2015 Tobias Braun SP/ZR

A 2015 classical guitar by Tobias Braun, with a German spruce top and ziricote back and sides, made in Gaaden, near Vienna.

In the video above, Tavi Jinariu plays Robert de Visée's Suite in D minor on six guitars, this one among them.

Ziricote, Lined with Japanese Paper

Ziricote is gorgeous but can be brittle, so Tobias reinforced the back and sides with thin strips of Japanese paper, barely visible inside. The idea came from his sister, a bookbinder: Japanese paper has no natural tearing direction, because its fibers run every way. The spruce top has plenty of bearclaw in its irregular, tight grain.

His Own Design

The plantilla and bracing are his own, with echoes of Luise Walker's 1924 Santos and a 1912 Manuel Ramírez – warm Santos basses, vivid Ramírez trebles. With a 16 mm tornavoz the sound is clean, open and extremely loud. Rubner tuners with snakewood buttons carry his engraved initials. A joy to play.

Read more: Orfeo Magazine No. 17 – The Viennese Guitar (with a feature on Tobias Braun)

Tobias Braun: A Romanillos-Trained Maker in the Vienna Woods

Tobias Braun was born in Holzminden, Germany, in 1960 and grew up in Perchtoldsdorf, just outside Vienna. He built his first guitar on his own in 1983, then took four courses with José Luis Romanillos between 1984 and 1992, earned his Master Craftsman's Certificate in Vienna in 1989 and helped translate Romanillos' book on Antonio de Torres into German. Since 1998 he has worked in Gaaden, in the Vienna Woods.

Santos, Ramírez and Rare Woods

His guitars grow out of the old Spanish masters – above all the 1924 Santos Hernández of Luise Walker, which he has studied and lectured on, and a 1912 Manuel Ramírez. Many have a small tornavoz for projection and clarity, and he is one of the few makers since García and Simplicio to work with satinwood. He was featured in Orfeo Magazine No. 17, "The Viennese Guitar".