2017 German Vázquez Rubio "Custom Elite" No. 102617 CD/IN

This 2017 German Vázquez Rubio “Custom Elite” No. 102617 is a classical guitar with a cedar top and Indian rosewood back and sides, made in Los Angeles, California – his top model, with a reserve-stock western red cedar top.

German’s Top Model

The “Custom Elite” is the top-of-the-line model from G.V. Rubio in every way: built with only his finest, most precious materials, with his unique and sophisticated bracing pattern, and with his most delicate, refined craftsmanship in the carving, inlay and finish work.

Cedar and Indian Rosewood

Here the materials are a premium western red cedar top from his reserve stock and high-grade Indian rosewood for the back and sides, with a mahogany neck in a V-joint design and an African ebony fingerboard with hidden cocobolo reinforcement. The fingerboard is raised for more comfortable playing in the upper registers, and there is a 20th fret for a high C natural.

Sound and Label

The sound is superb, with a rich, velvety texture to each note; the guitar is extremely responsive and loose, with plenty of volume for any concert setting. This is German Vázquez Rubio at his absolute finest. The label is signed by German, dated 2017 and numbered 102617, with “Elite” written beside it.

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.