2018 German Vázquez Rubio "Concert 635" No. 101418 SP/CSAR

This 2018 German Vázquez Rubio “Concert 635” No. 101418 is a classical guitar with a spruce top and CSA rosewood back and sides, made in Los Angeles, California – a CSA rosewood version of his 635mm concert model.

Unique and Striking Design Elements

This is a beautiful concert instrument featuring several unique and striking design elements.

Woods, Binding and Headstock

Instead of maple, this one has CSA rosewood for the back and sides, under a perfectly quarter-sawn spruce top. Rosewood is also used in the binding, back center strip and tie block, framed by contrasting maple purflings, and the meticulously layered headstock – four pieces of maple and three of walnut, with a rosewood front veneer – “opens” elegantly into the neck when viewed from behind. An inner layer of half-herringbone purfling runs around the top and the rosette, with a subtle use of blue in the rosette. The shellac finish has been applied with the kind of perfection very few makers attain.

Playability, Sound and Condition

Its trebles are clear and full, and its basses deep, with a lovely bouncy response. The shorter 635mm scale and a very low action make it a dream to play. A 20th fret gives the high C natural. Beautiful in sound and intricately made, it is a lovely concert guitar. Although used, it is in excellent condition, with only very mild playing wear. The label is signed by German, dated 2018 and numbered 101418, with “635” 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.