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José Ruiz Pedregosa (b.
1958) is the only disciple of the Spanish luthier Jerónimo
Peña Fernández whose guitars are played by such great flamenco players as Monolo
Sanlucar, Manolo Escobar, and Enrique Montoya. Jeronimo Peña Fernandez, who is
among the few luthiers to whom
Luis F. Leal Pinar devotes an entire chapter in "Guitarreros de Andalucia"
(2004) is now
semi-retired, and no longer exports, although he continues to build instruments for
collectors. Since José was nine years old, the two men have had a
relationship like that of
father and son. In 1981, after completing his military service, Jose Ruiz
Pedregosa opened his own workshop. Like his mentor, José builds handmade classical and
flamenco guitars which
are works of art. I had a
chance to compare the flamenco and classical guitars of Peña Fernández to those
of Jose Ruiz Pedregosa on my last trip to Spain. They are almost
indistinguishable. José's intruments, like those of his mentor, are characterized by
rich, roundness of tone. Because he is a guitar maker who works alone
using traditional methods, Jose's production is limited to 15 to 20 guitars a year.
Since he doesn't have the expenses that guitar makers in Spain's principle cities
have,
his guitars remain very affordable. His workshop has become a meeting place for
many guitar lovers and flamenco players: El Cabrero, El Tomate, Vicente Amigo,
El Curri, Jose Luis Postigo, Manolo Siveria, and Juan Núñez. |