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.