2019 Jake Fuller "Purnell" SP/CH

A 2019 "Purnell" classical guitar by Jake Fuller, with a German spruce top and cherry back and sides – cherry given to Jake by his fellow maker Youri Soroka.

In the video above, Daniel Rodriguez plays "Mulata", the first movement of a suite he dedicated to GSI, on this guitar.

Cherry from Youri Soroka, in Jake's Words

"The Cherry wood was given to me by Youri Soroka. He was influenced by my Cherry guitars and made his first with Cherry for the Granada competition a couple of years ago... and GSI subsequently sold the guitar. I think I mentioned on Instagram that I needed some more, and he got in touch offering me some. I said that was very kind of him but that he should keep it for himself. Youri said he had quite a bit and was happy for me to have a few sets in return for helping his decision to use cherry. I was touched by Youri's generosity. This is the second guitar I have made with Youri's Cherry. It's lovely wood. Since the wood arrived we have kept in touch, and regularly write to each other, sharing ideas, experiences and advice. It has been really nice to share thoughts with another maker, and to help each other if possible."

Construction and Sound

The back and sides have walnut bindings, also used for the head veneer and bridge, with a satinwood back stripe. The back is braced with raised longitudinal struts, and a new fingerboard laminates ebony with cedar, making it 40% lighter at the same height. The sound is textured and clear, and the guitar plays with ease. A great guitar with a great story.

Photos of this guitar being built

Jake Fuller "Purnell": An English Guitar Maker from Suffolk

Jake Fuller is an English classical guitar maker who has built guitars since the late 1990s, in a workshop first in Laxfield and then in Reydon, Suffolk. Woodworking runs in his family: his Cornish grandfather, Purnell, was a wheelwright who made carts, wheelbarrows, gates and furniture, and who lost a leg in World War I (he even built his own wooden leg); some of his tools, and a table that serves as Jake's workbench, are still in the workshop. Jake never met him, and he builds under the name "Purnell" – also his own middle name – as a tribute. His father, a toy maker in Suffolk, gave him his first apprenticeship.

Training with David Rouse, and the Spanish Tradition

A guitarist himself, Jake began classical guitar studies at 16 and went on to earn a BSc in Musical Instrument Technology at London Guildhall University, where he studied with David Rouse and David Whiteman. His main influences are Antonio de Torres and Hermann Hauser, with ideas from Santos Hernández and Masaru Kohno: traditional, lightly built Spanish guitars with a few refinements of his own, often made from woods with a story – reclaimed timber, old pianos, gifts from fellow makers.