2025 Edmund Blöchinger "Llobet" SP/CSAR

This guitar is inspired by the 1859 Torres that was played and cherished by Miguel Llobet and is now housed in the Museu de la Musica in Barcelona, Spain. Rather than a literal copy, Blöchinger has seamlessly fused elements of the historical guitar into his own design - primarily using Torres' plantilla which Blöchinger feels is possibly the most elegant and balanced ever made. It has enormous charm both aesthetically and sonically. The tone is warm with a beautiful soft glow but is also very penetrating and clear. It has huge volume and copious amounts of energy that emanate from the slightly smaller body size, making it an absolute delight to play. The comparison was recently made by another owner of this model - "it's like a Porsche, small and fast!" On stage, it has great projecting power and an outstanding richness of tone. This guitar has harmonically full trebles in particular - giving it a loose, warm sound and feel usually only found in old guitars that have been played in for many years. It also boasts one of the most comfortable neck-shapes (the entire neck and heel unit being made from a single piece of wood), and the finish on the back of the neck is done in such a way that the left hand plays effortlessly, with no "stickiness" for the left thumb. Overall, a complete masterpiece in all respects.

Orfeo article on Hauser III, Blochinger and Ober

Firmly established as one of the top living builders, master luthier Edmund Blöchinger has been in great demand world-wide for many years. He originally began building his guitars in the style of Hauser and Torres and over time has been influenced by the great Spanish masters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly Antonio de Torres and Miguel Rodriguez. For years, Pepe and Celin Romero have been great champions of these instruments and they both play on Blochinger guitars regularly as one of their main concert instruments. Celino Romero has also been touring and recording on a cedar Blöchinger as well. In Pepe's words, Blochinger is "one of the greatest" luthiers in the world today. Many other young professional players and competition winners also play Blöchinger instruments. One of the most notable qualities of his style is the "naturalness" of his build quality. As we have been saying for years, his guitars look and feel very "organic" as if they grew out of the ground naturally, on their own. The curves, doming, angles all appear so relaxed, it's as if that's how the materials somehow "want" to be, there's nothing that appears forced or engineered. At the same time you can look at every detail under a magnifying glass and everything is perfectly precise. Perhaps this is due to Blöchinger's deep knowledge and passion for wood itself - indeed he is known also for cutting his own trees down from time to time, knowing his wood directly from their native environments. Our feeling is that he identifies his materials for the next build with the intention of simply "helping them" become a guitar. It's a very close relationship between maker and materials and this is also made immediately evident to those who play his guitars, they play with the ease, comfort and sound that can only be called "natural"!