MAKING MASTER erenuW.U:e MO emai ke I(Custrations by Adrian Lucasre aw ee ee ee EE eT) ee. ee! MAKING MASTER GUITARS ROY COURTNALL Illustrations by Adrian Lucas ROBERT HALE - LONDON STEWART-MACDONALD - OHIOContents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgements xix Preface and Technical Terms xox Part 1: The Master Makers and their Guitars 1 Antonio de Torres 29 2 Santos Hernandez 50 3 Hermann Hauser 61 + Hernandez y Aguado 72 5 Ignacio Fleta 84+ 6 Robert Bouchet 96 7 Daniel Friederich 108 8 José Romanillos 122 Part 2: Workshop, Tools and Materials 9 Workshop and Tools 141 10 Materials 150 Part 3: Guitar Construction —- The Spanish Method Introduction 159 11 Solera 162 12 Neck and Head 167 13 Rosette ° 185 14 Soundboard 197 15 Strutting 208 16 Back 218 17 Ribs 226 18 Linings 237. 19 Assembly: Soundboard, Neck and End-block 240 20 Assembly: Ribs and Linings 245 21 Assembly: Back 255 22 Purfling and Binding 26+ 23 Fingerboard 275 2+ Bridge 289 25 Final Shaping of the Neck 300 26 Action and Stringing Up 304 27 Varnishing and Polishing 309 Appendix 1 Conversion Tables 317 Appendix2 Fret Distance Tables 321 Appendix 3 Suppliers of Materials, Tools and Plans 323 Bibliography 325 * Index 327-ANTONIO DE TORRES - 1 Antonio de Torres (1817-92) Background The legendary figure of Antonio de Torres has created much controversy in the guitar making world. His followers are convinced that the Torres contribution to guitar design is paramount, and that his reputation is more than justified. His critics view Torres much more as being one maker amongst many, and not all contemporary makers would acknowledge him as a major influence on their work. This is especially true of the most recent experimenters in guitar design, who are attempting to discard virtually all preconceived ideas in the hope of making radically new instruments. They are utilizing scientific data as their major source, rather than any historical or intuitive references. ! Any important historical figure attracts a certain amount of mythology; about their life, their work and their ideas. This is especially true in the absence of any well-documented records on which to draw. Until recently the life of Torres was shrouded in mystery. Many stories about him could not be substantiated. The English-based guitar maker, José Romanillos, has to a large extent rectified this problem by undertaking a thorough research into the life and work of Torres.? He has pieced together a vast amount of documentation and has catalogued and examined some sixty-five Torres guitars which could be traced. The result is that there is now a much clearer picture, not only of the life and times of Torres, but also of the contribution he made to guitar design. The sixty-five guitars provide what must be a substantial summary of his work, and it is now possible to see just how his work developed — different body shapes; the method of strutting; the range of decorative inlays, and we also have an insight into his method of construction. Torres made his first guitar around 1840. By 1854 he had a workshop in Seville, which was located in a district occupied by a number of other guitar makers. He would have seen the guitars made by José Pernas, which were typical of the design currently in use. This consisted of a smaller body shape, a bridge with fixed saddle, rather wide struts, and an elaborate, scrolled head design. Torres, however, was already producing guitars that were radically different from this earlier pattern — his instruments had larger lower bouts, and incorporated the seven radial fan struts that were to become the hallmark of modern strutting design. At that time, most strutting consisted simply of three large transverse bars. Torres must have had an intuitive grasp of the acoustic properties of wood — he selected his materials more skilfully than many of his contemporaries, who often produced instruments as decorative items of beauty rather than as functional musical instruments. Although some of Torres’ guitars exhibit elaborate marquetry and other decorative features, many are relatively simply 1-1 Guitar by Antonio de Torres 29adorned, and his main obsession was clearly with the functioning of the instruments. When he did make use of decorative techniques, they were carefully controlled so as not to become overpowering. By 1860 Torres had exhibited his guitars at major exhibitions, and was well established as a maker. Nevertheless, guitar making was not a lucrative business, and he stopped making instruments in favour of opening a retail shop which sold china. It is thought that the general depression in Spain was responsible for his increasing financial difficulties. Guitar makers generally produced two types of instrument — basic student models for the amateur player, and elaborate versions for professional 30 1-2 Detail of rib inlays on Torres’ most decorative guitar, made in 1858 (FE 08) 1-3 The rosette on FE 08 musicians. The large amount of time that it took to produce the finest guitars must have made it very difficult to charge a price that would reflect the true amount of labour that went into their construction. By 1875 Torres had once again started making guitars, producing about six instruments a year. This modest output doubled to twelve a year from 1883 to 1892. It is, however, the guitars produced earlier on in his career which were the most successful. The later instruments did not produce the same quality of sound. Torres died on 19 November 1892. The majority of his work was carried out between 1852-69, and then between 1875-92.- THE MASTER MAKERS AND THEIR GUITARS - shaped to a ‘gable-end’ on the earlier guitars, but later they were gently rounded off. The harmonic bars are not gable-shaped in the way that later became popular, but are left rectangular in section along their entire length, so that the full section of the bar makes contact with the rib. On the majority of instruments, Torres joined the ribs to the back with continuous lengths of kerfed linings, rather than the individual blocks which were in use at the time. This is still an aspect of guitar design that varies from one maker to another, as it is unlikely that either method has any acoustic benefit over the other. The thin soundboards were to a large extent strengthened by Torres’ use of a ‘solera’. This is a workboard which has been cut to the outline of the guitar, and on which the instrument is assembled. Rather than being left flat, Torres shaped the lower bout area of the solera, below the soundhole, so that the required concavity would be built into the soundboard — it would appear as a dome on the outer surface of the instrument. The fan struts could be glued down on to the soundboard, which in turn was Positioned on this shaped board. The result was that the struts and soundboard would be fixed permanen- tly into the domed shape, resulting in a more rigid and strengthened structure. Torres made several guitars in which the lower harmonic bar (running transversely across the soundboard, below the soundhole) had openings cut in it, so that the bars are not in continuous contact with the soundboard. The soundboard is vulnerable to shrinkage and expansion across its width, as temperature and humidity levels alter, and this is a way of allowing more scope for the wood to move, than if the bars are fixed rigidly right across their full width. It also extends the vibrating area of the soundboard, rather than cutting this off suddenly at the position of the bar. Torres then extended the outer fan struts through these openings, so that they ended up quite close to the soundhole. This feature of open bars combined with longer fan struts passing through them is often thought of as being the innovation of the French maker, Robert Bouchet. As Bouchet himself has confirmed that he took his model from Torres, whose instruments he had examined, it is difficult to understand how this myth arose. Plantilla Torres produced guitars that were often about one fifth larger in soundboard area than the instruments commonly in use at the time. Although larger bodied guitars had been made at various times prior to this, it seems that Torres was the first maker to carry all the other aspects of the design along with this change — the strutting, the plate thicknesses, and the doming of the soundboard all contributed to the new design. 32 His instruments were so successful that his design immediately superseded the old patterns. As a carpenter, Torres would have understood the basic geometry needed for setting out many common items produced in the workshop. Attempts have been made to analyse his plantillas (the outline shape of the instrument) in geometric terms, but it is most likely that he arrived at the shapes intuitively. It used to be thought that every instrument made by Torres had a different shape. This must have been due to the lack of any accurate comparison of a large number of his guitars. More recent research now shows that Torres used five shapes in all. Like any maker, he must have spent some time experimenting with different sizes and shapes in an attempt to find the perfect outline. He may have been restricted by financial considerations and the lack of ideal. wood supplies, which could itself guide the maker to suit the shape of the guitar to the given material. Even within the range of different sizes, the plantillas have a uniform aesthetic quality, which identifies them with this maker. Neck Compared with more modern instruments, the necks of Torres’ guitars are rather narrow, often being 47mm to +9 mm wide at the nut. The thickness of the neck at the nut is typically about 20mm, increasing to 22 mm at the 9th fret. The neck and ribs are joined by the traditional method of-cutting slots into the neck, into which the ends of the ribs are located. The heel is laminated from several pieces of wood, sometimes as many as six, The end of the heel is almost a semicircle, rather than the more angular design favoured by many later makers. Head Torres maintained the same.head motif for most of his instruments, although the proportions varied according to the size of the guitar and the width of the fingerboard. It consists of three arches, the central one being the largest. He used machine heads on some guitars, and tuning pegs on others. The head is joined to the neck with a spliced joint. Rosette Prior to Torres, the decorative aspect of guitar design was quite different — instruments were often lavishly embellished with mother-of-pearl, as well as wood inlays, and this decoration was not confined to the peripheral areas of the instrument, where there would be little influence on the acoustic functioning of the wood. Many instruments, having their soundboards covered with inlays, must have been adversely affected in this respect. Torres is largely