2023 Angela Waltner "Anima" SP/MP

A 2023 "Anima" classical guitar by Angela Waltner, with a bearclaw spruce top and birdseye maple back and sides, made in Berlin.

In the video above, Pietro Ruscigno plays Miguel Llobet's "Cançó del Lladre" on this guitar.

Her Latest Anima

Angela keeps developing the "Anima" with each guitar. She aims for the very flexible response and richly colorful sound of a Torres, informed by her reproduction of a Louis Panormo, which opened a sound world reaching back to the Spanish Renaissance – yet this is above all a modern instrument. Here she moved the fan braces and made the sides slightly shallower.

Wood-Chipped Rosette and FABS Bridge

The lute-inspired bridge and "wood-chipped" rosette, carved in three-dimensional relief reminiscent of Jeffrey Elliott, give it a striking look; the bridge carries her FABS system, a three-piece saddle adjustable even under tension (see the image gallery). A slightly darker myrrh primer suits the birdseye maple. Every note is consistent and beautiful, with an immediate attack. Pre-owned, in excellent condition with minor finish wear.

Photos of this guitar being built

Read more: Orfeo Magazine No. 14 – Markneukirchen Special (with a feature on Angela Waltner)

Angela Waltner: Scholar and Guitar Maker in Berlin

Angela Waltner was born in Oberstaufen, in southern Germany, in 1970. She studied at the violin-making school in Mittenwald from 1992 to 1995, spent two years restoring 19th-century French guitars, earned a degree in musical instrument making in Markneukirchen (Westsächsische Hochschule Zwickau) and a Master Craftsman diploma in Chemnitz, and was a research assistant at the Institute for Musical Instrument Making (IfM) in Zwota. She works in Berlin and is one of the "Berlin Luthiers".

Three Models and the FABS Bridge

Her research has been distilled into three guitar models with their own structural and aesthetic specifications, and into her "FABS" (Free Adjustable Bridge System), a saddle in three pieces that can be adjusted even under string tension for precise intonation. She builds only about four guitars a year and was featured in Orfeo Magazine No. 14, the "Markneukirchen Special".