2023 German Vazquez Rubio "Concert 635" SP/MP

This is a beautiful concert instrument featuring several unique and striking design elements. Each time German builds one of these for us, he playfully changes small details here and there, making each guitar unique. For this guitar, African ebony is used in the binding, heel cap and back center strip, framing the guitar beautifully with its contrasting lighter colored materials including a perfectly quarter-sawn spruce top and flamed maple back and sides, as well as a flamed maple neck. The meticulously layered headstock is in multiple layers: ebony front veneer, 3 layers each of maple and palo escrito, with Brazilian lacewood for the back headplate. These layers "open" elegantly into the neck when viewed from behind. To top it all off, there is a subtle use of various colors (blue, yellow, red, green) in the rosette and tie block. Very fine half-herringbone purflings are used for the top and front head inlays, barely noticeable with the naked eye, but definitely contributing to the unique look and feel of this instrument. It is fitted with Schaller GrandTune frictionless machines. The shellac finish is applied with a level of attention to detail and perfection found in very few makers. The sound is extremely responsive and open, with plenty of volume and character. The trebles are very clear and full, and the basses are deep with a nice bouncy response. Playability is a dream with very low action and shorter scale length. It is also fitted with a 20th fret for repertoire requiring a high c natural. Overall, a beautiful-sounding and intricately made concert guitar for a great price.

German Vazquez Rubio (also known as G.V. Rubio) has been making guitars for over forty 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 work for his uncle Manuel Rubio at his workshop. There even at his young age he made a conscious effort to make guitar building his life's work. 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 Felix Manzanero, Jose Romanillos and Thomas Humphrey. He now resides in Los Angeles, California where he builds a variety of both classical and flamenco models.