CSA rosewood back, made in Madrid, Spain, in virtually like-new condition.

The Look and Sound of a Lute, Played Like a Guitar

Beyond his traditional "Torres" style guitars, Marcelino made many historical instruments after pre-Torres designs – vihuelas, Baroque guitars, Baroque and Renaissance lutes, and even violas da gamba, harps, harpsichords, clavichords and period-styled violins and violas. This instrument, made in 2008, is a lute-shaped (and lute-sounding) "guitar" – in other words, it plays like a guitar: it has a 52 mm nut, 6 individual strings (not courses), wire frets in the fingerboard and a guitar-type bridge with saddle and tie block. So a fantastic instrument for the guitarist who plays lute music but always wanted the look and sound of a lute without fussing with the challenges of movable gut frets, doubled courses, etc.

Materials and Condition

Materials are beautiful, with a spruce top heavy in bearclaw, a 13-piece CSA rosewood back, a meticulously carved "rose" rosette with mother-of-pearl inlays at its perimeter and an elegant floral pattern carved into the forward-facing top of the headstock. This instrument is in virtually like-new condition with no damage or repairs, and it is concert-ready for any performance situation. This is a fantastic "period instrument" by one of Spain's most enduring and experienced legends. Includes a custom hardshell case perfectly fitted to the dimensions of the instrument.

Read more: Orfeo Magazine No. 3 – interview with Marcelino López Nieto · Orfeo No. 3 on our blog · our 2008 interview with Marcelino

Marcelino López Nieto (1931–2018): Guitar Maker of Madrid

The late Marcelino López Nieto was one of Spain's most respected guitar makers of the 20th century. He was originally a performer of the guitar – a student of Daniel Fortea, who was himself a pupil of Tárrega – and his professional background was in cabinetmaking, so the move to guitar making came naturally, as it has for so many builders throughout history. After the death of Santos Hernández in 1943 he befriended Santos' widow, Matilde Ruiz López, and was able to spend time in the Santos workshop before setting up his own shop in 1949, at the age of 18. He also worked with Hernández y Aguado in the early 1970s and built several "Hernández y Aguado" models over the years.

Small-Bodied Guitars in the Tradition of Torres

Although a Madrid maker, Marcelino never fell under the shadow of the larger, sturdier guitars of the Ramírez school. He always preferred to build in the traditional style of Antonio de Torres and the southern Spanish makers – a smaller body without double sides, mostly spruce tops and a French polish finish. Alongside his classical and flamenco guitars he also built historical instruments, from vihuelas, lutes and Baroque and Romantic guitars to violins, many of them after originals in his own large collection.