2016 Dominik Wurth "Rodriguez" CD/IN

This 2016 Dominik Wurth "Rodriguez" is a classical guitar with a cedar top and Indian rosewood back and sides, built in Germany, modeled on a 1976 Miguel Rodríguez "Churchdoor" he studied at GSI.

Inspired by the 1976 Rodríguez "Churchdoor"

This is the first cedar-top guitar we received from Dominik after his visit to GSI earlier in 2016, primarily to inspect and study several guitars from the Russell Cleveland collection. One guitar in particular really got his attention - the 1976 Miguel Rodríguez "Churchdoor". Dominik was taken by its power, incredible balance and excellent sustain - so much so that he had to make a structural copy, to learn more about just what made that guitar work the way it did.

A Larger Body and a Floating Harmonic Bar

In particular, it was the larger body, with its very thin back and sides, and the lightweight 5-fan bracing that were the main focus (the Rodríguez also has its famous floating harmonic bar, which Dominik has added as well). Dominik took every measurement he needed to make his copy. The result is impressive - although the quality of the sound is still that of a "Wurth" guitar, many of the characteristics of the Rodríguez (volume, balance and sustain) are now apparent in this model. It's a great guitar with a strong presence and set a high standard for future guitars of this new model.

Dominik Wurth and the Cleveland Collection: photos of this guitar being built

Dominik Wurth: From the Black Forest to Granada

Dominik Wurth was born in 1982 in Ettenheim, near Freiburg, Germany, and spent his childhood in a small rural village at the foot of the Black Forest. He discovered the guitar in his early twenties, and soon wanted a better instrument than his beginner guitar - so he decided to build one. In those early years he learned with the aid of books and from Sascha Nowak of Freiburg, who taught him the traditional techniques of guitar making. In 2007 he enrolled at Zwickau University (Faculty of Applied Arts, Schneeberg), the world's only university offering the study of stringed-instrument making, graduating in 2012; along the way he also earned the German master title for plucked-instrument making.

A Gitarrenbaumeister in Bad Krozingen

Dominik then spent several years in the south of Spain, in a small village in the Alpujarras near Granada, where he interned with Andrés D. Marvi and then opened his own shop. He later moved back to Germany, where he builds guitars full time - today in Bad Krozingen, just south of Freiburg. GSI is his US dealer.