2025 Otto Vowinkel SP/CO

This 2025 Otto Vowinkel is a concert classical guitar with a spruce top and cocobolo back and sides, made by hand in his workshop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Juri Yun plays Scarlatti on it in the video above.

Light, Responsive and Powerful

His instruments are among the most lightweight of anything in our inventory, likely the result of a slightly more compact body size and efficient use of materials. Incredibly easy to play, it is also ultra-responsive and very powerful.

Spruce and Aged Cocobolo

For the back and sides of this classical guitar, Otto chose aged cocobolo with colorful, dramatic grain patterning, under a beautiful spruce soundboard – stunning materials. Otto’s workmanship – to the highest standards, as always – gives it a unique aesthetic flair.

Amsterdam Details: Rosette and Headstock

Around the mosaic of the rosette – the motif of the Amsterdam flag – runs his characteristic herringbone purfling. The headstock takes its shape from the Amsterdam building that houses Otto’s workshop. The MOP dot at the top is a “winch”, like those on the city’s canal houses – a hook and pulley for hoisting furniture and goods up through the large windows, since the staircases inside are so narrow and steep (see photo). Purely aesthetic, yes – but charming “extra” details that tie the guitar to its place of origin.

French Polish and Sound

The finish is shellac, applied with great care by the traditional French polish method, for a beautiful luster. Tuners are Sloane. From the slightly more compact body comes huge volume with little right-hand effort; the tone is plump and lively – very lyrical and beautiful at the same time. At the time, we believed it to be his best-sounding model yet.

Who Plays Vowinkel Guitars

Denis Azabagic, Esther Steenbergen and the Amsterdam Guitar Trio are among the concert and recording artists who have played Vowinkel guitars. Several competition winners play these instruments as well, including Tariq Harb (1st prize winner of the 2011 Barrios World Wide Web Competition and the 2011 Montreal International Classical Guitar Competition), Chia-Wei Lin (a Taiwanese guitarist who won 1st prize at the Singapore International Guitar Competition) and Sanel Redzic (a young Bosnian guitarist who won the Vienna Competition and the Oberhausen Competition using a cedar Vowinkel).

In the Video Above

Juri Yun plays Domenico Scarlatti’s Sonata in A major, K. 208, on this guitar.

Otto Vowinkel: Classical Guitar Maker in Amsterdam

Otto Vowinkel grew up in a family of tailors in the old center of Amsterdam. He came to the guitar as a player, and in 1984 – with no teacher, a few basic tools and Irving Sloane’s book Classical Guitar Construction – he built his first guitar in the attic of his house. He learned by showing each new guitar to every guitarist he could find and building the next one with their comments in mind.

Traditional Spanish Building and French Polish

In 1989 Otto met his future wife, the Dutch guitarist Esther Steenbergen, and the Andalusia-based Dutch maker Alex van der Horst (“Alejandro”, 1959–2009), with whom he worked regularly and shared his ideas about the ideal guitar: a flexible tone, a quick response, and quality of sound as the carrier of volume. Otto builds in the traditional way and is a specialist in French polish, on which he now gives lectures and workshops. His rosettes carry the colors of the flag of Amsterdam.

Concert Guitars and Student Models

Besides his concert classical guitars, Otto makes flamenco guitars, quart guitars and fifth-bass (baritone) guitars. He has also designed student models that are handmade in small workshops in Spain under his supervision. You can read more in our article on Otto Vowinkel.