2019 German Vázquez Rubio "Concert 635" No. 72419 SP/MP

This 2019 German Vázquez Rubio “Concert 635” No. 72419 is a classical guitar with a spruce top and maple back and sides, made in Los Angeles, California – with a mosaic in the back and touches of blue.

About the “Concert 635”

German gives the model several unique, striking design elements, and the result is a beautiful concert instrument.

Design and Materials

Rosewood frames the perfectly quarter-sawn spruce and flamed maple in the binding, back center strip and tie block, and the headstock – four pieces of maple and three of walnut under a rosewood front veneer – “opens” elegantly into the neck when seen from behind. The top and head veneer have a layer of half-herringbone purfling to match the rosette, the back has a mosaic in the center seam based on (but not identical to) the rosette’s central mosaic, and there is a subtle use of blue in the rosette and head veneer inlay. German applies the shellac finish with a care and perfection found in very few makers.

Sound, Playability and Label

Deep, bouncy basses and very clear, full trebles give it a balanced voice. It is a dream to play – the action is very low and the string length a short 635mm. It is fitted with a 20th fret for repertoire requiring a high C natural. Overall, a beautiful-sounding and intricately made concert guitar. On the label: German’s signature, the year 2019 and the number 72419, 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.