2018 Annette Stephany SP/MP

A 2018 classical guitar of Annette Stephany's own design, with a spruce top and quilted maple back, sides and head veneer.

In the video above, Jaxon Williams plays Bryan Johanson's Prelude No. 14 on this guitar.

Her Own Model

The design draws on her biggest influences, a 1906 Enrique García and a 1910 Manuel Ramírez, both owned by Lorenzo Frignani, which she studied for several years; the head shape and rosette show Frignani's influence. She finished it with a violin varnishing technique learned from Frignani, who also makes violins.

Lyrical with Modern Clarity

The light build produces a beautiful, lyrical sound in the spirit of the older guitars, with modern clarity, separation and a surprising amount of volume.

Annette Stephany: From Mittenwald to Schweinfurt

Annette Stephany (born 1982) is a German classical guitar maker. She was fascinated by lutherie from the age of 14, when she met a violin maker, and at 21 she enrolled in the violin-making school in Mittenwald, where she also worked for the harp maker Eric Kleinmann. She then apprenticed with Lorenzo Frignani in Modena, Italy, until 2013, with a year of restoration work in Bernhard Kresse's workshop in Cologne, where she later shared a shop with Kresse. Today she has her own workshop in Schweinfurt.

Inspired by Frignani's 1910 Ramírez and 1906 García

Her models follow two historic guitars in Frignani's collection, a 1910 Manuel Ramírez and a 1906 Enrique García, which she studied for years, alongside a design of her own. Her guitars are light and quick to respond, with the natural, earthy warmth of those old instruments and modern clarity and volume.