2018 Ethan Deutsch SP/ZR

A 2018 classical guitar by Ethan Deutsch with a spruce top and figured ziricote back and sides bound in flamed maple, recorded at GSI by Daniel Marx.

In the video above, Daniel Marx plays the Gavotta from Giovanni Zamboni's Sonata IX on this guitar.

A Traditional Classical Guitar by Ethan Deutsch

Like his background as a player, Ethan's guitars are very traditional. They are notably lightweight, like the mid-century guitars coming from Andalucía, and likewise have a strong, quick snap to the attack of each note. The body of each note is loose and old-world, with warm basses and lyrical trebles, giving it a great, traditional Spanish sound.

Ziricote, Maple and a Woven Rosette

It is a beautiful instrument (note the "weaved" pattern in the rosette), with gorgeous materials – notably the figured ziricote for the back and sides, framed with flamed maple for the binding and purfling. It is also extremely easy to play for the left hand, with a sleek and easy contour to the neck, and ultra-responsive to the touch, so very easy on the right hand. For the serious classical player looking for a fantastic traditional concert guitar, we can recommend this instrument highly.

Ethan Deutsch: Flamenco and Classical Guitar Maker in Seattle

Ethan Deutsch builds flamenco and classical guitars in Seattle, Washington, and has done so full-time since 1997. Born in 1955, he took up the flamenco guitar as a teenager in the Boston area – and the path from there to the workbench is one of the more fascinating stories among the makers we know.

Morón de la Frontera and Diego del Gastor

In 1970, at fifteen, he went to Spain for a year and studied with the legendary Gypsy guitarist Diego del Gastor in Morón de la Frontera, near Sevilla, absorbing the music mostly by listening and watching. He came home in 1971 with a Manuel Contreras flamenco guitar, discovered Irving Sloane's book Classic Guitar Construction and began building – learning mostly on his own.

Chemist, Flamenco Guitarist, Furniture Maker

With little guidance available for an aspiring luthier, Ethan went to college instead: a chemistry degree at Antioch College, then a Ph.D. in chemistry at Princeton and five years as a research chemist. All the while he performed flamenco professionally under the stage name "Mario Amaya" and taught himself fine woodworking. In 1989 he opened a one-man furniture and cabinet shop in Chicago, moved it to Seattle in 1991, and in 1997 came full circle and returned to guitar making.

Traditional Guitars in the Andalusian Manner

Ethan builds in the old Spanish tradition, mostly flamenco blancas of cypress and spruce, along with negras and a few classical guitars. Over the years he has fitted many of his flamencos with mechanical "machined" pegs from different makers, which keep the look of wooden friction pegs. Flamenco players such as Gerardo Núñez, Jason McGuire and Kai Narezo have all played his guitars.