2012 Bernd Martin SP/CSAR

This 2012 Bernd Martin is a flamenco negra in spruce and CSA rosewood from Granada, Spain, built in the Sacromonte, the heart of Granada flamenco.

A Flamenco Negra from the Sacromonte

This is a flamenco "negra" guitar, which has special significance for Bernd – "duende" is everywhere in the Sacromonte, and Bernd's wife is a flamenco dancer and singer – and his instruments are appreciated by professionals as fonts of inspiration not just in Spain but everywhere around the world where flamenco is played.

Materials and Sound

For this guitar, Bernd chose his best materials, including an amazing set of CSA rosewood for the back and sides and, of course, his trademark snakewood for inlay material. Soundwise, it has great bite and growl, with a thinner, livelier neck (than his classicals) and an easy, low action. Response is immediate across all registers. Overall an extremely impressive instrument and a fine example of this luthier's best work.

Bernd Martin (1954–2018): The First Foreign Guitar Maker in Granada

Born in Stuttgart in 1954, Bernd Martin moved to Granada, Spain, in 1976 to master the art of guitar making. He apprenticed in the workshops of Antonio Durán and José López Bellido, and also received the tutelage of Eduardo Ferrer. Bernd was the first (of many) non-Spaniards to establish himself as a guitar maker in the city of the Alhambra, with a workshop in the Albayzín district. In 1999 he won first prize in the "Concurso Nacional de Luthería" (National Luthiery Competition) organized by José Luis Romanillos.

Father and Son in the Sacromonte

From 2006 Bernd worked together with his son, Lucas Martin, in a new shop at the very top of Granada's Sacromonte. Bernd – "Martin" to everyone in Granada – passed away in the late summer of 2018; Lucas carries on in the same workshop. During Bernd's lifetime GSI was the exclusive US dealer for both Bernd and Lucas.