2011 German Vázquez Rubio "Concert 635 10-String" No. 52211 SP/PE

This 2011 German Vázquez Rubio “Concert 635 10-String” No. 52211 is a 10-string classical guitar with a spruce top and palo escrito back and sides, made in Los Angeles, California – a ten-string guitar for lute music and wide-ranging transcriptions.

A Ten-String Concert Guitar

German has carefully crafted this ten-string guitar with unique specifications to achieve maximum comfort and quality of sound. The four additional bass strings let players of Renaissance and Baroque lute music play the period repertoire without transposing bass notes, and the instrument works beautifully for transcriptions of piano and orchestral music that need a wider range.

Sound, Condition and Label

It has a typical spruce sound – very refined and clean, with great focus – and the action is set very comfortably, which makes it a very enjoyable guitar for player and audience alike. Although used, it is in excellent condition, with only some modest wear in the finish. Its “Desde 1968” label carries German’s signature, the year 2011 and No. 52211; “-635-” is written beside the number. A great choice for the concert performer or recording artist who wants a specialty instrument for a wider repertoire.

German Vázquez Rubio: Early Years in Paracho, Mexico

German Vázquez Rubio (also known as G.V. Rubio) has been making guitars since 1968 – over fifty years – and has developed his own signature sound that guitarists have come to love. He was born in 1952 in Paracho, Mexico, where there is an abundance of fine luthiers (with few exceptions, all of the finest guitars in Mexico come from Paracho). German’s first formal training began at eleven years old, when he left school to help support his seven siblings and went to work in the workshop of his uncle, Manuel Rubio. There, even at his young age, he made a conscious effort to make guitar building his life’s work.

“Desde 1968”

In 1968, at the age of sixteen, he made his first concert-level guitar (hence his label reads “Desde 1968”). German has since been able to learn from many different master builders such as Félix Manzanero, José Romanillos and Thomas Humphrey. He now resides in Los Angeles, California, where he builds a variety of both classical and flamenco models. He is also the maker of the real-life guitar from the Disney/Pixar film Coco – you can read more in our article on German Vázquez Rubio and the real Coco guitar.

First Prize in Mexico

In 2000, German won First Place at the Concurso Nacional de Constructores y Ejecutantes de Guitarras, Mexico’s national guitar-making competition.