2015 Bernd Martin SP/CSAR

This 2015 Bernd Martin is a classical guitar of quarter-sawn spruce and CSA rosewood made in Granada, Spain, with dramatic grain in the back and sides.

Quarter-Sawn Spruce, Dramatic Rosewood

The elegant lines in the purfling and detailing frame the instrument beautifully, and the spruce used for the soundboard has beautiful cross-grain silk from having been sawn right on the quarter. The CSA rosewood back and sides are striking, with dramatic grain patterning. Simply an exquisite guitar to both eye and ear.

Sound

It shows exactly what the most meticulous players love in the "Granada style" – easy playing for left and right hands, quick response across all registers, excellent volume and projection and, perhaps most importantly, a beautiful, lyrical quality of sound. As fine an example of this luthier's best work as we have offered to date.

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.