I truly believe that every classical guitar is a unique instrument with its own personality.  I get inspired by the works of  great luthiers from Antonio de Torres to the modern masters while staying away from actually copying their instruments. I therefore follow the basic principles of guitarmaking but I design and build my guitars according to my own ideas with regards to the shape of the body (plantilla), the head and neck, the rosette, the strutting system and the various aesthetics aspects. 

"My goal is to create instruments which are truly original in their design and characteristics, and with specific personalities that will appeal to the professional guitarists as well as students and amateurs." 

 
(Western Red Cedar top guitar. The back and
sides are made of Madagascar Rosewood)

(The neck, top and sides are assembled on
the "solera". The back will then be glued
to complete the body of the guitar.)

I normally use the traditional Spanish method to assemble my guitars. I start with the neck and glue it to the top while being held in place by a shaped workboard called a solera. The sides are bent and joined to the top and neck, followed by the back. I try to use traditional hand tools (hand planes, files, rasps, scrapers and hand saws) as much as possible and only use power tools as a last resort. While this approach requires more time (and a bit of the old "elbow grease"!) in the construction of the instrument, I for one believe that there is a certain "spirituality" in working the raw wood by hand, and that this is transmitted through the soul of the instrument. Let us not forget after all that lutherie is an art!

However,  I also use a mould at times to be able to add special features to a guitar, such as the raised fingerboard.

I use Western Red Cedar and North American Spruce (Englemann and Sitka) for my guitar tops. I prefer East Indian Rosewood for the backs and sides, both for its excellent sound properties and its affordable price. The necks are made of either South American or African Mahogany, or Spanish Cedar as well. As for the rosette, the bindings, purflings, head veneers and various ornamentations, I like to use woods from anywhere in the world, according to my inspiration at the time of assembly and the availability of certain types of woods.

   
       (Details  of a hand made rosette)

 Sound

Sound is in the end what matters most. It is also the most subjective of criteria since each listener's opinion is different as to what one wants to hear in a guitar. A luthier must then decide and thrive to achieve the sound he/she is looking for. The potential buyer should listen to guitars from different luthiers in order to find the guitar that matches his/her criteria the best. Despite this subjective approach, the luthier must respect some basic characteristics of a good guitar sound. These are aspects like balance, volume, projection, clarity, seperation, sustain, refinement, etc. In order to give you some idea of the sound that defines my guitars,  you can listen to a few sound files in MP3 format by following this link:   Sound samples.

The necks are reinforced by a carbon graphite rod for improved stability, in case they are to be submitted to frequent travel and changes in climate. The fingerboards are made of Ebony.