2016 German Vázquez Rubio "Hauser" No. 51816 SP/IN

This 2016 German Vázquez Rubio “Hauser” No. 51816 is a classical guitar with a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides, made in Los Angeles, California, with Rodgers tuners; Bartosz Paprot plays Tansman in the video above.

About the “Hauser”

The inspiration is the iconic 1937 Hauser I, immortalized by Andrés Segovia over decades of concerts and recordings and now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; German follows it above all in its structural details.

John Holmquist and Jason Vieaux have recorded the model on five Naxos albums between them, and in 2000 it won German First Place at the Concurso Nacional de Constructores y Ejecutantes de Guitarras – no wonder it is perhaps his best known.

Materials, Sound and Condition

This guitar’s sound quality, craftsmanship and playability easily live up to the model’s reputation. The materials are first class, including a gorgeous set of Indian rosewood for the back that almost looks like CSA rosewood. Bold, clear, balanced: it is as good in the studio as on the concert stage. The condition is excellent, with only very minor signs of prior use, and it is fitted with Rodgers tuners. On the label: German’s signature, the year 2016 and the number 51816.

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.