2014 Bernd Martin SP/CSAR

This 2014 Bernd Martin is a spruce and CSA rosewood classical guitar from Granada, Spain, with a soundboard full of bearclaw – as fine an example of his work as we have offered.

Bearclaw Spruce and Snakewood

Craftsmanship and materials are superb – the subtle use of snakewood in the purfling and detailing frames the instrument beautifully, and the spruce used for the soundboard has beautiful bearclaw flaming in it. Simply an exquisite guitar to both eye and ear.

Sound

It is a model of what draws the most demanding players to the "Granada style": easy on both hands, quick to respond across the registers, with excellent volume and projection and a beautiful, lyrical sound. As fine an example of this luthier's best work as we have offered to date.

Photos of this guitar during construction

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.