2025 Colin Van Aelbrouck "Rodriguez" SP/MP

The 2025 Colin Van Aelbrouck "Rodriguez" is a classical guitar with a European spruce top and flamed maple back and sides, made in Braine-le-Comte, Belgium, by the maker who won First Prize for flamenco guitar at the 2023 Antonio Marín Montero competition in Granada. It is Colin's first guitar modeled on a 1963 Miguel Rodríguez.

A 1963 Miguel Rodríguez on the Workbench

This "Rodriguez" model was inspired by an original 1963 Rodriguez (with the same wood combination) that Colin had in his workshop this past year for restoration work. Once he started looking around inside the box and seeing the clever handwork of Miguel Jr., Colin felt he had to give this design a shot with his own modifications – primarily sticking to the structural details of the original but using his own aesthetics (headshape, rosette design, etc.). It should not be surprising that Colin was taken by this Rodriguez, as many of its features are already present in his other builds.

Thin, Light and French Polished

Most importantly, this includes a soundboard and sides that are very thin to allow for ample vibration and transmission of sound. Like the old Spanish guitars that inspire Colin, this instrument is lightly built, which also gives it an assist in added responsiveness. The entire instrument is French polished.

Sound of a Mid-Century Córdoba Guitar

Sound is full, warm and evenly balanced. Colin was really able to capture the feel and sound of a loose, mid-century southern Spanish guitar like the 1963 Rodriguez on which it is modeled, with an authentic deep bottom end and harmonically rich trebles. This is a fantastic value for such a visually stunning and sonically beautiful instrument, and it would satisfy the recording or concertizing needs of any guitarist. Great instrument all around – Rodriguez fans will be impressed!

Photos of this guitar taken during construction, with photos of the original 1963 Rodriguez

Colin Van Aelbrouck: From a Charango to the Spanish Guitar

Colin Van Aelbrouck is a Belgian guitar maker who lives and works in Braine-le-Comte, a small city south of Brussels. From a very young age he was attracted to music of all types, but it was at the age of 18, during a humanitarian trip to Chile, that he fell in love with stringed instruments. He returned home with a charango and bought a student-level Spanish guitar, which allowed him to start learning some of the Andean and Latin American repertoire he had picked up during his travels. Shortly after, he heard Pepe Habichuela's album "Hierbabuena" and became passionate about flamenco guitar and Spanish guitar music in general.

Training with Karel Dedain in Puurs

In 2011, his desire for a better instrument led him to build his first guitar, following the instructions in Roy Courtnall's book "Making a Spanish Guitar". In 2013 he entered the CMB school in Puurs (Centrum voor Muziekinstrumentenbouw), where he studied the art of lutherie with Karel Dedain for five years.

Influences: Ramírez, Santos, García, Bouchet and Friederich

Colin loves the sound of the Spanish guitars of the early 20th century – those of Manuel Ramírez, Santos Hernández and Enrique García. But he is also inspired by the great French luthiers, such as Robert Bouchet and Daniel Friederich, as well as by Italian, German and English makers. He has even built lattice guitars, replacing the usual carbon with wood. For Colin, each new experience is an enrichment, and each new guitar is an improvement. GSI is proud to be Colin's exclusive dealer in the USA.

First Prize in Granada

In August 2023 Colin won First Prize in the flamenco category and Second Prize in the classical category at the prestigious sixth Antonio Marín Montero Guitar Building Competition in Granada, Spain.