2002 Edmund Blöchinger CD/CSAR (ex Angel Romero)

Firmly established as one of the top living builders, Edmund Blochinger is now in great demand world-wide. He originally began building his guitars in the style of Hauser and Torres and early on became influenced by Miguel Rodriguez's guitars from the early '60s. Many people regard these as having the precision and balance of a German instrument but with the responsiveness and energy of a southern Spanish guitar. For over two decades, Pepe and Celin Romero have been great champions of these instruments and they both play on Blochingers regularly. This guitar was made for their brother, Angel who has been it's only owner to date since it was built in 2002, as the dedication on the label indicates.

These instruments record wonderfully, and on stage, they have great projection and an outstanding quality of tone, audible all the way at the back of any large hall. This guitar was built with exceptional materials - the cedar top is covered in "aguas" showing that how precisely cut on the quarter it was, and the CSA rosewood used for the back and sides is quite dark and straight grained but slowly picks up a lighter glow towards the center seam, giving it a very classy and elegant look. It is in excellent condition with only some minor playing wear in the finish. Tuners are custom Reischl with Angel's initials, "AR" embossed in the plates. Playability is excellent with large, rounded frets that Angel requested when it was built, these especially make glissandos effortless. Sounds is huge, with a beautiful, rich tone. World-class in every regard with amazing provenance.

Orfeo article on Hauser III, Blochinger and Ober