Juan Alvarez
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The Spanish luthier Juan Alvarez Gil was born in Madrid in 1932. In 1946,
Juan began building guitars with his elder brother Lorenzo, a cabinet maker. At first they
sold these badly made guitars in El Rastro, a flea market. As their guitars improved, they
sold them to music stores. Later, Marcelo Barbero (1904-1955), one of the great guitar
makers of the last century, became Juan's mentor, offering him his advice and
counsel, from
which he acknowledges that he benefited enormously. In 1952, Juan Alvarez established his
own workshop. As might be expected, Juan Alvarez's flamenco and classical guitars share some of the qualities of his
mentor's instruments. They have bright round trebles and firm resonant basses. Although
Juan died in 2001; his son, Juan Miguel Alvarez, (born 1960) who learned
guitar making from his father, continues making the same great quality guitars. Initially,
Juan Miguel confesses he did not want to
become a guitar maker, and earned a B.A. in aeronautical engineering. Yet, the fascination
and love of the guitar that his father instilled in him as a young man, eventually
led him
back into constructing guitars. Building in the tradition of the Madrid School, Juan
Miguel's classical and flamenco guitars are made entirely by hand using traditional
methods. The shop also sells factory made semi-professional, and student models that are
made for them to their specifications.
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