2024 Stefan Nitschke "Santos" SP/CSAR

A 2024 "Santos" classical guitar by Stefan Nitschke, with a spruce top and CSA rosewood back and sides – his tribute to Santos Hernández. Like every Nitschke guitar it has a name of its own, written by hand on the label: "La Morena" – the dark-haired one, fitting for its dark, sapwood-streaked rosewood.

In the video above, Chuyuan Huang plays the "Divertimento" from Sergio Assad's "Aquarelle" on this guitar.

Inspired by the Santos Guitars of the 1930s

Rather than copying one guitar, Stefan drew on several Santos guitars, particularly from the 1930s. The CSA rosewood is breathtaking, with plenty of yellow sapwood fused into the dark heartwood – strongly reminiscent of the wood of Miguel Rodríguez's "Churchdoor" guitars of the 1970s.

Dry, Woody and Lyrical

Seven long, thin fans run from near the lower harmonic bar almost to the lining. The sound is lively, with a loose, old-world dry and woody quality: pure, clean and clear, with lyrical trebles and deep basses. Like his "Hauser", which sounds astonishingly Hauser-like, this model captures the essence of Santos. Barely pre-owned, in excellent condition.

Read more: Orfeo Magazine No. 22 – Gernot Wagner and the New German Generation (with a feature on Stefan Nitschke)

Stefan Nitschke: A Guitarist Turned Guitar Maker

Stefan Nitschke is a German classical guitar maker, born in 1982, who works in Kirchhain, Hesse. A guitarist who came back to the classical guitar through the music of Tárrega, he studied at the conservatory in Osnabrück from 2002, where his teacher Ulrich Müller encouraged him to build his first guitar – on the carpet of his living room. He learned more by watching Gerhard Oldiges at work, and from 2004 studied at the Akademie für Tonkunst in Darmstadt while working as a luthier.

Romanillos, Hauser and Santos

His passion is the sound of the old masters, and his models pay tribute to José Luis Romanillos, Hermann Hauser I and Santos Hernández, as well as Vicente Arias and Manuel Ramírez – interpretations rather than literal copies. Like Romanillos, he gives each guitar a name. He was featured among "the new German generation" in Orfeo Magazine No. 22.