2025 Otto Vowinkel "2a Baritone" SP/IN

This 2025 Otto Vowinkel “2a Baritone” is a fifth-bass classical guitar with a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides, built in Barcelona by Antonio Picado to Otto Vowinkel’s design.

A Collaboration Between Amsterdam and Barcelona

This guitar has come about through the collaborative effort between Otto Vowinkel of Amsterdam, Holland, and Antonio Picado of Barcelona, Spain. Easy to play and hard to put down, it is a fantastic addition to the Vowinkel 2a series.

What Is a Baritone or Fifth-Bass Guitar?

This model is tuned a perfect fifth lower than a standard classical guitar (A-D-G-c-e-a) and is known both as a “Baritone” and a “Fifth-bass” guitar. To accommodate the lower pitches and keep the strings at normal tension, the scale length is 720mm and the body is larger than usual. Included with the guitar is an extra set of “baritone” strings.

For Ensembles and the Bach Cello Suites

This guitar is perfect for duos, trios or other (guitar) ensembles as well as for performing works for cello – indeed, recordings of the Bach cello suites have been made on Vowinkel “Baritone” models by both Esther Steenbergen and Benjamin Verdery. The deep body resonance produced by this instrument is intoxicating and does a marvelous job of filling out a bigger bottom-end than any standard-tuned guitar.

Note: Stock photos may be used for this model listing. The exact guitar pictured may no longer be available, and may differ slightly from current inventory. Please contact us with any questions.

Otto Vowinkel: Classical Guitar Maker in Amsterdam

Otto Vowinkel grew up in a family of tailors in the old center of Amsterdam. He came to the guitar as a player, and in 1984 – with no teacher, a few basic tools and Irving Sloane’s book Classical Guitar Construction – he built his first guitar in the attic of his house. He learned by showing each new guitar to every guitarist he could find and building the next one with their comments in mind.

Traditional Spanish Building and French Polish

In 1989 Otto met his future wife, the Dutch guitarist Esther Steenbergen, and the Andalusia-based Dutch maker Alex van der Horst (“Alejandro”, 1959–2009), with whom he worked regularly and shared his ideas about the ideal guitar: a flexible tone, a quick response, and quality of sound as the carrier of volume. Otto builds in the traditional way and is a specialist in French polish, on which he now gives lectures and workshops. His rosettes carry the colors of the flag of Amsterdam.

Concert Guitars and Student Models

Besides his concert classical guitars, Otto makes flamenco guitars, quart guitars and fifth-bass (baritone) guitars. He has also designed student models that are handmade in small workshops in Spain under his supervision. You can read more in our article on Otto Vowinkel.