2020 Andy Culpepper "Najmat" SP/CY

This 2020 Andy Culpepper "Najmat" is a flamenco blanca with a spruce top and cypress back and sides, handmade in Ithaca, New York – guitar No. 118, its design telling the story of the Romani journey to Andalusia.

"Najmat": The Romani Journey to Andalusia

This flamenco guitar (named "Najmat" = "stars" in Arabic) has many references that depict the journey of the Romani people out of India, through the Middle East into Europe and eventually to Andalusia – the birthplace of flamenco. Some of these features include the mosaic design in the rosette, which is ornamented with Arabic stars (hence the name of this guitar), as well as special carvings on the head plate and bridge wings. These resemble the headshape – itself reminiscent of many architectural door designs of sacred places of worship in southern Spain that have welcomed both Moorish and Roman Catholic devotees over the centuries.

A Sound Port for Camarón de la Isla

A small sound port on the side is an homage to the hand tattoo of Camarón de la Isla (see photo in gallery), one of the greatest Spanish Romani flamenco singers of all time, who performed together with Paco de Lucía and Tomatito.

Sound and Playability

As imagery-rich as this guitar is aesthetically, it is also a tremendous instrument for sound and playability. It is lightly built, with immediate response and plenty of volume, which make this guitar very "flamenco" – just listen to Andy in the video as he demonstrates the instrument just after he had completed its construction. Enough said!

Photos of this guitar taken just after completion

Andy Culpepper: A Player Turned Guitar Maker

Andy Culpepper grew up in a musical family and started to play classical guitar as a teenager, later moving into flamenco – he even studied flamenco in Spain and has since done a good amount of performing: solo, accompanying and for dance. As with many luthiers, Andy's first guitar was an instrument to play on himself, but after showing it around he began getting orders, and so eventually he decided to become a full-time luthier. His guitars are truly a "player's" instrument, very easy to play and responsive to both the left and right hands.

Training with Richard Cogger in Ithaca, New York

Andy's formal studies were done with Richard Cogger, a classical and flamenco guitar maker in Ithaca, New York. Andy shared workspace with him for a couple of years before establishing his own shop in Ithaca, where he continues to work today. He builds both classical and flamenco guitars, and GSI is the only dealer in the USA that carries his instruments. Read our interview with Andy.

Torres and the "Open Bar" Bracing System

Andy believes that the best guitars are still modeled on the designs and ideas of Antonio de Torres (1817–1892), and he admires Torres for his constant experimenting with different ideas. The "open bar" system of top bracing, where the outer fan struts pass through openings in the harmonic bars, is a key design element in Andy's classical guitars. It creates an extremely responsive, clear, even and beautiful tone that can envelop the listener in a kind of "surround sound" – quite an experience to hear, and perfect for any concert hall.

Built by Hand and Voiced "in the White"

Andy prefers to work in a traditional manner – very few power tools, and as much by hand as possible, to achieve the maximum amount of control over the quality of his work. His guitars are assembled by first joining the neck to the top to precisely establish the center line of the guitar. This assembly is placed face down on a solera, or workboard, the sides are slotted into the heel block and glued to the top with individual glue blocks called tentalones, and finally the back is fitted and the box is closed. The bridge is glued on before finishing, because Andy likes to play all of his guitars "in the white" and refine the voice by sanding the top if necessary. The entire guitar is then French polished with shellac, applied completely by hand with the traditional muñeca, or cloth pad.