2026 Andy Culpepper "15th Anniversary" SP/CSAR

This 2026 Andy Culpepper "15th Anniversary" is a classical guitar with an aged Swiss spruce top and CSA rosewood back and sides, handmade in Ithaca, New York – No. 174 on Andy's label, built to mark his 15 years of guitar making.

Celebrating 15 Years of Guitar Making

To celebrate 15 years of guitar making, Andy pulled out his best materials, which include a gorgeous set of CSA rosewood for the sides and back and an aged Swiss top. He also crafted a unique rosette (and tie-block inlay) featuring a collage of mosaic patterns that have appeared in the various guitars he's made over the past 15 years. Congratulations to Andy on his journey this far – we look forward to another 15 years of his instruments!

Sound of a Concert Classical Guitar Rooted in Spanish Tradition

This guitar is rooted in traditional Spanish design, with a sound crafted to satisfy the modern concert guitarist. It has plenty of power, clarity, openness, and separation to fill a concert hall, but also has a beautiful voice that makes it hard to put down. It is loud and penetrating without being boomy and has great sustain and a rich, but controlled overtone content. Andy's guitars are very versatile to virtually any playing style, so although this guitar was built as a classical, it sounds at home as a flamenco too, if pushed. It has a lightweight feel, with a big explosive attack followed by a rich sound of big overtones in every note. Overall an excellent and well-made concert instrument by any standard.

Andy Culpepper: A Player Turned Guitar Maker

Andy Culpepper grew up in a musical family and started to play classical guitar as a teenager, later moving into flamenco – he even studied flamenco in Spain and has since done a good amount of performing: solo, accompanying and for dance. As with many luthiers, Andy's first guitar was an instrument to play on himself, but after showing it around he began getting orders, and so eventually he decided to become a full-time luthier. His guitars are truly a "player's" instrument, very easy to play and responsive to both the left and right hands.

Training with Richard Cogger in Ithaca, New York

Andy's formal studies were done with Richard Cogger, a classical and flamenco guitar maker in Ithaca, New York. Andy shared workspace with him for a couple of years before establishing his own shop in Ithaca, where he continues to work today. He builds both classical and flamenco guitars, and GSI is the only dealer in the USA that carries his instruments. Read our interview with Andy.

Torres and the "Open Bar" Bracing System

Andy believes that the best guitars are still modeled on the designs and ideas of Antonio de Torres (1817–1892), and he admires Torres for his constant experimenting with different ideas. The "open bar" system of top bracing, where the outer fan struts pass through openings in the harmonic bars, is a key design element in Andy's classical guitars. It creates an extremely responsive, clear, even and beautiful tone that can envelop the listener in a kind of "surround sound" – quite an experience to hear, and perfect for any concert hall.

Built by Hand and Voiced "in the White"

Andy prefers to work in a traditional manner – very few power tools, and as much by hand as possible, to achieve the maximum amount of control over the quality of his work. His guitars are assembled by first joining the neck to the top to precisely establish the center line of the guitar. This assembly is placed face down on a solera, or workboard, the sides are slotted into the heel block and glued to the top with individual glue blocks called tentalones, and finally the back is fitted and the box is closed. The bridge is glued on before finishing, because Andy likes to play all of his guitars "in the white" and refine the voice by sanding the top if necessary. The entire guitar is then French polished with shellac, applied completely by hand with the traditional muñeca, or cloth pad.