Historic Guitar Makers Elsewhere in Spain
These biographies of historic Spanish luthiers are works in progress. If you have additional materials, information, sources, photographs, or corrections you wish to share, please contact me. (Reference Works)
Josef Alcañiz (Murcia, active c. 1800s)
Josef Alcañiz, a guitar maker from Murcia, seems to have been active at the end of the 18th century, beginning of the 19th century.
Francisco Casasnovas (b. 1816 - d. 1876 Palma de Mallorca)
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Francisco
Casasnovas (the surname is also written Casanovas) was born in 1816 in Palma de
Mallocora. He began building guitars and bandurrias in 1845, opening his
workshop at Plaza de la Merced 1, Palma de Mallorca. The 1853 Casasnovas in our
collection shows that he was using a fan brace kite system of the sort used by
Antonio Torres, which seven fan braces closed by chevrons at the bottom, even
before Torres. He trained his sons, Bartolome Casasnovas i Fiol, and
Miguel Casasnovas de Fiol. When he died in 1876, his sons took over the
workshop, building under the label Hijos de Casasnovas until 1927.
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Bartolome Casasnovas i Fiol (b. c. 1850 - d. 1927 Palma de Mallorca)
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Bartolome
Casasnovas i Fiol was the son of Francisco Casasnovas and along with his brother
Miguel was trained by his father. They took over their father's workshop after
his death in 1876, and continued building under the label Hermanos Casanovas
until 1927. They exhibited a guitar in the Barcelona exhibition of 1888 and
obtained a prize for a mechanism to alter string tension. A Casasnovas guitar built in 1880 is listed in the collection of Felix
Manzanero.
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Miguel Casasnovas i Fiol (b. c. 1845 - d. 1903)
Miguel Casasnovas i Fiol was the son of Francisco Casasnovas and along with his brother Miguel was trained by his father. They took over their father's workshop after his death in 1876. They exhibited a guitar in the Barcelona exhibition of 1888, and obtained a prize for a mechanism to alter string tension. Although he died, unmarried, in 1903, his brother continued building under the label Hermanos Casanovas until 1927.
José Diaz (Talavera de la Reina, active c. 1890)
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A guitar made by
José Diaz in 1889 in Talavera de la Reina is listed in the collection of Felix
Manzanero.
Photograph courtesy of Felix Manzanero. |
Antonio Gimínez de Soto (Vera, active c. 1845)
Antonio Gimínez de Soto was a guitar maker in Vera active circa 1845.
Hijo de Luis Martínez (Pontevedra active c. 1900)
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The Hijo de Luis
Martinez was the son of a maker in Pontevedra who was active around 1900.
Photo Courtesy of Felix Manzanero |
Ignacio Martorell Casasnovas (b. c. 1858 Palma de Mallorca early 19th Century)
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Ignacio Martorell
Casasnovas, was the son of Catalina Casanovas and Bernat Martorell i Alberti,
and grandson of Francisco Casasnovas. He made guitars, laudes, and bandurrias,
and had his workshop at calle San Miguel 77, Palma de Mallorca. He continues to
be listed at this address until 1927. A guitar built by Ignacio Martorell in Palma de Mallorca is listed in the collection of
Felix Manzanero.
Photograph courtesy of Felix Manzanero. |
Ambrosio Ordoñez (Corcubion, active c. 1930)
Ambrosio Ordoñez was a luthier active in Corcubion, Galicia circa 1930.
Antonio Pérez del Arco (Beas de Segura, active c. 1930)
Antonio Pérez del Arco was a guitar maker in the small village of Beas de Segura in the province of Jaén who was active circa 1930.
Arsenio Perruca (Teruel, active c. 1900-1930)
Arsenio Perruca was a guitar maker who resided in Teruel, Aragón and was active during the first third of the twentieth century.
Antonio Rodriguez (Valladolid, active c. 1900)
Antonio Rodriguez was a luthier in Castilla La Vieja, Valladolid active at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Rafael Romero (Galaroza, active c. 1930)
Rafael Romero a luthier active in the tiny town of Galaroza in the province of Huelva circa 1930.
Juan Sánchez Jimenez (Linares, active c. 1850-1903)
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Juan Sánchez was
born in 1823 in Coin, Malaga. He began his career as a guitar maker around 1850.
In that year we find him at calle Grama 8, in Malaga. In 1868, he moved to
Linares, Jaen and set up shop at Corredera Alta 58, (the house were Andres
Segovia later is reputed to have been born). He took part in guitar exhibitions
in Linares, Madrid, Buenos Aires,and Montevideo, and his guitars won two gold
three silver metals. In 1881 he moved his shop to Corredera 29, and remained
there until he died, November 13th, 1902. There is an example of his work in the
Manzanero collection with back and sides made of
bamboo. The guitar pictured (left) is a more typical example, and is a finely
crafted instrument with back and sides of Brazilian rosewood.
Photographs courtesy of Manuel Herrera and Felix Manzanero. |
Eustaquio Torralva (Logroño, active c. 1860)
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Eustaquio
Torralva was a guitar maker in Logroño in the second part of the nineteenth
century. He is know from a 1863 specimen of his work in the collection of Felix
Manzanero dated 1863. Photo courtesy of Felix Manzanero |
G. Yacopi (Bilbao, active 1930s)
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G. Yacopi was an
Italian born maker who took up residence in Bilbao and was active in the 1930s.
A guitar made by him in 1934 is listed in the collection of Felix Manzanero.
Photograph courtesy of Felix Manzanero. |
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