2016 Bernd Martin SP/IN

This 2016 Bernd Martin is a spruce and Indian rosewood classical guitar from Granada, Spain, made the year he celebrated 40 years as a guitar maker.

Silk Spruce and Snakewood

The elegant lines in the rosette and detail work frame the instrument beautifully, and the spruce used for the soundboard has gorgeous cross-grain silk from having been sawn right on the quarter. The Indian rosewood back and sides are striking, with the elegant use of snakewood in the purfling.

Sound

A perfect example of the "Granada style" that so attracts the most meticulous players: easy to play with either hand, quick in every register, with excellent volume, projection and a beautiful lyrical sound. Simply an exquisite guitar to both eye and ear, and 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.