2019 German Vázquez Rubio "Estudio 635" No. 10219 CD/PE

This 2019 German Vázquez Rubio “Estudio 635” No. 10219 is a classical guitar with a cedar top and palo escrito back and sides, made in Los Angeles, California – his student concert model with a 635mm scale.

Built in the Los Angeles Workshop

Like all of German’s guitars, this one was built in his own Los Angeles workshop – a genuine G.V. Rubio. It is a top-of-the-line student and entry-level concert instrument in every way.

Sound and Playability

It has a cedar top, an African ebony fingerboard and a Spanish cedar neck. Its back and sides are of palo escrito, one of the finest rosewoods of Mexico. It sounds great and plays easily. With its 635mm string length it plays extremely easily. German finishes the model in hand-thinned lacquer.

Condition and Label

On the label: German’s signature, the year 2019 and the number 10219, 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.