2014 Otto Rauch SP/MP

A 2014 classical guitar of Otto Rauch's own design, with a bearclaw Italian spruce top and birdseye maple back and sides.

In the video above, Fret X (Taso Comanescu and Mak Grgic) play John Bull's "The King's Hunt" – Mak on this guitar, Taso on a Teodoro Pérez "Maestro".

A Mix of Woods

Otto loves combining woods: the head is veneered in rosewood, elm and birdseye maple, the bindings are snakewood and koa, and the rosette and rosewood bridge share a bordeaux-red mosaic. Alessi tuners with snakewood buttons and an unstained French polish keep the natural colors.

Firm and Open

Influenced above all by Hauser I, the guitar has a firm and open tone with excellent balance and separation, top-notch fit and finish, and an easy, comfortable setup.

Photos of this guitar being built

Otto Rauch: From Rock Guitarist to Master Luthier

Otto Rauch was born in Mainz, Germany, in 1954 and began playing classical guitar at nine. A rock guitarist and singer in the 1970s, he copied his own John Birch electric guitar in 1977, and in Ibiza, in 1979, he drew a plan of an old Ramírez found in a farmhouse; by 1980 he was making classical guitars. He apprenticed with Klaus Roder from 1985 to 1987, passed his journeyman's examination with Dieter Hopf in 1987 and later became a master luthier.

Hauser Models and More

Besides his own model, Otto builds guitars after a 1930 Hauser I, an 1885 Torres and others, and even violins and electric guitars. His guitars have been played by Angel Romero, Frank Bungarten, Stefan Hladek, Benjamin Scheck and members of the Barrios Guitar Quartet.