2021 Annette Stephany CD/AR

A 2021 classical guitar by Annette Stephany, with a cedar top and African rosewood back and sides – a slightly modified version of the 1910 Manuel Ramírez owned by her mentor, Lorenzo Frignani.

In the video above, Bryan Fasola plays the Adagio from Bach's Toccata in E minor, BWV 914, on this guitar.

A Ramírez with a New Rosette

Annette used the 7+2 symmetrical bracing of the original Ramírez. Compared with it, the sides are a little higher and the back slightly more curved. Her new rosette, with pearl ornaments in natural greens and browns, came to her while looking through photos of Santos Hernández guitars.

Earthy and Explosive

Her familiarity with Frignani's Ramírez shows: a natural, earthy sound, a light build with a quick, explosive attack, and a rich, warm tone with a lot of body, great separation of voices and surprising volume. Pre-owned, in excellent condition with only minor finish wear – a versatile guitar for solo or ensemble playing.

Photos of this guitar being built

Annette Stephany: From Mittenwald to Schweinfurt

Annette Stephany (born 1982) is a German classical guitar maker. She was fascinated by lutherie from the age of 14, when she met a violin maker, and at 21 she enrolled in the violin-making school in Mittenwald, where she also worked for the harp maker Eric Kleinmann. She then apprenticed with Lorenzo Frignani in Modena, Italy, until 2013, with a year of restoration work in Bernhard Kresse's workshop in Cologne, where she later shared a shop with Kresse. Today she has her own workshop in Schweinfurt.

Inspired by Frignani's 1910 Ramírez and 1906 García

Her models follow two historic guitars in Frignani's collection, a 1910 Manuel Ramírez and a 1906 Enrique García, which she studied for years, alongside a design of her own. Her guitars are light and quick to respond, with the natural, earthy warmth of those old instruments and modern clarity and volume.