2015 German Vázquez Rubio "1951 Barbero, ex Sabicas" w/Pegs No. 41615 SP/CY

This 2015 German Vázquez Rubio “1951 Barbero, ex Sabicas” No. 41615 is a flamenco guitar with a spruce top and cypress back and sides, made in Los Angeles, California – a copy of Sabicas’s 1951 Marcelo Barbero; Grisha Goryachev plays it in the video above.

A Copy of Sabicas’s Barbero

This is a copy of the 1951 Marcelo Barbero that was famously played by Sabicas and used to record his album “Flamenco Puro”. German’s copy is surprisingly light – as light as a feather, like the original – and extremely responsive to the touch, with a big, open sound, enormous volume and plenty of character and nuance. The materials are of very high quality and a pleasure to look at, including a perfectly quarter-sawn spruce top and elegant cypress back and sides. Its French polish shows an attention to detail and a perfection that very few makers achieve.

Pegs, Playability and Label

The trebles are very clear and easy to work with, and the basses steady and full. A very low flamenco action makes it a dream to play. Planetary pegs look like old-school pegs but are machined for ease of use. German’s label – “Constructor, Desde 1968” – is signed, dated 2015 and numbered 41615. A second label in the photos identifies the guitar as a copy of the Marcelo Barbero.

In the Video Above

Grisha Goryachev plays Escudero’s “Ímpetu” on this guitar.

German Vázquez Rubio: Early Years in Paracho, Mexico

German Vázquez Rubio (also known as G.V. Rubio) has been making guitars since 1968 – over fifty years – and has developed his own signature sound that guitarists have come to love. He was born in 1952 in Paracho, Mexico, where there is an abundance of fine luthiers (with few exceptions, all of the finest guitars in Mexico come from Paracho). German’s first formal training began at eleven years old, when he left school to help support his seven siblings and went to work in the workshop of his uncle, Manuel Rubio. There, even at his young age, he made a conscious effort to make guitar building his life’s work.

“Desde 1968”

In 1968, at the age of sixteen, he made his first concert-level guitar (hence his label reads “Desde 1968”). German has since been able to learn from many different master builders such as Félix Manzanero, José Romanillos and Thomas Humphrey. He now resides in Los Angeles, California, where he builds a variety of both classical and flamenco models. He is also the maker of the real-life guitar from the Disney/Pixar film Coco – you can read more in our article on German Vázquez Rubio and the real Coco guitar.

First Prize in Mexico

In 2000, German won First Place at the Concurso Nacional de Constructores y Ejecutantes de Guitarras, Mexico’s national guitar-making competition.