The Spanish luthier Rafael Moreno Rodriguez was born in Tanger in 1954. When he was six years old, his parents moved to El Fargue, Granada. After a short time there, his parents moved to Granada, being a better place to educate their children. When Rafael was 13 he apprenticed to Manuel Lopez Bellido. Manuel later formed an association with Antonio Marin Montero, and Rafael spent some years working with them. There he shared a workbench and work with Francisco Santiago Marin.
He then went to work with Eduardo Ferrer Castillo (where he worked with Antonio Duran right from the beginning, who was always more of a friend than a boss, and along side of Antonio Reinosa Velaquez). Completing his apprenticeship, he stayed on there a number of years. In 1976, Antonio Reinosa Velaquez and Rafael decided to open their own workshop. A good number of luthiers, who have gone on to become magnificant makers in their own right passed through their workshop: Antonio Raya Pardo, Bernd Martin, Juan Miguel Carmona, and Eduardo Santiago Duran Ferrer.
After some years, Rafael decided to go out on his own, and to work alone. Rafael isn't given to talk about the world of the guitar, he prefers that his guitars speak for themselves. And they do, he has sold guitars through out Europe, America, and Japan. He produces between 15 and 20 guitars a year. He only builds flamenco and classical guitars of the highest quality, made with the finest woods available, anything else he feels would be a waste of his time. Rafael is one of a handful of luthiers to whom Luis F. Leal Pinar devotes a full chapter in his book, Guitarreros de Andalucia: Artistas para la Sononta (2004).