2006 Otto Vowinkel "640" SP/CSAR

This 2006 Otto Vowinkel “640” is a concert classical guitar with a spruce top and CSA rosewood back and sides, made by hand in his workshop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and a 640mm string length.

Light, Responsive and Powerful

This is a fantastic Vowinkel concert guitar from 2006. Otto’s guitars have always been physically light – likely the result of a slightly more compact body and an efficient use of materials – and this one is no exception. Incredibly easy to play, it is also ultra-responsive and very powerful.

Spruce and Silky CSA Rosewood

The materials on this classical guitar are stunning, featuring a beautiful piece of spruce for the soundboard and dramatic, aged rosewood with a silky texture for the back and sides. With the shorter 640mm string length, it is even easier to play. Otto’s workmanship – to the highest standards, as always – gives it a unique aesthetic flair.

Amsterdam Details: Rosette and Headstock

The rosette is Otto’s own design: herringbone purfling surrounds a mosaic taken from the flag of the city of Amsterdam. The headstock takes its shape from the Amsterdam building that houses Otto’s workshop. The MOP dot at the top is a “winch”, like those on the city’s canal houses – a hook and pulley for hoisting furniture and goods up through the large windows, since the staircases inside are so narrow and steep (see photo). Purely aesthetic, yes – but charming “extra” details that tie the guitar to its place of origin.

A Plump, Lyrical Tone

The finish is shellac, applied with great care by the traditional French polish method, for a beautiful luster. From the slightly more compact body comes huge volume with little right-hand effort; the tone is plump and lively – very lyrical and beautiful at the same time. At the time, we believed it to be his best-sounding model yet.

Vowinkel Players

Denis Azabagic, Esther Steenbergen and the Amsterdam Guitar Trio are among the concert and recording artists who have played Vowinkel guitars. Competition winners are among the players too. Tariq Harb won 1st prize at both the 2011 Barrios World Wide Web Competition and the 2011 Montreal International Classical Guitar Competition, Chia-Wei Lin – a guitarist from Taiwan – took 1st prize at the Singapore International Guitar Competition, and the young Bosnian Sanel Redzic won the Vienna and Oberhausen competitions playing a cedar Vowinkel.

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.