2011 Tobias Braun "Santos" SP/SW

A 2011 "Santos" classical guitar by Tobias Braun, with a German spruce top and satinwood back and sides – after the 1924 Santos Hernández of Luise Walker.

In the video above, Duo Le Chic play Sokolov's "Polka" – Iren Arutyunyan on this guitar, Sofia Gleeson on a 2011 Tobias Berg.

One of Central Europe's Best

Tobias Braun is one of the best Central European makers we've seen. The bearclaw spruce top and satinwood back and sides – a wood García and Simplicio used and few makers dare today – are spectacular, and the rosette's key motif comes from a stone boundary marker near his workshop.

Built from the Walker Santos

The plantilla and bracing follow Tobias's notes on Walker's Santos; only the nut width and the thickness of neck, top and back were increased for modern players. With a 16 mm tornavoz the guitar is clean and extremely loud, with full, steady trebles, penetrating basses and the old-world sound of the Spanish masters.

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".