2017 Andy Culpepper CD/AR

This 2017 Andy Culpepper is a classical guitar with a Western red cedar top and African rosewood back and sides, handmade in Ithaca, New York, built alongside a sister guitar by Washington luthier Chris Sobel.

A Collaboration with Luthier Chris Sobel

This guitar is the result of a collaboration between Andy Culpepper and Washington luthier Chris Sobel; at the time, an article about the project was being written for American Lutherie. They used sister-cut African rosewood sets for the back and sides and Western red cedar for the tops, and the bridges are also from the same stock. As could be expected, the guitars share many similarities, but the top bracing and overall construction approach differed enough that Andy and Chris each put their own stamp on the tone of their guitars.

Sound

The Helmholtz and main top resonance ended up very similar between the two guitars, which resulted in a somewhat similar bass and midrange. The consensus on the treble side was that Andy's guitar was rich in overtones, while Chris's emphasized clarity and separation. According to Andy, "It was a fun and interesting project, and I think it resulted in one of my best classical guitars."

Photos of this guitar being built

Andy Culpepper: A Player Turned Guitar Maker

Andy Culpepper grew up in a musical family and started to play classical guitar as a teenager, later moving into flamenco – he even studied flamenco in Spain and has since done a good amount of performing: solo, accompanying and for dance. As with many luthiers, Andy's first guitar was an instrument to play on himself, but after showing it around he began getting orders, and so eventually he decided to become a full-time luthier. His guitars are truly a "player's" instrument, very easy to play and responsive to both the left and right hands.

Training with Richard Cogger in Ithaca, New York

Andy's formal studies were done with Richard Cogger, a classical and flamenco guitar maker in Ithaca, New York. Andy shared workspace with him for a couple of years before establishing his own shop in Ithaca, where he continues to work today. He builds both classical and flamenco guitars, and GSI is the only dealer in the USA that carries his instruments. Read our interview with Andy.

Torres and the "Open Bar" Bracing System

Andy believes that the best guitars are still modeled on the designs and ideas of Antonio de Torres (1817–1892), and he admires Torres for his constant experimenting with different ideas. The "open bar" system of top bracing, where the outer fan struts pass through openings in the harmonic bars, is a key design element in Andy's classical guitars. It creates an extremely responsive, clear, even and beautiful tone that can envelop the listener in a kind of "surround sound" – quite an experience to hear, and perfect for any concert hall.

Built by Hand and Voiced "in the White"

Andy prefers to work in a traditional manner – very few power tools, and as much by hand as possible, to achieve the maximum amount of control over the quality of his work. His guitars are assembled by first joining the neck to the top to precisely establish the center line of the guitar. This assembly is placed face down on a solera, or workboard, the sides are slotted into the heel block and glued to the top with individual glue blocks called tentalones, and finally the back is fitted and the box is closed. The bridge is glued on before finishing, because Andy likes to play all of his guitars "in the white" and refine the voice by sanding the top if necessary. The entire guitar is then French polished with shellac, applied completely by hand with the traditional muñeca, or cloth pad.