2012 Andy Culpepper "Coral" SP/PD

This 2012 Andy Culpepper "Coral" is a flamenco guitar with a spruce top and padauk ("coral") back and sides, handmade in Ithaca, New York – an early Culpepper that mixes the attack of a blanca with the body of a negra.

Padauk, or "Coral": A Flamenco Tradition

For the body of this excellent "negra", Andy used padauk, or "coral" as the Spanish luthiers call it – and many of the all-time great flamenco luthiers like Reyes, Arcángel and Barba have used this wood with success. It's hard and dense like rosewood, but brighter sounding, and therefore makes a superb flamenco guitar that mixes the attack of a blanca with the body of a negra. The color of the wood is quite bright when first cut, which is perhaps the only reason it's not used more often, but it ages to a beautiful deep vermilion, as it has done in this guitar.

Sound

It comes from the early epoch of Andy's work, but already shows the great talent we've come to appreciate in his instruments. Very loud, projecting and flamenco-sounding – bright, snappy and easy to play. An excellent value from a maker whose reputation continues to grow.

Andy Culpepper: A Player Turned Guitar Maker

Andy Culpepper grew up in a musical family and started to play classical guitar as a teenager, later moving into flamenco – he even studied flamenco in Spain and has since done a good amount of performing: solo, accompanying and for dance. As with many luthiers, Andy's first guitar was an instrument to play on himself, but after showing it around he began getting orders, and so eventually he decided to become a full-time luthier. His guitars are truly a "player's" instrument, very easy to play and responsive to both the left and right hands.

Training with Richard Cogger in Ithaca, New York

Andy's formal studies were done with Richard Cogger, a classical and flamenco guitar maker in Ithaca, New York. Andy shared workspace with him for a couple of years before establishing his own shop in Ithaca, where he continues to work today. He builds both classical and flamenco guitars, and GSI is the only dealer in the USA that carries his instruments. Read our interview with Andy.

Torres and the "Open Bar" Bracing System

Andy believes that the best guitars are still modeled on the designs and ideas of Antonio de Torres (1817–1892), and he admires Torres for his constant experimenting with different ideas. The "open bar" system of top bracing, where the outer fan struts pass through openings in the harmonic bars, is a key design element in Andy's classical guitars. It creates an extremely responsive, clear, even and beautiful tone that can envelop the listener in a kind of "surround sound" – quite an experience to hear, and perfect for any concert hall.

Built by Hand and Voiced "in the White"

Andy prefers to work in a traditional manner – very few power tools, and as much by hand as possible, to achieve the maximum amount of control over the quality of his work. His guitars are assembled by first joining the neck to the top to precisely establish the center line of the guitar. This assembly is placed face down on a solera, or workboard, the sides are slotted into the heel block and glued to the top with individual glue blocks called tentalones, and finally the back is fitted and the box is closed. The bridge is glued on before finishing, because Andy likes to play all of his guitars "in the white" and refine the voice by sanding the top if necessary. The entire guitar is then French polished with shellac, applied completely by hand with the traditional muñeca, or cloth pad.