2016 German Vázquez Rubio "Custom Elite" No. 10416 SP/PD

This 2016 German Vázquez Rubio “Custom Elite” No. 10416 is a classical guitar with a spruce top and padauk back and sides, made in Los Angeles, California – his top-of-the-line model, with padauk back and sides; Jaxon Williams plays it in the video above.

The “Custom Elite”

This is the top-of-the-line model from G.V. Rubio in every way. It is built with only his finest, most precious materials, features his unique and sophisticated bracing pattern, and shows off his most delicate, refined craftsmanship in the carving, inlay and finish work.

Materials

The materials include a premium German spruce top from his reserve stock and striking padauk for the back and sides, with a mahogany neck of V-joint design and an African ebony fingerboard with hidden cocobolo reinforcement. It has a 20th fret for repertoire requiring a high C natural, and a raised fingerboard for more comfortable playing in the upper registers.

Sound and Label

The sound is superb, with a rich, velvety texture to each note, and the guitar is extremely responsive and loose, with plenty of volume for any concert setting – German Vázquez Rubio at his absolute finest. German’s label – “Constructor, Desde 1968” – is signed, dated 2016 and numbered 10416, with “Elite, Padauk” written beside it.

In the Video Above

Jaxon Williams plays Carlos Rivera’s “Whirler of the Dance” on a G.V. Rubio “Custom Elite”.

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.