2016 Luis Fernández de Córdoba SP/CSAR

A 2016 classical guitar by Luis Fernández de Córdoba, with a spruce top and a dramatic set of CSA rosewood back and sides – pre-owned but in brand-new condition, as if it had just left the shop.

In the video above, the Belgrade Guitar Duo plays Mario Gangi's "Suite Italiana" on this guitar and its 2018 sister.

Showpiece and Workhorse

Very lightly built, it is ultra-responsive and powerful in the manner of the southern Spanish guitars of the mid-20th century. Luis fitted it with a partial wooden tornavoz fitted inside the soundhole, which focuses the sound outward for added power and also turns it back into the box, so the back resonates against the player's body, and with Rodgers tuners.

Sound

Rich, wholesome and perfectly balanced, impeccably made with the finest materials, it is both a showpiece and a concert workhorse.

Luis Fernández de Córdoba: From Panama to Alexandria

Luis Fernández de Córdoba is a Panamanian-born luthier who works in Alexandria, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. He began building in 2000, opened his workshop in 2001 and, after years of building and repairing all kinds of acoustic guitars, has devoted himself exclusively to classical and flamenco guitars since 2009. He apprenticed in the USA and in Granada, Spain, and has worked alongside makers in Spain, Mexico and Argentina.

Inspired by the Spanish Masters

He has studied the great makers of the past – Antonio de Torres, Santos Hernández, Hermann Hauser I, Manuel Velázquez, José Romanillos and Robert Bouchet – and visited the workshops of Richard and Marshall Brune and of Jeffrey Elliott, another of his inspirations. He is a member of the Guild of American Luthiers.