2018 Henner Hagenlocher "25th Anniversary" SP/CSAR

This 2018 Henner Hagenlocher "25th Anniversary" is a classical guitar with a spruce top and CSA rosewood back and sides, built in Granada, Spain, from the limited series celebrating his 25 years as a maker.

Celebrating 25 Years of Guitar Making

Henner made a limited-edition run of instruments in 2018 to celebrate 25 years of guitar making (and 20 years in Granada), and this guitar is one of them. As the photos show, it is breathtaking - for the project he used top materials saved for the occasion, including some richly bearclawed spruce for the top and very old rosewood he had kept since he lived in London. There is additional inlay work, particularly in the binding. It is fitted with a limited-edition set of tuners from Fustero, who has "retired" but still makes a very few tuners for some select clients.

Sound and Playability

As is typical of Henner's style of build, this guitar features a slightly smaller body shape and is quite powerful, with a rich, textured quality of tone, thick basses and lyrical trebles. Playability is superb, with easy action and a slender and comfortable neck. Because of the light build, attack is immediate, making this a very responsive and satisfying instrument to play. A top choice for the concert or recording artist - highly recommended.

Henner Hagenlocher and the Granada School

German guitar maker Henner Hagenlocher is considered one of the great makers of the Granada school. He began building guitars in 1993, while living in London, where he studied Music Technology at London Guildhall University and was introduced to modern design concepts aimed largely at increasing volume. He found that these resulted in instruments that were too heavy and clumsy for his taste. His guitar teacher at the time owned a guitar by Antonio Marín Montero, and Henner liked it so much that he decided to learn more about the Granada school: in 1996 he visited Marín's workshop, was immediately captivated by the Granada style, and soon settled in Granada, opening his own workshop close by.

From Granada to Eutingen

Since then his guitars have blended the Marín influence with qualities of the old, traditional Spanish guitars, discovered through his extensive study of great masters such as Torres, Santos Hernández and Manuel Ramírez. His instruments are therefore lightweight, with an immediate, explosive attack - and although he builds in a largely traditional style, they have great power and projection. After some twenty years in Granada, Henner moved back to his native Germany in 2018, and today he works in Eutingen, about 50 km from Stuttgart. GSI is his exclusive dealer in the USA.