2024 Hironori Fukuda SP/AR

This 2024 Hironori Fukuda is a spruce and African rosewood classical guitar from Osaka, Japan, and the actual guitar that won First Prize at the 2024 Antonio Marín Montero International Guitar Making Competition in Granada.

Hironori and GSI

GSI first met Hironori at the 3rd International "Antonio Marín Montero" Guitar Building Competition in Granada in 2019, where he took third prize, and we have followed his work closely ever since. For this guitar he chose a particularly lovely set of African rosewood for the back and sides.

Traditional Spanish Construction

Hironori builds his guitars using purely traditional Spanish methods, and nearly all of the work is done by hand with very few power tools. He is very careful about the quality and selection of his materials. He uses only air-dried European spruce for his soundboards, and because he wants his guitars to bring out the natural sound of the wood as fully as possible, he avoids heat processing and synthetic reinforcements. He assembles with hide glue, fills the pores with shellac and pumice powder, and finishes with a traditional French polish applied by pad.

Fan Bracing with a Transverse Bridge Brace

The top uses traditional fan bracing, with the middle five fans passing through a thin transverse brace placed just in front of the bridge. This maximizes the flexibility of the vibrating area around the bridge while also adding structural stability. The sides are thinner than usual and supported by a series of thin spruce braces, again in the service of a build that is lightweight yet structurally sound.

Understated Elegance

Hironori's aesthetic is elegant and subtle. He makes his rosettes and inlays only from woods in their natural, undyed colors, and the rosette and inlay work throughout show refined, tasteful detailing. The bridge has squared ramps that give it a bold, almost architectural look.

A Lyrical, Old-Spanish Sound

This guitar has a plump, juicy sound with a wonderfully bouncy response, much like the great old Spanish guitars. That liveliness likely comes in part from the "see-saw" effect of the transverse brace in front of the bridge. The voice is sweet and very lyrical, with great sustain and a fine dynamic range, and it already offers a rich variety of tonal colors, which is remarkable for such a new instrument. Although it is second-hand, it is in excellent condition, with only minor cosmetic playing wear in the finish. It's a superb instrument in every way, and we look forward to many more guitars from Hironori in the future.

An Early Love of Craft

From an early age, Hironori Fukuda loved working with his hands, taking up a variety of crafts and model building. He first played classical guitar at university in Kyoto, where he joined the university guitar club. He was passionate about playing, but thanks to his lifelong love of craftwork, it wasn't long before his attention turned to how guitars are made.

The Santos Hernández Revelation

As soon as Hironori began gathering materials and researching construction techniques, he discovered how hard it was to find good-quality tonewoods, especially those of the rosewood family. Then, in 1998, he attended a concert where the guitarist played a 1933 Santos Hernández made of spruce and maple. Hironori was deeply impressed by its wonderful sound, and the experience inspired him to build a guitar without rosewood. He spent three years studying lutherie from textbooks while refining his woodworking skills, and in late 2001 he completed his first guitar: a Santos Hernández model with a spruce top and maple back and sides.

Lessons from the Masters

Since then, Hironori has had the opportunity to examine several important vintage instruments by makers such as Antonio de Torres and Santos Hernández, while gaining experience in building, repairing, and restoring guitars. In 2007, he attended the famous summer course given by José Romanillos. It had a profound influence on his approach, inspiring him to build guitars with great color, a beautiful, singing melodic voice, and many of the other charming qualities he found in the old Spanish instruments.

First Prize in Granada

In 2019, Hironori won third prize at the prestigious Antonio Marín Montero Guitar Making Competition in Granada. Five years later he returned and took first prize at the seventh Antonio Marín Montero Guitar Making Competition. He lives and works in Osaka, Japan.