Crafted from the Inside Out

My construction process draws on both the traditional Spanish approach and modern voicing techniques refined through years of hands-on experience. Each instrument is built from individually selected, book-matched tonewoods, chosen for optimal acoustic response and aesthetic balance. Employing the Spanish foot/heel design ensures efficient energy transfer from the strings through the soundboard, maximizing volume, sustain, and tonal complexity. The result is an instrument of precision and resonance—responsive, balanced, and built to inspire.

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Soundboard

Each top begins as a finely quarter-sawn plate, chosen for its tight, even grain and lively response. I tap and flex the wood, thinning it gradually until it sings at its optimal stiffness, then taper it toward the edge of the lower bout to balance strength with lightness. Every brace is shaped by hand to match the voice of its top, coaxing out a clear, resonant, and dynamic tone.

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Spanish Foot

All of my instruments are built using the time-honored method of classical lutherie from the Spanish guitar-making tradition. Before the mass-produced guitars popularized by Martin in the early 20th century, the body and neck were crafted as a single, integrated structure—the neck extending into the guitar’s foot as a continuous whole. The modern bolt-on or dovetail joint, though practical for large-scale production, inevitably introduces discontinuity at the neck-to-body junction. Employing the Spanish Foot eliminates that break, allowing uninterrupted energy flow from the nut through the soundboard. I am convinced this yields a more responsive instrument with superior resonance, sustain, and tonal cohesion.

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Precision Bent Sides

When the sides come out of the bending frames, their final shape must be refined precisely to match the guitar’s pattern. This critical step is often overlooked, as shown by the common use of spreaders to force the sides into the mold during assembly. Doing so builds internal tension: the same pressure used to hold the ribs in place will later press against the top once the spreaders are removed. It’s one reason some guitars seem to “open up” over time—the wood gradually relaxes into its natural form. By hand-bending the sides so they fit perfectly in the mold without spreaders, I eliminate that built-in stress from the outset. The result is a relaxed, resonant instrument that sounds mature from the moment it’s strung up.