2020 German Vázquez Rubio "Concert 635" No. 41620 SP/MP

This 2020 German Vázquez Rubio “Concert 635” No. 41620 is a classical guitar with a spruce top and maple back and sides, made in Los Angeles, California, with extra inlay work and blue accents.

The “Concert 635” Model

This is a beautiful concert instrument featuring several unique and striking design elements.

Look Closely

This guitar has more inlay work than the standard model, including the same treatment in the heel area. Rosewood frames the quarter-sawn spruce and flamed maple in the binding, back center strip and tie block, and the headstock is layered in four pieces of maple and three of walnut, with a rosewood front veneer. The top and head veneer have a layer of half-herringbone purfling to match the rosette, and there is a subtle use of blue in the rosette, tie block, top purfling and even the top layer of the head veneer inlay. German applies the shellac finish with a care and perfection found in very few makers.

Sound and Label

The basses are deep and bouncy, the trebles very clear and full. A very low action and the 635mm scale make playing it effortless. A 20th fret gives the high C natural. A beautiful-sounding, intricately made concert guitar. Although used, it is in excellent condition, with only modest wear in the finish. No. 41620 is written on the label, which is dated 2020 and signed by German; “635” is written beside the number.

In the Video Above

Edward Frank Martinez plays Dionisio Aguado’s “Rondo Brillante in A minor” on a G.V. Rubio.

German Vázquez Rubio: Early Years in Paracho, Mexico

German Vázquez Rubio (also known as G.V. Rubio) has been making guitars since 1968 – over fifty years – and has developed his own signature sound that guitarists have come to love. He was born in 1952 in Paracho, Mexico, where there is an abundance of fine luthiers (with few exceptions, all of the finest guitars in Mexico come from Paracho). German’s first formal training began at eleven years old, when he left school to help support his seven siblings and went to work in the workshop of his uncle, Manuel Rubio. There, even at his young age, he made a conscious effort to make guitar building his life’s work.

“Desde 1968”

In 1968, at the age of sixteen, he made his first concert-level guitar (hence his label reads “Desde 1968”). German has since been able to learn from many different master builders such as Félix Manzanero, José Romanillos and Thomas Humphrey. He now resides in Los Angeles, California, where he builds a variety of both classical and flamenco models. He is also the maker of the real-life guitar from the Disney/Pixar film Coco – you can read more in our article on German Vázquez Rubio and the real Coco guitar.

First Prize in Mexico

In 2000, German won First Place at the Concurso Nacional de Constructores y Ejecutantes de Guitarras, Mexico’s national guitar-making competition.