2019 Annette Stephany SP/IN

A 2019 classical guitar by Annette Stephany, with a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides – inspired by the 1910 Manuel Ramírez that first caught her eye in Lorenzo Frignani's workshop.

In the videos above, Fareed Haque and Goran Ivanovic play "War of the Worlds" on this guitar and Annette's 2019 CD/AS, and Alex Park plays the "Preludio e Toccatina" from Sergio Assad's "Aquarelle".

Ramírez Bracing, Figured Rosewood

The guitar is a slightly modified Ramírez, with the 7+2 symmetrical bracing copied from the original, and a uniquely figured Indian rosewood back.

Earthy and Clear

Annette captures the spirit of the Manuel Ramírez – a very natural, earthy quality of sound – and adds great clarity between voices and a surprising amount of volume. Versatile enough for any style, solo or in ensemble.

Photos of this guitar being built

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.