2025 Ariel Ameijenda "70th Anniversary - Lightning Strikes" CD/CSAR

This guitar is an elegantly built example of Ariel's finest work. Materials are stunning including a breathtaking set of CSA rosewood with a very dramatic story behind it. The wood comes from a tree that was struck by lightning during a powerful storm in South America about three years ago. The strike was so intense that the local government had to remove the damaged tree and cut it into slabs. Out of those, only a few pieces were suitable for guitar sets, and enough wood eventually found its way to Ariel through his wood dealer that this guitar (and possibly 1 or 2 more) will be born of this extraordinary material. Considering that a lightning bolt can carry anywhere between 1,000,000 and 100,000,000 volts, this tree definitely took quite a jolt. It is stunningly beautiful to the eye, and who knows what effect this has on the sound - if any? Our first impression after tuning it up is that it does have some notable power to it - Ariel's guitars always have plenty of volume but this one does have a boost. Additionally it has Ariel's signature sound which we describe as having lush, rich velvety overtones stacked beautifully behind the clear fundamental of every note. Ariel really figured out how to allow this cedar to sing beautifully. Ariel also tells us he spent extra attention working the trebles to make sure they had great presence and clarity since cedar by nature tends to be strong in the mid-range and lower frequencies.

And it's as stunning in appearance as in sound - Ariel has fitted it with his gorgeous and newest rosette and trimmed it out with extremely tasteful "rope" purflings in the headstock and inner and outer rings of the rosette - making this a very refined and tasteful instrument in appearance. All-in, this is a great concert instrument by any standard, from the most respected luthier currently working out of Uruguay. Congratulations to Ariel who is now in his 71st year carrying on his family tradition, and for building such fantastic guitars!

Photos of this guitar taken during construction

Ariel Ameijenda was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1963 as the son of one of that country’s most famous guitar makers, Manuel Ameijenda. Manuel had learned the craft from Juan Carlos Santurion, a pupil of Ignacio Fleta from the early 1950′s. The elder Ameijenda opened his own shop in 1957, and shared it for several years with Jose Lopez Cubillo, who had been the lead craftsman at the workshop of Jose Ramirez II. Ariel is currently the only 2nd generation builder from Uruguay and his foundation is clearly solid from the training he received from his father, starting at age 14. The Ameijenda workshop both then and now has also been a repair facility for the finer instruments that have passed through South America over the years, so Ariel has seen, inspected and repaired some of the finest instruments from the great masters such as Hauser I, Simplicio, Santos, Garcia and others. When he was 19, Ariel entered university where he studied Musicology. During those four years, he paid special attention to the subjects of Acoustics and Music History. These were very useful studies which have greatly influenced his approach to the construction of guitars and ancient instruments. In 1997 Ariel opened his own workshop in Montevideo where he builds not only guitars, but also period string instruments including baroque guitars, vihuelas, lutes and theorbos. In 2014, he moved to the heavenly settings of the Cerro de los Burros near the city or Piriapolis on the East Coast of Uruguay in order to respond to his growing list of orders and fully commit to the construction of the finest guitars.